U of T research contributes to instant verbal translation

When Microsoft’s chief research officer took to the stage in Tianjin, China, last month, his language skills made an auditorium of hundreds of native Mandarin speakers applaud wildly.

But he only spoke English at the conference. As he explained new developments in instantaneous translation and interpretation, Rick Rashid’s English spoken words were simultaneously translated robotically to Mandarin.

The stunned crowd applauded the new computer system that can recognize human speech patterns, thanks to a University of Toronto research team.


See my report in the Toronto Observer.

Awareness, preparation the best defence against life-threatening allergies

For the third time since classes resumed this autumn, the issue of how schools accommodate children with allergies has people talking.

Last week, a mother from Vaugn made headlines after asking her son’s school to remove an acorn tree from the school grounds.

See my report in the Toronto Observer.

Jarvis bike lane protester arrested during removal

Toronto Star photo

A protester was arrested and charged Tuesday morning after blocking the removal of the Jarvis St. bike lanes.

Toronto physician Tomislav Svoboda was arrested around 11 a.m. on Jarvis St. near Shuter St.

“As a family and public health physician, I’m concerned about safety,” Svoboda said.

See my report in the Toronto Star.

FoodShare mobile food market brings relief to Toronto’s food deserts (with video)

The parking lot at 90 Mornelle Ct. is nestled by high-rise apartment buildings. Fast food joints and convenience stores are steps away while the two nearest grocery stores are both located up steep hills.

But at this parking lot, on a wet and windy October morning, Marlon Neil and his son Israel have bought plantain, ginger, grapes, carrots and much more.

Every week, the Mobile Good Food Market sends a box truck full of nutritious food to Toronto’s food deserts — high-population areas where fresh food is far and expensive — to be sold at wholesale prices.

See my report in the Toronto Observer

Section 37 funds cause a stir in Scarborough

Councillors question use of limited Planning Act funds
 
It’s a bureaucratic regulation that lasts all of five sentences, but one small section of the Ontario law has Toronto City Council fuming over how to spend the $300 million it brings in each year. Some councillors say communities like Scarborough are missing out.

See my report in The Toronto Observer.

My video on the Great Canadian Appathon

I did a video for our magazine class about the Great Canadian Appathon. The story will be posted in a few days when we have our website launch, but here's the video:

Scarborough cookie factory sells treats at cheap prices

This is one of the sillier stories I've done; even got kicked out by security for it. I was sure to lace the article with puns.

These bags are on sale for $2 each.

Venture northwest of the Scarborough Town Centre and it is easy to start smelling something sweet in the air.

It starts with a whiff passing the chain restaurants along Progress Avenue, and it gets stronger as the inconspicuous industrial outlets west of Brimley Road get closer.

Nestled among the industrial grey is a sign with two red logos: Kraft and Dad’s Cookies.

The Dad’s Cookies Outlet Store sits adjacent to a cookie factory, which has been in operation since 1966. During normal business hours, the public can get Kraft cookies and crackers at kooky prices.

See my report in The Toronto Observer.

I was a (very small) part of a COPA!

The Toronto Star won a bundle of awards at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards this week, and I was a very small part of it.

The newsroom puts a lot of time into training and thinking digitally. It's quite a task, especially for the veteran reporters, to think outside a print medium. But our site has a good mix of interactive features, high-quality videos and bunch of other story-telling tools.

The Star took silver for best news coverage, based on three stories: the Eaton Centre shooting, the federal budget and the Union Station flooding that happened on a Friday at rush hour. I was involved in the latter, writing and updating an article at least 15 times and working the phones while multiple reporters sent me what they saw and heard on the scene. I'm thrilled to have been a small part of our award.

One of the best features the Star won a COPA for was Somalia, Where Famine is a Crime. The site combines videos, photo galleries and captivating writing by videographer Randy Risling and our national security reporter Michelle Shephard (who I'm a huge fan of). You should really take a look at it.

FoodShare's mobile food market brings relief to 'food deserts'

Video to be posted next week.

The parking lot at 90 Mornelle Ct. is nestled by high-rise apartment buildings. Fast food joints and convenience stores are steps away while the two nearest grocery stores are both located up steep hills.

