The South Etobicoke News

Serving Humber * Mimico * Lakeshore Village * Long Branch * Alderwood

Long Branch author wins Emerging Writer prize for debut book

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Congratulations to Long Branch author J.R. McConvey whose book of short stories won a 2020 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.

The prize supports Canadian debut authors by helping to kick-start their careers, according to a news release.  Three Canadian authors were selected this year.

McConvey, an area screenwriter, has been published in Malahat Review, Joyland and the Dalhousie Review. He was also long-listed for the 2016 CBC Poetry Prize.

His first book, a short-story collection, Different Beasts, which is being recognized was published in 2019. It takes the prize in the speculative fiction category.

Judge Andrew Pyper says this is the ‘kind of storytelling that burns certain images into the reader’s mind.’

“McConvey’s imagination is curious and ready for travel,” Pyper wrote. “It was a difficult task choosing a winner for this year’s shortlist, which is good news for everyone.”

Different Beasts is a short story collection that explores the beastly side of humanity and the human side of monsters. The characters are both otherworldly and earth-bound, ranging from mutant angels and insectoid demon-gods to politicians and parents.

The 12 stories in Different Beasts ask what it means to be both human and monster. Shape-shifting waifs, haunted stuffies, scavenging drones, insectoid demon-gods, and mutant angels all come to life in this wildly imagined debut, according to the release.

“In this wild, fantastical, viscerally memorable debut, J.R. McConvey explores the power dynamics that undergird social relationships and crystallize into structures of fealty and worship, fear and control, aspiration and desire,” according to reviewers.

The Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize is now in its sixth year. The winners were selected from a shortlist of talented Canadian writers. The shortlist was chosen by Kobo’s team of booksellers, with book completion rates, customer ratings, and reviews taken into consideration along with our specialists’ collective gift for spotting unique stories, new voices and under-the-radar talent.

The book is available on Amazon.ca

 

How safe are your kids schools when open in September

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The Ontario government has released its plan for the safe reopening of schools.

A news release sent out by MPP Christine Hogarth on July 30 said schools for in-class instruction will begin in September and students from Grades 4 – 12 will be required to wear masks.

Education officials say Kindergarten to Grade 8 will reopen with in-class instruction five days a week. Secondary schools with lower risk will reopen with a normal daily schedule, five days a week, while most secondary schools will start the year in an adapted model of part-time attendance with class cohorts of up to 15 students alternating between attending in-person and online.

Details on the safe restart of the school year were released by Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, and Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health.

They said parents will continue to have the option to enroll their children in ‘remote delivery, which respects their fundamental role in making the final determination of whether they feel safe with their children returning to school.’

The government said they will be spending $300 million in targeted public health protocols to keep staff safe when they return to school.

Some $60 million will be spent to procure medical and cloth masks for students and staff; $30 million for teacher staffing to support supervision in keeping classes small; $50 million to hire up to 500 additional and school-focused nurses in public health units to provide rapid-response to schools and boards.

About $75 million will be spent to hire 500 additional custodians and purchase cleaning supplies; $23 million for testing: $40 million to clean buses; $10 million for health and safety training for occasional teachers: $10 million for support special needs students and $10 million to support student mental health.

Some $15 million in technology funding to support the procurement of over 35,000 devices for Ontario’s students to support their synchronous learning in-school and beyond.

“We are seeing that overall instances of COVID-19 are declining in Ontario,” said Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health. “We believe that with the appropriate measures and strategies in place to handle potential outbreaks and prevent spread, schools are expected to be a safe place for Ontario’s students and staff who attend.”

Officials said there are protocols in place for school officials to deal with the positive cases of COVID-19 among students, parents, teachers or staff.

About two million students attend public schools in Ontario.

Police search still underway for Nicole Morin who has been missing for 35-years

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It has been 35-years since Nicole Morin disappeared and Toronto Police are still optimistic that she’s alive.

Nicole was eight-years-old when she went missing on July 30, 1985 at about 11 a.m. after leaving her apartment on the top floor of 627 The West Mall, in Etobicoke.

“She was never seen again,” police said on the 35-th anniversary of her disappearance. “She was just eight-years-old at the time and would be 43 now.”

