Dale Duncan is a former editor of Spacing. The opinions expressed in this article represent her personal views on this weekend's events. Leading up to the G20 summit, at meetings organized to provide local residents and business owners with information about what to expect, police and politicians reminded those in attendance of our right to assemble and demonstrate in public spaces. The vast majority of people who joined demonstrations yesterday did so peacefully. But what people are most likely to remember about this summit is the much smaller group of militant thugs who decided it would be a good idea to set police cars on fire and smash the windows of stores and banks. There's no question that those who vandalized our city should be stopped and held accountable to their actions, but, now, it seems that the average citizen’s right to peacefully protest in Toronto is being treated as though it’s a criminal act. Sadly, it’s the aggression exhibited by the police — not the so-called Black Bloc — that have instilled fear in many members of the general public who witnessed some of the events of this weekend. Some are commending the police for showing restraint yesterday; I witnessed some of that restraint. I went for a walk to Yonge Street in the afternoon and, by chance, happened upon the vandals who were out breaking storefront windows. As I watched people march by, my heart pounding and my mouth agape, there seemed to be no police in sight. With all the money spent on security this weekend in Toronto —"the biggest security operation ever in Canada" — I don’t understand why the police weren’t able to stop these criminals from continuing to smash windows all the way up Yonge and then West along College.

    WHAT: Junction Tree Tour WHEN: September 7th, 11am to 1pm WHERE: Meet at the northwest corner of Keele St. and Dundas St. West HOW MUCH: Suggested donation $5 As centennial celebrations culminate during the Junction Arts Festival, join LEAF arborist Todd Irvine as he explores the neighbourhood to uncover both historic and newly planted native trees. From back streets to grand boulevards, the Junction is home to a diverse array of trees including the rare black oak often associated with High Park. Wander down a hidden alley to discover a honey-locust with a vigorous, ...

The Toronto Tree Tours is a collaborative project of LEAF and the Toronto Public Space Committee that offers walking tours in neighbourhoods across the city as well as virtual tours on its web site. The aim is to introduce Torontonians to the individual trees in their neighbourhood while telling stories of our city's ecological and cultural history. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Parkdale Tree Tour: Stop 13 Street trees suffer many more environmental stresses than trees growing in a forest. This honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) is planted in a bed of concrete, an unnatural condition for any tree. ...

LEAF (Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests) is throwing two tree tours this weekend. These tours are a great way to learn more about Toronto's urban forest, the stresses that our city's trees face, and the stories behind some of our neighbourhoods' most cherished trees. Both tours listed below are lead by arborist (and Spacing's Green Space columnist) Todd Irvine in partnership with members of the local community. Here are the details: WHEN: Saturday June 14, 2008 WHERE: Cedarvale Park and Neighbourhood Tree Tour START: 1:00 pm END: 3:00 pm Suggested donation: $5. If you ...

Spacing will be setting up shop at Jimmie Simpson Park this weekend as part of the Riverdale Art Walk (RAW). If you're in the area, do stop by to say hi, look for that subway station button you've always wanted, or pick up that back issue you still don't have. We'll have individual subway buttons on sale for a buck each. Single issues of the magazine, including our current issue, will go for $5 each. You'll also be able to buy a 6-issue subscription for $25 instead of the regular $29. More than 100 other ...

“Perhaps for the first time in North America since the invention of the automobile, road space for motor vehicles is being reallocated to bicycles,” wrote Andrew G. MacBeth in the Institute of Transportation Engineers Journal back in 1999. In the nine years since then, you'd think providing more pavement for cyclists would have gotten a lot easier, and perhaps it has (at least a bit). One thing that hasn't changed, however, is the fear of what will happen if we trade in parking spaces for space for bikes. Wrote MacBeth back then: “loss of on-street parking is ...

WHAT: The Pee-wee Herman Picture Show, a fundraiser for the Toronto Cyclist Union WHEN: Thursday May 29 — two shows: 7pm and 9:30pm WHERE: Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West) HOW MUCH: $14 “For a wild way to kick off your Bike Month revelry, you could put on your best two-sizes-too-small grey suit and a red bow tie and head to the Bloor Cinema May 29 for The Pee-wee Herman Picture Show,” writes Ed Keenan in the cover story of this week's Eye Weekly. The show will include a screening of Pee-wee's Big Adventure along with a simultaneous ...

Spacing is looking for a few good men and women to help us at events. If you've wanted to get involved in the magazine, but weren't sure how, here's your chance. Throughout the year, we throw multiple launch parties and fundraising events. In the summer and fall, we participate in functions such as the Queen West Art Crawl and Word on the Street. We're looking for people who can help us prepare for upcoming events, help with set-up, sell magazines, subscriptions, and subway buttons, and inform people about Spacing's magazine and blog Though this is ...

I polished off a bag of store-bought chocolate chip cookies before I sat down to write this, but it was hard to enjoy that last bite. The packaging the cookies came in (a combination of a plastic tray, to keep the cookies from crumbling, and a glossy paper bag) could not be recycled, so I was forced to put it into the regular trash bin. Having just watched the documentary, Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home, I feel a lot more guilty about this than I normally would. All I can think about is Mary ...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE4fvwTBtno[/youtube] What is a dense city like Tokyo to do when it runs out of space for cyclists to park their bikes? Build a bicycle parking tower! At about the 40 second mark, you'll see what I mean. I don't remember seeing a lot of cyclists on the streets when I visited Tokyo a couple years ago, but I do remember the clusters of parked bikes that lined the sidewalks when I was in Osaka. What surprised me was how many of them were left unlocked. A number of the bikes also had yellow cards attached to their handles — these were ...