But at this parking lot, on a wet and windy October morning, Marlon Neil and his son Israel have bought plantain, ginger, grapes, carrots and much more.

Every week, the Mobile Good Food Market sends a box truck full of nutritious food to Toronto’s food deserts — high-population areas where fresh food is far and expensive — to be sold at wholesale prices.


See my report in The Toronto Observer.

Don Jail flood sends sewage across 50-bed unit

After a number of overnight shifts due to a wonky course schedule, I was glad to write this story. It was a Star exclusive and my first print byline in weeks, but more importantly it's a story about a serious issue affecting numerous people.

Some of our callers were really distraught, and as a journalist you learn to distance yourself and get the details from people who are suffering. I also co-wrote a follow-up when it this happened again the next day.

Sophia Brown’s 23-year-old son, Tiaven, called her from his unit at the Don Jail.

“He calls me and says, ‘Mom, we’re dying,’ and I can hear the screaming and hollering.”

Three inmates also called the Star Wednesday after a 50-bed section of the jail was flooded with sewage.

See my report in the Toronto Star.

Voyeur websites under scrutiny by police and public

One photo shows a woman in a low-cut top picking up spilled change. Another shows a teenager’s thong rising up her backside.


Colleen Westendorf, a spokesperson for SlutWalk, views such photography on the Internet as harassment of women.

“Voyeurism affects women in the same ways all forms of violence, harassment and sexism affect women,” Westendorf said. “Women are denied ownership and agency of their own bodies.”

Cheap, portable cameras have made it easy to take photos of people without them knowing they’re being watched. But anonymous Internet forums have given voyeurism a means of showcasing thousands of photos of unassuming women exposed to anonymous gazes.


See my report in The Toronto Observer.

Africentric high school has low turnout

After years of academic research, intense media scrutiny and rowdy debates, Toronto’s first Africentric high school class has launched in Scarborough — with six students.

Officials are blaming delays in promoting the program, which follows the elementary-level Africentric school that launched in 2009 and counts over 200 pupils and a waiting list.

The Toronto District School Board planned to kick off the high school program in 2013, but decided last spring to run a pilot program. Grade 8 students were notified in June, months after most had picked their high schools.

See my report in The Toronto Observer.

TDSB academies offer specialized learning experiences (with audio clip)

This is my first post for The Toronto Observer, the final module of our reporting courses. After publishing an East York-focused newspaper every two weeks, we have a semester of publishing a hyperlocal news site that focuses on Scarborough, along with two issues of a print magazine.

For my first article, I filed an audio clip and some photos, both of which you can find on the site.

Academies like the vocal music module at Heather Heights J.P.S.
are helping fill schools with declining enrollment.
Dylan C. Robertson photo

Fifteen students stand in three groups across their classroom, waiting for teacher Fiona Hopkins to count them down.

“3… 2… 1—”

One group starts singing the first lines of Barges, a traditional campfire song. The other two groups follow, creating a layered chorus.

The class consists of 11- and 12-year-olds, most of whom are wearing cartoon sweaters. But rhythm, melody and harmony are already familiar to these Grade 6 students at Heather Heights Junior Public School, near Ellesmere Road and Scarborough Golf Club Road.

See my report in The Toronto Observer.

Cogeco email outage leaves thousands in Ontario frustrated

The school year’s just around the corner, but you may have some trouble enrolling your kid in the Halton Hills Blue Fins swim club.

That’s because head coach Mike Thompson is among thousands of Ontarians who woke up Monday to no email service.

Cogeco offers free email accounts to its Internet subscribers across Ontario. The company says its personal email service has been down since 4 p.m., though some have been in the dark since Sunday night.

See my report in the Toronto Star.

Blog post: Language skills can be handy in the newsroom

I helped translate for an article in the today's business section of the Toronto Star.

Canadian businessman Frank Stronach is starting a political party in his native Austria. Vanessa Lu, one of our savvy business reporters, was on the story and seeking help with some German-language articles.

The Star has an internal list of the languages spoken by people on-staff. Our native germanophone was on holiday, so I got an email asking to interpret an article and a video. I'm not so great at speaking German, but I can read an article with little help from a dictionary, and understand most of a normal conversation.

