A legal battle to view evidence collected during "Operation Traveller" to find out whether it reveals a connection between Rob Ford and the "Dixon City Bloods" gang is now underway. Several media organizations, including the CBC, Globe and Mail, and Sun Media, have hired a lawyer to help unseal the court records. Does the public have a right to know if the alleged Rob Ford crack tape is real?
Paris might be forging ahead with a massive, well-funded transit expansion (a tax on office space and a levy on each person in the region, and more) but Toronto is still decades from building the transit it desperately needs. The Globe and Mail finds out what real transit investment looks like.
Meanwhile, Metrolinx says it will pull the plug on Eglinton-Crosstown LRT construction unless council reaffirms its support for the project. In an earlier decision, council threw its weight behind a Scarborough subway extension, contrary to the master agreement with the provincial transit agency. A decision from council would have to come before 12 Aug.
In his letter to city manager Joe Pennachetti, Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig said it would cost around $320 million to renovate Kennedy Station, a figure that TTC CEO Andy Byford takes exception to. The two agencies will meet Tuesday to discuss the differences.
Something stinks at King and Bathurst - it's dead meat. An 80-year-old slaughterhouse is giving off a seasonal "fetid barnyard smell" that some new condo dwellers say is "ridiculous." Is it time the area adapted to its residential future or should the meat plant be allowed to stay?
Also in residential gripes, a majority of Torontonians oppose a Walmart development near Kensington Market. Forum Research found 60% did not want the big box store to set up shop on Bathurst Street between Dundas and College. Does this prove local opposition isn't just a case of NIMBYism?
The Bloor viaduct's luminous veil could finally be completed as intended in time for the 2015 Pan Am Games. The suicide prevention barrier originally included a dazzling light feature that would have illuminated the metalwork on the underside and the veil on top of the bridge. The executive committee will vote Wednesday on whether or not to include the lights in a list of legacy projects.
Finally, author and lawyer Robert Rotenberg has used Toronto as a backdrop for four of his legal thrillers. America's National Public Radio took a look at some of the real-life places and characters that inspired Rotenberg's stories, from Old City Hall, Ward's Island, to Gryfe's Bagel Bakery on Bathurst Street. It's well worth a look.
FROM THE LONG WEEKEND:
- Photos of the 2013 Toronto Pride Parade
- Spoken word events in Toronto, July 2013
- More great Persian eats come to College St.
- This Week in Music
- This Week in Comedy
- Photos of the 2013 Dyke March in Toronto
- Paaeez goes deadpool but not without one last bash
- New Bloordale cafe doesn't do the latte art thing
- How Toronto got the CN Tower
- Where to take over the dance floor at Bloor & Ossington
IN BRIEF:
- GO Transit moves to 30-minute Lakeshore route service [Toronto Star]
- Man shot following 'altercation' in east end, police say [CBC]
- Woman's body pulled from water near Ontario Place [Toronto Star]
- Jose Reyes, Mark DeRosa homer as Jays drub Tigers [CBC] Raptors, Knicks reportedly agree on Andrea Bargnani deal [CBC]
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Image: Bruce Wang/blogTO Flickr pool.