Morning Brew: Lawrence Heights Revitalization, Mike Layton for City Council, Sarah Thomson on Writing About Herself, Airport Security Tax Increase, ROM Bat Cave Reopens, Team Canada Celebration Controversy

Photo: "Modern Drama" by bomb_tea, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):

A major, 20-year, $350-million project proposal will see the Lawrence Heights area heavily revitalized. The plan calls form the tearing down of community housing and replacing it with mixed income, new market valued condominiums; redoing the shopping mall; building new schools, and more. It appears that the (loved and loathed) Allen Road will be mostly spared - by building additional bridges over it (a strategy that Howard Moscoe likens to heart surgery when he says the expressway "requires a triple bypass.").

NDP leader Jack Layton's son, Mike Layton, is poised to run for city council in the Trinity-Spadina ward (the seat being given up by Joe Pantalone, who is running for mayor). At this point, little is known about Mike Layton, other than that he is deputy outreach director for Environmental Defence Canada and he doesn't sport a mustache.

Does including a statement (that reveals that her editorial is a paid political piece) make it acceptable for mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson to put herself on the front cover of her own magazine, declaring herself mayor of Toronto? Shouldn't the fact that "it was very bizarre to pay for [her] own editorial, that [she was] being paid to write," be reason enough not to proceed? Does Toronto have its very own Sarah Palin, folks?

Flying out of Pearson is going to be a little more expensive if the federal government's proposal to increase airport security taxes gets parliamentary approval. The announcement comes (and is not-so-slyly described by Baird as a "user fee" rather than a "tax") as the Harper government reveals plans to spend $1.5billion over 5 years to heighten security at our nation's airports. When we're paying more to be slowed down, heavily scrutinized, irradiated, and have our privacy compromised, it's hard not to feel that the terrorists have won.

The bats are back at the ROM. After a restoration effort that added more animatronics and atmospheric sights and sounds, the return of the museum's new and improved Bat Cave exhibit is getting kids and adults excited for the launch tomorrow. I'm curious but doubtful that the genuine smell and shoe-plonking sounds of guano are a feature.

And our awesome Canadian women won gold in ice hockey in Vancouver by defeating the US 2-0! Shortly after the win, and after fans had cleared the arena, team Canada (including underage players) ventured back onto the ice and celebrated with beer, champagne, and cigars. Photographers from the LA Times and New Jersey Star got great photo galleries that have the IOC upset. The team's antics "aren't a good promotion of sports values" but they sure are good promotion for Molson Canadian aren't they?