ICYMI: Rather than just report what is said here, your Toronto Star city hall bureau try to explain what is actually happening - in front of and behind the scenes. We took a look at some of the main players and how their roles changed post-Tory in the Chow-era power dynamic

Hey Toronto! Anyone know what church this is? My g-grandfather is a steelworker on the roof and we don’t know what church it is. Possibly East York. TIA.

I’ve spent the last few months cooking up a podcast miniseries with the amazing team at The Big Story Podcast, and we’re so excited to share it with you!

Here’s the trailer for Paydirt, the inside story of Ontario’s Greenbelt scandal:
the-big-story-bb309f15.simplecast.com/episodes/the-b…

. David Rider Ben Spurr & Alyshah Sanmati Hasham take a look inside Olivia Chow’s council: “outsiders suddenly on the inside, former Chow foes weighing opposition vs collaboration, erstwhile allies clinging to their independence” — & what it means for the city’s future.
thestar.com/news/gta/insid…

Scores of arts organizations have been forced to permanently shutter or cut programming, leading to a reckoning about the viability and future of Toronto's once-thriving industry.

My feature in today's issue of Toronto Star:
thestar.com/entertainment/…

For the West End Phoenix I wrote about FOCUS Toronto, an initiative ten years in the making that's been successful in redirecting people in high-risk situations away from police and towards community agencies at weekly situation tables across the city. westendphoenix.com/stories/everyo…

NEW: Toronto police officer has non life-threatening injuries after being stabbed near College Street and Lansdowne Avenue Friday, where a suspect has also been shot.
thestar.com/news/gta/toron…

Dispute over COVID-19 social distancing led to murder at Toronto LCBO, judge ruled today thestar.com/news/crime/dis… via @torontostar

Friday morning rec: the riveting Netflix doc WHAT JENNIFER DID, based on the work my former colleague Jeremy Grimaldi did, first as a reporter and then as author of the Ellis-winning book A DAUGHTER'S DEADLY DECEPTION. A bonus Friday morning rec.

dundurn.com/books_/t22117/…

The Star’s Edward Keenan sits down with @mayoroliviachow on This Matters to talk vacant home tax mess, dangerous dogs, homeless encampments in parks, recent Toronto Police Association criticism, the misinformation around Toronto’s “rain tax” & more.
thestar.com/podcasts/this-…

'Umar Zameer feared his family was under attack when two strangers began yelling and pounding on his car windows, that concern only escalating when a dark grey van with tinted windows blocked his exit path in the underground garage...' betsy powell thestar.com/news/gta/they-…

I keep getting texts from unknown numbers asking “have you got the email” and I assume it’s a scam… but I also am stressed because I have not gotten the email

Why are Indigenous people so overrepresented in Canadian prisons? / new for @torontostar thestar.com/politics/feder…

‘They were just rushing towards the car’: Umar Zameer describes panic of not knowing Toronto Const. Northrup was police thestar.com/news/gta/they-… via @torontostar

Scoop from Lex Harvey: Roughly 700 TTC electrical and trades workers are preparing to strike. thestar.com/news/gta/ttc-e…

NEW: A GTA police recruit allegedly impersonated an officer to “gain the trust” of underage victims who he is charged with taking to a bar, purchasing alcohol for, then sexually assaulting, the Star has learned. Toronto Star
thestar.com/news/crime/gta…

'It's just an overall explosion in #homelessness ': Encampment numbers in Toronto have more than doubled over last March, by Victoria Gibson thestar.com/real-estate/it… via @torontostar

#Peel police officers sued following killing of #Mississauga 's Ejaz Choudry move to keep their names secret in family's $22M lawsuit. Via Wendy Gillis
thestar.com/news/gta/john-…

After all the right-wing rage machine sturm & drang over Toronto staff consultations about a potential stormwater levy, Mayor Olivia Chow tells Edward Keenan she had no plans to bring it forward in the proposed form, it goes back to the drawing board thestar.com/opinion/star-c…

The Toronto cop accused of stealing from dead people is “not very good at practicing the art of deception,” the Crown said in a closing address at the trial today.

Nonetheless, “he almost pulled this off.”

My latest for Toronto Star:
thestar.com/news/gta/this-…