By André Bovee-Begun

The Green Bin program is getting a reputation as a huge (but organic) waste of time, but those laying the blame on the city might want to look closer to home. According to a lawyer representing Toronto’s Director of Solid Waste Planning Geoff Rathbone, Toronto households toss only half of their Green-Binable waste into the right disposal container. Rathbone is currently suing the Star over the paper’s series of articles on the shortcomings—real and alleged—of Toronto’s citywide composting program. Taxpayers are likely to foot the first twenty-five thousand dollars of legal bills from Rathbone’s case, which could cost as much as $150,000 in total.
Perhaps predictably, the TTC’s plan to trim its express service between Downsview station and York University to a mere thirteen minutes has hit unexpected delays. The dedicated bus lanes the commission hopes to use for the route will definitely not be open by September, though the thirty-eight-million-dollar project was supposed to have been up and running last year. Why is this such bad news? See for yourself. What’s with making it so hard for York students to get to class? The TTC also put the brakes on a deal that would have let the school’s students use the same ticket for York region’s Viva buses and TTC vehicles. The service-integration policy was put on hold until January after transit union representatives expressed concern over its details.
With September around the corner, almost all of the Toronto District School Board’s swimming pools have been saved by a sixteen-million-dollar pledge from the province. After facing closure because of disrepair and insufficient operating budgets, twenty-six pools will reopen this year, but thirteen more are still slated to close. If Toronto starts running low on public swimming spots, you could always give this a try.
Police have arrested Marvin Jarrett in connection with the murder of Sebastian Herrera, who was shot dead outside the Brunswick House in the Annex in July. Jarrett was wanted for the killing, which police called a “crime of opportunity” committed while Herrera was smoking a cigarette behind the always-crowded bar across from Future Bistro (formerly Future Bakery).
Torontonians regularly grumble about what a hassle it can be to buy alcohol here, so it’s nice to hear something positive from the other side of the fence. Roger Ebert has just published his story of how Alcoholics Anonymous helped him overcome his drinking problem and stay sober for the past thirty years. Ebert is a gem among journalists, and the piece tackles an important topic, so you should check out the whole thing, but Torontoist would like to draw your attention to this little part below: “Two days later I flew to Toronto for the film festival. At least here no one knew me. I looked up A.A. in the phone book and they told me there was an A.A. meeting in a church hall across Bloor Street from my hotel. I went to so many Toronto meetings in the next week that when I returned to Chicago, I considered myself a member.” It looks like a few compassionate residents of Toronto helped Roger kick his addiction and so played a small role in keeping the great critic alive and writing over the past three decades. Thanks, whoever you are.