Stephen Otto News Today

We didn’t vote you into office for a reason

Payson resident Michael Heather is running out of time to decide whether to run for a council seat or the mayor’s seat for the Town of Payson.

Incumbent Payson Mayor Tom Morrissey pulled papers to seek a third term as mayor on Jan. 18.

It is only January and eight candidates have already filed their statement of intent to run for either mayor or one of three open council seats in the Aug. 2

The Payson Town Council closed the book on the long running Taylor Pool issue when it voted to send a letter of reprimand to Parks and Recreation commissioner Lori Thompson

The Payson Lions Club and the Friends of Payson Parks and Recreation helped the town spruce up the Diamondback fields at Rumsey Park with a donation of two mature trees on Arbor Day. “We have a vision of trees all along the way here,” said Cris Gerard, incoming president for the club. Her vision coincides with the town. “This will create a screening line of trees and align them with a walking path,” said Courtney Spawn, the director of Payson’s Parks and Recreation of f...

Back in 2011, I was brainstorming ideas for future projects with local historian Stephen Otto. He was intrigued by what the BBC and New York Times had both published at the time: lists of important, historic objects that helped define a place. We surmised that compiling a list for Toronto would be an entertaining and revealing project. Five years later, and with over 300 objects identified with the help of over 50 local know-it-alls, we had our list: This deep dive into finding the objects le...

EDITOR’S NOTE: This piece was written in 1985 by Stephen Otto for a catalog that was never published to accompany the exhibit “Meeting Places: Toronto’s City Halls,” at the Market Gallery. It is offered here to mark Toronto’s 182nd anniversary of incorporation on March 6, and to foster understanding of the North St. Lawrence Market site where archaeological excavations are taking place currently prior to the redevelopment of the property for courts and a new market. In July 1833 the ...