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Weekend Newsstand: December 4, 2010
Illustration by Jeremy Kai/Torontoist.
Welcome to the weekend! In the news, Chief Blair apologizes to Nobody, Northern’s free speech rally drowned out by free speech, Transit City is confused, and the Globe is moving.
Police Chief Bill Blair is apologizing to Nobody for the SIU’s G20 investigation. Adam Nobody, that is. So anyway, on Monday, the chief seemed to insinuate that a YouTube video of Nobody’s brutal arrest was edited to mislead investigators. But then the guy who filmed the video swore an affidavit that the five-second gap in footage was just there because he had to shut off the camera to move out of the way of the cops, and not an elaborate ruse. From Blair’s comments, it also sounded a bit like the chief thought the cops had good reason for beating Nobody, reasons probably evident during those five missing seconds. But Blair released a statement [PDF] on Friday assuring that is not what he meant and apologizing for the confusion. Nobody was surprised by the recently obstinate chief’s candour. No wait, we kind of were.
Seems the TTC is just as confused as everyone else about the fate of Transit City. As of 3:09 p.m. Friday, the project’s official website said, “Plans for the Sheppard East LRT, Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Finch West LRT and Scarborough RT are under review by TTC and Metrolinx,” but later that day, the message was more direct: Rob Ford wants to develop a new plan more in line with his fantasies, and we’re working on it. Or at least that’s what it said last time we checked, so you might want to keep an eye on it in case it changes again.
After almost forty years at their Front Street headquarters, The Globe and Mail is building a new home fit for “a modern media company.” The newspaper media company’s new building will be on a stretch of Wellington Street West, not too far from its current location.
Northern students held competing rallies on Friday afternoon. Emil Cohen and his supporters rallied for free speech after Cohen was suspended for speaking out about the school’s treatment of its soccer team. But in an ironic twist, when Cohen attempted to finally deliver the speech he was suspended for, some ostensibly unsympathetic students drowned out the free speaking with cries of “get a real cause!”
And if you were happy to hear that the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan was considering selling their stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to Rogers, well, make like a fickle Toronto sports fan and get sad and angry really fast: the deal doesn’t exist. Apparently, the teachers haven’t received any $1.3 billion offer for their controlling stake in the sports empire. And besides, they might not even sell it if they did, ’cause those losing teams rake in a lot of dough for the teachers’ pensions. So soothe yourself, Leafs fans: at least the teachers are getting their due, right?