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Newsstand: March 22, 2010
Illustration by Roxanne Ignatius/Torontoist.
When you put the words “legendary” and “political strategist” side-by-side in a discussion about Toronto politics, the fact of the matter is that you are addressing a very small crowd. But John Laschinger’s name clearly has the power to stir up chatter, judging by the reactions to word that he has stepped in as the chair of Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone’s campaign for mayor. Laschinger, who steered both of David Miller’s successful mayoral campaigns, claims that every “major candidate” for mayor had approached him about guiding their campaigns. Pantalone has said he plans to safeguard the legacy of Miller’s years as mayor.
A security video released on Friday shows two men who allegedly drove a vehicle through glass doors at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and “nabbed” an ATM. The footage gathered last month has just been released by Toronto police. The pair managed to take off with as much as $100,000 in cash from the newly loaded machine. One of the suspects is described as wearing a ski mask, so, you, know, watch out for that.
A thirteen-year-old boy was stabbed outside a hockey arena in the city’s west end on Sunday night. The teen was treated for his wounds and has been released from hospital. Police say they don’t know why the attacker stabbed the victim, but that they believe the two knew each other.
Parking tickets are extremely common in Toronto, as is dodging them. According to City Hall, over 100,000 tickets are cancelled every year because drivers speed away seconds before a parking officer can stick a ticket on their windshield. This is a perfectly legal, albeit somewhat dickish, way to avoid the consequences of illegal parking. Stopping to punch the parking cop in the face before driving off, as one Toronto man did, seems like the kind of thing that could carry consequences of its own, though.
Basic, free safety procedures would probably have prevented a horrific incident that took place last week in a high school science classroom, according to a safety expert specializing in school lab accidents. The Toronto District School Board has given minimal comment about the accident, which is currently under investigation. Five students were splashed with burning methanol during a class demonstration, leaving one of them in critical condition with burns to her face, neck, shoulders, and chest.
On Thursday afternoon, Wariskhan Pathan, 18, went for a walk in the park with some of his friends, an undisclosed amount of cocaine, and a loaded submachine gun. Guess how well that worked out for him (hint: it’s on the CBC).
And in a final sign that Toronto is ready for Robocop, to avoid mugging, you are advised to stay away from such crime hot spots as skid row, the wrong side of the tracks, and your own apartment. So, what are you waiting for?