Gathering of the monarchs
See off the monarch butterflies’ annual 3,500-kilometre migration to Mexico at Tommy Thompson Park’s Butterfly Festival on Saturday (August 24) from 10 am to 3 pm. butterflyfest.ca.
Public space
Phase three of Nathan Phillips Square’s revamp officially gets under way August 26. Plans include completing the relocation of the Peace Garden and moving the statue of Winston Churchill from Queen to the square’s northwest quadrant.
The SIU
The embattled police watchdog proves it’s not always timid about laying charges against police. On Monday, the Special Investigations Unit charged Constable James Forcillo with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Sammy Yatim on a TTC streetcar last month. Our coverage continues this week on page 14.
Social housing
TCH CEO Gene Jones fast-tracks $150K in repairs for Swansea Mews after residents help cops in murder investigation. Odd for an organization that’s hired a firm to look into allegations of kickbacks and double billing for repair work.
Rob Ford love
Councillor Gary Crawford’s quest to capture the essence of Rob Ford on canvas gets creepier: “Liking the spontaneity of the red dripping paint. Quite mysterious,” Crawford tweeted on August 15.
Giorgio Mammoliti
After the recurrence of a recent health problem, the west-end councillor was in court last week to answer to charges he broke election finance rules. We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of a political career.