TorontoIAM Daily Blog Report:Opinions wanted on City Budget, Antropov steps up, Raps beat Sixers and face Nets tonight

This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from TorontoIAM where you will find the best blogs from Toronto, Ontario as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring.

Budget Committee Wants Citizens Opinions

A recent post from Toronto's City Hall blog from Eye Weekly has announced that on November 14, Torontonians will be able to address the Budget Committee that decides where the city will spend its tax revenue. Funding from the capital budgets include everything from road and infrastructure improvements all the way to, “funding for new streetcars, buses, transit lines and bike lanes.” The post was confident that turn-out at the upcoming event would be good, despite the awkward timing of 9:30 on a Monday morning. “I have a hunch many residents will be interested in having their voices heard on where the city spends their money.”

City Hall blog also reports that citizens can submit their questions via email or traditional mail. While the post noted that so-called “big-ticket items” have drawn much of the media attention, it was emphasized that several other lower-profile issues still deserved to be addressed. Among them were, “the Sustainable Energy Action Plan, a tree canopy study, homes for the aged and the construction of new libraries and community centers in priority communities.” Additionally, the post reports that Toronto City Council will vote on the recommendations from the Budget Committee between December 11-13.

Antropov Will Wear the “A” on the Leafs Road-trip

The Globe and Mail's Globe on Hockey blog has revealed some details from yesterday's Maple Leafs practice. The post described yesterday's session as “a surprisingly light-hearted practice” and contained several quotes from head coach Paul Maurice commenting on the recent performance of several specific players. David Shoalts, the author of the post, pointed to Nik Antropov's consistent level of performance as a real bright spot for the Maple Leafs this year. Shoalts declared, “15 points in 13 games took him from fans’ whipping boy to favourite son this season.”

Paul Maurice heaped further praise onto Antropov by stating “other than our captain [Mats Sundin] I think he’s been our best playe...he needs to be recognized for his performance and at the same time he’s a pretty well-liked guy in that locker room. He’s a natural fit for it.” The post also noted that Antropov will be listed as an assistant captain for the next two games, as defenceman Bryan McCabe has failed to travel for the Leafs away games at New Jersey and Montreal. This will be the Leafs first appearance at New Jersey's new stadium, a welcome change from the previous Continental Arena which Shoalts described as “sat in the middle of a swamp, surrounded by freeways and had all of the atmosphere of the Port Authority bus terminal in nearby Manhattan.”

TTC To Raise City's Debt by 80%

According to the latest post from Steve Munro's blog, the 2008 Toronto Capital Budget has made for some very interesting reading since it was made available online. Munro declared that TTC funding is one of the key factors dominating the budget. “Toronto has a huge problem financing the TTC, and as things stand, of the $1.249-billion in new capital debt the City will raise from 2008-2012, about 80% is due to the TTC.” Munro noted that the 2008 TTC budget will, once again, be achieved by “deferal of spending to the out-years,” something that he declared was “not sustainable, particularly with major capital projects coming down the pipeline.”

The post reveals that the TTC budget from 2009-12 is looking especially disconcerting. Munro states, “in the current estimates, the TTC’s capital requirement for 2009-2012 is about $420-million greater than the City’s budgetary target.” Additionally, the TTC has already committed to many capital projects that will raise the budgetary shortfall by over $350 million by 2012. The post pointed to several areas of concern for the TTC's budget. Among them were the Yonge subway's re-signalling project and the upward-trending cost of the new streetcars purchased by the TTC.

Raptors Beat the Sixers, Next up- New Jersey

A recent post from the Out of Left Field blog has shed some light on the Raptors 106-97 triumph over the Philadelphia 76'ers. The game was a solid victory for the Raps despite the fact that “Chris Bosh was limited to 26 minutes.” The post declared that “a nine-point win over pesky Philadelphia was satisfactory.” Significantly, the Raptors will face two stern tests this weekend against New Jersey and Boston and it is probably for the best that the Raptors rested their star player. The post was insistent that the “Raptors window to reach the NBA Finals is longer than almost any other organization... Whether they go 52-30 or 39-43 is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.”

Out of Left Field also pointed to Andrea Bargnani as a stand-out player during the Raptors game against the 76'ers. Clocking 22 minutes of playing-time, Bragnani managed five rebounds and 2 blocks, while the post noted that “Bosh wasn't on the floor at the same time as him.” The Raptors rebounding has been a prominent factor in shaping their year so far, with Out of Left Field declaring “the Raptors are like a football team with a run-and-shoot offence: You just hope they'll have the game out of reach by the fourth quarter.” The Raptors face off against the New Jersey Nets this evening.

About TorontoIAM

TorontoIAM is part of a groundbreaking network of city-focused blog aggregation, user generated media and social networking websites currently rolling out across North America. Each IAM website filters and organizes blog content as well as offering video upload capabilities, social networking, blog authoring, favourites lists and rumours. The IAM Network is a division of SoMedia Networks Inc which also operates Inveslogic.com, Greenedia.com, Healthedia.com and Blabaloo.com. For more information or to register an account, visit TorontoIAM.com.