Morning Brew: Canadian Museum of Space and Air is closing, Peggy and Doug finally meet, parking cops and gridlock, flash-mob picnic coming to TO, feds pay out a fraction of requested G20 compensation, and a building manager shames public urinators
It looks like the Canadian Air and Space Museum in Downsview Park has reached its final frontier. The museum was served an eviction notice yesterday by its owners, the Crown corporation, and will likely be replaced by a hockey arena. Although the museum was in significant debt, staff believed they had turned the corner prior to this latest development.
Margaret Atwood and Doug Ford had a surprise encounter last night at a party for Jeff Melanson, the Mayor's former special advisor on the arts who's off to Alberta to take charge of the Banff Centre. Councillor Michael Thompson arranged the introduction, which according to Peggy's tweets went quite well.
An investigation by the CBC has found that parking officers are more quick to give out tickets to those parked at expired meters than to those who stop their car in the middle of rush hour and run into stores, contributing to the city's heavy gridlock. The investigation also showed that officers often block traffic themselves. No real surprises there.
The federal government has come up with a small portion of the compensation Toronto businesses were seeking due to G20-related damages. Of the $11-million requested by a total of 367 claimants, Ottawa will provide just below $2-million, which represents a pay-out to 149 claims. An additional 47 eligible claims might yet receive compensation, while 166 have been rejected.
Too much or too little? A building manager at Queen and Dufferin created a "small penis alert" shaming poster campaign two years ago after he was fed up with public urination in his building's entranceway. Now, he's gone one better, and has created a website, as well as uploaded security video onto YouTube. Maybe it's a bit drastic, but it's also the kind of alert that should be more common, no?
Even though flash-mobs seem a little passe, it seems Toronto's going to have its own flash-mob picnic next Tuesday. Though details are sketchy (the dinner is invitation-only), the Diner Blanc will be near a convenient subway stop and will have a DJ and cash bar. Oh, and everyone has to wear white. So next week, just follow the trail of white-clothed people.
IN BRIEF:
Photo by BruceK in the blogTO Flickr pool
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