Tag: Toronto

News Sports

Toronto Maple Leafs Make Playoffs After A Nine-Year Wait

The Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team has finally made the playoffs.

Tomorrow, the Leafs will play their first post-season game since 2004.

Toronto hockey fans are well known for their enthusiasm for their team—and their patience.

They’re excited their team has finally made the playoffs again.

For each Maple Leafs playoff game Toronto’s CN Tower will light up blue, the colour of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Health

Chain Restaurants Needs Calorie And Sodium Numbers On Their Menus: Public Health

Chain restaurants in Toronto should have calorie and sodium (salt) counts on their menus, according to the city’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David McKeown.

According to a news release from the City of Toronto’s public health department, nearly half (46 per cent) of adults in the city are overweight. Nearly one-quarter (24 per cent) of adults in Toronto have high blood pressure.

McKeown wants that to change.

In the news release he said that, “diners underestimate the calories and sodium in their restaurant meals.”

Having the calorie and sodium figures right on the menu will help people make healthier choices when they order their food.

Sports

R. A. Dickey’s Pitches, And Life, Like A Rollercoaster

When the new pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team – R. A. Dickey – throws a pitch, it goes up and down like a rollercoaster.

A rollercoaster: just like his childhood, his career and his life. Although it’s been a bumpy ride, he’s now in a good place as one of the best pitchers in the major leagues.

This year, he signed a contract for three years, for more than $25-million.

That’s a long way from the $11,000 a year he used to make as pitcher in the minor leagues.

At that time, around 2005, Dickey was a struggling pitcher throwing fastballs. But the batters were able to hit them, and sometimes knock them out of the park.

Sports

New Blue Jays Pitcher Separated From Beloved Pit Bull

Mark Buehrle is a baseball pitcher who recently joined the Toronto Blue Jays.

Buehrle is an extraordinary pitcher. He is one of only 18 people in the game’s history to pitch a “perfect game.”

The Blue Jays are pinning some of their hopes of winning this season on Buehrle.

However, there is a problem. When Buehrle signed on with the Jays, he had to move to Toronto.

Ontario law doesn’t allow people to keep pit bulls as pets; Buehrle has a pit bull named Slater.

Health

Toronto Kids Need More Exercise

Ninety-nine percent of children living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) don’t get enough exercise, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Toronto and Dalhousie University tracked the physical activity of 856 grade five and six students in the GTA for one week.

The students wore accelerometers – tiny devices that are similar to pedometers, but which measure all types of motion – for about 16 and a half hours a day.

The information recorded by the devices showed that, on average, boys got about 35 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day. Girls got about 24 minutes of activity per day.

Experts* recommend that children aged five to 17 should get 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day.

Animals News Science

Giant Pandas Arrive In Toronto

Two giant pandas arrived in Toronto on March 25 to begin a 10-year visit to Canada.

The pandas will spend five years at the Toronto Zoo, and then move to the Calgary Zoo for another five years. They are on loan to Canada from the Chinese government.

The pandas travelled by plane from their native China, along with several kilograms of bamboo shoots, boxes of apples and their favourite toys. The trip took 15 hours.

The pandas were greeted at the airport by a large crowd, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Zhang Junsai, the Chinese ambassador to Canada. A high school band played “O Canada” as the pandas’ crates were unloaded.

Environment News Science

City Services Gearing Up To Battle Climate Change

Cities need to watch the weather closely in the future to make sure that city services are always in good working order, according to a new report being studied by the City of Toronto.

That’s because the changing climate–including severe weather and warmer temperatures–may affect cities’ infrastructure. In this case, “infrastructure” refers to services that support the city, such as roads, public transit and energy plants.

The report, requested by the Toronto Environment Office, summed up the past 10 years of serious weather events in and around Toronto.

In the last decade, several records were broken due to the weather. For instance, there was one day in which there was an unusually high demand for power during a very hot summer. This kind of high demand can put a strain on the city’s ability to provide power.

An all-time record 409 mm (millimetres) of rainfall was set at Trent University during this time. Four hundred and nine millimetres is equivalent to 14 billion litres of water in five hours.

Also, in the past 10 years, Toronto had its earliest ever official heat wave.

These kinds of weather events will likely continue and could affect the infrastructure of Toronto and other cities.

Sports

Raptors Land Basketball Star Rudy Gay In Blockbuster Trade

On Wednesday, the general manager of the Toronto Raptors basketball team took care of some unfinished business.

Bryan Colangelo made a huge trade, to get superstar player Rudy Gay.

It all started back in 2006. At that time, Colangelo held the “number-one overall draft pick.” That meant he could choose any eligible player and add them to his team.

He travelled around the world, looking for the perfect person to add to the Raptors.

News Politics

Rob Ford Wins His Legal Case, Remains As Toronto’s Mayor

Rob Ford has won his appeal and will remain as Toronto’s mayor.

Last November, Ford was removed from office – in other words, told by a judge that he could no longer be mayor.

The judge said Ford broke a “conflict of interest” law after he voted on an issue that he, himself was involved in. The judge said Ford must step down as mayor.

However, Ford appealed the judge’s decision. That means he asked the court to look over the case and reverse the decision.

Three judges from the Ontario Divisional Court did just that. They ruled that Ford never broke the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.

Kids News

More Canadian Kids Taking French Immersion

More Canadian students are signing up for French immersion, according to a report by Statistics Canada.

Even though the number of students in Canada is going down, the number of students taking French immersion has gone up by 12 per cent in the last five years. That information is based on the 2011 census.

The trend is particularly strong out west. Over the past 12 years, the number of students in British Columbia and Alberta taking French immersion has risen steadily. The number in Saskatchewan and Ontario are also climbing.

French immersion is when a student whose first language is not French, studies in French.