Newsstand: June 19, 2012

If you care at all about anything, be sure it's Tuesday that you hold dear. So go on, tell her. For Tuesday will not always be here. But for now it is, and it's got some news: Little Italy shooting victim identified, coroner's report has a plan to prevent cycling deaths, the investigation into Radiohead's stage collapse, building an island, losing a principal, and hot. It's going to be hot.

By Sarah-Joyce Battersby • Illustration by Brett Lamb

One man is dead after a shooting in Little Italy yesterday afternoon. Police are saying things like “targeted” and “outlaw motorcycle gang” in an attempt to understand the incident. A second victim was sent to hospital with wounds to the stomach. The shooting happened in the afternoon, while people were crowded onto patios to watch the Ireland-Italy EuroCup match, so naturally some of the coverage includes the outcome of that game. But that seems weird, so we’ll just add that the man who was killed was apparently a 35 year old named John Raposo, and the shooter was dressed up like a construction worker.

Cycling deaths are preventable, says a new report from the Ontario Coroner’s office. Based on evidence collected from the 129 cycling deaths that happened in the province between 2006 and 2010, the report makes many varied recommendations for preventing bike accidents, like mandatory side guards on trucks and helmets for all cyclists. That’s right, based on evidence. Science says these things, and it’s always a good idea to do what science says because science can be a real dick if you don’t.

The partially collapsed stage from Saturday’s disastrous Radiohead non-concert is still standing in Downsview Park, because no one is sure how to safely dismantle it. The Ministry of Labour is investigating the accident that killed the band’s drum tech and injured three other people. Right now, the Ministry is looking for input from four different companies involved in the stage design and build. Some people from the lighting crew are telling CBC they had concerns about how heavy all the lighting equipment was; however, it was signed off by an engineer.

Hey! Who wants some new islands near Sunnyside Beach? Who doesn’t, right? Who says no to, “Hey, how about a new island?” That would be weird. Oh wait, a couple of city councillors are not super pumped about the plan to use dirt from the Eglinton Crosstown dig to build some islands down by the mouth of the Humber River. Island fans say the islands will improve the water quality at Sunnyside Beach, and also be cool. But opponents, like Sarah Doucette (Ward 13, Parkdale-High Park), are opposed over concerns like how many trucks of dirt would have to drive through their ward in order to build such an island. Probably about an island’s worth of dirt, we’d say.

The principal of the Africentric Alternative School is leaving her helm after three years. Thando Hyman was the first principal at the new school, and no one is quite sure why she’s leaving. But lots of people have theories.

City staff are looking for a way to make developers finish what they started.

And it’s going to be warm. Consider yourself warned.