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Morning Brew: Rob Ford's conflict verdict due Monday, more Danzig shooting charges, the adventures of Marty the Horse, subway alarms, and marking public parks
Rob Ford will learn his fate Monday when the judge in his conflict of interest trial delivers his verdict. Justice Charles Hackland has been deliberating on the case brought by Toronto resident Paul Magder who accuses the mayor of breaking provincial rules when he voted to reimburse himself $3,150 in charity donations. Ford could be booted from office and prevented from running again for 7 years. The verdict is due at 10 AM.
A second man faces murder charges related to the Danzig Street attacks, the worst mass shooting in the history of Toronto. Nahom Tsegazab, 19, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and police say he is a member of the Galloway Boys street gang.
Marty the horse was finally allowed inside the Fairmont Royal York hotel yesterday after the Front Street establishment grudgingly agreed to recreate a famous moment in 1948 when a Calgary Stampeders' horse clopped into the famous lobby. The hotel said no when Marty and his entourage first arrived, prompting cheers of "let us in!" When management relented, Marty still had a long face.
Passenger assistance alarms - those yellow strips above the windows on the subway - are a common source of delays on the TTC system. Sometimes they're used for legitimate reasons such as a medical emergency or to have a drunken passenger removed, but as The Grid discovers, often they're pressed by mistake or no reason at all. Do you have any experience of this?
A motion by councillor Josh Matlow to be heard at the next council meeting will ask the city to investigate adding signs to publicly-accessible private parks. According to the summary, a lack of clear signage prevents people accessing certain green spaces in the city. New York and San Francisco have similar schemes. Sound like a good idea?
The intersection of Davenport and Lansdowne is closed this morning after a cyclist was critically injured in a hit-and-run. Police are looking for a red van with damage to the front end. 47 Lansdowne busses are diverting in both directions.
Toronto's controversial billboard tax is safe now that the Supreme Court of Canada has decided not to challenge it in court. The ad industry tried to kill the tax that brings the city roughly $10 million each year. According to The Star, the ruling could clear the way for new local taxes in Toronto.
IN BRIEF:
- Let bureaucrats settle parking ticket disputes instead of courts: ombudsman [National Post]
- Vaughan mom cites cyber-bullying, drops bid to have oak trees removed [The Star]
- California sanctuary 'not suitable' for Toronto's elephants, zoo's CEO says [The Star]
Photo: "Beauty and the Beast" by Acid_Punk in the blogTO Flickr pool.
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...lots of sick people, though.
Heart attack on the last early morning eastbound train. Was furious that I missed the last buses at the station and had to cab, until I found out it was a legit medical emergency.
Someone sounded the alarm at Bay during rush hour because of a "violent threat" or something... had police comb through each car... I was in the same car as the person they were looking for. Turns out it was just a really obnoxious, but otherwise harmless teen listening to gangster rap music too loud. He had no idea what was going on, we were delayed for about a half hour.
Old women or young mother with child/children "feeling threatened" by youth of any non-caucasian decent who are doing absolutely nothing threatening.
I've seen a few legit medical emergencies too, but overall people just need to calm down and be less paranoid.
"You have women trying to get their bodies tight for the summer and they won¹t eat," said Asim Nelson, a Transit emergency medical technician based in Grand Central Station. "Not eating for three or four days, you are going to go down. If you don't eat for 12 hours you are going to get weak."
Eat breakfast and stop reading fashion magazines.
Old women or young mother with child/children "feeling threatened" by youth of any non-caucasian decent who are doing absolutely nothing threatening."
Sorry, I'm going to call BS on this. Really? 90% of the time? You, friend, are making things up.
If true, that's one hell of a track record.