news
Newsstand: May 17, 2011
Illustration by Sasha Plotnikova/Torontoist.
Just in time for Tuesday, it’s the news. Hey! On tap for today, the garbage juice is flowing at City Hall as council votes on private trash collection, G20 hacker gets bail, the perils of modern day city castle maintenance, and Ward 9 by-election may be on hold.
Private trash collection probably had a hard time getting any sleep last night, because its big day is finally here, the day city council votes on whether or not to transfer trash collection into the hands of the private sector. As if the excitement of finally going before council months after it was first proposed wasn’t enough to keep it awake, private trash collection was all hopped up on sugar and poll results that said 60 per cent of residents support it (including residents of Etobicoke, who were included in the sample even though they already have private garbage collection). That poll was presented by a waste management industry group whose members would sure like to be the ones to score that garbage-juicy $150 million contract. Awarding the prize contract could be a whole other mess, so be sure the issue won’t be put to bed after today.
After 11 months in jail and twice being denied bail, computer guy Byron Sonne was granted bail on Monday. Sonne, who runs an IT business, was arrested in the lead-up to the G20 summit and faces explosives and mischief charges. Supporters of Sonne say he was just a guy who was big into analyzing security measures in search of flaws (and really, who among us isn’t into that?) and he doesn’t deserve the treatment he’s received. Sonne should be out on bail on Wednesday, and his trial is set for November. Free Byron buttons are available to mark the occasion.
Move over Major-General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, C.V.O., there’s a new castle-owner in town. The Kiwanis Club is handing over operation of Casa Loma to the City. Kiwanis has been managing the bad-ass castle for decades, but despite the fact that it’s a motherfucking castle, it’s not much of a draw for tourists. As Joe Mihevc (Ward 21, St. Paul’s West), a former board member for the Casa puts it, “There is a unique set of skills that is required to run a castle in a modern environment.” And he can’t even begin to describe how difficult it is to get cell reception in the dungeon. So with that, the City will set up a new corporation and board to get the modern-day castle running like old again.
Not so fast, Ward 9 by-election. Maria Augimeri (Ward 9, York Centre) will likely tack her name on the lawsuit and join school trustee Stephnie Payne in appealing the court’s ruling for a by-election. Under the Municipal Elections Act, Augimeri can stay in her council seat until all appeals are heard.
And looks like Ludacris will have to re-write his classic “Pimpin’ All Over the World” to accommodate a name change for the festival formerly known as Caribana. A trademark dispute between the founding organizers and current organizers has taken the name off the table.