Stay in-the-know on all things Toronto with these highlights from the TorontoToday reporting team this week.
Torontonians took the plunge at annual Polar Bear Dip
What better way to start fresh in the new year than with a dip into freezing water? Hundreds of brave Torontonians took to Sunnyside Beach on New Year's Day for the annual Polar Bear Dip. The event was organized by Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre and takes place near Sunnyside Pavilion every January 1st at noon.
Inside Toronto paramedics’ ongoing overtime revolt
Two longtime paramedics told TorontoToday reporter Gabe Oatley that hundreds of their colleagues have cancelled planned overtime shifts in protest of a weak contract offer from the City of Toronto — a move the chief of paramedics called "inappropriate" labour action. The cancellations left the province’s largest emergency medical service scrambling to fill the gaps.
Parkside Drive speed camera thrown in pond after being cut down for third time
Toronto’s busiest speed camera was beheaded for the third time in two months — and the remains were thrown into the High Park duck pond. A local resident told TorontoToday reporter Aidan Chamandy the camera at Parkside Drive near Algonquin Avenue was cut down sometime early on Dec. 29. The camera was transported a few hundred metres away and left in a pond, where it remained partially submerged until the next day.
MAP: Regent Park redevelopment part of a long story of change
Regent Park's long process of redevelopment is bringing vast change to the neighbourhood. But historic maps show that change is nothing new: the area has been rebuilt and tinkered with since the middle of the 19th century. TorontoToday reporter Patrick Cain created an interactive map to move back and forth between centuries in order to see how the Regent Park has changed.
Planned Rogers Stadium has some Downsview residents seeing red
Some Downsview residents told TorontoToday they fear "sonic torture" from concert noise and traffic problems ahead of several planned concerts this summer. Many are angry about entertainment giant Live Nation's plans to build the 50,000-person open-air concert venue on the grounds of the old Downsview Airport. The venue is set to operate for five years before being torn down to make way for residential housing.
