🥬 The farm hiding in a Toronto parking garage

Plus, what will school trustees even do anymore?  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

First Up By Edward Keenan Good morning. This week, Toronto’s preparing to enter cherry-blossom season. High Park is home to approximately 2,000 of the gorgeous Japanese trees. It’s worth a walk to see one of the most glorious, and most fleeting, sights of spring.🌸 It also better be a walk, because the streets around the park are about to be jammed with traffic. I’m glad blossom watcher Steve Joniak, profiled here, keeps us up to date on precisely when to expect both phenomena to begin. First up, here are six things to know as you start your Monday morning: Toronto’s street homeless count shows a dramatic reduction in the number of tent encampments in parks. Marilyn Gladu’s constituents are angry; they say she’s been MIA since crossing the floor. An uptown parking garage grows 12,000 heads of lettuce per month. It could be the future of “eating local.” An allegedly impaired driver going the wrong way on the 401 crashed head-on and killed another driver. Iran is proposing to end the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, without ending its nuclear program. The Raptors tied their playoff series, despite horrifically bad shooting. Before we get into it, I was touched by Briony Smith’s look at what happens to the bodies of “unclaimed citizens”  — people who die with no surviving friends or family — and the volunteer pallbearers who show up to carry them to their final resting places. “Even if there's no one there to remember you,” one says, “it’s important for us as a human collective in a community to take care of those who get forgotten.” Alright, let’s get after it. DON'T MISS Susan Kao/Toronto Star illustration using photos from Cole Burston and Sophie Bouquillon Star Investigation This panel chose to keep a patient in isolation for 20 years, year after year Camelott Hamblett has spent nearly every day of the past 20 years locked in isolation at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care. The Ontario Review Board had the power and the duty to inquire into his living conditions and recommend alternatives. Year after year, the board, made up of former judges, lawyers, doctors and laypersons, said almost nothing — but Ontario’s top court has now overturned that decision. Part one: This is the story of Camelott Hamblett and why he’s spent two decades locked in a room alone. Part two: Why the hospital’s use of long-term isolation is being called “abusive.” Lance McMillan/Toronto Star HOMELESSNESS The number of Toronto homeless encampments has fallen by 70 per cent City hall views the stark decline in the number of known homeless encampments this spring as a sign of progress — shelter demand has eased and more people were housed than at this time last year. Still, community workers say they’re not seeing a tangible improvement for those on the streets, and more people are sleeping on transit or in doorways. ICYMI: For the first time since the summer of 2021, there were 12 days this winter when not a single person was turned away from the city’s homeless shelter intake. Education Ontario has a plan for student absenteeism. But some say it falls short When students were asked why they missed school over a two-week period, some said they were too tired, on vacation or their parents gave them the day off. Across Ontario, just 40 per cent of high school students met attendance standards last year. Now the province wants to make attendance worth 10 to 15 per cent of a teen’s final mark — but experts say more needs to be done. By the numbers: What’s behind the low attendance numbers in high school? ICYMI: I’m a grade 11 student, here’s why students are skipping class. Lance McMillan/Toronto Star FARMing An underused Toronto underground parking lot now hosts a lettuce farm The farm beneath an apartment building at Yonge and Davisville is sprouting leafy greens, showing how underused spaces can be transformed to provide fresh produce in the heart of the city. The unconventional growing space produces 12,000 heads of lettuce per month — all destined for high-end restaurants, food banks and soon a local farmer’s market. It’s a vision of food sovereignty. A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR WHAT ELSE The DC gala shooting suspect referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” in writings to his family.  The only New Democrat MP east of Manitoba is planning to resign, setting up an early test for leader Avi Lewis. Ontario’s top asparagus grower is racing to get crop to market, but unpredictable weather is making it a tough call. Éric Blais: When the script got interrupted Donald Trump’s mask slipped The Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-2 Sunday afternoon, their second straight series win. Blue Jays star George Springer may have hinted his Toronto days are numbered by lising his $6.5-million mansion. Soma Ray-Ellis: Canada’s happiness levels have tanked. How can I help my workers out of their funk? Vancouver dating coach Amy Chan says frustrated singles aren’t unlucky — they’re just using the wrong strategy. POV Alex Wong/Getty Images Opinion | Behind the trade talk bluster, Donald Trump is panicking. This is how Canada should respond THE CONVERSATION Dan Pearce/Torstar file photo POLITICIANS WITHOUT POWER: Once upon a time, trustees ran the school boards. They were the school board. They made the budgets, and they set tax rates to fund them. They hired and fired the administrators, bargained with teachers’ unions and implemented special education and language programs. They were their own education-specific level of government.  A lot changed in the 1990s when Ontario’s former premier Mike Harris seized most of their taxing and budgeting powers. And after Premier Doug Ford implements his most recent education reforms, they will have, as Kristin Rushowy writes today, “Little power, little say and little pay.”  Which leaves the question some experts ask in her article: what are trustees even good for anymore? A cynic could suspect they are being left in place as flak-catchers: elected so parents have someone to yell at, even though they have almost no power to change anything. Accountability without authority.  A more optimistic reading might be that they remain as community advocates. Elected to speak on behalf of the parents in budget meetings and executive discussions. A voice, even without a vote.   Given the reforms the province is making, is this role worth keeping? I’m asking you to let us know what you think in the comments here. After reading Rushowy’s article for varying perspectives, do you think trustees stripped of decision-making and supervisory authority can be effective voices of their communities on school boards, as Minister Paul Calandra says? Or will they become a fig leaf for ministry officials to hide behind, someone to blame for problems when they have no power to fix them? 🏒 Before you go, I want to offer one final note about the inglorious end of the Toronto Sceptres season. The 3-0 loss to Ottawa Saturday in a loser-goes-home game was a sad but fitting finish: they got good goaltending that made it close for a while, but they never really figured out how to generate any offense. For much of their first season, it felt like they might never lose (until they did). For much of this third season, it felt like they were never even going to score. With most of the roster heading to free agency and coach Tory Ryan having already stepped down from the national team, it feels like some big changes might be in order this off-season. Thank you for reading today’s First Up. The Star’s Paige Oldfield, Sima Shakeri, and Nikhil Kanekal contributed to today’s newsletter. 📩 We’ll be making changes to First Up over the next little while. Tell us what you think. Email us at firstup@thestar.ca. I’ll see you back here tomorrow.   If you're not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. Or, if you'd prefer, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter by clicking the first link below.   Unsubscribe From This Newsletter Sign Up for More Newsletters and Email Alerts View in Browser Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. 416-367-2000 PRIVACY POLICY