OCCUPY TORONTO
• Occupy Toronto: an inside look at logistics [The Star]
• Councillors call to reward Occupy Toronto protesters [The Sun]
• The Occupation of Toronto [NOW]
• No demands…duh [NOW]
• Police neutrality? [NOW]
• Otherwise occupied [The Grid]
CITY HALL
• Blair wins: Ford poised to accept police budget hike [The Star]
• Toronto police board breaks budget stalemate [Globe & Mail]
• Toronto police chief’s latest offer avoids layoffs [National Post]
• Garbage contract could save city $100M [The Star]
• Winning bidder for Toronto garbage contract no stranger to controversy [Globe & Mail]
• Councillor wants EMS deemed truly essential [The Star]
• EMS should be an essential service, Etobicoke councillor says [Globe & Mail]
• Toronto ombudsman blasts city for handling of insurance complaints [Globe & Mail]
• City ripped on small claims service [The Sun]
• Richmond Hill councillor charges city for golf clubs [The Star]
TRANSIT & TRAFFIC
• TTC approves random drug testing [The Star]
• Toronto transit agency votes to bring in drug testing for staff [Globe & Mail]
• Civic leaders put transportation solutions in motion [The Star]
• ‘Stop hating,’ and other reactions to column on electric bicycles [National Post]
• The rail deal [NOW]
OTHER NEWS
• Ryerson agrees not to trade on Maple Leaf Gardens moniker [The Star]
• Air and space museum may fly to waterfront home [The Sun]
• Fauja Singh: the 100-year-old marathoner [The Grid]
• Tony Clemens, R.I.P. [The Grid]
• “They saw little ideological divide between Jack Layton and Rob Ford” [The Grid]
2 comments
Re: Air and Space Museum
Toronto is lacking in museums compared to its peer cities, so every museum by default is something of a worthy cause.
Years ago there was the Maritime Museum at the CNE, which then moved to Queens Quay and finally closed in 2008. It might make sense to combine that with the Air and Space museum to create a more comprehensive Air, Sea and Space museum downtown or even fold all of this into an overall Toronto City Museum (sorely lacking).
If these museums can be revived and refunded, ok, but where to put them? I would not trust Ford any more than a 6 yr old child in an urban planning context. A proper team will have to be put together to work out the right location and building type. The silos next to the Island Airport could work, since this site was talked about for a museum for some years (Metronome) and they are both on the water (maritime museum) and next to the airport (air & space).
Fingers crossed that the city gets this right, even though I know they won’t.
Seeing my old Walmart bike break beyond reasonable repair, I decided to buy an e-bike (NOT an e-scooterbike). One could question if the money I spent was worth it since it realistically only has enough range to get me one way to York and not both ways, so I still have to use the bus one way, but damn is it fun to ride! And taking the GO one way is still cheaper than taking the Viva both ways (Viva buses don’t have bike racks).
Anyways, an e-bike is still a bike. It does not require a license and can be used on pathways. As I said it is fun to ride, but it is not anywhere near the same league as a motor scooter, let alone motorcycle. Plus it’s max speed is locked at 30km/h, and the only way to get close to that is to be pedaling and using the battery at the same time.
Have I ridden it on the sidewalk? Yes, in suburban areas with high speed traffic and virtually no pedestrians in sight. If I do come across any pedestrians, I slow down and pass with caution, as it is common sense and courtesy. Maybe we should ban jogging, as someone who is running could run into someone who is walking. Do you follow every traffic law to the T?
Anyways, this rant has gone on long enough. The National Post’s friends in the oil industry are scared that even overweight slobs (I pedal and use the battery) now have an attractive and affordable alternative to driving their oversized SUVs to the corner store, so they are now propagating against e-bikes to claim there is no alternative to driving.