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Tonight on Village Media's new daily podcast: Amid a summer heat wave, parents are calling on the province to create new regulations to deal with scorching temperatures in daycares and classrooms.

As heat waves continue to grip the province, parents are speaking out about the "sweltering" conditions inside some child-care centres.

The Trillium, Village Media's bureau at Queen's Park, reported this week that some kids are being left in diapers as a way to keep cool. While some facilities have window or portable air conditioning units, parents say the devices aren't enough to keep the rooms comfortable.

As The Trillium reported, parents are calling on the province to set maximum allowable temperatures for child-care centres — a move supported by Opposition parties.

Pressed about the issue at a news conference this week, Premier Doug Ford did not rule out implementing air conditioning standards in child-care settings.

"It's terrible that kids have to sit in the boiling hot heat. And I'm all for putting window air conditioning units in and helping them out ... any way they can," Ford said. "But this has been going on for decades and decades and decades, and we need to help the young kids any way we possibly can."

Sneh Duggal, deputy editor of The Trillium, has been leading the coverage of this story and joins us tonight on Closer Look.

Spoiler alert: Building a giant highway tunnel is probably not the solution to this particular problem.

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Tonight on Village Media's new daily podcast: We dig a little deeper into Premier Ford's big idea to construct a massive, congestion-easing tunnel underneath Highway 401 in Toronto.

For a story about boring, this one has proven to be anything but.

Premier Doug Ford is determined as ever to dig a massive tunnel underneath Highway 401 in Toronto — telling reporters yesterday that he's spoken with "some tunnelling folks" and has hashed out a realistic plan to ease congestion.

According to Ford's tunnel vision, the finished product will have three levels: one for eastbound traffic, one for westbound traffic, and another for public transit.

The total cost? Nobody knows for sure.

Is a highway tunnel a realistic construction project? How long would it actually take to build? Would it be safe?

Or would the province be more wise to spend some of those billions on other options aimed at mitigating congestion?

We tackle those questions, and many more, on tonight's episode of Village Media's new Closer Look podcast. Our guests are Jessica Smith Cross, editor-in-chief of The Trillium, and Professor Matti Siemiatycki, director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

New episodes of Closer Look drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. across the Village Media network, or wherever you find your favourite podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Have something to say? You can reach us at closerlook@villagemedia.ca.

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It's not everyday that the OPP launches an investigation targeting an Ontario mayor. But that's exactly what happened this week in North Bay, where Mayor Peter Chirico has been dogged by a spending scandal that has triggered plenty of headlines.

The controversy revolves around nearly $16,000 in questionable expenses charged to Chirico's city-issued corporate credit card, including dog food, cigarettes, a golf membership and season tickets to the OHL's North Bay Battalion.

Chirico has previously said he's "done nothing wrong" and has "nothing to hide." Ultimately, it's now up to the OPP to decide.

To be clear, Chirico has not been charged with any crime. At this point, the force will only confirm that it is investigating a complaint regarding the mayor.

Our guest on tonight's Closer Look podcast is Chris Dawson of BayToday, one of our reporters covering the evolving story.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

New episodes of Closer Look drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. across the Village Media network, or wherever you find your favourite podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Have something to say? You can reach us at closerlook@villagemedia.ca.