Morning Brew: Heavy rain causes disruption, Ford wins bonus vote, loses on community grants, foul food carts, a ghost town at Downsview Park, and art in the dugout

This week's extreme heat alert gave way to extreme rain yesterday as 50 to 75 mm of rain fell on parts of Toronto in under and hour. There was flash flooding, landslides, sinkholes and general all-round craziness during the deluge; in Whitby, 17 people were injured when a tent was struck by lightning. The heat and humidity are set to return today.

In a rare victory Friday, Rob Ford persuaded council to vote for lower pay increases for non-union city employees despite deputy mayor Holyday advocating for larger increases earlier in the year. Later, Doug Ford suggested introducing bonuses for councillors who help cut costs at city hall.

At the same meeting, Rob Ford was the lone dissenting vote on a raft of community development grants that would have otherwise passed unanimously. Ford is at least consistent--he's voted against these grants in the past, always without explanation.

In gross news, the city has failed to shut down a fleet of hotdog carts cited for multiple health violations. One--at Queen and Simcoe--was found to be infested with mice. Toronto's civilian licensing tribunal decided to give Elisaveta Moskova, the owner of the stands, another chance. At least she'll be serving nuts and fresh salads now, right?

The conversion of Downsview Park from military base to verdant park has made a ghost town out of the former military housing units at William Baker Park, the neighbourhood where stationed personnel and their families lived. The National Post took a look around.

While the Blue Jays are playing out an even-steven sort of season on the field, in the dugout bench coach Don Wakamatsu is wowing the team with his handwriting on the team's lineup cards.

And finally, a jokester on the streetcar with a pen and strip of tape has made a much more relevant warning sign for those about to disembark TTC streetcars. (via Reddit).

GUESS THE INTERSECTION:

The contest is back after a break last week. See if you can find out where this is in Toronto.

IN OTHER NEWS:

• Carlos Villanueva, Blue Jays shut down Indians [CBC]
• Woman dead after collapsing at Molson Amphitheatre [The Star]
• Young man rescued after falling into Lake Ontario [The Star]
• Councillors want city to allow landlords to turn heat off earlier when it's hot out [National Post]

FROM THE WEEKEND:

• Don Pyle sheds light on Shadowy Men reunion
• Fishing in Toronto
• Get to know a Baker: Jean Blacklock, Prairie Girl Bakery
• Youth Lagoon charms Opera House with bedroom pop
• A brief history of the Lake Iroquois shoreline in Toronto
• Mjolk's first book is full of wonderfully weird designs
• Street Style: at the FashionNotes launch party
• A roundup of weekly food events in Toronto
• Get to know a street: Christie Street
• Light Asylum and Trust play to teens in heat
• This Week in Theatre: Clouds Over TO, Speed-the-Plow, Mr. Marmalade, Porch View Dances, War Horse
• This Week In Comedy: Goodbye John Hastings, Moody McCarthy feat. Trent McClellan, James Adomian, West End Girls, and Set List

Photo: "Untitled" by SasiShan in the blogTO Flickr pool.