Some attractions of the now-shut Ontario Science Centre are being moved to CF Sherway Gardens and will be on display here in November.

The Science Centre following an abrupt closure last June, is moving its many attractions to another  temporary location at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre.

The sudden closure came after a report by an engineering firm found that the 1969 building was “at risk of potential roof panel failure,” which could’ve been exacerbated by snow buildup in the winter.

Premier Doug Ford made a controversial decision to move the 55-year-old museum to Ontario Place as part of the revitalization of the waterfront site.

The pop-ups include two interactive exhibitions at Sherway Gardens, including one titled Towers of Tomorrow with Lego Bricks, which will be held in the space formerly occupied by Nordstrom.

The ticketed exhibition runs from November 6 to January 19 and will feature 20 of the world’s most recognizable skyscrapers constructed entirely of LEGO bricks, including the CN Tower and Empire State Building.

At the exhibition, you can create your own towers using the thousands of LEGO bricks available in the hands-on construction areas.

The second exhibition at Sherway Gardens, titled Circus! is a hands-on experience that explores how math, physics, and anatomy make circus feats possible. This experience will be open from November 6 until March 16.

The science museum’s popular KidSpark exhibit will also be relocated to the Harbourfront Centre, and will run from December 4 until May 4.

The temporary locations for the Science Centre are going to give a reprieve for some workers whose contracts were set to expire on October 31. They will be extended to February. The workers will have no access to the Don Mills building by the end of the month.

Floyd Ruskin, of the group Save Ontario Science Centre, said taking some science to different parts is probably a pretty good idea.

“But it doesn’t change the fact that we need a full-sized, properly funded institution here on Don Mills Road,” he said.

By IAN ROBERTSON

A recently-completed mural covering the wall of a commercial building beside Royal York Road provides a new greeting to the Mimico community.

Begun on October 14 and completed eight days later, the colourful piece of artwork was created and applied by Christiano De Araujo.

The Toronto artist depicts several buildings in what in 1858 began as a town in the former Township of Etobicoke, then was an independent municipality from 1911 until becoming part of Metropolitan Toronto in 1967.

Five people painted in minimalist style without facial details are on the mural’s lower left, with a green-and-white GO Transit passenger train crossing a bridge behind them.

On the far right, a man wearing blue-and-white jersey and pants game gear is playing hockey beside a woman dressed in red while playing lacrosse.

Large light blue capital letters spell ‘MIMICO’ in a sky featuring fluffy white and grey clouds plus a flying pigeon.

The design “has to be about Mimico, and Mimico represents family, churches, diversity, hockey and lacrosse,” Josee Gosselin, owner of The Bread Essentials, said about the mural south of Melrose Street, on the north side of the building where the was opened in 2016.

The hockey player was inspired by the Toronto Maple Leafs practising in the Ford Performance Centre, formerly Mastercard Centre For Hockey Excellence, on Kipling Avenue, she said. The Toronto Marlies also practise there.

The lacrosse theme was based on the Royal York Road building’s owner having played that game locally.

A board member of the Mimico Village Business Improvement Area, Gosselin said it received a $7,500 City of Toronto Mural and Street Art Program grant, with additional funds for the project to be provided by the BIA and the building’s owner.

She was inspired to contact De Araujo because of his popular large mural on the outer wall of nearby SaNRemo Bakery.

Completed three years ago at the nearby corner of Simpson Avenue and Royal York Road, it commemorates bakery founder Natale Bozzo (1946-2021).

De Araujo, who prepared the Mimico mural artwork “was the only artist who came back with the representation of the BIA idea, Gosselin said. Other artists who were asked to consider the project “said only their ideas” would be acceptable.

While completing his final work on the mural, using a portable machine to spray paint onto the brick wall, the artist said he began drawing when he was four, sketching comics on paper.

A new art installation called Campfire has been unveiled at Humber Bay Shores.

The 12-foot-tall piece was created by Anishinaabe sculptor Michel Belmore, in collaboration with Herman Mejia, an artist originally from Honduras, who now lives here.

Campfire, made of Corten and stainless steel, reflects the spirit of Indigenous place-keeping, inviting the community to gather around its symbolic hearth.

The piece of art is the latest addition to the City of Toronto’s Public Art and Monuments Collection, a growing collection of close to 400 public art pieces across the city.

“Etobicoke now has a significant addition that will serve both as a gathering place and a reminder of the enduring presence of Indigenous cultures,” Councillor Amber Morley said at the October 26 unveiling.

It will cost the City more than $300,000 to install and have the work created.

