Morning Brew: Court proceedings begin for accused G20 officer, TDSB says schools to remain open at Jane and Finch, residents of the Village suffer slushie attacks, and Donlands is getting second subway exit
Court proceedings begin today for Toronto Police Constable Babak Andalib-Goortani who is charged with assault with a weapon in the takedown of Adam Nobody at the Ontario legislature during the G20 summit in what surely will be the most watched case in Special Investigation Unit's history. The Globe and Mail examines what this Toronto police brutality incident means for the unit as it will be called on to prove to the public that it is a "robust watchdog" and to the police that it is a "dispassionate, impartial" investigator.
After a year of public discordant debate, the Toronto District School Board staff is recommending that no schools close in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood -- especially with a new subdivision on the horizon. Staff will propose Wednesday to the board's planning and priorities committee that all five elementary schools in the neighbourhood remain open, even though one, Shoreham Public School, is almost half-empty.
Apparently high school students are hurling slushies and insults at people in the Village, with the most recent "facial" occurring last Monday when a man was targeted with a Coke slushie. Jarvis Collegiate students are being fingered as the primary culprits. However Trustee Sheila Ward of The Toronto District School Board and of Ward 14, who represents the Church and Wellesley area, says: ""Until the police have conducted a full investigation, this is just speculation. When we know what happened and who did it, then we can go forward."
Despite months of discussions and a consultant's study that pointed to several less-disruptive locations, the TTC is going ahead with a plan to build a second exit from the Donlands subway stop on a quiet residential street, upsetting homeowners who pushed hard for a compromise and thought they were "getting somewhere." Well, apparently not. The TTC will continue on with its plan to raze two homes on Strathmore Boulevard and partially expropriate another 10 properties to make way for the exit. The $8 million-project starts in 2013 and will take about two years to complete.
IN BRIEF
WEEKEND ROUNDUP
Photo by Lynda Murtha ~ in the blogTO Flickr pool.
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