Morning Brew: Charges coming for G20 police, Ford shows at PFLAG raising, more casino talk, Mel Lastman University?, fixing up the Double Down, and Jays win
45 G20 police officers, including the commander who ordered the controversial "kettling" technique, are facing misconduct charges over their actions at the 2010 protests in Toronto. According to a report seen by the CBC, penning protesters for four hours at Queen and Spadina in a thunder storm was "unreasonable, unnecessary and unlawful."
As you've heard by now, Rob Ford surprised everyone at the PFLAG flag-raising by actually showing up and reading the proclamation exactly like he said he wouldn't. Despite the apparent risk of hecklers, the mayor was applauded and cheered by the gathered journos and well-wishers and the whole event generally went smoothly. Should Ford have skipped the theatrics and promised to show up from the start?
OLG has whittled the selection process for a GTA casino down to four general locations: the waterfront in Toronto or Mississauga, Markham or Richmond Hill. The Globe and Mail says the options could the pit communities against each other but from what we've seen in the last few weeks, the waterfront in Toronto is a prime target for developers. The paper also reports that municipalities no longer need to hold a referendum on new casinos. Is that a good thing?
The West Don Lands have had a rough past as a scene of declining industry, dereliction, and the aborted Ataratiri community project. With the arrival of the 2015 PanAm Games athletes' village and other large-scale developments, things seem to be finally looking up for the troubled area on the west bank of the Don. Yesterday, John Bentley Mays, a columnist for the Globe and Mail, took a look at what the future holds for the area once the games are over.
"Graduate of Lastman University" isn't something I'd put on my resume but if Councillor James Pasternak gets his way Mel Lastman Square in North York could become an outdoor portion of a new university. According to The Star, the new educational facility would run out of the old North York city hall on Yonge Street and help to boost the city's collective brainpower and bank balance. "It's a much more creative way of building the economy than, let's say, a casino," Pasternak told the paper.
The KFC Double Down - a sandwich with fried chicken patties instead of bread - is really as lowbrow and gluttonous as fast food comes - that is until someone comes up with a way to hide low quality meat in the french fries. Over at The Grid, chefs from various Toronto restaurants were tasked with sprucing up the Double Down for people with more expensive tastes. The results? Mmm. You decide.
This week we're turning back the clock again with Retrontario to a simpler time when the only Ford on people's lips had four wheels and looked like it was drawn by a child on an Etch A Sketch.
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Photo: "Visiting Hour" by Michael Mitchener in the BlogTO Flickr pool.
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