Morning Brew: Ice Time for Girls, Kensington BIA Considered, Brawling Teens in Don Mills, One-Man Crime Spree, Apology Over Blackface Sought, TTC vs. Dundas West

Photo: "5753 KENSINGTON SKY" by Xander N'Dante, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

Gender equality should apply across the board - and on the ice. Girls hockey teams have been experiencing difficulties getting reasonable ice time, and all it took was a threat to launch a human-rights complaint and a flurry of media attention before the mayor stepped in and vowed to ensure that its existing equity policy is enforced.

Does Kensington Market need a BIA? City council will debate the merits of the creation of a Business Improvement Area for the old neighbourhood at the end of November, but store owners are already divided on the issue, some fearing that too much politicking will result in the lovable, chaotic nature of the area being lost.

Somewhere between 30 and 100 teens (possibly with ties to gangs) got into a brawl in the Don Mills & 401 area last night, and two people ended up in stable condition in hospital. One was shot in the back, and the other was stabbed in the back. Man-to-man, face-to-face fistfights are a thing of the past, apparently.

A number of residents in the city's east end neighbourhoods of Birch Cliff & Cliffside in Scarborough fell victim to a wild one-man wrecking ball last night. The suspect was involved in a hit and run, crashed into a number of additional vehicles as he fled, and then barged into a home to make a phone call and steal a jacket before disappearing into the bluffs (see embedded CityNews video below):

Some Halloween costumes this year were rather disgusting while others, including this blackface depiction of the Jamaican bobsled team in the film Cool Runnings, crossed racial lines. Student groups at U of T are demanding a public apology after the questionable costume concept was awarded a prize by an elected student representative.

And the TTC and the Dundas West BIA are arguing over numbers and the validity of studies used to make decisions about on-street parking. Comparing October 2006 data to October 2008 data shows no significant difference in public transit flow, while comparing March 2006 to March 2008 shows a big effect on TTC flow. Maybe all of this data should be opened up for all of us to see, on Toronto's open data project?