Tag Archives: Public Service Announcement

2 Signs of the 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Here’s a quick public service announcement about the upcoming 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, one of Toronto’s most important annual autumn events.

Drivers should watch for two kinds of signs warning of road closures and parking restrictions: both the old and the new.

"Old Toronto Road Closure Sign for Waterfront Marathon" image by Mike DeHaan
“Old Toronto Road Closure Sign for Waterfront Marathon” image by Mike DeHaan

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The Classic Black-on-Orange Road Closed Sign in Toronto

Here we have the classic Toronto black-on-orange sign warning that the road will be closed. It’s very good at the bare facts: what street will be closed; from where to where; date and time.

It fails miserably to indicate the reason for the road closure.

Perhaps they want the colour scheme to evoke a Hallowe’en fright.

A New Sign of Hope to Celebrate the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

"New Scotiabank Toronto Waterfron Marathon Sign" image by Mike DeHaan
“New Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Sign” image by Mike DeHaan

Now let’s check the new sign, which might belong to the organizers of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, rather than to the City of Toronto.

It’s bright, with a cheerful background colour compared to the old sign. It carries almost the same information; my guess is that Queen westbound will be closed to Kingston Road but eastbound only from Woodbine. On the other hand, the URL at the bottom of the sign redirects to the main page of the official Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon web site, rather than to the “road closures” information page.

The best part is that it advertises the reason for the road closure.

Your Opinions for the Road Closure Signs for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Are the new signs an improvement? How could they do better? Their official home page encourages you to “join the conversation” on Facebook.

Other Notes for the 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

I’m really pleased that both signs were posted as early as Oct. 9, when I took these pictures on Queen Street East. In some years, the signs only went up in the final week before the Toronto marathons, so anyone who only visits an area on Sunday would be completely unaware of the road closures.

Attend the Marathon Torch Ceremony for the Waterfront Marathon

Last year, my “Special Notes for the 2012 Toronto Waterfront Marathon” reported on the Marathon Torch ceremony. This year, the Marathon Flame ceremony returns to the Alexander the Greek park on Oct. 17, 2013 at 6:30pm. Join the mayor of Marathon, Greece, Iordanis Louizos, and his torch relay runners at Logan and Danforth.

When is the 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon? What Roads are Closed?

As you noted from the photographs, the 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon will take place on Sunday Oct. 20. Major road closures include parts of Bay St. and University Ave. for the start; part of Bloor St. West and Bathurst; parts of Lake Shore Blvd; Queen’s Quay, Cherry St. and Commissioner’s Road in the Toronto Harbour region; Queen St. East, Eastern Avenue, and the southern end of Bayview; and Front Street. Use the above link to learn more about the Scotiabank Toronto Marathon, especially the details for the route. I didn’t try to name all the road closures; the site has the course map and a detailed list of affected roads.

Where Should I Watch the 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon?

My best advice for spectators is to position yourself at the Queen Street East bridge where King branches away. The runners pass the 35Km marker at Broadview, then burn up another 5Km in a loop along Bayview before they get to Parliament Street. Usually the strain really shows on the runners between the 35 and 39Km locations; after that, they may begin to feel relief at nearing the finish line, at the end of their 42.2Km marathon.

The runners are a bit less tired on Queen St. East between Woodbine and Beech. You can cheer each runner twice, as they run east and then double back westbound.

Check the map for the official neighbourhood cheering stations. You could get involved with them, or volunteer to hand out water. Both are great ways to watch the runners and feel involved.

With the start at 8:45am, the winning male marathon runner should break the tape at Bay and Queen (near City Hall) by 10:55am or so. Last year, Betona Warga won in 2:10, and Mary Davies in just under 2:29. (A 2:06 pace would mean running at 20 kilometres per hour; as fast as the cycling speed limit on the Martin Goodman Trail!).

Or simply check the official map and head for your most convenient location.

Remember that road closures will cause TTC detours and delays as well as blocking cars. Cyclists should avoid the routes too; the organizers try hard to keep the streets clear for the runners.

Looking for More Annual Events or a Holiday in Toronto Canada?

You can find more annual events for your vacation in Toronto Ontario; or for local residents wanting things to do in Toronto this weekend.

Ideas for a Toronto Vacation or Staycation

My blog reports on most of the annual Toronto events that I find interesting, and provides ideas for fascinating, free or frugal things to do in Toronto. I especially like to cover annual attractions and special events in Toronto Canada; but especially for Canadian holidays.

