School lobbies to keep pool accessible
At Monarch Park Collegiate, keeping the school pool open isn’t only about giving students a fun way to spend gym class. It may be a life and death situation.
Special-education teacher Jay Arrington said swimming classes are key in keeping his students healthy so they can live longer lives.
“I have some students with different disorders and it means that their life expectancy may be in the teens or mid-twenties,” Arrington said. “But if we can get them in the pool every week, we can extend their life for another ten years.”
East York trustee, now chair, working on school board credibility
Sometimes a simple change is the best way to make a difference.
It’s an idea that Angela Kennedy, Ward 11 Catholic school board trustee and chair, takes to heart when resolving issues brought to her by parents and principals. Often, the solution can be as simple as moving a bus stop to the opposite side of the street.
That’s what happened when one woman had trouble walking three first-graders across a busy stretch of Queen Street to catch the bus. After hearing the woman’s dilemma, Kennedy was able to have the stop moved.
“Now she walks out of the house and gets the bus. I had to bring it to board and explain to my trustee colleagues why they needed to move the stop,” Kennedy said. “I like making those kinds of connections for people.”
Connecting with parents to help make their lives easier is just one of the roles Kennedy fills as trustee. In August, Kennedy was appointed chair of the Toronto Catholic District School Board by new ministry supervisor Richard Alway. The appointment has left her spending time researching ways the TCDSB can function better.
East York councillors surprised by Miller’s decision
By Victoria Wells
David Miller’s announcement that he won’t be seeking a third term as mayor of Toronto came as a shock to two East York city councillors.
Councillor Janet Davis of ward 31 Beaches-East York and Councillor John Parker of ward 26 Don Valley West both expressed surprise at the mayor’s decision.
Councillor Case Ootes of ward 29 Toronto-Danforth is away and was unavailable for comment.
“Everything had indicated that the mayor was looking forward to a fight [in 2010] and had no sign of backing out,” Parker said. “I was completely and totally surprised.”
Passion for canoeing transcends the ages
By Victoria Wells
It was a special moment for canoeing enthusiast George Luste.
After announcing his latest paddling trip at the dinner table one night, he was touched to hear his then 14-year-old daughter offer to accompany him.
“Tija said, ‘I’m not very strong, but I’d like to go.’ So, the two of us did the trip. [I have some] wonderful memories of canoeing together,” he said. “That was really special.”
Luste, a physics professor at the University of Toronto and a wilderness devotee, has been paddling across Canada since 1963. He shared photos and memories of his more than 40 canoe trips at the S. Walter Stewart library Thursday, Sept. 23. The talk was presented as an event for the Outing Club of East York.
Task force studies ways to recycle ‘wasteful’ paper coffee cups
It’s a tempest in a coffee cup – a paper coffee cup, that is.
Since November 2008, the City of Toronto has been locked in a debate with restaurants and fast-food outlets over the recycling of paper hot drink cups. The city does not have the facilities to recycle the cups with plastic lids and wants the hospitality industry to change its packaging to an all-paper cup.
So far, the industry has refused.
According to Public Works chair Glenn De Baeremaeker, this results in over 350 million cups being sent to landfills each year in Toronto.
“The amount of garbage we produce just by coffee cups alone is staggering,” he said. “It is not sustainable. It is not ecologically sound. It is just plain stupid.”
In order to investigate recycling options, council has created a coffee cup task force. It’s made up of 40 people who represent the city, recycling firms, cup manufacturers and restaurants such as Tim Hortons, McDonald’s and Starbucks.
The committee expects to report its findings to council in June of this year.
Coun. De Baeremaeker said Toronto believes the restaurant industry should be held responsible for the garbage it produces and municipalities should not be left holding the recycling bill. That includes the bill to clean up litter.
“The responsibility is on the people making the packaging,” he said. “You make it, you should pay for it.”
Litter is an issue that often springs up around Tim Hortons’ annual Roll Up the Rim contest, which runs from Feb. 23 until March, ending when the game cups run out. Current company policy dictates when customers re-fill travel mugs during the promotion, that they also receive a clean paper game cup.
That leads to more cups sent to landfills, which according to De Baeremaeker, is “wasteful” and “counterproductive.”.
But currently, Tim Hortons does not provide any other means to enter the contest. David Morelli, director of public affairs at Tim Hortons, said that’s because the act of rolling up the rim is something customers enjoy.
“Customers have come to expect the cup, and, as you can see by the success of the program, really fallen in love with the whole concept,” he said.
Still, the company is aware that using paper cups as game pieces may not be the most environmentally friendly option. Morelli said Tim Hortons is looking into alternatives to the cup.
“We are looking into other options, but are not prepared to discuss those yet,” he said.
