A leafy Long Branch beauty has been nominated as a contestant in the annual Ontario Tree Pageant. That’s right there is one.

A Long Branch Heritage Applebee Catalpa tree, located at Twenty Third Street and Iris Road, is also a candidate for the cherished ‘Tree of the Year.’

The 127-year-old Applebee Catalpa was designated a Heritage Tree by Forests Ontario, said Long Branch historian Bill Zufelt.

‘The tree is a ‘real show stopper’ and getting better with age too,” said Zufelt.

He said the 70- foot high Northern Catalpa is located on lands that once belonged to Moses Applebee the first Ward 1 Councillor for the Township of Etobicoke.  The Applebee family immigrated from Yorkshire, England in the early 1800s.

Today the healthy tree stands more than 70 feet high and with a magnificent 40-foot canopy.

Nominees are required to send a photo and 30-word note on their prized tree to a selection committee, whose tree-expert judges will announce their top three trees on September 15.

“The story is evaluated for creativity, depth of meaning, and its ability to convey why the nominated tree is special, with emphasis on compelling storytelling within the word limit,” according to pageant website.

The first place winner receives $500; with $250 for second and $100 for third places. The nominated trees are featured on a Tree Trust website in a ‘virtual runway’ of entries, organizers said.

Zufelt said Long Branch is home of a ‘Fab Four’ of heritage trees, which are dubbed Big Red, Titan, Stop26 and the Applebbee Catalpa Heritages Trees.

The pageant highlights Ontario’s diverse urban canopy and encourages community appreciation for local trees, fostering environmental awareness and connections.

The Long Branch area has a rich history and many 100 plus year old trees that they would like protected under the Forests Ontario Heritage designation.

The deadline for this year has passed, but if you want to nominate a tree, e-mail a photo, the location of the tree and what you know of it’s story to longbranchnato@gmail.com or provide details and they will review and get the nomination process started for all potential candidates.

It took two years, but the Eighth Street Skatepark has now been renamed the Jordan Carter Memorial Park.

About 50 friends and family members of Carter assembled at the skatepark on August 30 as a ribbon was cut to rename the park, with words said by Councillor Amber Morley and MPP Lee Fairclough.

His family members are calling for tougher justice for Carter’s killer, who was 13 at the time, and failed to show up to serve his three-year sentence in a youth facility for the cold-blooded murder.

The youth, now 16, was arrested by police and on August 29 ordered by a court to serve the remainder of his sentence.

“We are relieved that we finally have a place to honour and remember Jordan,” said his aunt Sharon Carter, who with grandma Agna, were at the ceremony. “We just wish justice was done. The killer we were told committed five more crimes while he was on the run.”

More than 9,000 people from around the world signed an online petition calling for Carter’s name to be immortalized on the skatepark that he frequented.

There were blue and white balloons draped around the sign and a skateboard memorial attached to a large tree and a hand-made poster of Jordan. There was also a DJ with his friends skating around the park.

More than $15,000 was raised in a Go Fund Me page to help with his funeral services after he was shot and killed in East York.

“All of Jordan’s friends were here and he would have loved the ribbon-cutting,”said Agna. “He was a good kid.”

“Mr. Carter demonstrated a strong passion for skateboarding and was frequently seen at local skateparks, where he not only honed his own skills but also encouraged others to participate in the sport,” according to City report.

The arts student from Lakeshore Collegiate Institute was shot in an apartment parking garage in the Gamble and Pape Avenues area around 11:30 p.m. on January 19, 2022. Six community groups sent letters of support of the park being renamed after Carter.

He was known for mentoring teens on life and skating and was well-loved by fellow skaters.

A commemorative bench is also named after the skater at the park.

 

Toronto Police are looking for three suspects sought for the brazen theft of a $3,000 e-bike from a New Toronto bike shop.

The expensive electric bike was stolen in broad daylight from Beaver Bike, at 2835 Lake Shore Blvd.W., on August 28, that led to him chasing the thief, then a two-hour search.

Bike shop owner Kanishka Adelpur  said the expensive bike was on consignment from another company when stolen by one of the three suspects.

He said two of the suspects kept him busy talking about bikes as a third man stole the e-bike.

The brazen theft was captured by the store’s security cameras and shows a hoodie-wearing man enter the store, to begin pushing the cycle to the door. He then jumps on the bike and takes off, with the owner on his trail.

“I chased him for a block but he took off down Third Street,” Adelpur said. “I then grabbed my scooter and spent two hours looking for the thief or bike.”

He said police are searching for three suspects. The thieves were in the store earlier to check out the e-bike.

“It was a big loss for us,” he complained. “The thing is that I have seen the thief before, they all live in the area.”

He was told the brand new e-bike was sold soon after for $250 to someone in the area.

“I am very disappointed by the crimes taking place in the community,” Adelpur said. “I have been here for four year and this is the first time something like this,”

There has been no arrests.

The Assembly Hall at Samuel Smith Park is 127 years old and is slated for a long-awaited $2 million facelift.
The City is in the process of hiring a company to conduct heritage restoration for masonry and windows of the Assembly Hall, which was built in 1898.
A report to a City Council Bid Award Panel estimates that it will cost about $2 million to perform the work on the previously restored building, which is on the grounds of Humber College, at Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Kipling Avenue.
The contract is expected to be issued later this year and end in June 2026.
The Assembly Hall was built in 1898 as a multipurpose building for the Lakeshore Phsychiatric Institute. The main room on the second floor was used for dances, religious services, plays, etc.
The first floor also originally contained a store and an office for the storekeeper. A beauty parlour was added in the 1950s.
As with the rest of the hospital, the Assembly Hall was closed in 1979 and remained shut for two decades. The site is now occupied by Humber College.
The hall is now rented out to various community groups to hold their events.