 

Three outstanding community members have been chosen this year as recipients of the 2024 Daniel G. Hill Human Rights Award.

The Awards recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to advancing and fostering human rights culture across Ontario.

It is named after Dr. Daniel G. Hill, the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s (OHRC) first Black director, chairperson and rights trail blazer.

The recipients include: Stefan Enrique Joseph Kallikaden in the Young Leader category, Lorin MacDonald for Distinguished Service and Rosemary Sadlier, for Lifetime Achievement.

Kallikaden serves as the Youth and Access to Education Program Coordinator at the FCJ Refugee Centre. Stefan is committed to advocating for the human rights of all.

MacDonald is a human rights lawyer and a disability/accessibility advocate and educator. Born with profound hearing loss, Lorin has dedicated her life, education and career to advocating for people with disabilities.

Sadlier led the Ontario Black History Society for many years and is an advocate for social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, historian, author, educator and empowering change maker.

The honourees will join a host of distinguished guests, including community members stakeholders, and government officials, for an evening of celebration on November 21.

The event will also mark the 70th anniversary of Ontario’s Fair Accommodations Practices Act, the predecessor of the Ontario Human Rights Code.

 

Someone it seems was ticketed and is now taking out their frustrations on an Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) traffic camera in Alderwood.

Just about every two weeks the speed-busting auto camera, just west of Orianna Drive on Horner Avenue, is knocked to the ground as City crews dutifully return each time to replace the device to its standing position.

The South Etobicoke News have taken photos of at least six instances in which the steel camera box was shoved to the ground, with its sensitive lens dug into the dirt.

It is October 20 and the expensive ASE is again on its side. No doubt City trucks will show up to place in upright position.

This has been going on for months and the situation is getting worst as large bolts attaching the machine to concrete and steel are being snapped off as the culprits become more brazen in shoving the camera to the ground.

There are no tire marks or grass being uprooted in the vicinity and it is a mystery how the vandals manage to overturn the heavy boxes.

The City has hired a third-party contractor to repair and replace the ASE cameras.

There are more notorious traffic cams out there like one located on Parkside Drive that issued a whopping 3,502 tickets in one month.

The cameras in one month issued a total of 43,412 tickets to drivers exceeding the speed limit in designated safety zones.

In June 2022 almost 25,000 tickets were issued to Toronto drivers, and of those 11 per cent were issued by busy Parkside Drive camera.

There are some 75 ASE systems installed on Toronto roads, which generate more than 700,000 charges annually and rake in almost $40 million for City coffers.

The City said that each device costs around $50,000 to operate and maintain annually.

Mom of two Manal Srouji who was hit by a speeding GO Train at Long Branch Station says she is lucky to be alive even though she can’t sit up in bed from pain and what will be a long recovery.

Srouji, 46, who has two boys, one 22, says she is a careful person who routinely used public transportation to get from home to work.

She lives in Mississauga and works downtown as a court reporter for the Ministry of Attorney General.

All that changed last September 17, when around 8:15 a.m. she was hit by a train and rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

She is thankful to be helped on the platform by kind-hearted passengers.

Srouji was left face-down on the yellow strip on the platform with half her body hanging over the edge.

She remained on life support for at least a week, unable to move or speak. She had two broken legs and multiple fractures, including to her pelvis and elbow.

‘I can’t even sit up in bed,” Srouji told Global News reporter Shallima Maharaj in a bedside interview.

She has regained her ability to talk and can move her upper body. She cannot remember the moment the train hit her, or the hour it happened.

Almost $14,000 has been raised on a Go Fund Me page to help the ailing family.

A bedridden Srouji has the loving support of her sons and from members of the community, who have kept her going.“

I’m overwhelmed, not just by the support that I’m seeing from loved ones, but even members of the community I don’t even know,” she told Global News on October 17. “The response, the reaction from people — it’s just a lot.”

She was told her backpack got caught on a passing express train at the station, but few details have been released about what transpired at the station.

The mother and wife would like to see more safety measures implemented to protect riders.

Many Long Branch residents have been complaining about the packed trains, ongoing construction and risky conditions from ongoing construction at the station which is being refurbished.

“September is when everybody comes back,” she told Global News. “More kids to school, a lot of people came back to work in person after that, so there’s a lot more people on the platforms.”

A major construction project has been underway at the station since last year, as part of the GO Expansion program.

“I made friends with passengers that came to visit me that tell me how they hear young kids wondering what happened to that lady that got injured in the accident. You know, I’m thankful, but I’m also concerned.”