An artist rendition of what Nicole would look like today (in photo) was released by police.

Veteran detectives have been working quietly behind the scenes over the years to crack the case that angered the community and made headlines back in the mid-1980.

Police say over the years there have been several tips from community members near and far.

“Yet police have been unable to bring this investigation to a conclusion and it is still unknown what exactly happened that day,” according to the release.

Nicole was described as white, 4’0″, 55 lbs., with straight shoulder-length brown hair, brown eyes, and had a birth mark on her right upper forehead. In 2019, an updated artist’s rendition was released by Toronto Police to show what she could look like today in the hope someone recognized her.
Detectives are asking the community to help them find out happened to Nicole and provide a conclusion for her family and friends.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-2200, email at FindNicole@TorontoPolice.on.ca, or contact the Toronto Police Service – Missing Person’s Unit at 416-808-7411.
For anonymous information, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, online on our Facebook Leave a Tip page, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637). Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World.

Five top Lakeshore community students selected for scholarships

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Five up-and-coming top south Etobicoke students have been awarded scholarships to continue their studies next semester.

The students were selected as 2020 Penny Bethke Scholarship recipients, which is part of the of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT) Diversity Scholarship Program that was founded in 2004. Some 30 students are selected for scholarships providing they live in CHFT member co-ops.

Congratulations to the five high-achieving students from the Lakeshore community.

Madhumitha Ramamurthy, (in photo) of Mimico Co-operative Homes, volunteered at St. Joseph’s Health Centre in the summers and at Lakeshore Lodge on weekends. At the hospital, she welcomed and directed visitors. At Lakeshore Lodge, she planned and assisted in recreation activities in arts and music for the residents. She is starting a second year of a life sciences program at the University of Toronto this fall.

Alia Omar-Bujak is graduating from Richview Collegiate Institute. She is a First Aider with MedVents Canada and a youth leader and mentor at her church, who has helped with a teen drop-in night. She plans to attend the University of Toronto to study paramedicine.

Raquelle Johnson is graduating from Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts, where helped with fundraisers and events at the school’s Antilleans Culture Club. She was a Healthy Schools representative at Wexford, promoting good nutrition. She will be starting a forensic science program at the University of Toronto.

Makeda Kafele-Green is graduating this year from Oakwood Collegiate Institute. She has been active at Oakwood as an Ambassador. As a member of Afro-Can, she started the Black Youth Book Club, aiming to break stereotypes about black students and literacy. She will attend Wilfrid Laurier University to study Community Music.

Taylor Seichter is graduating this year from Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute, where she has been involved in a range of social justice activities. She has provided 400-hours of service over two years to Rosalie Hall, an agency that assists young parents and children. She will enter Centennial College this fall to study child and youth care.

The scholarships are for students who are graduating from high school, or are currently enrolled in a post-secondary program or are returning to school after a break to complete an undergraduate program. It has awarded over 380 scholarships equalling more than $2 million to students in nine areas of Canada.

The scholarships are $5,000 distributed over four years.

Alterna Savings, in partnership CHFT, has awarded five Penny Bethke Scholarships to young community leaders who help strengthen cooperatives and their communities.

Canadian and U.S. fighter jets to conduct drills over Toronto today

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If you are outside today, you may likely hear the screech of fighter jets in the skies above Toronto.

Military pilots from the Royal Canadian Air Force and U.S. Air Force will practice response procedures in high-density airspace as part of a North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) exercise, officials say.

NORAD in a Tweets said the U.S. and Canadian fighter jet pilots will practice ‘response procedures in high-density airspace’ on July 30.

They said the fighters will conduct a mock interception of a contracted civilian aircraft over the city’s core.

“These exercises ensure NORAD forces remain ready to respond to aerospace threats 24/7 anywhere in Canada and the United States,” NORAD said in a Tweet yesterday.

“The defence of North America is our top priority.”

NORAD said Toronto residents may see or hear CF-18s, F-16s and a Boeing KC-135 refuelling tanker.

The routine drill, the said, will take place between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

“NORAD routinely conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responses to unknown aircraft,” they said in a release.

For more than 60 years, NORAD has identified and intercepted potential air threats to North America through the execution of the command’s aerospace warning and aerospace control missions. NORAD also keeps watch over Canadian and U.S. internal waterways and maritime approaches under its maritime warning mission.

