Paddle The Don’s rite of spring
20 Years
Annual Paddle The Don event held last weekend has been celebrated
Five Hundred
Number of paddlers participating
10.5 km
Distance paddled from ET Seton Park to the Keating Channel at the mouth of the Don
$100,000
Funds raised for Don watershed protection and education programs
Thirty
Corporate canoes registered
Till June 14
Discover The Don exhibit on display in the Young Welcome Centre at Evergreen Brick Works
Cityscape
Works crews were gutting the premises for weeks, but there’s no formal application yet to redevelop the old Hakim Optical store at 38-40 Dundas East. The city is reportedly looking for a buyer for the property it expropriated from the original owner back in 1998 as part of the Yonge-Dundas Square redevelopment.
Photo by Enzo Dimatteo
On the waterfront
Waterfront Toronto’s Economic Impact Analysis released last week looks like a broadside aimed at Porter’s Island Airport expansion plan. Council voted to study Porter’s scheme this week (see Ben Spurr’s story), but those pushing expansion of the Island Airport – and with it further industrialization of the water’s edge – should weigh the numbers in Waterfront Toronto’s report. In a straight-up comparison of the financial benefits, the agency’s efforts win hands down over Porter’s proposal.
Bixi or bust
Another sign that Rob Ford and Karen Stintz are headed for a collision in the 2014 mayoral race. The TTC chair wants to save Bixi, the financially troubled bike-sharing program, by integrating it into the operations of the public transit provider. (Great idea floated in these very pages.) Ford, though, says he wants to kill Bixi, putting him at odds with his own executive, which recently voted to investigate a new financial arrangement. Will Denzil Minnan-Wong, the guy pushing a solution at executive – who also happens to be the mayor’s cycling guy – ride in to save the day?
Street smarts
What “Anti-graffiti wraps” on poles on Bay Street.
When Unveiled last week as part of a refurbishment courtesy of the Toronto Financial District BIA.
Why The rundown-looking corridor of power needs a little sprucing up, part of a summer-long effort that also includes street banners, repairs to sidewalks and new street furniture.
RIP Jeff Hanneman (1964-2013)
The Slayer founder and heavy metal titan dies from liver failure. Read John Semley’s tribute.