CityPASS offers discount tickets to Toronto attractions, including Metro Toronto Zoo coupons. You buy the voucher online, print it and take it to your first destination; let’s say it’s the zoo. They give you the coupon booklet but remove the Metro Toronto Zoo discount tickets. Visit the next four attractions, where helpful staff relieve your booklet of tickets but leave you with the rest of the information. You save over $40 by spending about $70. The voucher is good for almost two years, but you have to use all the discount admission tickets within nine days. This is terrific for tourists looking for multiple things to do in Toronto, or for a hometown stay-cation: use discount tickets to Casa Loma, the CN Tower, the Metro Toronto Zoo, the Ontario Science Centre and the Royal Ontario Museum in a nine day adventure. That’s five things to do while vacationing in Toronto Canada, and at a bargain price thanks to the discount coupons.

Disclaimer: DeHaan Services has no relationship to the organizer(s); I am not reimbursed for writing this article. However, DeHaan Services does write web site or advertising copy for clients. Our skills are demonstrated in online articles in Decoded Science, Decoded Pregnancy and my Fitness and Weight Control blog. That’s why DeHaan Services highlights these online articles on this site.

Click the “Toronto Events” category at the bottom of the right-hand column for recent articles on this topic. Thanks!

Thanks for reading about the change in road signs for the upcoming 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

OLG Comes Cleaner on Casino Fees, but should Toronto Gamble?

OLG, the Ontario Lottery Corporation, announced a new hosting fee formula for casinos and slots in the province. Have they finally “come clean” with this formula? Are they getting cleaner with the May 17, 2013 press release? Or does OLG simply plan to “clean up”?

My Previous Business Case Study against Gambling on an OLG Casino

"The Shell Game on Broadway, NYC" : image by jimw (jim Winstead)
“The Shell Game on Broadway, NYC” : image by jimw (jim Winstead)

Back in January 2013, Decoded Science published my very basic “A Sample Business Case Study of Math for a Casino Proposal“. That explained how the OLG hosting fee formula would have paid Toronto about 20 million dollars ($20M) for their estimated gambling revenues of about $1.4 billion. At the marginal rate of 0.5% for additional revenues, punters would have had to gamble another $6 billion for the OLG casino to pay another $30 million to Toronto; that would meet the low end of the OLG’s offer of $50-100 million per year in hosting fees.

Obviously bringing the fee to the full $100M would mean $50M/0.05=$10 billion in gambling revenue. That would fund 5 years of MetroLinx work in one year of slot machine and table gaming.

There was no explanation for the extra hosting fee in the Ernst and Young report. One Toronto City Hall staff member told me privately, at a public information meeting, that a “partnership” was being discussed, rather than the simple hosting fee. Sharing the OLG’s target of 20% of gambling revenues would have made for a very different business case study, since 10% of $1.4 billion would account for Toronto City Hall’s hope of about $140 million a year in hosting fees.

It was impossible to square the hosting fee for Toronto with what other municipalities would receive, even given the small gambling revenues their slots or casinos manage to take from their clientele.

OLG Estimates the New Hosting Fee for Toronto

OLG’s estimate for Toronto’s hosting fee under the new formula is approximately $50 million per year. That adds some $30 million to the previous formula’s fee.

The New OLG Hosting Fee Formula

What is the new OLG hosting fee formula? It is exactly the same as the old, with regards to the slot machine revenue. It starts at 5% but the sliding scale descends to 0.5% as the revenue goes up.

The new feature is that gaming table revenue will earn a consistent 4% regardless of the dollar figure.

Was OLG Playing the Shell Game with Casino Hosting Fees?

In the shell game, the player bets that he or she can follow the pea hidden under one of three shells. In an honest shell game, the operator uses quick moves and verbal distraction to mislead the player.

In a dishonest game, the original pea may be dropped behind the table or hidden in some other way.

Was OLG playing the shell game with the host cities? Their original hosting fee statement did indeed discuss revenue from slots but not from gaming tables (such as poker, blackjack, craps or roulette). When I originally wrote “OLG Proposal and Links to Toronto Casino Consultation“, I remember thinking that OLG likely hadn’t mentioned gaming tables because they were not included at the racetracks where slots were installed.

Now I wonder whether the plan all along had been to pay Toronto, and other cities with casinos, only from slot machine revenues and not from gaming tables.

Suppose the estimated $1.4 billion in gaming revenues in the Toronto casino had included the gaming tables. If we change the final $900 million in revenue from earning a 0.5% hosting fee to 4%, that’s a net gain of 3.5%. Well, 3.5% of $900 million is $31,500,000. That just about makes up the difference from the original $20M to the new $50M.