Local bars and restaurants move to Stage 3 for indoor dining

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The owners of South Etobicoke bars and restaurants are breathing a sigh of relief that Stage 3 of Ontario’s recovery plan begins Friday, when they can begin inside dining again.

Toronto and Peel Region were yesterday given the Stage 3 green light by the Ministry of Health, which reported its fewest number of new cases since last March.

Stage 3 allows for activities such as indoor dining in restaurants, live performing arts shows and the reopening of movie theatres and playgrounds. It also permits larger gatherings of people, though social distancing requirements remain in place.

Restaurants can offer indoor dine-in service, provided that all patrons are seated when eating or drinking and that tables are separated by at least two metres or have plexiglass or other impermeable barriers separating them.

“We have made tremendous progress that allows us to return to something a little closer to our normal lives this summer, but we are not out of the woods yet,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement.

Residents on Friday can participate in expanded social gatherings and organized public events, in which  Indoor gatherings of up to 50 people and outdoor gatherings of up to 100 people are permitted. These gatherings remain subject to compliance with provincial physical distancing requirements of a two-metre distance from anyone outside your household or 10-person social circle.

Members of the Lakeshore Village BIA say their stores, bars and restaurants have been hurting due to the pandemic.

“The opening to Stage 3 is great news for some area businesses,” says Chris Korwin Kuczynski, Head of the Chair of the Lakeshore Village BIA. “This is great news for our bars, restaurants and some other businesses.”

The City’s bylaws on physical distancing in City parks and squares remains in effect, as does the mandatory mask or face covering bylaw for indoor public spaces.

More than 800 City playgrounds and play structures, community and recreation centres, and libraries will also be open for on-site services.

Many bars will have to gather contact information for patrons in the event contact tracing is required or maintain sanitary conditions for patrons.

The number of patients in Ontario hospitals with confirmed cases of the illness declined down to 91, the fewest since the province began reporting hospitalization figures on April 1. The number of those patients being treated in intensive care units and with ventilators also declined

Traffic officers seize gun, drugs in speeding Lamborghini

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Brave Toronto Police Traffic Unit officers are being hailed as heroes.

Police say they stopped a speeding Lamborghini on July 28 in 22 Division and arrested the vehicle’s driver who was allegedly sought on an outstanding warrant.

The driver faced new charges after an investigation by officers led to cash, drugs and a gun, police say.

“An adult male was arrested for outstanding warrant and faces new charges,” police said in a release.
Little else is known but the suspect who is before the courts on some serious charges.

The officers were thanked by many on social media for the heroic job that they performed in making the arrest and seizures.

“These officers are the best,” georgeandressa wrote. “Thanks for putting yourselves at risk in order to make Toronto a safer community.”

Another writer maintained the Lamborghini “should be the subject to civil forfeiture as the proceeds of crime.”

“Can the police keep the car,” another man wondered.

The base price of the fabled Lamborghini Urus is $211,000 and the luxury vehicles can reach millions of dollars.

 

 

Exact motion for shelter that was voted on by City Council

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July 28 vote by City Council to acquire 2950 and 2970 Lake Shore Blvd. W.

Some 26 Councillors voted for Motion to Amend Item moved by Councillor Mark Grimes (Carried)

That:

  1. City Council direct that, prior to closing on the purchase and sale of 2950 and 2970 Lake Shore Boulevard West, the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, in consultation with the Ward Councillor, engage with local residents, Lakeshore Village Business Improvement Area, Jean Tweed Centre, Women’s Habitat, Jean Augustine Centre, LAMP Community Health Centre and any other community partners in order to ensure they are informed of the planned use of the site and explore any potential partnerships that may fit the needs of the community.

 

  1. City Council request General Manager, Shelter, Support, Housing and Administration to consider co-locating permanent housing on the site and to report back through the General Government and Licensing Committee to the September 30, 2020 meeting of City Council.

 

  1. City Council request General Manager, Shelter, Support, Housing and Administration to report back through the General Government and Licensing Committee to the September 30, 2020 meeting of City Council with any necessary community services required to support the potential shelter and housing in the site.

