Results tagged “propertytaxes”

Today is budget day at City Hall, and the mood is grim but determined. In the face of rising unemployment, swelling welfare rolls, and glum economic forecasts, the rock of weakening revenue and the hard place of increasing social service costs are squeezing the City hard. In a press conference this morning, Mayor David Miller and Budget Committee Chair Shelley Carroll reassured the public that no major service cuts were on the table and that many planned improvements (such as the Tower Renewal program, various environmental initiatives, and TTC upgrades) were going ahead as planned. Miller made a point of contextualizing the pressures the City faces, lambasting the federal government for failing to expand EI eligibility requirements, and reminding us that the hangover of Mike Harris's welfare offloading is being felt to this day.

One of the four cattle that escaped on the QEW yesterday morning was shot by police after making a suicidal charge at armed officers. Friends of the dead steer were baffled, saying that he had his whole life ahead of him and was looking forward to weeks of close confinement before having a bolt fired through his forehead.

The weather continues to suck in Toronto as today promises more snow, sleet, rain and just about every other damn unpleasant thing that can fall out of the sky short of a hail of radioactive meteorites. On the other hand, the central U.S. suffered a rash of tornadoes yesterday that killed at least 27 people, so suck it up and go shovel the walk of the old people down the street.