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Weekend Newsstand: August 13, 2011
Your reward for fighting the good fight all week? Saturday! And old-fashioned cup cheese! In today’s tasty morsels, the police continue to act like the G20 was no big deal, Toronto has a new sports wizard, a bike thief gets his just desserts, and the people of the Yonge line get the unique joy of shuttle buses.
In the latest news that shows Toronto police are just like you and me—NOT!—one of the organizers of the police response to the G20 protests is complaining we’re still talking about that weekend. Retiring deputy chief Tony Warr told the Toronto Star that the media overreacted to the largest mass arrest in the country’s history and continues to do so, saying there “seems to be a campaign by the media to keep this alive.” He defended the fetid conditions of the makeshift jail, the subject of You Should Have Stayed Home, a SummerWorks play that ends its run tonight and recounts the “claustrophobic horror” of being a prisoner there. According to a recent Angus Reid poll, most Torontonians think the police are the ones who overreacted. But that’s just us overreacting again! We should really calm down.
Thanks to a new arrival from rural Pakistan, Toronto is now one richer in squash prodigies (Thank goodness! It had seemed like we were running low.) According to the Star, Maria Toorpakai Wazir was the best squash player in her country but left after getting threatened by members of the Taliban who didn’t want to see a girl in shorts. Her Canadian coach says she has what it takes to be a world champion—just what the doctor ordered for a city where we dream unattainable, dreamy dreams of athletic success. Welcome to town, new best friend!
In a city where bicycles can disappear as if by magic, getting your stolen ride back must be a very special feeling indeed—especially if you can catch the guy selling it in the process. A local bike owner reported hers stolen on Wednesday and already has had it returned, thanks to her penchant for cruising the tubes. After finding her distinctive bike on Kijiji, a plain-clothes police officer posed as a buyer, charging the seller with possession of property obtained by crime. Torontoist wonders what happened to the good old days, when men were men and bike thieves just hoarded their loot in warehouses?
Nothing makes weekend travel easy and fun like a subway closure! This weekend’s nugget of joy can be found between Bloor and Eglinton stations on the Yonge line. The TTC says shuttle buses will be “frequent and accessible.” The jokes just write themselves, guys.