Toronto a day in the life 1

What I learned about this city today

By Kris Scheuer

Here’s four things I heard, was told, learnt about this city and Torontonians in 24 hours. It’s day 11 of the strike, so some of my observations are influenced by this. Read, then tell me what did you learn about life in the big city today?
1. Bus drivers have bad days too. My female driver on Dufferin 29 bus this morning was honking at cars, went past people’s stops when they rang the bell, took off before all the passengers got off at a bus stop. She told a tow truck driver in the next lane she was having a bad day.
2. No news isn’t necessarily good news. City did not hold its regular press conference today on the strike. City officials didn’t officially meet with the union June 30 or July 1, so I was told there was nothing new to report. However, the city’s medical officer of health did hold a last minute press conference, announced at 3:30 for 4 pm, on health concerns regarding the local, temporary dumps set up in parks like Christie Pits. Click here to read what he said.
3. Litter isn’t being picked up during the strike. Okay so this may be obvious during a garbage strike, but I noticed a half a dozen newspapers of several hundred pages scattered around College and Manning this morning and tonight they were all still there.
4. City council business is shut down.  Today the city announced next week’s city council session of July 6-7 has been cancelled. Over 100 items were to be decided on at that meeting but debate will be postponed until whenever the strike is over.

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Crowded Toronto school to expand again

But Maurice Cody must wait until 2010
By Kris Scheuer
(Published in Town Crier July 2/09)

Maurice Cody students will soon have more space at their overcrowded public school.
A $500,000 pre-fabricated addition will be attached to the Leaside-area elementary school by September 2010.
St. Paul’s school trustee Josh Matlow is happy the option.
“I think the pre-fab is a solution that’s very workable,” he told about 60 people at a June 16 meeting.
The school is currently closed to students living outside the catchment area. However anyone inside is guaranteed a spot. The existing building’s capacity is 397, but enrollment has grown significantly in the past decade and by this September the head count is anticipated to be 565 students. 

Toronto council on hiatus

City strike means committees and council sessions cancelled

By Kris Scheuer and Jackie Allan

While the city workers’ strike has cancelled council and committee meetings, councillors are going about their business in different manners. Eglinton-Lawrence rep Karen Stintz has crossed the picket lines to get into her city hall office, but has only been delayed for five minutes while union workers speak to her or hand her a flyer, she said. Don Valley West councillor John Parker has done the same.