Morning Brew: No charges in Ford-Dale case, more casino talk, $30 million to fix St. Clair bridge, Wong-Tam still wants a bank, and bike lanes moving slowly
Police say they won't lay any charges in the Rob Ford-Daniel Dale case, effectively confirming the Star reporter never trespassed on the mayor's property. Dale's Blackberry contained no images of the incident and we can assume Ford's own CCTV video showed no criminal activity either. Case closed. OK, so we can stop talking about this now, right?
The downtown casino debate reared its head again yesterday when Paul Godfrey, the chair of Ontario's lottery corporation, urged councillors to seek all the information they can before voting on the topic. Godfrey, an influential figure in Toronto politics, says he'd like to see a casino on the city's waterfront.
Replacing the railroad bridge at St. Clair and Old Weston Road could cost more than $30 million, according to The Star. The notorious bottleneck caused by the bridge's narrow underpass is one of the biggest traffic issues on St. Clair. Despite the high price tag, which is "a conservative estimate," and lack of funding Councillor Cesar Palacio says he'll push to get the project started.
The legendary Matador Club was supposed to re-open as a "living arts centre" when it closed its doors in 2007. So far, the building has remained closed while renovations took place out of public view. The Grid did a little digging and has uncovered that paperwork for the new business is held up at city hall, which has caused the delay.
The Toronto Standard's Michael Kolberg says Rob Ford's constant mis-steps are burning him out and distracting those interested in municipal politics from the real issues. Do you agree? Is the mayor "500 channels with nothing on" as Kolberg says? For another editorial on the mayor, check out Ed Keenan's piece, "Sideshow Rob."
Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam still wants a "people's bank" that city council can use instead of the big Bay Street institutions to deposit its revenue and taxes. The "Bank of Toronto," as NOW calls it, could save the city millions in fees and charges which, like you and me, the city has to pay when it uses the bank. In other Wong-Tam news, the Councillor also wants residents to occupy a former park on Wellesley Street that has been mired in construction delays, according to Xtra.
Cyclists waiting for fully separated bike lanes on Wellesley and Harbord will have to tough it out with the rest of the traffic for longer than first expected. Cycle Toronto (formerly Toronto Cyclists' Union) says progress on the lane upgrades is slower than expected.
Yesterday we heard the famous Real Jerk restaurant is splitting Riverside at the end of May for an undisclosed location, today we hear the Irish pub once slated to replace the Caribbean eatery is back in the picture. The National Post says An Sibin is currently going over the lease with a fine tooth comb before it commits to the location at Queen and Broadview.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"They see this as a debate that makes downtown, I hate to say it, white people feel better that they've done something when they are suffering from this gun violence day after day."
Josh Colle doesn't think much of council's decision to allow Toronto Sportsmen's Show a bylaw exception to use guns on city-owned property. Councillor Gordon Perks' response was "fuck off," a comment for which he apologised.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Photo: "Riverdale Park West" by Franco Cignelli in the BlogTO Flickr pool.
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