A South Etobicoke teen has earned the distinction of being the City’s top scholar for achieving a 100 per cent average in her schoolwork.

Sophie Kukovica, 18, who graduated from Bishop Allen Academy, at 721 Royal York Road, obtained top marks city wide for the 2024-2025 academic year.

She is the only Etobicoke student to earn 100 per cent in a Toronto  Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), list of their top 16 students with the highest averages.

Her younger sister Madelaine was also a top scholar with 100 per cent previously.

Sophie credits her family and being consistent for helping her achieve success.

“Doing the work every day, asking for help when I needed it, and just building good habits that add up over time,” she said, adding that Madelaine provided a large motivation for her.

Sophie will next month attend the University of Toronto, where she’ll be studying French, theology, and education. She intends to pursue a career in teaching, possibly at the university level.

“I just hope to help inspire the next generation of students and share the same passion for learning that my own teachers inspired in me,” she said.

“For me, what was really helpful was just planning and customizing my learning to my personal learning style,” Sophie told CTV News. “I tried to plan my time so I could work on things in small sections before the deadline that way I’m not doing multiple assignments at once.”

This year’s Top Scholars not only achieved record-breaking grades in advanced programs, but also led STEM and leadership clubs, conducted research, earned national and international awards in science, music, and the arts, organized charity events, and dedicated hundreds of hours to community service.

Dr. Brendan Browne, director of education at the TCDSB, said the group of top scholars prove that hard work pays off.

“You’ve obviously got really bright and talented students, but it really is all about hard work, perseverance, and the resiliency to be able to achieve the marks that they’ve achieved,” he said.

Three long-established Toronto towing companies are in the running to share a lucrative more than $2 million Toronto Police vehicle towing contract.

A Toronto City Bid Award Panel  will consider the awarding of the police contract to Abrams Towing,  J.P. Towing Service & Storage and Classic Towing and storage for a three year period, according to documents filed to Council, whose members will make the ultimate decision.

The contracts includes the towing of vehicles for the Environment, Climate and Forestry; Transportation Services;  Solid Waste Management Services and Toronto Water Divisions to the end of May 2028.

The City agencies will have an option to renew for two separate one-year periods.

The total amount for all contracts including both option years is $1,844,433, including all applicable taxes and charges, $2,084,209.

The TPS had to issue a new request in January last year as the Ontario government passed new legislation that affected the way towing providers interact with their customers and identified allowable towing rates.

The measure was required to decrease a tow truck war in Toronto in which more than dozen trucks were torched or drivers shot due to stiff competition.  A special police task force has been established to halt the violence.

Abrams is probable the largest of the tow companies with more than 160 trucks of varying sizes to service the Toronto area.

The family-owned J.P. Towing has been around for more than 30 years and has a range of light and heavy tow trucks for all Toronto towing needs.

Classic Towing and Storage has also been around for decades and has a fleet of about 150 vehicles of all sizes.

Thousands of vehicles are towed away yearly to pounds from City streets due to traffic infractions or for snow removal or other reasons. The average towing fee is $160 and the storage fee is $70 daily.

A man riding an E-bike was sent to an area hospital on Sunday morning after he was allegedly struck by a vehicle while riding in Long Branch, police say.

The collision happened in on August 17 near Lakeshore Boulevard W. and Thirty Third Street, just after 10:00 a.m.

Paramedics say the male cyclist was about 70-years-old and sustained life-threatening injuries. He was taken to a local hospital, where he remains in stable condition.

The man is the second bike rider to be hit by a vehicle in the last month in Toronto.

Another E-bike rider was killed in a two-vehicle collision on July 18 that took place at 6:38 p.m. in downtown Toronto.

Police said the e-bike was travelling west on Gerrard Street E., when he collided with a Dodge Ram pick-up truck driving south on Church Street.

The 28-year-old cyclist was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries and pronounced dead.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact police or Crime Stoppers.

Some Mimico area residents are fighting against the expansion of a highly visible storage facility beside the Gardiner Expressway.

An application is being considered by Etobicoke York Community Council to determine if a one storey Public Storage facility, at 2 and 4 Mendota Road, in the Grand Avenue and the Gardiner area, should be approved for expansion to a four-storey facility, with additional parking and truck loading bays.

The company is highly visible for motorists along the Expressway, near Park Lawn Road.

Councillor Amber Morley said many members of the neighbourhood have been in contact with her office to voice their concerns about the proposed expansion.

She said on her website that there are concerns about pedestrian safety, transportation issues, shadow impacts, noise, quality of submitted studies, and more.

“Residents do not like the impact the existing facility has on their neighbourhood and they are opposed to any expansion,” Morley said. “Located at the end of a dead-end street, the Public Storage facility requires anyone accessing it to travel through the neighbourhood area, including heavy truck traffic.”

Concerned residents have been able to share their issues with City staff and applicant at a recent ‘well-attended’ community consultation meeting.

“I support the residents’ position against this development proposal,” she wrote.

The application is under review a Development Review division whose members will submit a report with recommendations to community council for a vote likely in the late summer of fall.

The company is seeking  an amendment to the zoning by-law to permit a four storey self-storage facility with a gross floor area of 11,168.26 square metres, 31 parking spaces and 3 truck loading bays.

Public Storage Properties is a publicly held company that has invested in mini-warehouse storage facilities. It is a full service real estate company whose Canadian Properties and affiliates own over 2.7 million square feet of properties in four provinces.