News highlights

Once or twice a week I send out news highlights to my email distribution list, which I set up as part of the Parkview School story, before I set up the Preserved Stories website. The news highlights, in turn, are based on my online Newsletter category.

I set up the newsletter – a format that I find is valuable for condensing information – at the suggestion of Donna Magee, who is on the mailing list.

Below are highlights I circulated March 8, 2013:

1. The March / April edition of The Lakeshore Villages Community Newspaper has many valuable articles  including Lindsay Howe’s beautifully written overview of local Jane’s Walks on May 4th and 5th.
2. Heritage Toronto is hosting five War of 1812 Bicentennial Lectures.
3. Councillor Mark Grimes’ Office has informed us that from a City of Toronto policy and planing perspective, the eastern boundary of Mimico is the Humber River.
4. This week’s Etobicoke Guardian covers much ground including:
5. The results of the Mimico 20/20 survey of Mimico residents organized by the Mimico Residents Association;
6. The unanimous Community Council vote regarding 28 Daisy Avenue;
7. The proposal to establish a concrete batching facility separate from the day to day lives of residents;
8. City launches air quality study in south Etobicoke. Previous research elsewhere indicated that “the contribution of emission sources from the U.S. and Ontario were much higher than the sources from Toronto, including sources located in the study area.”

Later today or by the weekend I’ll post two articles — a News Report and an Opinion Article — regarding the Wesley Mimico United Church redevelopment process.

Below are the highlights that I circulated in an email on March 1, 2013:

• Jane Jacobs was not an academic
• Jane’s Walk is hiring!
• 28 Daisy Avenue designation request from City of Toronto Staff accepted unanimously by Etobicoke York Community Council
• Denise Harris, Heritage Officer with the Etobicoke Heritage Society; Madeleine McDowell, Chair of the Humber Heritage Committee; and Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday spoke with regard to the history of the building at the latter meeting.
• Holyday’s grandfather bought a house near 28 Daisy Avenue in 1919 in the Lakeshore Gardens Annex development. His grandfather would tell him that cows from a nearby farm would come up to the windows of the house, and that he could see all the way from the house down to the lake.
• An earlier blog post includes a map of the Lakeshore Gardens Annex development along with other residential developments of Long Branch dating back to 1884.
• If you click on the latter map, you can enlarge it. Click again and you can enlarge it further.
• “There really isn’t any reason to incent residential development in the city – particularly not on the waterfront,” said Toronto’s chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat: http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/2080089-council-rejects-grimes-mimico-development-incentives/
• Discover Black History bus tour has been rescheduled to this Saturday, March 2, 2013
• David Suzuki Foundation – Toronto’s Natural Homegrown Park project

I’ll post newsletter highlights for February 2013 when I’ve assembled them. January 2013 highlights are listed below.

A most interesting question is: How best to arrive at an optimal mix of texts and links in a news highlight.

What mix of text and link is most useful, in terms of readability/user friendliness/usability? Such questions fascinate me.

For example, is the distraction entailed in the use of a full-sentence active link worth the convenience of having such a link?

Jan. 28, 2013

1. Trustee Pamela Gough’s news update

2. Wesley Mimico community forum is scheduled for this evening at 7:30 pm:

http://preservedstories.com/2013/01/17/wesley-mimico-community-forum-on-mon-jan-28-2013-at-730-pm

3. Please write an email regarding 28 Daisy Avenue if you haven’t already sent one:

Jan. 25, 2013

1. Item EY21.49 regarding Mimico 20/20 was adopted by the Etobicoke York Community Council on Jan. 22, 2013. City Council will consider the item on Feb. 20.
2. I’ve posted an update regarding building proposals for the Long Branch Go Station and Legion lands.
3. A letter from the Etobicoke Historical Society supports the designation of Wesley Mimico United Church under the Ontario Heritage Act.
4. Wesley Mimico Community Forum: Mon., Jan. 28, 2013 at 7:30 pm
5. If you haven’t already sent an email regarding 28 Daisy Avenue, please send an email today.

Jan. 21, 2013

1. News updates from Mimico Residents Association regarding ML Ready Mix, Mimico 20/20 survey and other topics.
2. News release from Architectural Conservancy of Ontario regarding Gore Park streetwall
3. News update from Councillor Mark Grimes’ Office

Jan. 14, 2013

1. From William Morris: Building conservation and the Arts and Crafts cult of authenticity 1877-1939 (2005). I enjoyed this book. The book has prompted me to realize that in the era of global warming, heritage preservation means saving lower Manhattan.
2. Councillor Mark Grimes’ update. Mary Ciufo is new Executive Assistant, replacing Sheila Paxton who is now a Senior Policy Advisor in the Mayor’s Office.
3. Tamara Shephard in her Jan. 10 Etobicoke Guardian article speaks of residents sharing a wishlist for the Toronto budget.
4. There never was a No 1 Highway in Ontario.
5. Please write an email to Robert Saunders, Chair and Members of the Toronto Preservation Board
   c/o Janette Gerrard in support of the designation of 28 Daisy Avenue under the Ontario Heritage Act: http://preservedstories.com/2013/01/10/we-urge-you-to-show-your-support-of-the-designation-of-28-daisy-avenue-under-the-ontario-heritage-act/

Jan. 11, 2012

1. We urge you to again show your support for designation of 28 Daisy Avenue under the Ontario Heritage Act.
2. TRCA is recruiting a new watershed committee.
3. Ontario, TDSB point fingers at each other over trade workers’ contract (Globe, Jan. 7, 2013)
4. Ward 3 TDSB Trustee Pamela Gough comments: “The Ministry of Education imposed a freeze on TDSB’s capital plan, citing construction overruns at Nelson Mandela school as an example of fiscal mismanagement despite a third party report that indicated management was in accordance with professional standards.”
5. Ward Forum meeting is on Tues., Jan. 29, 2013 (Pamela Gough and Chris Glover).
6. Casino proposal: All residents encouraged to fill out the online feedback form by Fri., Jan. 25, 2013.
7. Lakeview waterfront connection study: Public meeting is on Jan. 22, 2013 at the Mississauga Seniors’ Centre at 1389 Cawthra Road in Mississauga.

Jan. 4, 2012

1. MPP Laurel Broten’s New Year’s Levee is on Jan. 6 at 2:00 – 4:00 pm. This is a community event open to everyone. Royal Canadian Legion Hall Branch 210 – 110 Jutland Road.
2. Ward 6 budget meeting with speaker Councillor Shelley Carroll, former City of Toronto budget chief, is on Jan. 9 at 7:00 pm. East Hall at the Assembly Hall, 1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive
   (Kipling Ave. & Lake Shore Blvd. W.)
3. In Vancouver, Kitsilano Secondary School’s 1927 building street façade will be retained. The references to modernist design trends (dating from the 1958 additions to the school in the baby-boom era) bring to mind Ken Greenberg’s discussion of the influence of the well-intentioned “modern movement” in architecture on early urban planning in Chicago and elsewhere.
4. Jan 4 news update from Office of Councillor Mark Grimes
5. Dec 2012 Built Heritage News update
6. Update from City of Hamilton Councillor Jason Farr regarding Gore Park Streetwall
7. Lakeview Waterfront Connection Environmental Assessment now proceeding