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Newsstand: October 8, 2010
Illustration by Matt Daley/Torontoist.
It’s the Friday before a long weekend so cheer up. Today, the grocery vigilante speaks in his own defence, Oakville gets a power plant reprieve, and go, Leafs, go.
A Chinatown grocer charged with assaulting and confining a shoplifter said in court that he and two employees restrained the man because previous calls to police had resulted in three to five hour response times. David Chen and two employees were arrested, strip searched, and charged after they chased down and tied up a man who had earlier stolen a tray of flowers and had returned to steal more. A police spokesperson said, “How do you think he’d like it if we went to his store and started showing him how to sell tomatoes?”
The provinicial government has backed down on a proposal to build a gas-fired power plant in Oakville after meeting strong community resistance. Energy Minister Brad Duguid announced yesterday that power demand in the area was down since the idea were conceived, and that the plant was no longer necessary. A citizen’s group called Citizens for Clean Air (C4CA) had fought the plant for months, hiring public relations experts, holding a celebrity golf tournament, and bringing in famous person Erin Brockovich to give speeches. Best Brockovich quote: Oakvillians “shouldn’t be told to shut up because they have money.” Yes, because that’s exactly how politics works. Local residents plan to celebrate with years of brownouts.
A Mississauga man sitting in his garage on Wednesday night was surprised to see a poisonous black widow spider making its way across the floor. This is the third time in the last few weeks that black widows have been found in the GTA, and they’re all believed to have stowed away in crates of grapes imported from California. If you encounter a black widow, please remember that Charlotte’s Web is fiction and you should not try to get it to befriend your pig.
Last night in the ongoing latest mayoral debate, this time about planning, community, and sustainability, Rob Ford questioned whether we should spend money on stuff, and Rocco Rossi proved he was all business by saying things like “data sets” and “learning curve.” We live-blogged this one for you so you can feel like you watched it without even having to PVR 30 Rock.
If you’ve booked a salon appointment for a “Brazilian Blowout” hair treatment, you may want to reconsider. The feds have found that the treatment (which, in spite of the name, is applied to the head) contains high levels of formaldehyde and can cause health problems such as burning eyes and hair loss. Also you will smell like an embalmed corpse.
The unemployment rate in Canada fell slightly to 8% this month, meaning most people are now 92% employed.
And finally, the Toronto Maple Leafs are undefeated in regular season play after winning their opener last night 3-2 over Montreal. Go ahead, get your hopes up.