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Morning Brew: "Big Hurt" City Budget Cuts, Newspaper Editor Abduction Attempt, Tap Water and Laser Pointer Concerns, 9-Year Old Hero

Posted by Jerrold Litwinenko / October 26, 2009

toronto firePhoto: "All Business" by Luke T., member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

The City of Toronto is aiming to cut operating expenses in 2010 by 5%, and by an additional 5% in 2011. Services will no doubt be cut and new expenditures curbed. The move has already been coined the "big hurt" but hopefully those that are already hurting big aren't the ones most affected (although I may be wearing rose-coloured glasses here).

Toronto tap water has been found to contain antibiotic resistant but non-disease-causing bacteria. While it remains safe to drink now, the concern is that if so-called bad bugs pick up the genes for antibiotic resistance, we could have a problem down the road. Until then, I'm going to continue to drink it with gusto!

The editor of the Punjabi Post newspaper in Brampton, who has openly expressed anti-extremist opinion in the past, was violently beaten but narrowly avoided being kidnapped at gunpoint on Friday night. Sounds like quite the harrowing experience for Jagdish Grewal.

Hey, kids. Stop shining laser pointers at airplanes and helicopters. It's really pissing off pilots and poses a serious danger. It may be fun to imagine mass destruction, but if an aircraft actually goes down and kills innocent people, the fun will be over in an instant.

A quick-thinking 9-year old boy may have saved some lives, including his own. When his mother suffered from a medical incident and blacked out at the wheel while driving on the QEW near Grimsby, he reached over, turned off the ignition, and safely guided the car onto the shoulder. High fives!

The hand-held device ban in cars begins today. While what's allowed and what's not allowed has gotten clearer, how it will be effectively enforced is yet to be seen.

And during a somewhat gloomy Saturday and gorgeous fall Sunday, here's what blogTO was up:

Discussion

9 Comments

zhadu / October 26, 2009 at 10:09 am
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Will the hand-held device ban apply to TTC drivers also? Because the driver of the subway I was riding yesterday was happily checking his Blackberry and talking on it while driving between stations.
DS / October 26, 2009 at 10:24 am
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Zhadu, would you like a tissue to dry your tears with?
Peter / October 26, 2009 at 10:33 am
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That issue has come up in Halifax, where a bus driver was caught talking on a cellphone after Nova Scotia's ban came into effect.

Anyway, presumably that subway driver was well within his rights, as the Ontario ban begins today, not yesterday.
Mike W / October 26, 2009 at 10:59 am
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What about answering via speakerphone?

Or using a handheld device while stopped?
Jimmy / October 26, 2009 at 11:14 am
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Well, I guess that's proof that it is actually possible for TTC drivers to say hello to somebody.
thatguy / October 26, 2009 at 11:19 am
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I hope the separatist scum gets their due.
What do they think they can accomplish ? Following in the footsteps of the Tigers, they will only end up hurting their own families.
zhadu replying to a comment from DS / October 26, 2009 at 12:49 pm
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Having a bad day at work, DS?

Thanks for your offer, but I don't need any tissues. Send them to the relatives of these 25 dead:

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN01528355
jeff / October 26, 2009 at 09:14 pm
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It is against TTC rules for employees to use cell phones, etc. while working. Unfortunately, the union process would demand an investigation, the person at fault getting 3 chances and NO charges under the law, if in fact a cop would actually attempt charging a driver.

Is it fair? NO!

BTW the guy in the booth is also banned from chatting on his phone while working. According to the supervisor I spoke with, we should get the TTC workers badge number and send it to TTC with the time of the offense. A cellphone pic helps as well.
zhadu replying to a comment from jeff / October 26, 2009 at 11:19 pm
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Thanks for the comment Jeff. I've filed a formal complaint with the TTC. This was not a bus or streetcar driver, it was the bloody subway operator; couldn't take a proper picture because of the reflective window in the operator's booth.

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