Newsstand: January 1, 2010

By André Bovee-Begun

Happy Newsstand Years! What the heck—free kitties for everyone! Wait, we meant, “everyone, free the kitties!” That is, the ones now locked up with the Toronto Humane Society. The little scamps will be adoptable again starting Monday, now that health checks and institutional recovery are moving along at the incredibly troubled animal shelter, six weeks and a pack of animal cruelty charges later.
Julian Fantino, the former Toronto chief of police who moved up to head the OPP, may have wrongfully influenced or actually threatened municipal officials in Southern Ontario against showing their support at a First Nations land rights rally, and he may face five years in jail if the matter goes to court. One thing for certain is the Ontario Superior Court judge’s ruling that Fantino can no longer simply dodge the allegations.
Thanks to the crotchbomber, travellers at Pearson are stuck with Kafkaesque security procedures and the words “new normal” ringing in their heads. But while no one will blame you for getting a little angry, you will still go to jail for getting into midair fights with other passengers, a fact that one Toronto man has learned, as they say, the hard way.
Speaking of punch-inducing modes of transportation, maybe Highway 407 was worried that, once the story of their egregious billing practices cools down, people might start liking them again. Never ones to let that happen, they have taken a page from the TTC’s venerable playbook and dropped a toll hike on their users. Or whoever their billing department claims is using their road, anyway.
And as far as the TTC’s fare hike goes, you and your wallet are both getting into shape for when that kicks in on Sunday, right?
Here’s a new one. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation may have naively given twenty thousand dollars to an activist who was supposedly funnelling money to FARC. Or she may have been wrongfully accused. And now they’re holding a fundraiser for her (January 9 at the Tranzac. Bring a cash donation and Colombian Coke Float T-shirt).