Morning Brew: More cops hitting the street, Rob Ford poses with neo-Nazi musician, baby wombats, piano issues in Trinity Bellwoods Park, and the TTC is hiring
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair says hundreds of extra cops will be deployed for the remainder of the summer school break to combat gun violence in the city. Starting on the August long weekend, 300 extra officers will be available each day in addition to the regular force. "Our intent is not to overpolice our communities, our intent is to overprotect them," Blair said at a press conference yesterday.
Rob Ford's staff say the mayor had no knowledge that a man he posed for photographs with and met privately was a former neo-Nazi musician with a history of making racist comments. According to the Globe and Mail, John Latvis, former member of RAHOWA (short for Racial Holy War), was pictured wearing a military uniform with Ford at the mayor's annual New Year's Levee and the pair met privately in March to discuss "transit issues," of all things. The mayor's office says the photo was one of hundreds taken at the event. Which it was, so let's all just calm down.
From former white supremacists to orphaned baby wombats. A zoo in Chicago is sending the non-releasable Australian hairy-nosed wombats to Toronto as part of a breeding program.
A teal piano in Trinity Bellwoods park placed by the "Play Me, I'm Yours" project isn't producing sweet music for local residents. One too many impromptu 3am concerts have forced organizers to shift the instrument to Front and Yonge by the Sony Centre. Public music was also a problem for local residents when a popular drum circle grew too large and had to be shut down.
Need a job? Don't mind dealing with the mayor's traffic violations? The TTC is hiring 500 new operators to fill retirement and resignation vacancies.
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Photo: "R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant" by twurdemann in the blogTO Flickr pool.
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