Maybe our mayor is pretty hell-bent on not attending the Pride parade, but his plans for spending Canada Day in the city are still up in the air. Though Ford had earlier stated he would be spending our nation's birthday with his family, Sunny Petrujkic, a spokesman for the mayor, said Ford hasn't decided on which Toronto events he may attend on the big day. "He would prefer to spend most of his time with his family, but he understands that Canada Day is an important event for people in Toronto," Petrujikic said. "He can perhaps visit one of them." Geez, is anyone else getting the impression that this guy really doesn't like us?

The City's community development committee has decided to scrap the "priority neighbourhood" designation because it further stigmatizes some communities. The city created the name back in 2005 as means to direct government and non-for-profit assistance to under-served areas. However, councillor Adam Vaughan argued that a simple name change won't actually change anything at all in those communities; it's the budget cuts that are damaging them.

Although Holey, Moley, Yorkie, and Torkie get all the tunnel-boring attention for their recently started work on the extension of the Spadina Subway Line, they're not the only show in town. Work is finally set to begin on the Crosstown LRT, which will run (mostly) along Eglinton Avenue between Black Creek Drive and Kennedy Road. For those interested, the Star has a brief interview with Metrolinx vice-president Jack Collins about the project.

Looks like we won't always have to wait until the warm weather to enjoy patio season. The city's licensing and standards committee has voted to have their staff come up with an all-year-round-patio pilot project that would include patio enclosures on city streets. The city says the move will create more jobs and boost the economy, but you know they probably have a thing for dining al fresco, too.

IN BRIEF:

• Fallen officer's funeral set for Tuesday
• Ontario parks teach you how-to-camp
• Blue Jays beat Pirates

Photo by mrbava in the blogTO Flickr pool.