The Globe and Mail

Earlier this month, William Thorsell, director of the revered Royal Ontario Museum and former editor-in-chief of this newspaper, flew down to New York to boost media attention for the ROM's current $250-million revamp - and, while there, managed to kick an old hornet's nest back home. Whatever he said in Manhattan - his exact words were not cited - it was taken by Globe and Mail reporter Val Ross to mean the ROM is reviving an aborted scheme to put up a residential tower on its dilapidated south end. After Ms. Ross's story broke in Toronto, Mr. Thorsell swiftly announced that no deal had been concluded, and that the process of reaching a decision would involve community consultation. The announcement seems to have worked: The last time I looked, the citizenry was not marching on the ROM with pitchforks at the ready.