Back to the winter of school board Twitter discontent. Snow day season has returned, and so has @PeelSchools, which baits young followers with GIFs and memes. But when the messages start getting nasty—as they have in past years—the account's tone gets serious. (Peel’s tweeters defend their jokey posts as a way of “meeting them where they are.”)

Requiem for the "basement in the air." The Globe and Mail is technically homeless at the moment, because its new offices at 351 King East aren't ready for occupants. But, on the last day at the paper's old office, at 444 Front Street West, Elizabeth Renzetti wrote an ode to the duct-taped complex, originally built for the Toronto Telegram. (Also recently: an obituary for Greg O’Neill, the copy editor who was there all those years.)

“Mid Century to French Country” house horrifies Toronto. Leslie and Matt Biggley, who digitally documented their overhaul of a late-‘60s ranch house in Essex County, earned a Toronto Star feature for their overhaul of what they considered a “horror show.” Urbanite readers were mortified by the transformation:

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Sam the Record Man claims it’s worth the drive to Belleville. The last location of the chain was arguably the most famous thing about the town until that woman who wrote the Pizzagate article came along. Still, it's a little odd that the last Sam's is now advertising in Metro, where it assures readers that the store is only 90 minutes away from Yonge and the 401. (The Quinte Mall is probably the last shopping centre in North America with two record stores, thanks to the competing HMV.)

Second City stages are now now safe-spaced. Andrew Alexander, who took over the Toronto improv theatre in 1974 and now runs the whole chain, is unapologetic about mounting a stern new sign at all Second City locations. (Four performers in Chicago recently quit over Second City's allegedly inadequate way of dealing with racist hecklers.)

Join the 12:36 year-in-review party! We’ll be using Slack to chat with you (and other daily readers) on Thursday, December 15 from 12:37 p.m. till 3-something. Sign up here to invite yourself—an email that gets you through the door will show up on Thursday—and make sure to bring your nomination for the 12:36 Word of the Year.