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Newsstand: April 2, 2010
Illustration by Roxanne Ignatius/Torontoist.
We knew it couldn’t be good that a stash of explosives and weapons was found in a Scarborough storage unit Wednesday night. But as they lit up the sky at the Leslie Street Pit, the tale has turned a little darker. Toronto police are saying they are connected to an investigation into two Ontario murders that took place last May. Two men were arrested early this year in connection with the deaths of Harjinder Singh Sandu and Puneet Singh Chhina, whose bodies were found in the trunk of a car in Pickering, but still no charges have been laid.
The dreams of Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue residents to turn a nearby square into a “welcoming oasis in the middle of the city” are quickly drying up. City Council decided in a landslide 34–7 vote to build a three-storey retail complex on the area, reducing street-level public space from two thousand square meters to eight hundred. Karen Stintz (Ward 16, Eglinton-Lawrence), who spearheaded the plan, will have to dodge some serious shots from angry Yonge-and-Eggers like Michael Walker (Ward 22, St. Paul’s), who called the deal “indefensible at every level.” Even the level with the pretty rooftop garden? Especially the rooftop garden.
David Miller turned his frown upside down after Toronto earned a higher credit rating due to its low debt and stable economy. Two As! While Miller gave himself three gold star stickers for the good report card, critics weren’t so ready to offer praise, likening Toronto to the energy company Enron immediately before its downfall. And then stealing his lunch money.
But what does he care? This summer, he’s out to prove that this is David Miller’s Toronto. Surely there’s no shortage of material for a book about Toronto’s finest; we’re just hoping he doesn’t buy in to the “sex sells” mantra with a chapter devoted to protegé Adam Giambrone.
Good news…at the TTC? Is this a dream? Am I really on a moon-date with Rob Ford, Jeremy, my elementary school crush, and a suspicious-looking rabbit? Well, that last one might have actually been a dream but this isn’t. Some stations will see the first phases of TTC pass vending machines and next-vehicle-arrival screens for streetcars begin this weekend. And ice cream should never be eaten right before bedtime.
The Jane Creba Boxing Day shooting case closed for good yesterday, as the final two men on trial were found guilty of manslaughter, a lesser offence than their original charge of second-degree murder. Louis Woodcock, 23, and Tyshaun Barnett, 22, will receive their sentences on April 22. According to the Star, the incident arose from a feud between two rival Regent Park “crews,” The Point Blank Soldiers and the Silent Soldiers. A few glares between the two men currently serving a life sentence for the crime, one from each crew, sparked the shooting outside a Foot Locker.
And that’s your morning news for today—and pretty much the rest of today too. Torontoist is off to enjoy this sunny holiday! We apologize if this ruins your routine revolving around the TOist home page and your refresh button, but here’s other stuff you can and can’t do today. Now, have a Good Friday, an egg-cellent long weekend, and don’t Passover us next week!