Tim Hortons has also started a program to recycle their cups in Toronto through a partnership with Turtle Island, a recycling company in the city. By the spring, Morelli said 175 stores will offer recycling receptacles across Toronto.
The city, however, is hoping restaurants and fast-food outlets will abandon the paper cup/plastic lid model and come up with something compatible with the city’s current recycling facilities. De Baeremaeker envisions instituting an industry-wide standard for recyclable cups.
“We’re trying to change the industry,” he said. “I look forward to the day when we can all have a cup of coffee, enjoy it, and then recycle it.”
Filed by Victoria Wells
Originally published at The Toronto Observer, March 8, 2009.
Leaside library brings photos in from the cold
Ronzig poses at the asleep in Toronto exhibit at the Leaside Public Library, January 2009. Photograph: Victoria Wells
By Victoria Wells
In March 2005, Ron Craven had to make a choice.
Ten years of homelessness and crack addiction had taken its toll. Weighing in at 90 pounds, Craven knew he would not be able to make it through another winter. But he needed to decide if he even wanted to survive.
“The bottom line was, ‘Do I want to live?’” said Craven, who now goes by the name of Ronzig. “If I wanted to live, I knew I had to quit drugs. You cannot get off the streets and still be an addict.”
South Pole explorer endured brutal conditions to help kids
The South Pole for Kids team. Courtesy, southpoleforkids.ca
By Victoria Wells
It was the biggest challenge Steve Stipsits ever had to face. 
Trudging 200 kilometres on skis, dragging a 100-pound sled behind him and confronting -50 C wind chills that sapped his strength and never ceased – all with no hope of escape.
Though he had prepared himself physically and mentally for half-a-year for his trip to the South Pole, Stipsits felt, after only one day in Antarctica, that he could never have prepared enough.
“All that [preparation] went out the window that first night,” Stipsits said. “It was completely gone. It was complete anxiety, realizing that we are so deep now, and there is no way to get out of here.”
End of the semester musings…
An old post of mine seems to have caused a stir around my campus.
Reminder to self: Do not post when feeling overwhelmed, or after reading depressing articles about the state of newspapers.
Last week, I got to school and received some pep talks from my instructors. Which just reminds me how happy I am with Centennial College. My professors understand the fears many of us j-students have, and they are doing their best to address those fears in our classes, through conferences and through one-on-one interaction.
Do I feel there is no hope for print journalism? No, not really. I don’t think newspapers are on the verge of death just yet. I love print and I know I’m not the only one. There is something very satisfying about holding a newspaper, seeing words on paper. Yes, the advertising model has to change, and it’s true that today’s print reporters need to have skills that go beyond writing. But, I feel lucky because the program I’m in is well aware of that, and I’m gathering skills that go beyond good writing.
This semester has been a challenge for me. It’s been intense and has been quite hard on my family. And I know next semester is only going to be more intense. (Sorry, family!) But I can’t even begin to express how much I have gained in this semester alone. I’ve put everything I learned in my classes so far into use. I’ve taken photographs, laid out newspaper and magazine pages, reviewed a play, covered community events, tracked down sources on deadline, worked as a copy editor, covered a Maple Leafs event, interviewed city councillors, talked to Catholic school board trustees, been in a scrum, written for the web, talked to important newsmakers in broadcast-style interviews and even figured out how to write for radio. And that’s just the beginning.
Maybe it’s just the end of the semester euphoria, but I’m feeling good about all things journalism right now.
Rooftop garden grows bounty of benefits for elderly
By Victoria Wells
On the 12th floor terrace of the Duncan Mills Co-op, something green will be sprouting soon. And, according to co-op resident, Mary Trapani Hynes, the gardeners involved aren’t what one would expect.
“Everybody should be able to garden if they want to,” Hynes said. “I’ve been interested in the whole idea of gardening for the disabled because I think it’s a way of getting people involved in doing things they don’t normally get to do.”
The housing complex, at 2040 Don Mills Rd., is home to a new rooftop garden designed to be accessible for seniors with disabilities and starting in May, residents will fill the raised beds with vegetables and flowers.
Toronto steps up with new green initiative
By Victoria Wells
Toronto mayor David Miller launched a new program today intended to make city hall greener.
The mayor’s announcement at Nathan Phillips Square introduced the ‘Cool it, Power it, Grow it’ program. The initiative aims to reduce city hall’s carbon footprint by running an air conditioning system that uses less electricity, buying power from emissions-free energy sources and by constructing a green roof.
The changes are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80 per cent. By 2012, the city says all greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by six per cent.
“It’s possible for Toronto city hall to achieve a zero carbon impact and become a showcase for sustainability and energy efficiency,” Miller said. “We’re well on our way to achieving that goal.”
