[NEWS] Ten LGBTQ links: crime, Toronto, Montréal, HIV/AIDS, in memoriam, education, sports, camp

• Leo Mantha, the last man executed in British Columbia in 1959, was executing for killing his estranged lover. Was homophobia the cause of what was, even then, a unique lack of mercy? Global News considers.
• Brian D. Johnson at MacLean’s, reviewing Killing Patient Zero, notes how the openness of Gaëtan Dugas about his sexual past was one feature that led him to be unfairly branded Patient Zero, cause of the HIV/AIDS crisis.
• This invaluable Justin Ling AMA at reddit’s unresolvedmysteries about the Church-Wellesley serial killings, besides exposing the accidents that led police not following up on reports, highlights a historic worldwide pattern of rage-filled killing sprees against queer people.
• Shaun Brodie at NOW Toronto pays tribute to the late, great writer Wayson Choy.
• CTV News reports that the Québec National Assembly has extended official recognition of the historic importance of the Village gay of Montréal.
• Phys.org links to a study suggesting that countries which extend civil rights to LGBTQ people experience higher economic growth as a result.
• Peter Mendelsohn at Daily Xtra looks at homophobia in Canadian hockey, a factor that deters many queer people from playing the sport. Can it be easily dealt with?
• Erica Lenti at Daily Xtra has a fantastic article looking at how gay-straight alliances at schools help young people learn how to be queer in a safe environment, providing them with the socialization they do not get elsewhere.
• This lovely essay by wedding photographer Dana Koster at them explores, in general and in a specific example, the miracle and joys of legal same-sex marriage.
• Elio Iannacci at Daily Xtra writes, in the wake of the Met gala, about the specifically queer nature of camp.

[URBAN NOTE] Six Toronto links: transit, Union Centre, real estate, police

• Sean Marshall reports on the long history of Toronto in coming up with new transit plans and failing to follow through.
• The failings of the one-stop Scarborough subway extension go back to the concept’s very conception. The Toronto Star reports.
• The new plans of the province of Ontario for taking over the TTC are, rightfully, causing alarm at Toronto City Hall. CBC reports.
• blogTO notes the proposal for Union Centre, a new skyscraper in downtown Toronto designed by the Bjarke Ingels Group that will feature a treed roof.
• blogTO notes a new report making it clear that housing affordability has become a major issue for Torontonians, with costs of ownership and rental having reached new highs relative to income.
• Alok Mukherjee makes the point at NOW Toronto that any inquiry into Toronto Police conduct in the McArthur killings has to be part of a general inquiry into how the police conducts itself internally.

[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links: Umbrella Academy, TTC, trails, crime, Port Lands

• Toronto Life includes photos of some of the most notable locations in the new Toronto-filmed TV series, The Umbrella Academy.
• This report revealing the scale of fare evasion and losses due to Metrolinx malfunction on the TTC, in the area of $C 64 million, is unsurprising. Global News reports.
• Sean Marshall reports on the new Canongate Trial in Scarborough, erected to help allow for safe pedestrian access to a street where a child was recently killed in a collision.
• Urban Toronto looks at the state of the renovation of the Park Hyatt at Bloor and Avenue Road.
• CBC reports that Bruce McArthur was linked, in 2013, to three of the men he was convicted six years later of murdering.
• Bianca Wylie at Spacing considers the lessons Toronto should take from the unfolding Sidewalk Labs drama in the Port Lands.
• This Metro Morning interview with Dan Doctoroff on the Sidewalk Labs’ plan for the Port Lands is revealing.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Netflix, McArthur, Downsview Park, Winter Stations, winter rain

• Netflix is opening up a new production hub in Toronto, creating as many as two thousand extra jobs. CBC reports.
• The inquiry into a policeman charged with unfairly dismissing a 2016 report of an attempted choking by Bruce McArthur continues. The National Post reports.
• Is there a possibility that Downsview Park might undergo a renaissance as a hub of aerospace industry? CBC reports.
• CBC Toronto reports on this year’s iteration of Winter Stations, this one based around the theme of migration.
• Freezing rain is expected for Wednesday night, contributing to a winter that so far as been quite full of precipitation of all kinds. CBC reports.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Torontoist, Dundas West/Bloor, McArthur, schools, TTC