 

The country’s newest millionaire lives right here in South Etobicoke.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) said the most-recent $65 million Lotto Max ticket was purchased on October 16 from a store in the Islington Avenue and The Queensway area.

The OLG said the newest millionaire has not showed up yet to collect his millions.

This is the eighth consecutive Lotto Max jackpot win in Ontario this year, the OLG said.

Other prizes won in Ontario following last night’s draw include two Maxmillions prizes worth $500,000 apiece, including one ticket sold in Burlington.

Two other Encore tickets worth $100,000 each were also sold in Burlington and Toronto.

The winning numbers for the draw are: 08, 12, 19, 20, 26, 32, 46, and bonus 27.

Players can still buy tickets for Friday’s draw, which holds an estimated jackpot of $17 million, the OLG said.

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The controversial Bloor Street West bike lane and others that cause traffic congestion may soon be gone if provincial Premier Doug Ford has his way.

Side-stepping municipal politicians, Ford has promised upcoming laws that prohibit future bike lanes; including those planned for Parkside Drive, The Queensway, Dundas Street W., and parts of Lake Shore Blvd. W.

Ford recently said his government doesn’t just plan to block the installation of new bike lanes in some cases, but also intends to remove routes that have already been built — claiming they lead to traffic in Ontario cities reaching a “standstill.”

Hundreds of South Etobicoke residents attended a meeting last month hosted by Councillor and Deputy Mayor Amber Morley. The gathering at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute consisted of vocal supporters and those who are anti cycling.

Small businesses on Bloor Street W. have been complaining that their earnings plummeted due to a lack of parking beside bike lanes. Store owners said their customers have to park blocks away, which is especially hard for seniors or those with mobility issues.

“It isn’t enough to keep an eye on future bike lanes,” Ford told the Empire Club on October 17. “We need to and will remove and replace existing bike lanes on primary roads that are bringing traffic in our cities to a standstill.”

The province has unveiled a plan to limit new bike lanes in Ontario’s towns and cities by making municipalities demonstrate they won’t negatively impact the flow of traffic on busy roads.

The government planned to table the proposed law on October 21, which would create “the authority to require” information on “an existing bike lane that previously removed a traffic lane” on a local road.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Morley are both cyclists, and have expressed their support for bike lanes plus the addition of more.

Area nature lovers are mourning the loss of one of the oldest trees in Toronto, and Canada, due to ill health.

The so-called Great White Oak, which was estimated to be 330-years-old  was cut down last October 4 by City crews, in a process that required many hours and large construction cranes.

Long Branch historian Bill Zufelt said the massive tree was located on Great Oak Drive, in the Islington Avenue and Rathburn Road area.

“It was already showing severe decline with deadly fungi growing out of its trunk,” Zufelt said. “Toronto Forestry removed the fungi and it lived another year.”

He said the tree was suffering from internal rot and decay, which was becoming increasingly evident.

“The tree was Red Tagged as a possible falling hazard risk, so for public safety and liability issues, Toronto Forestry had it removed,” said the avid tree lover.

Zufelt said City arborists based on tree’s enormous girth, determined it to be about 330-years-old and one of the oldest in Toronto.

He said local folklore had given it the dubious title of ‘The Hanging Tree.’

This oak had survived the American Revolution, War of 1812, Canadian Confederation, World War 1 and 11.

“The Great White Oak of Etobicoke will always be a stoic legend to the thousands of us who have passed beneath her consoling branches for over three centuries,” he said.

Hate at our doorstep.

A 30-year-old man has been charged after allegedly stealing an Israeli flag from the same vehicle on two occasions in The Queensway and North Queen Street area, near Sherway Gardens.

Police said the incidents took place on July 30 and August 6 in what is a busy shopping area.

They said in both cases, a suspect allegedly approached the same vehicle and stole an Israeli flag.

Husam Abu Hashem, 30, of Toronto, was arrested on October 10 and charged with two counts of theft under $5,000. He is scheduled to appear in court on November 27.

Investigators say that these incidents are treated as a suspected hate-motivated offences.

Anyone with further information is asked to contact Toronto police at 416-808-3500 or Crime Stoppers anonymously.

Toronto Police have repeatedly issued alerts on the record amount of hate crimes taking place in our city, including the recent shooting at a North York Jewish girl school in which a window was shot out for a second time. There has been no charges.

In the last year officers have attended more than 1,556 suspected hate crime calls for service, confirmed 390 suspected hate crimes, made 130 arrests and laid 314 hate crime occurrence related charges.

Last June along police responded to 171 hate crime calls. In July they attended to 113 calls.