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Morning Brew: Ford's board list kept from ombudsman, mayor takes a vacation, Ikea monkey gets a new home, slippery roads, and the Horseshoe Tavern turns 65
A list of Rob Ford's preferred candidates for the boards of several of Toronto's public agencies that was emailed to three of the mayor's allies on council was not available to ombudsman Fiona Crean during her investigation into the matter. The list, unearthed by the Toronto Star, was exempt because it was part of correspondence between councillors, which is protected.
Integrity commissioner Janet Leiper oversees conduct between the mayor and councillors but she has been asked to stop issuing reports until Rob Ford's conflict of interest appeal has finished.
You know what they say. When the going gets tough, the tough take some "personal time." Rob Ford was spied heading out for an early Christmas vacation yesterday by a fellow traveller at Pearson airport and the mayor's press secretary George Christopoulos later confirmed Ford had skipped town for an unknown destination, possibly the family condo in Florida.
Darwin, Toronto's best dressed rhesus macaque, was taken yesterday to Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, 100 kilometres north of the city, where he'll likely remain permanently. The primate's spirited escape attempt at an Ikea store caught the attention of the world's media after he was photographed wearing a shearling coat and a diaper. Best of luck, Darwin.
Yesterday was a rough day on the roads. A total of nine pedestrians, including a baby and an elderly man, were hit in separate incidents as numerous motorists were caught out by slippery, low-light conditions. All the collisions occurred within 43 minutes between 6:41 and 7:24 and all but one required hospital treatment.
The legendary Horseshoe Tavern at Queen and Spadina is turning 65 this week. The venue started out in 1947 as a strictly country-only bar but later shifted its focus to rock and roll, hosting concerts by the Rolling Stones and Bryan Adams.
Home videos of Darwin the Ikea monkey have been posted on the Toronto Star website by his former owner who apparently isn't so concerned about staying anonymous any more. In this one, Darwin brushes his teeth.
IN BRIEF:
- Police board denies Chief Bill Blair's cash request [The Star]
- 3 newborn polar bear cubs die at Toronto Zoo [CBC]
- Ikea monkey Darwin as seen on home videos [The Star]
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Photo: "Tracking Progress" by Shakethatchicken from the blogTO Flickr pool.
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http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1300251--hume-police-response-to-pedestrian-hits-clothing-advice
Plus, has NO ONE seen the movie Outbreak?
On top of that, the monkey is going to get bigger. The woman is on the record saying he's "only going to be about four feet tall". She thinks she can keep a four foot tall monkey in the city?!
This was a disaster waiting to happen. Sure, the poor monkey is traumatized, but it's his "owner" that traumatized him. The sanctuary has a hope of rehabilitating him into a proper primate...it would have been very difficult to do so once he was fully grown.
I read the first story about it and they only mentioned that one of the people hit was actually crossing legally. We don't know if the others were jay-walking or talking on their phones or something. I remember hearing how a guy got hit by a train because he was talking on his phone and didn't realize he'd walked around the crossing barrier and right in front of a moving train. It'd be interesting to know how often the driver is at fault, the pedestrian, or both in these accidents. I think it would probably be 50/50 blame overall.
So many fond memories of the Horseshoe. I remember playing a show there one time and there was absolutely nobody watching us except two coked out hippies who were dancing along to our crappy metal songs the whole set. It was really weird but also kind of funny.
Both times was in a cross walk on my turn in daylight. Both times it was a right hand turn for them.
As a cyclist, I have been hit more times than I remember.
In all cases it's the same thing, drivers are only looking out for other cars, because that is the only thing of consequence.
As a driver, and having driven in many countries all over the world, I can say that drivers in this country as some of the most selfish, unattentive asshats behind a wheel. Only place worse is the US.
How is it the Pedestrians fault when it's the driver inside a 2 ton box of metal?
I walk all the time and I've never had a near miss and I live in a pretty busy part of town. The closest near-miss experiences I've seen are from walking around union station though, where I see people jaywalk a lot. I know they can't close Front street, but that whole area is basically a pedestrian area around rush hour anyway. They should just set the speed limit to parking lot speeds (20 km/h I think) so it's safe and then make jaywalking legal in that area. Areas where Pedestrians way outnumber cars should be focused more on pedestrian usage, and have speed limits drastically reduced and jaywalking made legal.
Don't want to get raped? Don't go out, stay at home in your sweatsuit and make babies, and don't think of wearing anything revealing when you go to the mailbox or to get groceries for your husband.
Don't want to get hit by a car? Don't have the nerve to get in the way of one and it's your fault for wearing dark clothing.
Cross at red lights, by all means. I certainly do. But look around to make sure you aren't about to get hit by a car first.
I'm always amazed at how pedestrians and cyclists (and I am both) equate right-of-way with some measure of protection. The worst is pushing the button at crosswalks and immediately walking out without giving cars a legitimate chance to stop.
The problem is that the police are blaming the victims for having the audacity to wear dark clothing in winter and trying to cross the street. It doesnt matter if the pedestrian was in a cross walk, legally entitled to cross the road. The police still blamed them for wearing dark clothing. its a fucking disgrace.
Chris Hume hit the nail on the head with his column.
That's not blaming pedestrians, nor is it absolving drivers of their responsibility to look out for pedestrians and drive cautiously in bad weater. This is simply pointing out that as a practical matter, pedestrians have a greater obligation to be cautious in those situations, because in any collision between a car and a pedestrian, the pedestrian loses, every time. Right of way is irrelevant if you're dead or injured.
Please people - stop trying to turn the police's practical advice into another "slut walk" controversy. Why don't you stop obsessing over "blame" and instead actually pay attention to same practical advice for pedestrians, who generally have more to lose in any accident involving a car.