news
Newsstand: April 26, 2011
Illustration by Sasha Plotnikova/Torontoist.
Step right up! This newsstand’s got all the news you’d expect after a long weekend in the final leg of an election and days before the royal wedding: procedural drama, dirty campaign tricks, a cat lady, a meaningless yet flattering ranking, and a plea from the Daily Bread Food Bank.
More stories of election vandalism and intrigue are emerging from the embattled Eglinton-Lawrence riding. Liberal candidate Joe Volpe has fired one of his campaign workers for removing Green Party flyers from mailboxes while door-to-door canvassing for the Libs. If it is any consolation to the Greens, their flyers were tossed in the recycle bin rather than the trash.
A North Toronto woman can haz catz no longer after OSPCA workers donning hazmat suits removed 50 felines from her urine and feces soaked home. In a convenient election twist, the authorities were notified about the cat situation when campaign canvassers came upon the house, smelled the terrible smells, and called the police, assuming there was a dead body inside.
Speaking of things that smell bad, the City is fending off allegations of violating the Ontario Water Resources Act by allowing untreated sewage to spew into Lake Ontario. If convicted, the City could face fines of $350,000 to $10 million. But the City caught a break when a document central to the case went missing somewhere in the Old City Hall courthouse.
What’s next, some ranking of cities from a publication of inconsequence that tells us Toronto is the best/most blankity blank in all of blank blank? Why yes, thank you. Toronto ranks fourth overall in the North American category of Foreign Direct Investment Magazine’s first ever “cities of the future” feature. As if that wasn’t recognition enough, we also scored on the “major cities of the future.” Freely attribute the spring in the steps of passersby today to this crowning achievement.
Some bad news that you, yes you, can goodify. The Daily Bread Food Bank fell more than $100,000 short on their spring drive goal, so they’re extending the drive until Saturday. Rising food and gas prices are making things more difficult for the charity at a time when client visits rose by 16 per cent in 2009–2010.
And what slow news day would be complete without a special weather statement?
For more on the federal election, check out our politics hub, with a complete guide to every riding in Toronto.