It only took about 20 minutes to watch a rather confrontational interview and read through an Austrian web post.

It was good to be a useful intern, and to make a contact. Something I really value about working at a large newspaper is the ability to share resources. We're constantly busy, but everyone in editorial seems willing to share sources, pointers and skills to make our reporting the best it can be.

Halifax Ikea fan trucks millions to the Maritimes

MyBoxBuyer.com photo

Michael Smith stands in the checkout line of Ikea’s Ottawa store, supervising more than 100 shopping carts tended by a dozen of his staff.

The Halifax entrepreneur is halfway through a monthly ritual of rolling through Ikea stores with “a suitcase of a shopping list,” loading trucks and delivering orders to scores of Maritime customers.

My Box Buyer started last fall as a delivery service for Ikea-deprived Maritimers. The company has since handled $1.5 million in products, from bed sets to salad tongs.

See my report in the Toronto Star.

Elliot Lake mall roof collapses

I co-reported this story with Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif, one of the former Radio Roomers who's back for the summer reporting internship. The story was covered by all the national media, so we went for a local angle, focusing on the Toronto rescue team as well as the building's history of safety concerns. I think we ended up crafting the most interesting narrative out of all the outlets that were on the story.

Jean-Marc Hayward used to joke about cars caving in through the wrecked roof of the Elliot Lake mall.

On Saturday afternoon — while he was grabbing a coffee at Hungry Jack’s restaurant in the food court — they did.

A section of the rooftop parking lot of the Algo Centre gave way around 2 p.m. after years of stability issues. One person was reported trapped and four were sent to hospital.

Read our report in the Toronto Star.

Kayak.com investigates after customers discover security breach

We had a caller and landed an exclusive on this story, which is a pretty interesting situation.

He was trying to clarify a line on his credit card bill, but ended up accessing scores of strangers’ personal information.

Kevin Hunt travels whenever he finds time off and a good deal. So when his credit statement listed Kayak.com, he went to the travel booking site to see which trip the charge was for.

The site allows people to find reservation details by searching their last name and the last four digits of their credit card. When Hunt keyed in his information, he found his hotel booking for an upcoming trip to Vermont.

But he also found bookings for people named Hunt in Oklahoma and Massachusetts, complete with their home addresses, phone numbers and emails, as well as credit card expiry dates.

Read my report in the Toronto Star.

Weather stories: some how-and-why

File photos like these can really boost your weather stories.
Toronto Star photo.

Interns write a lot of weather stories.

They're popular with both print and online readers because everybody's affected by it. It's hardly glamorous work, but it's important because it helps news organizations use local issues to maintain strong ties with their readers.

Last year, the Star ran a weather blog compiling the many, many stories we do on the topic. We even write a blog post every weekday morning on our blog, Toronto Now.

The challenge with these stories is to make them interesting and unique. It's easy to fall into a cookie-cutter pattern, which you can avoid by identifying stakeholders, finding quirky angles or digging up past records. Good journalists dig out context rather than just the first available facts.

My best weather story was about how this summer the dry weather matters more than the temperatures everyone focuses on. I explained what caused a record to be broken, how farmers are affected by ongoing trends and how to take caution in the looming heat.

I've also written about weather warnings, be they gusty, muggy or smoggy, and a number of record-breakers. My favourite was one that didn't actually get published. We looked at the affect of a city service strike that almost happened in February, and the unique challenges of a winter strike (yo-yo temperatures cracking more potholes) vs. a summer strike (hot, smelly garbage).

Dog dies in hot car at Vaughan Mills mall parking lot

As temperatures soared, a Chocolate Labrador mix died in the backseat of a parked car Sunday afternoon at Vaughan Mills shopping centre.

Two Sudbury residents in their early 20s face animal cruelty charges after a passerby spotted the dog in distress around 2:15 p.m. and notified mall security.

A security guard said his colleagues were called to the south end of the parking lot near Bass Pro Mills Dr. and notified emergency services. He said he’s never heard of a similar occurrence in his three years on the job.

See my report in the Toronto Star.