Morning Brew: No penalty for Ford's refusal to disclose office receipts, Toronto app company gets MLB and NFL deal, high school kids cook for Wills & Kate, bikeability tool on its way for Toronto neighbourhoods
Even though Mayor Rob Ford really doesn't like to submit his work-related receipts, there doesn't seem to be anything that anyone can do about it yet. A recent Globe and Mail investigation found the mayor and his brother hadn't submitted receipts for basic office supplies, an act that disobeys a city council-approved policy. Usually when you don't do something you're supposed to, there are consequences but not in this case: the policy doesn't include any mandated penalties, like fines. Ford's done this before back in 2007 when he was a councillor, and he was even probed by the Auditor-General. No one's accusing the frugal Ford brothers of extravagance, but rules are meant to be followed, right?
This is compelling news for both tekkies and jocks. Polar Mobile, a Toronto-based app developer, has landed a pair of multi-year licensing agreements with the Major League Baseball Players Association and NFL Players Inc. to create an app showcasing famous baseball and football players in hopes of connecting fans to the players outside of the game.
Okay, so the royal newlyweds aren't coming to Toronto on their tour but a handful of high school kids from Statford, Ontario will still be cooking for them. No, Wills and Kate aren't employing child labourers; the kids are a part of a popular culinary arts program through their school and have been given an opportunity to help prepare the food at a "Celebration of Youth" reception in Ottawa that the Duke and Duchess are attending. Culinary arts program? What happened to Home-Ec?
This could be a really useful tool for city hall and could help put an end to this "war on the bike" fiasco. The University of British Columbia has come up with an interactive online bikeability tool that's measured based on such components as bicycle route density, bicycle route separation, and connectivity of bicycle-friendly streets to determine areas more and less conducive to cycling. Right now they've created the tool with Vancouver, but with their new funding, they're going to be developing one for Toronto, so let's hope our city jumps on it.
IN BRIEF:
Photo by xxbreakthesky in the blogTO Flickr pool.
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