City
Morning Brew: December 1st, 2008
Photo: "Swimming with ColorCheckers" by Daifuku Sensei, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):
Toronto managed to evade a winter storm this weekend, but a few of our prominent local politicians have become embroiled in a storm of epic proportions. The Prime Minister's Office sent out a recording made by the Conservatives of an NDP caucus teleconference that reveals Jack Layton leading coalition-related discussions. I'm pretty sure I have an opinion on what's worse - that these discussions were held well before the insane economic plan was delivered by the Conservatives, or that the talks were infiltrated, taped, and shared by the Conservatives. It's believed that a deal to form a Liberal-NDP coalition, with support of the Bloc is in the works, and coalition action in the form of a stimulus package is being planned.
Total mayhem and horror erupted at a child's birthday party in Oshawa this weekend, leading to the stabbing death of a mother, injury to a few others (including two kids), and the assailant being shot dead by intervening police. What a horrific tragedy.
Something about this story just doesn't seem right. Five fires broke out in five different TTC subway stations within half an hour of each other - due to heaters used by the TTC to prevent switches from freezing? Ummmm. Does this happen often? Even Fire Marshall Bill wouldn't approve!
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Spacing had a post over the weekend that revealed a problem I've had on my mind for years - not only are the TTCs local area maps (at station exits) generally kind of sucky, they're also so outdated in some instances that they deliver incorrect information. To a local it's no big deal, but imagine the runaround that may be a reality for tourists and newcomers to Toronto.
While the city is actively considering putting regulations in place to reduce plastic water bottle waste, one giant corporation that bottles it is making insane claims that bottled water is environmentally friendly because most are recycled. Personally, I like the stuff that flows from the taps.
Discussion
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yep, drinking straight up tap water is the way to go. No side effects like kidney stones or brain damage of that sortnone that I've noticed anyway ;)
In all seriousness, I might consider buying a Brita water filter. Saves a helluva lot more money compared to buying bottled water.
Jerrold - Minor track-level fires caused by debris are rare, but do occur. They almost always extinguish themselves.
Some context: there are heaters on subway switches and trip arms to ensure no freezing when weather forecasts call for severe weather. If there is debris on a heater, it's possible for the debris to ignite. Tracks are cleaned of debris, of course, but given the windy conditions yesterday, an inordinate amount of paper made its way onto the tracks and into tunnels.
Safety, needless to say, is our first priority. At no time yesterday was there a threat to customer or employee safety.
Brad
Oh wow, kudos to Brad for the very timely, clear and informative response! I learned something new and feel better about safety on the TTC to boot.
Well that's one way to heat those cold ass stations.
Is it just me or are Canuck politics suddenly getting exciting? Not quite Obama-esqe but I'm liking the "throw the bums out!" sentiment.
@Brad: Are you sure about that daily cleaning bit, Mr. Ross? I have noticed debris for months along trackbeds that has not been cleaned up, such as the areas under the platforms at Bloor, Rosedale, St. Clair, College, etc. The open-cut areas are also pretty strewn with debris as well (see the Yonge line, south from Summerhill to the portal just north of Bloor, trash and debris everywhere). Hate to say this, but the TTC has neglected ROW maintenance for years. You don't even scoop up leaves adjacent to the tracks like you used to (which really tidied up that corridor), so I'm not surprised these fires are occuring more frequently.
@ex-lib: Keeping tracks free of garbage is a daily challenege, to be sure. Not only is it unsafe, but also unsightly. Garbage receptacles are being reintroduced on subway platforms, but exist in ALL stations for people to use. Nudge-nudge....
Debris, including leaves, that gather around heaters is cleared daily in the winter, but Mother Nature intervened with high winds yesterday, making our job all that more difficult.
Brad
Kudos to the city for doing something about excessive use of water bottles in Toronto. It's about time someone did something proactive about this. One can only hope that the U.S. follows suit. Every time I'm in The States, I'm astounded by the lack of recycling there. And they're bigger consumers than us.
Bloc Quebecois