news
Newsstand: April 14, 2010
lllustration by Clayton Hanmer/Torontoist.
George Smitherman’s mayoral opponents had his days as frontrunner numbered when his campaign manager abruptly resigned Friday night, only three months into the race. But his new right-hand man, chair of the Toronto District School Board Bruce Davis, says he’s ready to take them to school. The first lesson in Campaign 101? “Unleash George” and promote his public image. Homework? Write one thousand lines of “I will not call Mr. Smitherman ‘Furious’ George.”
But Smitherman must be smiling after Adam Giambrone’s announcement he won’t be running for re-election as city councillor and TTC chair, something that Smitherman has called for since the infamous sex scandal. However the victory may be hollow now that his assistant, Kevin Beaulieu, is hoping to take his boss’s place in Ward 18, Davenport. The soft-spoken advocate for public arts, affordable housing, and public transit could be refreshing “new blood” on council, or fresh meat for ‘Furious’ George. Oops! That’s another thousand lines.
The Better Ballots working group began its task of explaining voter apathy in Toronto last night, hosting the first of four public forums this month exploring potential municipal electoral reforms. The attendees came up with four key problems with the current system, and fourteen potential reform options. Better Ballots will lead advocacy campaigns for the best ideas that come from this series of town halls.
In this day and age, we are what we dial—for downtowners it’s 416, and for suburbanites it’s 905. But these numerical walls are crumbling as both the downtown core and the GTA expand. In 2013, the 905 and 289 area codes will see a third, 365, added to the phonebooks. A third will also be added to the 416 and 647 codes of central Toronto soon after.
According to a lawsuit, York University made twenty mistakes allowing two men to break into a residence in 2007 and rape a student, who is now suing the school for three and a half million dollars. Daniel Katsnelson and Justin Connort, both twenty-seven, told security guards they were helping a drunk friend to gain access to the Vanier College residence. Katsnelson will be sentenced today for sexually assaulting this young woman, as well as another female victim.
Forty years ago, NASA turned to a team of aerospace scientists from the University of Toronto to safely return the crew of Apollo 13 back to earth, which they did despite insufficient information and down-to-the-wire pressure. Yesterday, professors Barry French, Phil Sullivan, and Ben Etkin were finally recognized for their contribution to the mission at the Canadian Air and Space Museum. Now, what about that darn Tom Hanks movie?
Toronto foodies—two. Rest of the world—ninety-eight. Now it may seem unimpressive, but having two Toronto entries on Food & Wine’s Top 100 Experiences list can significantly turn up the heat in our restaurant community. No other Canadian city made the list, and the exclusive anti-restaurant Charlie’s Burgers even cracked the top three. The customized cocktails at Barchef came in at eighty-six.
But if you’re in the mood for a completely different gastronomical gala, we hope you like poutine.
Finally, we’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again. Yesterday was a very, very good day for biking in Toronto. Bike lane enthusiasts are happy, but Toronto’s mayoral candidates are not. No matter; T.O.’s pedal pushers are keeping the faith.