news
Newsstand: April 5, 2011
Illustration by Sasha Plotnikova/Torontoist.
Gather round Tuesday, let it tell you a tale. In the news: Case Ootes has to convince himself of his plan at his first TCHC board meeting as board, G20 memorabilia, fluoride in the drinking water still, forestry falls out of fashion, and Stamos.
The TCHC is fixing to sell 22 of its single-family homes at market value; that is, if the board can come to a consensus at a public meeting Wednesday morning. This will be the first board meeting since council decided to oust the remaining members and install former councillor and friend o’ Ford Case Ootes as the interim managing director. So lone board member Case Ootes will have to convince Case Ootes that the revenue from selling the houses is worth more to the TCHC than the continued maintenance of the units. As a councillor, Ootes was in favour of selling off the houses and putting money from the sales towards backlogged repairs at other TCHC properties. We’ve yet to see whether Ootes will give in to Ootes’ pitch, especially if Ootes has anything to say about it. And Ootes might be sorely disappointed should Ootes unexpectedly grow a heart and refuse to back out on a decade-old City promise to keep widows and other tenants in their homes.
Fluoride! Get your fluoride here! Well, not here here, but in your tap water. Just like you’ve been doing since 1963. Scientists and doctors and other smart people put a convincing case to the board of health to continue fluoridating Toronto’s water despite protests from groups like Canadians Opposed to Fluoridation and the Gordon Sinclair fan club. Some municipalities have decided to end the practice, but Toronto is taking the advice of medical experts who can actually spell fluoride, including Ontario’s chief medical officer of health.
From water to trees now, as U of T considers clear-cutting its forestry program. Decreasing enrollment in the program has forced university administrators to consider folding the forestry faculty into a larger faculty, such as the Faculty of Arts and Science. No word yet on whether this move will impact the supply of buffalo plaid at Urban Outfitters.
Still looking for that ideal keepsake to commemorate the G20 summit? How’s about you buy the Metro Convention Centre? The summit site is going on the market in what the current owner says is a testament to the strength of Toronto’s real estate market. The best part: though the property’s value has been assessed, the owner, Canada Lands Company, isn’t setting an asking price. Instead the lister is opting to giddily wait “to see what the market tells us.”
And Uncle Jesse is hitting on a 19-year-old Ryerson student over Twitter. You got it, dude!