Latest news with #SteveRussell
Toronto Star
3 days ago
- Toronto Star
Let's fix it: This intersection is one of Toronto's most important places — but it's ugly
This is the first in a series of columns in the Star that will highlight important places in Toronto that could do with fixing up — and suggest ways they could be improved, from quick fixes to pie-in-the-sky ideas to make them great. The lay of the land Pretend to be a tourist in Toronto. What would you do? I would head to legendary Yonge Street to see what all the fuss was about. Since Toronto is a city on a lake, I'd follow it to the water in anticipation of greatness. Lisbons's Praça do Comércio, featuring the Cais das Colunas, is beautiful and feels important. Dreamstime Perhaps something like the Praça do Comércio in Lisbon, the civic square the whole city seems to flow towards. There, a small pier called the Cais das Colunas has steps down to the Tagus River where two pillars rise from the water. It's beautiful, grand and feels important, as if the city and all its history can be discovered from here. Approaching Yonge and Queens Quay, you would never know the Island ferry docks and other great, new waterfront parks are steps away. Steve Russell Toronto Star In Toronto disappointment awaits. Yonge and Queens Quay is not a grand entrance to the city or a dramatic reveal of the harbour. Instead, it feels like two highways meeting where few would want to pass through outside of a motor vehicle. You would never know the Island ferry docks and other great, new waterfront parks are steps away — or that the city itself once had grand plans for such an ordinary-looking location. The marker nods to the claim of Yonge Street being the longest in the world, but the grate over the water feels precarious and inelegant. Steve Russell Toronto Star Right at the water's edge, names of Ontario cities and towns are laid into the concrete along with their distance from Toronto, a cool nod to the controversial claim that Yonge Street is, or once was, the longest street in the world. However, the short metal grate balcony there allowing people to stand and walk over the water feels precarious and inelegant, unfitting of the location's importance to the city. 'Between the Eyes' by Richard Deacon, which resembles an egg beater, marks one corner. Steve Russell Toronto Star Across the street are buildings boastfully named 'Residence at the World Trade Centre' where a recently renovated semipublic square out front, the one with the eye-catching egg beater sculpture called 'Between the Eyes ' by artist Richard Deacon, marks the corner well. New planting beds are already shabby and worn out, though the pub among ground floor shops has a nice big patio by an outdoor waterfall, so there's potential, and more space, to expand commercial and public life here. The place where Captain John's once floated is now home to water taxi slips, which seem temporary and inelegant. Steve Russell Toronto Star The other corners are more difficult. On the lake side, one of downtown Toronto's last remaining surface parking lots lingers as an anachronistic blight. Where Captain John's sometimes-sinking seafood ship restaurant once was are water taxi berths. They're a godsend that have helped make Toronto Island easier to get to as the city dithers on improving access, but the docks on either side of the Yonge slip feel temporary, also inelegant. Kitty corner from each other are the former Toronto Star building and the Westin Harbour Castle hotel. Both are fortress-like, but it's important to remember these two buildings were pioneers, built on a dirty, post-industrial waterfront in the early 1970s, so their standoffishness to the public realm is understandable. Both the Westin Harbour Castle, far left, and the old Toronto Star building, right, appear fortress-like. Steve Russell Toronto Star Much of Toronto's harbourfront has been a decades-long monumental effort to change from that earlier state to a welcoming people place. To continue that, improvements are needed in both the public and private realms at Yonge and Queens Quay. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The quick fixes Do basic maintenance and clean up the intersection. There is loose asphalt rubble in places, especially by the large bike-share station. The road markings are faded and need to be repainted. Doing so could give more space to the crowds of pedestrians and make the intersection seem less sprawling and hostile, especially if planters with trees and other elements are added to the dead space to add vegetation and even shade. The serious changes Implement plans languishing on the books. A decade ago the City of Toronto and Waterfront Toronto ran a high-profile design competition for the Toronto Island ferry docks. The winning design, by Toronto's KPMB and West 8 in Rotterdam, had an undulating wood structure and green roof, and was envisioned by the— architects to reimagine 'the site as a gateway, north to the city and south to the lake, as well as a destination in its own right.' Perfect. Do it. The city's Central Waterfront Secondary Plan mentions that the 'foot of Yonge Street should be treated as a special place on the waterfront' and should be a 'distinctive gateway to the city' with public amenities for culture, tourism and that a 'dramatic new pier should be built at the foot of Toronto's historic main street.' That would improve the Yonge Street Slip where the taxis dock as well. Let's go! The pie in the sky Why not create Toronto's own Praça do Comércio? If cities around the world can have vast pedestrian areas, why can't Toronto? Add kiosks, trees and patios. One day the planned Waterfront East streetcar line should pass through here too, on its way to the Port Lands. It will be a hub. To make Yonge-Queens Quay a welcoming people place, improvements are needed in both the public and private realms. Steve Russell Toronto Star Though private property, perhaps the owners of adjacent buildings would feel inspired to make their edges more human scaled, especially the Westin with its concrete maw hostile to people arriving or passing on foot. This kind of treatment would be fitting for one of Toronto's most important places.
