news
Newsstand: January 14, 2011
Illustration by Jeremy Kai/Torontoist.
It’s Friday, have vodka on a bagel for breakfast. In the news: more information about the man accused of killing a Toronto police officer, Pan Am Games getting pricier, and an old song is given new legs by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
A puzzling picture is emerging of the man charged with murder in the death of Toronto police sergeant Ryan Russell on Wednesday. Richard Kachkar is a 44-year-old who apparently lived in St. Catharines and is a divorced father of two. People who knew him are describing him to the media as friendly, if a little “odd,” but that’s a long way from killing a police officer while rampaging through city streets, shoeless, in a stolen snow plow. The funeral for Sergeant Russell, who leaves behind a wife and a young son, will be held on Tuesday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
With all this budget cut talk of late, it’s kind of a nice change to hear that something may be way more expensive than we originally thought. A city staff report will recommend that Toronto spend $96.5 million on the 2015 Pan Am games, almost twice what was projected. The Pan Am Games, of course, are the consolation prize of international athletic competitions, awarded to Toronto by a kind-hearted committee after we were twice snubbed by the folks at the Olympics.
Damn, recreatin’ is expensive. Looks like a bunch of fees charged by the city are going to be going up this year, which is in line with the letter if not the spirit of Rob Ford’s promise to avoid tax increases. Things that will cost you more in 2011 include marriage licences, municipal martial arts classes, and swimming lessons for Grandma (a full list of the recommended changes is online [PDF]). Still, if you’re not willing to shell out another ten bucks for a lifetime with your soulmate, you may want to reconsider the whole exercise anyway.
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has banned radio airplay of the twenty-five-year-old Dire Straits hit “Money For Nothing” because of its use of the f-word. No, not that one, the anti-homosexual slur one. The move was sparked by a complaint from a radio listener in St. John’s Newfoundland. Yes, one person doesn’t like it and now the rest of the country can only listen to a bowdlerized version of the song, because that’s just how we roll up here. If you’ve heard the song before, you will not be required to forget the offending verse.
Careful, taggers, Cesar Palacio is watching you. The city councillor (Ward 17, Davenport) is getting behind a Rob Ford campaign promise and committing to cleaning up graffiti around town. He’s said he will work with his colleagues on the licensing committee to develop a strategy to clean up Toronto’s walls. Most interesting quote: “The councillor said he is targeting unwanted graffiti, not artwork that may be part of an approved mural.” The people at the AGO will be happy to hear it.