1. ALPHABET’S SMART CITY PROJECT FINALLY MOVES FORWARD IN TORONTO: Two years after Alphabet Inc. pitched Sidewalk Labs, a 12-acre smart city development, the project is finally moving forward in Toronto. The project in the city’s Quayside district is expected to provide a setting for sustainable design and technology integration into urban planning. The project has been met with criticism over privacy concerns. TechCrunch: “The public outcry had gotten so loud that the project seemed to be in jeopardy. That, in turn, likely would be an existential challenge to Sidewalk Labs, since the company’s work in Toronto was to be the early crown jewel proving out its ability to integrate technology into the built environment in a way that would benefit populations, the company argued. … Sidewalk and Waterfront Toronto (the regulatory body overseeing the project) have come to an agreement that will limit the scope of the Sidewalk development and make the company work more closely with oversight agencies on the construction of the 12-acre parcel abutting Toronto’s parliamentary building.”
2. TV ACADEMY REVAMPS DAYTIME EMMY CATEGORIES: The National Academy of TV Arts and Sciences has updated guidelines for Daytime Emmy eligibility, including a new rule that states primetime offshoots of daytime programs will now be able to compete in the Daytime Emmys. The academy also plans to merge its young actor and young actress categories into one gender-neutral younger performer award, and will allow performers in gendered categories to enter what they identify with. Variety: “A new limited performance in a daytime program category will focus on performers from non-dramas who appear onscreen for 25 percent or less of a program or season, while leading performances will compete in a re-named principal performance in a daytime program category. The outstanding performer in a children’s or family viewing program category has been eliminated and replaced with outstanding principal performance in a children’s, family viewing, young adult, or special class program, and outstanding limited performance in a children’s, family viewing, young adult program, or special class program.”
3. TOKYO OFFICIALLY MOVES OLYMPIC MARATHON TO SAPPORO: Following two weeks of debate, organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have decided to move the marathon event to the northern city of Sapporo, Japan. The International Olympic Committee made the decision due to Tokyo’s severe heatwave, to the objection of Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. Associated Press: “The I.O.C. abruptly announced the marathon and race walk changes two weeks ago, fearing Tokyo’s summer heat could produce TV images like those seen last month from Doha, Qatar. Despite a midnight start, dozens of runners collapsed on the marathon course at the world track and field championships. Some were carried away on stretchers, and others rode wheelchairs to ambulances. I.O.C. member John Coates, who has been meeting with Koike for a week on an inspection visit to the Japanese capital, likened Tokyo’s summer conditions to the Arabian peninsula, even after the city agreed to start the race at dawn.”