But for all we know, OLG never planned to include gaming table revenue in the base for the hosting fee. At 4%, that would mean that OLG expected revenue of $30M/0.04= $750,000,000 from table gaming. That’s $750 million over the estimated $1.4 billion spent in a Toronto casino, that had never been included in the Ernst and Young study.

In the latter case, Toronto’s overall hosting fee would have been $20M/2.15B = 0.9%, or less than 1% of revenue; rather than $20M/1.4B = 1.4%. Let’s remember that the OLG had estimated that racetracks earned about 4% of slots revenues before last year’s modernization formula.

Conclusions about OLG Casino Fees

Unfortunately, my first conclusion is that there are more questions than answers. It’s impossible to write a favourable business case study about the Ontario Lottery Corporation’s proposed Toronto casino while these remain unresolved.

Did Ernst and Young ever ask OLG what they included as “revenue” in the hosting fee formula?

Did the OLG plan to avoid paying anything to any host city for gaming table revenue at a casino? Has that been the case in the past? Perhaps Windsor and Niagara Falls city councils should inquire.

Did the OLG truly believe it was applying the same formula to each host city for casino and gambling revenues, even after offering Toronto far more than the published formula could afford? If so, was that a failure of mathematics, or a failure to disclose the full nature of the formula?

My second conclusion remains what it was months ago. Then, it was based on the inconsistencies of host fee calculations and the shabby treatment of Ontario racetracks, who had been partners with OLG for many profitable years. Now it’s based on clearer evidence of a lack of complete disclosure. This second conclusion is that no city should trust OLG as a partner for a casino.

Perhaps OLG might not be playing the shell game with casinos in Ontario cities; but they make it hard to follow the hosting formula “pea” as OLG promises to “shell” out fees.

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Professional Writing by DeHaan Services

DeHaan Services writes web site or advertising copy for clients. Our skills are demonstrated in online articles in Decoded Science and Decoded Pregnancy. That’s why we highlight these online articles on this blog page.

To only see our Toronto events (for things to do in Toronto) or fitness articles, please click on the appropriate category in the “Categories” section at the bottom of the right-hand margin.

Thank you for reading about how OLG revised their casino hosting fees in May 2013.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for partisan politics.

Muscle Pain Treatment with Heat or Cold Therapy

My latest DeHaan Fitness article, “Hot and Cold Therapy for Pain Treatment after Exercise“, introduces the safe use of heat or cold for muscle pain treatment.

Let’s face it: almost everyone who exercises for fitness or at work will have muscle pain sometime. Hot and cold therapy options can help significantly in muscle pain treatment

The “PRICE” of First Aid

"Rest, Ice and Elevate an Ankle" image by pjohnkeane (John Keane)
“Rest, Ice and Elevate an Ankle” image by pjohnkeane (John Keane)

One standard First Aid approach to an acute injury such as a sprained ankle is PRICE:

  • Protect the injury.
  • Rest the injury.
  • Ice the injury…or apply cold.
  • Compress the injury.
  • Elevate the injury.

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The picture shows a man applying the RIE components.

My article explains more about choosing between heat and cold for pain treatment of acute or chronic injuries.

Why Improvise? Invest in a Reusable Hot and Cold Pack for Pain Treatment

The “SofTouch Hot and Cold Pack” earned a 4.7/5 star rating with 46 reviews at Amazon. It uses clay rather than gel, and has a soft surface so it feels better on the skin.

The clay can fit better around joints than some of the stiffer hot and cold pads on the market. One concern is that it may not heat evenly in the microwave, so knead it every minute or so to distribute the heat more evenly. This is a low-priced product compared to the competition. It’s reusable and versatile.

My article explains why it’s more economical to buy a couple of hot and cold packs for home use; especially compared to one-time chemical packs.

It’s a lot easier to handle a reusable ice pack than to improvise by crushing ice cubes in a plastic bag. And the “hot and cold gel packs” are more versatile than buying a separate ice pack and electric heating pad.

Find a First Aid Course in Canada

While the St. John Ambulance folks also provide First Aid training, it was easy to find the “find a first aid course” page for the Canadian Red Cross. Take a course; learn to save lives and alleviate pain.

I do consider pointing readers to first aid courses to be a public service announcement.

Professional Writing by DeHaan Services

DeHaan Services writes web site or advertising copy for clients. Our skills are demonstrated in online articles in Decoded Science and other web sites. That’s why we highlight these online articles on this blog page.

To only see our Toronto events (for things to do in Toronto) or fitness articles, please click on the appropriate category in the “Categories” section at the bottom of the right-hand margin.

Thank you for reading about muscle pain treatment using hot or cold therapy.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.