• Veteran Toronto online news hub Torontoist, silent for the past few months, has been acquired by Canadian combine Daily Hive. I wish Torontoist will; I miss it.
• A tunnel connecting the Dundas West TTC station with the Bloor UP station, a few hundred metres apart, is in the works but is still some years away. Toronto.com reports.
• A police officer who has been charged with negligence with regards to a 2016 claim of an assault by Bruce McArthur claims he is being made a fall guy. The Toronto Star has it.
• CBC Toronto looks at the low attendance at the Africentric Alternative School, despite the high praise it receives.
• At The Globe and Mail, former mayor John Sewell notes that the lack of consent of the City of Toronto to the takeover of the TTC by Ontario has some legal import.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Moss Park, The Junction, McArthur, TTC future, homelessness

• Tanya Mok writes at blogTO about the evolution of the Moss Park neighbourhood.
• Emily Mathieu at the Toronto Star notes that some tenants in a fire-damaged home in the Junction have returned, despite terrible living conditions, for fear of being priced out of the Toronto rental market.
• The family of McArthur victim Selim Esen has called for an inquiry into police conduct in this case. The Toronto Star reports.
• Francine Kopun and Ben Spurr at the Toronto Star note that the recent breakdown of the Scarborough RT line during last week’s storm might hint at worse to come for transit users.
• Justin Haynes at NOW Toronto writes about the horrors of three nights spent in Toronto’s Seaton House shelter. What of the people who, unlike him, could not escape?

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Power Super Market, Bombardier, McArthur, congestion, Regent Park

• Jamie Bradburn takes a look at the advertisements, and history, of post-Second World War Power Super Market.
• Bombardier has missed a deadline for delivering vehicles for the Eglinton Crosstown, the Toronto Star notes.
• Toronto police officer Paul Gauthier has been charged with misconduct in connection with the Bruce McArthur case, over his treatment of the 2016 complaints of a man claiming he had been strangled by McArthur. CBC reports.
• Tricia Wood at Spacing Toronto argues against making the fight against congestion a key police aim.
• Jennifer Pagliaro and Emily Mathieu at the Toronto Star look at what’s next for Regent Park.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Bruce McArthur, Ontario Place, real estate, Chickadee and Owl, TTC

• This Toronto Star feature touches upon the continuing upset among the communities affected by the murders of Bruce McArthur.
• Polling suggests that most Torontonians want Ontario Place to remain a place where they can access Lake Ontario easily. I do like the idea of a ferris wheel, mind. The Toronto Star reports.
• blogTO notes that a small shack near the Art Gallery of Ontario is selling for $2.5 million. (The value, to be fair, is in the land the building sits on.)
• Jamie Bradburn shares some classic advertisements for children’s science magazines Chickadee and Owl.
• Steve Munro analyses at length the City of Toronto’s budget, specifically as it relates to the TTC.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: winter, Bruce McArthur, homelessness, real estate, TTC

• Yesterday saw record-breaking snowfall in Toronto, with more than 25 centimetres of snow, and today saw cold. CityNews reports</u.
• That Bruce McArthur has pled guilty to the eight charges of first-degree murder against him, avoiding a trial, is a minor blessing. CBC reports.
• The homeless people living under the Gardiner are apparently not facing imminent risk of eviction from their encampment. The Toronto Star reports.
• blogTO shares this map showing home and condo prices near each of the stops of the TTC.
• Ricardo Tranjan at NOW Toronto makes a point that, especially after the costly privatization of Highway 407, any transformation of the TTC must need to be approved by the people of Toronto.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: TTC fare, Bathurst Street, express buses, murder, #FordNation

• The TTC would like to increase fares by 10 cents a ride in the coming year, to help finance basic repairs and services. CityNews reports.
• Facing public furor, Metrolinx has decided not to try to close off Bathurst Street at Eglinton for seven months to try to speed Eglinton Crosstown construction. Global News reports.
• Steve Munro is critical of the TTC’s new express buses running on many major arteries, seeing them as mainly cosmetic in effect.
• Wendy Gillis at the Toronto Star writes about the reactions, one year later, to the murders committed by the Church and Wellesley killer.
• Richard Florida at CityLab summarizes the factors leading to the success of populist Ford Nation, first in Toronto and then in Ontario.