Good morning, Etobicoke! I'm Bri, and we've reached the part of September where lunches get packed the night before, the sweaters come out by dinner, and every weekend has a festival on it. This one has at least three, and most of them are free. Let's get into this week's news.

In this week's newsletter:

🏀 Home Court: Canada Basketball picks Humber for its permanent base
🏭 Deadline Sunday: the Etobicoke Casting Plant waits on contract talks
🌊 Lake Access: a tiny parkette just got 180 more feet of shoreline
🥕 Snack Attack: a new Etobicoke kitchen preps produce for 28,000 students
🚧 Dig Site: Kipling and The Westway close for a weekend

Plus: RELISH at Cloverdale, Mimico Food Fest, and a Sunday voter deadline 🗳️

🏀 Canada Basketball Gets A Permanent Etobicoke Home 🏀
The federal government is putting $76 million into a national basketball centre at Humber Polytechnic's North Campus. The plans include six gyms for provincial, national and international play, a high-performance training centre, a domed playing field, and space for community and academic use. Canada Basketball will make it their permanent home. Etobicoke North, your new neighbours have a very good jump shot.

🏭 Etobicoke Casting Plant Faces Sunday Contract Deadline 🏭
The Unifor contract covering Stellantis workers, including at the Etobicoke Casting Plant, expires Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Formal talks were paused on September 11 over the company's plan to close and sell its Brampton plant. Unifor says Stellantis has also not confirmed the Etobicoke plant's future. There is no closure announcement here, and what happens after Sunday is not yet clear. We will follow up next week.

🌊 A Tiny Lakefront Parkette Gets Its Glow Up 🌊
The City has spent $7.6 million on two lakefront lots next to Sand Beach Road Parkette, near Lake Shore and Royal York. In May it bought 2707 Lake Shore Blvd. W. for about $2.5 million. In August it paid about $5.1 million for 1 Sand Beach Rd., a former long-term care home that will be torn down. Together they add 180 feet of shoreline and a straight path from Lake Shore to the water. Design and consultation start in 2027, so bring patience.

🥕 Second Harvest Is Chopping For 28,000 Kids 🥕
Second Harvest just opened a food processing kitchen at its Etobicoke warehouse. It can turn up to 750,000 pounds of fresh produce a year into ready-to-eat fruit and vegetables for school food programs. Some of it is rescued surplus, some is bought from local farms. Working with the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, it will feed 28,000 students, with first production runs expected later this month. That is a lot of apple slices.

🚧 Kipling And The Westway Close For A Weekend 🚧
The City is upgrading storm and sanitary sewers at Kipling Avenue and The Westway to cut down on flooding. Weekday lane restrictions have been running all month. The last weekend of September, the southern part of the intersection fully closes, with overnight work. Detours will use Eglinton Avenue and Dixon Road. If this is your route, start planning the detour now.

📌 Quick Hits
Ribfest is back at Colonel Sam Smith Park next weekend, September 25 to 27. Nuit Blanche turns 20 and runs overnight October 3 to 4, 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., with more than 70 projects around the city.

Finding a good contractor in Etobicoke shouldn’t feel like a gamble. Meet Scoop Approved ↓

Want your voter card in the mail? Get on the list by Sunday. Make sure you are on Toronto's voters' list by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, September 20 through MyVote, and your card will start going out September 28. Prefer to vote from the couch? Mail-in ballot requests close Thursday, September 24 at 4:30 p.m. Advance voting runs October 6 to 11, and election day is Monday, October 26.

This or That, Festival Weekend Edition

🎲 Three food festivals in one weekend. Pick your side:

A) Food truck OR food tent 🚚
B) Ribs OR rib-adjacent (pulled pork, brisket) 🍖
C) Mimico Square OR Cloverdale lot 📍
D) Bluegrass at brunch OR DJ at dinner 🎶

➡️ Hit reply with your picks and we'll tally the favourites next week!

Like being in the know? Share the love! Forward this newsletter to friends and neighbors who’d enjoy staying up-to-date on all things Etobicoke. 📬

Thanks for reading! See you next week for more of what’s happening in Etobicoke.

-Bri