Events in toronto: Morning Brew: Contenders eye Doug Holyday's seat, big subway closure coming, more pressure to track doorings, fake monks, dead fish, and new TTC bendy buses arrive

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Morning Brew: Contenders eye Doug Holyday's seat, big subway closure coming, more pressure to track doorings, fake monks, dead fish, and new TTC bendy buses arrive

toronto dogs John Nunziata and Sarah Thomson are among the non-council members vying to be appointed to the seat vacated by Doug Holyday. Former TDSB chair John Campbell and former councillor Mario Giansante are also interested in taking on the position for the remainder of the term. The remaining members must decide whether to hold a byelection or appoint someone to the role until Fall 2014. Another former Etobicoke mayor, Bruce Sinclair, is also in the running. Who would work best?

Transit riders still smarting from the loss of streetcar service as a result of the King and Spadina closure won't be catching a break this weekend. The TTC is shutting the entire portion of the subway south of Bloor (St. George to Bloor stations) as part of ongoing signal upgrades. Shuttle buses will cover the route on Saturday and Sunday. Normal service will resume Monday morning.

There's growing pressure on Toronto police to resume tracking the number of dooring incidents that occur on city streets. Cops stopped keeping stats on the number of cyclists hit by carelessly opened doors in 2012 in response to new provincial guidelines that say a "collision" must involve a moving car. The chair of the Police Services Board is pushing for better records of cycling incidents.

Cllr. Josh Matlow's getting hot under the collar about condo developers putting up "illegal" sales signs before securing building approval. Matlow tweeted pictures of signs for 2221 Yonge and 155 Redpath, one of which he removed, as examples of the confusing practice. Advertising units without a building permit isn't illegal but the councillor wants Queen's Park to force developers to make the building status clear.

Watch out for fake monks begging for money. Toronto Police say there's a bunch of people dressed up and asking for cash in Chinatown and other parts of the city.

Toronto EMS could be about to change its name, most likely to Toronto Paramedic Service, according to the Toronto Sun. A spokesperson said the new name would better reflect what the EMS service does, namely being paramedics. Before 2000 the organization was known as Toronto Ambulance Services.

Something's killed hundreds of sunfish in High Park's Grenadier Pond. The fish were found belly-up and pungent on the shore of the pond starting on 28 July with no apparent cause for mass the die-off. The Ontario Ministry of Natural resources is testing water samples and eyeing weather as a possible suspect.

Finally, the TTC's new articulated buses are beginning to arrive in Toronto. Reddit user and photog AlexT2 snapped pictures of the first of the new vehicles at Wilson. The TTC says the $24.3 million fleet will be used on the busiest routes, like 29 Dufferin, 7 Bathurst, 85A Sheppard, first.

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