Torontonians may be in for some relief from the heat as a cold front heads our way Friday evening.
According to Environment Canada, there is a 40 per cent chance of showers and thunderstorms tonight, increasing to 60 per cent early Friday evening. However, the heat warning is expected to persist throughout the day as temperatures soar to a high of 34 C, feeling closer to 43 C with the humidex.
Thankfully, a cold front is expected to push in Friday night that could end the heat wave and usher a cooler air mass into the weekend.
Temperatures should coast closer to the normal seasonal average, with a high of 29 C on Saturday and 28 C on Sunday.
The executive director of Pride Toronto has resigned amid allegations he sexually harassed staff members, left “controlled substances” in the organization’s headquarters and was abusive, manipulative, racist, sexist and transphobic, according to an internal email allegedly written by staff members obtained by Global News.
Mathieu Chantelois took to Twitter Wednesday to announce he had resigned from the Pride Toronto Board of Directors, adding he now works at Cineplex Media.
But Chantelois’ resignation announcement is in stark contrast to allegations that surfaced in an internal email allegedly sent from Pride Toronto staff to the organization’s board of directors on July 7, which detailed serious accusations about his conduct.
“Over the last eighteen months, the staff of Pride Toronto have regularly experienced intimidation, verbal abuse, manipulation, and deceit, which we have come to accept as core elements of Mathieu’s personality and character,” the email stated.
“We have been subject to racist, sexist and transphobic comments, sexual harassment, and personal attacks.”
Sunday August 14, roughly around 4 p.m. marks the 13th anniversary of the Toronto Blackout of 2003. Ahhh, what a glorious day that was. Ice cream melted and was eaten, humans spoke to each other, babies were made, it was a trip back to simpler times.
If you'd like to relive that day, don't worry, there's a pretty huge anniversary party planned.
Everything kicks off with a picnic at 6 p.m. in Jimmie Simpson Park featuring samba, musical and dance workshops! Folks are encouraged to bring their own blankets and snacks to share.
After a powerful developer’s group challenged key numbers in the city’s transit planning process for the Scarborough subway, a settlement approved Wednesday means the city will now collect millions of dollars less to pay for the project.
The deal comes eight months after the Building Industry and Land Development Association, BILD, launched an appeal at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), over the amount of money being charged to developers so the city can pay to connect the Bloor-Danforth subway line to the Scarborough Town Centre, replacing the aging Scarborough RT.
That appeal has also left questions about the reliability and precision of ridership numbers and their role in influencing political decisions worth billions of dollars.
The agreement, approved by the OMB, means the city must now refund a portion of the charges to all developers who were issued building permits on or after Aug. 1, 2015 to reflect a 10 per cent reduction in the rate. Any future charges will be calculated at the new rate.
A city spokesperson said they have yet to tally the total amount to be refunded. But a report from staff to council, the contents of which were earlier shared with the Star, estimated the refund at $2 million with interest and total revenue loss estimated between $4 and 6 million, when taking future charges into consideration.
Starting Sept. 15, charter flight company Greater Toronto Airways will run two round trips between Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport and the Niagara Regional Airport every weekday.
David Nissan, vice-president of operations for Greater Toronto Airways, says the flights will run about 15 minutes, with capacity for eight passengers.
“We hope that it will connect the communities,” he says. “We can cut down commuting times from two hours to 15 minutes.”
Nissan says the company is starting out by targeting business travellers, and flights will cost $85 one way and $149 for a round trip.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati says people in Niagara need more options to get to Toronto and back, and finding a way to cross the lake instead of going around it could be a good solution. He says traffic congestion on the highways is becoming “unbearable and unreasonable” for commuters.
Wahby Park in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, used to be a quiet spot for a dozen or so residents to go for a stroll around sunset. Then came hundreds of smartphone-wielding, garden-stomping Pokemon players.
Now a couple in the lakeside neighborhood is suing Niantic Inc. and Nintendo Co. for allegedly turning the park into a nuisance and a safety threat.
“We don’t feel safe sitting on our porch,” Scott Dodich and Jayme Gotts-Dodich said in their lawsuit.
They said they have been threatened by Pokemon Go players who hide in the bushes at dusk and return to the chase after police close the park and leave. The couple are seeking monetary damages and a ban on Pokemon in the park, according to their complaint filed Wednesday in San Francisco federal court.
After the game was launched in early July, “plaintiffs’ once quiet street degenerated into a nightmare," according to the complaint. The couple alleges that visitors to the park fail to respect the rules of the private neighborhood, parking in front of driveways, trespassing on well-manicured gardens and peering into windows.
On a sweltering day in July, the sole inhabitant of Budelli, a small Mediterranean island in Italy’s Maddalena archipelago, glances up from his iPad just in time to observe a single wave crashing on the shore. He is Mauro Morandi, the frail, 77-year-old caretaker of this rugged paradise’s wild ecosystem. Aside from weekends and the peak tourist season, when day-trippers peer into Morandi’s ramshackle home, Budelli is silent, but for the lapping of the water, the calling of gulls, and the howling of the strong northwest wind. The winters here are long and brutal; once, Morandi endured a 20-day storm on the island, alone. He almost went mad.
Now, Morandi fears his possible eviction from Budelli, his home of 27 years. Granted the right to reside on and work as a caretaker of the island by its previous, private owners, Morandi’s future became uncertain this past May when the Italian government reclaimed jurisdiction of Budelli. It is now part of La Maddalena National Park, which is contesting Morandi’s right to remain on this one-mile stretch of sand.
Despite the solitary life Morandi has chosen, he is far from alone in his plight. For weeks, he has been obsessively pressing “refresh” on a change.org petition calling for his continued residency on Budelli. “Mauro has lived in Budelli for a quarter of a century, he knows every plant and every rock, every tree, and every animal species, he recognizes the colors and the smells when they change with the mutation of the wind and the seasons,” the petition reads. “If Budelli remained a marvel of nature, it is also because of him … [its] caretaker has remained in the heart of every person that, over the last 25 years, walked on this unforgettable land.” So far, the petition has 16,517 signatures.
In the sultry 95-degree heat, Morandi’s glasses slide down his nose. Frowning, he pushes them back up with a calloused finger. “With this problem, I am always around the tablet,” he sighs. “I see the news coming, read the comments, try to contact politicians, communicate what I know ... I want so much the preservation of this beach. But the law does not give a damn.”
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