For item considered by the General Government and Licensing Committee:

http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.GL14.11

Majority of Councillors vote to open shelter in New Toronto

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Some 26 City Councillors have agreed in a virtual vote that Lake Shore Blvd., and Eighth St., may be the best place for a homeless shelter.

It took about an hour on July 28 before Council agreed to open, pending public consultations, a 95-bed shelter on the vacant office building and Bi Way site, in New Toronto.

Council members gave Councillor Mark Grimes high marks for his handling of the acquisition, which has been in the works since last November.

Council ruled the matter will return before them in September after public consultations has been held with local groups, agencies, residential and other bodies in the community.

Council will then decide if the shelter will proceed.

Grimes is hoping the massive site can be used as a womens’ centre since there are other related groups in the neighbourhood like the Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women’s Empowerment, Women’s Habitat and the Jane Tweed Centre for Women and Their Families.

‘I have had about a dozen letters and 200 calls from the community on this issue,” Grimes told Council. “The community wanted to know what was going on at that site.”

A Toronto official warned that the City does not have to seek permission from the community to open a shelter, but they are obliged to have public consultations after.

City staff said parts of the shelter will be specially outfitted to treat those suspected of having COVID-19.

Members of the Lakeshore Village BIA, who first discovered the acquisition last week, say they are pleased with the outcome.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” says BIA Board Chair Chris Korwin Kuczynski. “We are pleased that there will be community consultations.”

News of the shelter acquisition has split members of the community, with property and business owners opposed to the shelter, while many others are in favour.

A motion for the acquisition was presented by Grimes, who received vocal support from Councillors Shelley Carroll, Michael Thompson, Mike Colle, Josh Matlow, Frances Nunziata and Stephen Holyday.

Holyday says it is up to City staff to meet and talk with the community and hear their concerns.

If approved, work will begin in the next few months to convert the buildings and bring them up to City standards. The site will open for patients in 2022. Five other shelters are in different stages of opening citiwide.

The City said the two properties ‘create a large-sized property that allows flexibility in responding to changes in shelter standards and demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.’

The shelter could end up serving equity-seeking groups as seniors, people with disabilities, newcomers, individuals with mental health issues, the working poor, Indigenous people, people who identify as LGBTQ2S and other vulnerable groups.

 

 

 

BIA seeking public talks before shelter is approved by Council

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A last-ditch bid is being sought by the Lakeshore Village BIA to stop the opening of a shelter for the homeless until public hearings can be held in the community.

A letter was sent to Mayor John Tory and other City officials on Monday calling for a video vote on July 28, into the opening of the shelter at Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Eight St., be deferred until there has been public consultations, said Chris Korwin Kuczynski, Chair of the Board of the BIA.

“We have not had a response from the Mayor,” Korwin Kuczynski says. “We are hoping that residents will get their say into this matter.”

The move by the City to acquire 2950 and 2970 Lake Shore Blvd. W., which includes a vacant office building and Bi Way Store, has split members of the community with some property and business owners against the shelter, and many others who disagree citing the homeless have to live somewhere.

The BIA held a meeting and members say they stand to lose funds to their treasury since the shelter will be subsidized by the City and not commercial.

The acquisition was adopted on July 7 by the General Government and Licensing Committee and considered by City Council in a record two-weeks.

“The use of the property as a municipal shelter will support City Council’s direction to expand the number of permanent new shelter beds by 1,000,” according to City officials.

The City said the two properties ‘create a large-sized property that allows flexibility in responding to changes in shelter standards and demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.’

Officials with the City’s Shelter, Support and Housing Administration say in response to the virus more space will be required with a two-metre separation between beds and other distance requirements.

“As demand for municipal shelters changes, the property can be partly or wholly transitioned into supportive or transitional housing,” according to the City.

Preliminary site investigations have been completed and sufficient funds for renovation and remediation have been made available.

If City Council approves the acquisition of the properties, renovation to shelter standards will commence in 2021 for the shelter to begin operations in 2022. It is estimated that it will contain about 100 beds.

The shelter will serve equity-seeking groups such as seniors, people with disabilities, individuals with mental health issues, the working poor, Indigenous people, people who identify as LGBTQ2S and other vulnerable groups.