Morning Brew: November 21st, 2008

Photo: "streetlight" by hesitation, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):

"Yongesterdam" has been squashed. The pot-friendly Kindred Cafe on Yonge Street was raided by police last night, and its assets (chairs, coffee makers, volcano vapourizers, and more) seized. It's alleged that the cafe was selling spaaaace caaaakes. How do you feel about your tax dollars being spent both on the war on drugs AND on glossy LCBO magazines that promote alcohol?

Last night at Keele & Dundas a German Shepherd was killed when "stray voltage" from a street-side hydro pole struck it. Ummmm. WTF? If it could happen to a dog, could it not happen to a person? I suspect a lawsuit is forthcoming. And some rigorous inspections.

GO Transit wants to buy a chunk of Union Station. This seems like a sound idea - GO gets their head office space where they want it, the city gets money to help fund the major renovations needed at the station, and if all goes as planned, commuter congestion in the area can be curbed some as well.

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The TTC will roll out on Sunday with sweeping improvements in service. More riders (a new record was recently set) means more buses on more routes. This is great news!

Toronto MP Bob Rae will be running for the leadership role in the federal Liberal Party, and of course, his arguably tainted history as Ontario Premier during his NDP days back in the early '90s is on everyone's mind. Rae has addressed the issue publicly, saying that rather than a liability, his experiences back then should be considered valuable lessons learned.

Some parts of the city are struggling with garbage bins because collection happens out front and alley ways that separate them are too narrow to allow the bins to pass through. The result is an eyesore or cascading bins. The solution is likely going to have to be that they simply get over it, or the city makes some special arrangements for back laneway pickup.

More on the Kindred Cafe raid via CityNews coverage ripped to Youtube: