Tag: Toronto

Breaking News Politics

Mayor Ford Looking Into Fishy Spending

In Toronto, as in many large cities, there are lots of people who cannot afford to live in a house or an apartment.

To make it easier for people to afford housing, the city offers low-priced apartments.There are more than 100,000 people in Toronto who live in low-cost housing.

Those apartments are managed by a department of the city called the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC). The people at TCHC are supposed to use our tax money to buy houses and apartments that are then rented at a low cost by people who haven’t got a lot of money. It’s big responsibility.

Arts

Textile Museum Showing Intricate Works In Thread

Toronto has many wonderful museums. Most people are familiar with the Royal Ontario Museum (the one with the dinosaurs!). But did you know there is a shoe museum with shoes from all through the ages? And a ceramic museum that displays beautiful pottery from many countries?

One of our most interesting museums is the Textile Museum of Canada. The word “textile” means “cloth,” or “fabric.”

There are many beautiful works of art that have been made out of, or painted on, or sewn into fabric. The Textile Museum displays the work of talented artists who happen to work in fabric.

Animals Entertainment

A New Aquarium For Toronto?

Toronto has a huge sports stadium, a science centre and great museums. But there’s one attraction it doesn’t have, that some big cities have—a large aquarium.

Now, an aquarium may be built in Toronto. If it is approved by the City Council, it could be ready by July 2015.

The aquarium would be in a large building. It could include many thousands of fish and marine animals including sharks. One idea is to have a jellyfish room with special lighting and mirrors to make it look very exciting. Another idea is for a tunnel that people could walk through to see the fish swimming around and above them.

Sports

Young Canadian Makes Tennis History

At the young age of 20, Milos Raonic has become Canada’s highest ranked tennis player, ever. Raonic is from Thornhill, Ont.

He jumped from 156 at the end of last year to number 37 with an incredible two-week run that included a win at San Jose and a closely played loss to the number-one seed Andy Roddick in Memphis last weekend.

He didn’t get to where he is by luck–he’s gotten here by hard work, says his mother. She told CBC Radio this morning that her son has practiced long and hard to get where he is. In fact, when he started out he wasn’t even good enough to play with the other kids his age. The coach said he had to improve if he wanted to join the other kids. So that’s what he did, playing before and after school and on weekends until he was good enough to be allowed to work with a coach.

Entertainment Technology

Humans Take On Computer In Jeopardy!

In 1997, there was a very famous chess match. The world champion chess player, Gary Kasparov, went up against a special challenger: a computer. The computer was called “Deep Blue” and it was built by IBM just to play chess. Deep Blue won the six-game chess match.

This year, IBM came up with a new challenge. They decided to build a computer that could match wits with two humans on a game show called Jeopardy!. The computer is called Watson, and its “brain power” is equal to thousands of home computers.

Playing chess is something computers can do very well because it relies on quickly deciding between different moves. However, answering questions and understanding English is not something computers do well. In Jeopardy!, the questions may include riddles, puns and cultural references. These are things humans are good at, but computers are not.

Health Kids Lighter

New Kinds Of Playgrounds In Toronto

Playgrounds in Toronto are changing. Old, boring playgrounds made of wood are on the way out and new, more creative playgrounds are taking their place.

To build a new playground, many safety rules have to be followed. Sometimes, these rules can make the equipment boring and too simple.

Most old playgrounds have a slide, monkey bars and a climber. They are good for exercising the body but they don’t challenge the brain, so kids get bored and stop using them. If kids stop using them, they stop exercising their bodies and then they aren’t as healthy.

Animals News

Toronto’s battle over dog parks

There are 49 dog parks in Toronto where people can take off their dogs’ leashes and let them run freely.

However, not everyone is allowed to use the parks. Dog walkers walk people’s dogs when they are unable to because they are working. They often walk up to six dogs at a time. When they come to a dog park, up to six dogs may pile out of their car and run into the fenced dog park. One or two dog walkers can fill up a dog park, leaving single-dog owners feeling crowded out.

Kids News

Toronto’s Snow Day!

Last Wednesday, Toronto braced itself for a huge winter storm. Cities in the U.S., like Chicago, were reporting snow and high winds. That storm was headed for Toronto.

A full day before the storm was to hit Toronto, the city’s airport cancelled flights. They didn’t want planes to be in the air during bad weather because it could be very dangerous.

Kids everywhere in the city crossed their fingers. They wanted the schools to be shut down for a “snow day.” And around 6:30 a.m., they got what they wanted.

News

Thousands Honour Sgt. Ryan Russell

On Jan. 18, more than 12,000 people from across Canada and the United States attended the funeral of Sgt. Ryan Russell in Toronto. Police, emergency workers and thousands of Toronto residents came to honour Sgt. Russell’s memory and support his wife, Christine and their son, Nolan.

Sgt. Russell died in the line of duty, trying to stop a runaway snowplow. His death affected so many people, even those who had never met him. When a police officer dies, everyone cares.