It looks like there won't be a casino in the new look Ontario Place.

That recommendation came from the Chair of the Minister's Advisory Panel on Ontario Place Revitalization, who also happens to be the host of the Live Drive on Newstalk1010.

John Tory said on Tuesday evening, he sent a recommendation to the Minister of Tourism and Recreation, suggesting Ontario Place would not be a good fit for a casino.

He cited the heritage and culture as well as a park setting for reasons a casino shouldn't be plunked down on the site.

The decision is not final however, it's merely a recommendation.

Students in Toronto gathered on Tuesday for what they called the Student Day of Action.

It's a rally and march in solidarity with students in Montreal, who have been taking to the streets to protest the high cost of tuition in that province.

The rally started at 8 o'clock at George Brown College downtown and was headed for Ryerson University, taking a path that included King St to Church St and then over on Gould to the Ryerson Campus.

There is a police presence there, to make sure the protest doesn't get out of hand.

So far, it's been peaceful.

City Staff is out with a new report that still recommends fees for children's leagues that use sports fields.

But they're about half what was initially suggested during budget deliberations.

The report, that goes to the Executive Committee next week, would charge between 2 and 6 dollars an hour depending on the quality of the field starting next year.

That should raise about $850,000 a year.

In return the parks department is promising to improve the conditions of the sports fields in the city.

(w/files from D.McKee)

It might be a bit chilly to go for a swim at a Toronto beach, but if you wanted to go for a dip in Lake Ontario, it's incredibly safe to do so.

Eight Toronto beaches are flying the Blue Flag denoting high environmental standards.

The eight beaches meet the flag's four criteria for water quality, environmental management, safety and services and environmental education.

They are:

- Bluffer's Park Beach

- Centre Island Beach

- Woodbine Beach

- Kew Balmy Beach

- Hanlan's Point Beach

- Gibraltar Point Beach

- Ward's Island Beach and,

- Cherry Beach

The Blue Flag program is an international program designed to ensure high environmental standards for beaches and marinas.

Labatt Brewing Company says they've dropped a request of the Montreal Gazette to remove a picture from its website of Luka Rocco Magnotta posing with their beer.

The brewer had sent a letter to the paper asking it to take down a photo posted with a story from Magnotta's Facebook page showing him holding a bottle of Labatt Blue.

Marketing experts say media coverage about Labatt's complaints that the picture was hurting their brand only served to draw attention to a very tenuous connection between Magnotta and their beer.

Twitter users pounced on the public relations fumble and soon #newlabattcampaign became a trending topic, with people making morbid jokes about body parts and the brand.

Magnotta is expected to be extradited from Germany to Canada to face several charges - including first-degree murder - in connection with the gruesome Montreal killing and dismemberment of Chinese national Jun Lin.

The Gazette ...

Toronto EMS has rushed a young boy to Sick Kids Hospital after an approximately 20-foot fall at Scarborough Town Centre around 4:17 pm Tuesday.

Police tell NewsTalk 1010 the five-year-old boy was on the escalator with his mother when he climbed up on it and fell to the floor below, landing on his head.  The incident took place near the Wal-Mart.

Police say he is unconscious but breathing, EMS tell NewsTalk 1010 the boy's injuries are not life threatening.

A man who broke into an apartment and beat, stabbed and raped a 76-year-old woman at knifepoint lost his bid Tuesday to have his life sentence reduced.

In its decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected arguments from Michael Anderson that the sentence for his ``horrific'' crime was uncalled for.

In April 2010, Ontario Superior Court Justice Todd Ducharme imposed the life sentence - rare for a first offence - after Anderson was convicted of aggravated sexual assault, attempted murder, unlawful confinement, threatening death and breaking and entering.

Under sentencing guidelines, the life sentence means Anderson would not be eligible for parole for seven years.

Court records show Anderson, who was then 26, broke into the elderly woman's west-end Toronto home early one morning in October 2005.

He threatened to kill her if she didn't submit to sex and cut her telephone line when she tried to call for help.

A U.S. official says a drone strike in Pakistan's northwest tribal region has killed al-Qaida's second-in-command.

The death of Abu Yahya al-Libi is a significant blow to the terror network, which has lost a string of top leaders at the hands of the American drone program.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, says that no one left in al-Qaida comes close to replacing the expertise al-Qaida has just lost.

Al-Libi would be the latest in the dozen-plus senior commanders removed in the clandestine U.S. war against al-Qaida since Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden just over a year ago. Al-Libi, a hero in militant circles for his 2005 escape from an American military prison in Afghanistan, was elevated to al-Qaida's No. 2 spot when
Ayman al-Zawahri rose to replace the slain bin Laden.

(The Associated Press)

The Federal government has taken steps to regulate a drug called MPDV - a common ingredient in the street drug, 'bath salts.'

Authorities say thousands of cases are being treated stateside, but according to Toronto Staff Inspector Randy Franks, it isn't a huge problem in Canada yet.

He says they have seen a limited amount of 'Bath Salts' in the city, and they are usually found inside pills being sold as the drug 'Ecstacy.'

Franks says that isn't stopping police from preparing for the worst.  He says front-line workers are being told to look for the drug, and are pro-actively looking in 'head-shops' for it.

He says the new legislation won't necessarily stop the drug from sneaking into the country, but it gives investigators something to look for when searching for the drug.

The Liberal government's anti-bullying bill has passed final reading by a vote of 65-36 .

And while the province boasts incorporating measures from a Progressive Conservative bill to appease critics, not everything is rosy when it comes to this legislation.

