Articles by Varad Mehta



Gamble Avenue street sign

27 Gamble is getting better

The front steps of the apartment building at 27 Gamble Ave. in East York are crumbling. While residents say that it is not one of the worst buildings in the city, it still has its share of tenant complaints and a history of violations of Toronto municipal licensing and standards bylaws.


Toronto man’s love for trains being passed along to his children

Jason Shron recalls exploring and building model trains with his own dad and brother; memories which helped shaped his passion and current career.

Shron, of Thornhill, Ont., is the owner of Rapido Trains Inc., a model train manufacturing company. He is famously known as the Guy with the Train in his Basement, but it was his father, Van Shron, who started his obsession.




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EMS dispatcher talks couple through birth of their daughter

With the assistance of an EMS dispatcher, a father delivered a baby girl in an Uber vehicle near a busy East York intersection.

On Jan. 18, Anita Thompson, a Toronto Emergency Medical Services dispatcher had nearly finished her 12-hour shift when she got a call. An anxious father and his wife, who had gone into labour, were travelling in an Uber vehicle en route to a hospital. Thompson said the father explained that the Uber driver had pulled off the road at Overlea Boulevard and Thorncliffe Park Drive, so the ambulance sent by Thompson could rendezvous and assist the parents. Thompson described the scene inside the Uber.


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Stand-up comedy acting as therapy

Robert (Rob) De Boyrie had cue cards in his hands and a stuffed bunny in his pocket. The spotlight beamed on him as he walked on stage and stood in front of the mic.

“So many people think that individuals with schizophrenia are violent psychopaths,” De Boyrie said, “but that’s just only when we’re training for the zombie apocalypse.”


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Former British volunteer helped decode wartime German messages

The loss of a personal friend pushed Theo Hopkinson to volunteer in the Second World War. At the time she lived in Cardiff, Wales, where German aircraft regularly bombed the city docks.

“One day, when I was at school, I was sent home to see why one of the girls in my class hadn’t come (to class),” Hopkinson said. “I walked to her house and bodies were being brought out.”

During the aerial raid, bombs fell on her classmate’s house and exploded. Then only 17, Theo decided to volunteer for the military.


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New Don Valley park supporters emphasize importance of private donors

The chair of the planned Don River Valley super park says that private donors have an obligation to support the project.

Andy Chisholm, a board member for Evergreen Brick Works and chair of the Don River Valley Park initiative, spoke at a press conference at the Brick Works on Tuesday. He acknowledged the private donors and described the significance of private investment in this project.