The voices calling for Rob Ford to speak up or step down are continuing to grow in numbers. Even the Toronto Sun, normally a staunch ally of the mayor through tough times, says it's time allegations he smoked crack cocaine be addressed. "The issue isn't whether it's ridiculous. The issue is whether it's true," it says in an editorial. Will staying silent make the accusations disappear without a tape?

Doug Ford, the member of the Etobicoke dynasty the press didn't want to see, briefly spoke yesterday about the allegations surrounding his brother. When he wasn't trotting out tired remarks about the success of the mayor, the councillor said he believes his brother's private claims that the stories aren't true. He didn't say, however, the allegations were false and took no questions.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board clearly isn't impressed with the mayor's recent activities. They "fired" the mayor as head coach of the Don Bosco Eagles, a position he held on a voluntary basis for roughly a decade. Though they didn't mention the recent allegations in their press release, it's likely Ford reportedly calling the kids "fucking minorities" didn't help.

Just to balance out all the negativity around the mayor, here's a glimmer of positivity in the form of a hilariously inaccurate Slate article by Philip Preville. In this alternate reality TTC CEO Andy Byford is Australian (he's a Brit) and all of City Hall is called the Clamshell (it's just the council chamber, since it looks like a clamshell and all.) There's also some other confused backstory on the firing of former TTC GM Gary Webster.

The people have spoken. Pape station will close for 12 days in June so the TTC can power through the remaining renovation work that's currently making the place look a complete shambles. 52% of those surveyed opted for a complete closure. Trains will bypass the station entirely June 15 to 26. Pape will open first thing on the 27.

Finally, police are searching for a person who allegedly stole the purse of a woman who had just jumped to her death on the subway. Police say the transit rider, whose face was clearly captured by CCTV, picked up the woman's purse during the investigation at College station yesterday.

IN BRIEF:

• Body wrapped in garbage bag pulled from harbour in downtown Toronto [Toronto Star]
• Rob Ford brushes off CTV reporter at Tim Hortons [Toronto Star]
• Pet owner sues vets for pain and suffering over dog's death [Toronto Star]
• Jose Bautista leads Jays to series victory over Rays [CBC]

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Image: Ronnie Yip/blogTO Flickr pool.