ICYCLE RACE 2011
Who Chilled-out masked man?
What Icycle’s 10th annual ice ride at Dufferin Grove Park Saturday, February 12.
Why This year to raise money for Peter McKenzie, who was badly injured just before Christmas when he was hit by a car while riding his bike on the Bloor Viaduct.
See a slideshow here.
Toronto Zoo’s pachyderm problem
Should the Toronto Zoo’s three elephants be moved to a sanctuary in California? Councillor Shelley Carroll wants to. We size up their living conditions:
Zoo industry standard for space to roam for elephants 1,800 square feet
Size of the elephant pen at the Toronto Zoo 10,000-plus square feet
Size of elephant sanctuary in San Andreas, California 930 hectares
The distance elephants have been observed to walk per day in the wild 195 km
What it would cost to expand the Toronto Zoo’s elephant pen $40 million
Number of people who signed councillor Carroll’s petition 1,518
POLL
Some wood with your beer?
Brew-makers say everybody knows, so no need to put the ingredients on the bottle. Gulp to that. The Food And Drug Act allows brewers to leave some 40 categories of ingredients off their labels, including tasty things like wood shavings and “pH-adjusting and water-correcting agents.” Did we mention nylon? On Monday, February 14, the feds came through for doctors, consumer groups and health advocates pushing for stricter labelling on food and beverages, including wine and spirits, but exempted beer at the last minute. We get it. The Tories like Molsons.
TUNNEL VISION
An empty victory for Island Airport foe CommunityAIR this week. Turns out the org was right all along about the pedestrian tunnel proposed by the Toronto Port Authority: it’s illegal under regulations prohibiting any “fixed link” between the airport and the mainland. Transport Canada explicitly said so in a letter sent to waterfront stakeholders February 11. The poison in that missive is that Transport Canada now plans to officially change the regs to allow the tunnel. Gravy plane? The projected cost of the tunnel: $45 million.ps.
CITYSCAPE
The new, contemporary face of condo living in Toronto’s hottest neighbourhoods, as envisioned by Raw Design Architecture Studio. Projects in the design phase or currently under construction include the Motif lofts and townhouses on Ossington (top), the Cube lofts on College and 1245 Dundas West.
CITY HALL WATCH
We’re not sure if Mayor Rob Ford’s kidney stone last week had anything to do with big brother Councillor Doug Ford’s musings that he may run for the Tories in the fall provincial runoff. It might well have, but the chances of Dougie, the brains behind the big boss, jumping ship are next to zilch. Three reasons why: 1) Doug Ford is a nutty guy, but he’s not nuts enough to think he can juggle the job of MPP and run City Hall on the side, is he? 2) It would be a daunting task to unseat the sitting Liberal MPP, Shafiq Qaadri, in Etobicoke North, even if the riding is Ford’s backyard. Qaadri won by 9,436 votes over his PC rival in 2007. 3) The mayor can’t fly solo at City Hall, especially since his other trusted ally, chief of staff Nick Kouvalis, is no longer there minding the mothership.