Both the Liberals and the NDP stood up in favour of the Accepting Schools Act but despite taking some PC recommendations, the Tories voted against it.

Deputy leader PC Christine Elliott says more could have been done to incorporate their anti bullying bill, noting it had strong points. She says the Liberals are making this a wedge issue to prove the PCs are homophobic.

But Education Minister Laurel Broten says the PCs are missing the point, noting she's disappointed that they didn't stand up for Ontario students.

She underlines this will be implemented in every school whether catholic or public.

Convinced that those who oppose some of the provisions included ...

The grass isn't looking very green for the Liberal government when it comes to its environmentally-friendly promises.

The province's environmental commissioner reveals Queen's Park has failed to meet some of its targets on efficiency standards for new buildings, government offices and household products.  Gord Miller says Ontario may not reach them for years.

The environmental watchdog says promises like making energy audits mandatory before a home is sold have been "quietly abandoned'' by the government.
 
Miller says these are commitments made when the Liberals passed the Green Energy Act in 2009.

(with files from the Canadian Press)

The Toronto Transit Commission says an arbitrator has issued his decision on a new collective agreement between the commission and its unionized employees.

Kevin Burkett has outlined the terms of the settlement, which is retroactive to April 1st, 2011, for a term of three years.

Employees will receive a two per cent wage hike in each year of the contract and improved benefits.

The ruling also eliminates a provision where a worker does not have to provide a medical note if they're ill for five individual days or less, and lets the TTC contract out up to 62 per cent of Wheel-Trans service.

He sent out two statements on the weekend about the Eaton Centre shooting.

On Tuesday, Premier Dalton McGuinty spoke in public for the first time since the horrific event.

Underlining people shouldn't speculate about motive behind the Eaton Centre shooting, McGuinty says now is the time to let authorities conduct their investigation. He says all levels of government and Eaton Centre management will learn lessons from this.

McGuinty adds the province has always made sure there were additional supports for police in place as well as younger people to have better opportunities.

The Premier made the comments while at an event at Toronto's WOmen's College Hospital.

Accused body parts killer Luka Magnotta will not fight extradition to Canada, this after meeting face to face with a German judge.

According to Berlin Police, the 29-year-old Canadian, told a judge with whom he met on Tuesday, that he would not object to his return to Canada to face several charges including first-degree murder, and that he refused to discuss any other details of his case.

Berlin Police spokesman Stefan Redlich says with Magnotta not fighting extradition, his return to Canada is expected to speed up and he could be extradited as early as next week.

It's believed that Canada's formal extradition request must be in German hands no later than Friday.

Redlich says Magnotta's night in a 1.5 by five metre room with a window and wooden bed by was "quiet".  Magnotta ate dinner Monday night and breakfast Tuesday morning.  At some point before nine o'clock Monday night, ...

The Bank of Canada is holding off on raising interest rates for awhile longer, and perhaps a lot longer, citing worsening global conditions and an uneven Canadian recovery that is not quite as strong as it recently thought.
    
The decision to keep the bank's trendsetting overnight rate at one per cent for the 14th consecutive policy announcement was widely expected.
    
Also not surprisingly, the Bank of Canada has quickly acknowledged that the hopeful monetary policy review delivered by Gov. Mark Carney in April may have been premature.
    
In a more pessimistic take, Carney and his policy setting council conceded in Tuesday's announcement that the outlook for global growth has weakened in the past few weeks, and that Europe has gone from a risky environment to one in which the risks are now reality.
    
"This is leading to a sharp deterioration in global ...

If you live near George and King Street, your quiet evening will be interrupted.

College and University students from across Toronto are being urged to wear as much red as possible for another protest march in solidarity with Quebec students and to say the tuition problems here have to be resolved too.

The biggest march is expected to start at 8 o'clock Tuesday night from George Brown College downtown, then they will make their way over to Ryerson University.

According to one Facebook posting, more than 50 separate marches known as 'casseroles" are being planned nationwide.   They're called "casseroles" because students, labour groups and others are expected to march while beating pots and pans.

The Eaton Centre will not resemble a crime scene in the slightest by Tuesday. The mall re-opened to the public on Monday, but the Urban Eatery remained closed until Tuesday for investigators.

If you had to leave personal belongings behind and exit Eaton's Centre quickly on Saturday, police may have your property.

The mall was cleared out in a hurry when shots were fired and all sorts of personal belonging were left in the Urban Eatery such as jackets, strollers etc.

51 Division police station will allow people to come by and claim their property, with proper I.D.

Starting Tuesday at 9 a.m. through to Friday, officers will be there to assist you. They do ask that you not call beforehand, but just arrive at the station in order to pick up your belongings.  

51 Division is located at 51 Parliament Street, near Dundas Street.

23 year old Christopher ...

Queen Elizabeth II will make a rare address to the nation at the conclusion of festivities marking her 60 years on the throne.

Buckingham Palace said Tuesday that the broadcast will be transmitted at 1700 GMT on Tuesday in Britain and the Commonwealth. It will also be available on the Royal Channel on YouTube. The queen recorded the two-minute message on Monday before the
evening's concert outside the palace.

The Jubilee celebrations will end with a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral and a carriage procession back to Buckingham Palace.

The Queen's husband, Prince Philip, who was hospitalized Monday for treatment of a bladder infection, will miss the final day's events.

Meantime, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper continues celebrating with the Brits in London. Harper will meet British P-M David Cameron for a private dinner, but before that, he'll be announcing the table tennis players who will represent Canada ...