Global News
27-05-2025
- General
- Global News
Efforts to limit population of invasive ‘vampire fish' in Canada's Great Lakes underway
Action is finally being taken against an aggressive invasive species that has been surging across the Great Lakes in Ontario. The spike in sea lampreys has triggered a joint campaign between Canada and the U.S. to protect the region's $5.1-billion freshwater fishery. The work began in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and will likely continue till October. Some of the population control methods include lampricides (a chemical treatment), traps and barriers. Story continues below advertisement Sea lampreys, also known as vampire fish, were accidentally introduced through shipping canals into the Great Lakes in 1921. They use their mouths with 150 teeth and serrated tongues to attach to prey, killing up to 40 pounds of fish during their parasitic stage. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Before sea lamprey control, the species killed far more fish than humans did, causing considerable economic and ecological damage. View image in full screen The mouth of a Sea Lamprey features 150 teeth and a tongue that is cerated. Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images A new study confirms that lamprey numbers rose sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel restrictions in 2020 and 2021 forced crews to pause treatments and millions of lamprey larvae survived as a result. Ethan Baker, chair of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, said the rise was expected. 'Ongoing, consistent sea lamprey control is critically important for preventing damage to Great Lakes fish by invasive sea lampreys,' Baker said in an April 10 news release. Story continues below advertisement 'Research shows that sea lamprey control must continue each year to keep populations of this harmful invasive species in check.' In 2024, adult sea lamprey counts were 8,619 above pre-COVID-19 averages. Lake Superior and Lake Ontario saw the biggest increases. Numbers in lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie are starting to stabilize. 'If we take our foot off the gas, even for a short while, sea lamprey populations will increase rapidly and cause considerable damage to fish,' Baker said. Control efforts have since resumed, but scientists and officials warn that the damage done during the pause will take years to reverse. 'Sea lamprey control is critical to safeguard the prosperity of the region,' Baker said.
Times
16-05-2025
- General
- Times
Did our house harbour Catholic priests?
When Steve and Helen Russell bought their seaside home in the scenic village of Langstone in Hampshire, the previous owner told them it was haunted. Liz Heath, who still lives locally, was convinced she saw a woman standing in the main bedroom and she even gave the Russells a crucifix as a gift after they bought the house in 1997. 'I did have the creeps on the first night I moved in. Steve went off somewhere and left me there alone, and I was just sitting in this empty room,' Helen says. Luckily the Russells haven't heard a peep since, but it's easy to see how the rumour started. There are several references in manor court books to a house facing Langstone Harbour being used
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Everyone Is Absolutely Losing It Over This Canadian Newspaper Mocking Donald Trump
Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images $6 Canadian strawberries versus $4 U.S. strawberries at a grocery underestimated our incredible capacity for pettiness. Le Journal de Montréa Momentimages / Getty Images/Tetra images RF Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Everyone Is Absolutely Losing It Over This Canadian Newspaper Mocking Donald Trump
Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images $6 Canadian strawberries versus $4 U.S. strawberries at a grocery underestimated our incredible capacity for pettiness. — Riley Donovan (@valdombre) April 7, 2025 $6 Canadian strawberries versus $4 U.S. strawberries at a grocery underestimated our incredible capacity for pettiness. Le Journal de Montréa Momentimages / Getty Images/Tetra images RF Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images
