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Weekend Newsstand: April 16, 2011
Illustration by Sasha Plotnikova/Torontoist.
Sure it’s the weekend now, but, alas, it never lasts. In the news: city-wide treasure hunt is on after cops find crooks but no gold bars, a peek inside the mayor’s brain trust, a march through Charlie Sheen’s mental state, and the subway is closed a little bit again.
Every time a police officer talks to you, his database gets an entry. Okay okay, it doesn’t have the same ring to it as “an angel gets its wings,” but it’s the same basic concept, right? So for instance, when cops stopped people over the G20 weekend to ask them a few questions—Who are you, What are you up to, Would you describe your skin colour as white, black, brown, or “other”—the information went on a little card and was put into an internal database, where it lives on in perpetuity. Police use the information in investigations and have no requirement to purge any of it. Though the practice of collecting and forever keeping data tidbits about people police spoke to isn’t unique to the G20, it did increase 150% the summit weekend.
After a well-documented history of troubles and last-ditch attempt to appeal to the CRTC, community radio station CKLN has gone dark. Though they can’t broadcast on the FM band anymore (for now), the show goes on online.
Police have arrested five people in connection with a bunch of stolen gold bars—which have not been found. Police raided a few places on Thursday, including a house on Mount Pleasant Road (where they’ve got enough gold already, amirite?), and announced the arrests on Friday. And we repeat, the gold bars have yet to be recovered. Sure, the Canadian Bankers Association is offering a $50,000 reward for any information that might lead to the recovery of the gold. But also the gold itself is worth almost two million dollars. Make your choice.
Charlie Sheen led a march through the streets of downtown yesterday to raise awareness and money for bipolar disorder. Not that he has it. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Speaking of mental states, Rob Ford has unveiled his 15-person-strong brain trust. The Globe crawled inside to take a look at some of the people that make Rob Ford act the way he does and say (or not say) the darndest things. Many staffers served right-leaning people (Case Ootes) and organizations (Canadian Taxpayers Federation) before signing on to Team Ford. Then there’s Earl Provost, Ford’s director of stakeholder and councillor relations. Provost used to work for big name Liberals like Paul Martin, and he wins the award for Most Ironic Old Job: Toronto Star paperboy. The very paper that Ford now refuses to speak to. Well ain’t that a humdinger!
And a weekend in Toronto just wouldn’t be a weekend in Toronto without some subway closures. Due to, say it with us now, track maintenance work, the Bloor-Danforth line will be closed between Jane and Kipling stations. Ever-faithful shuttle buses will be running.