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Newsstand: February 28, 2012
Sometimes it's hard to believe that Tuesday has the guts to show up again. But showed up it has, and with it some news: ideas for protecting TTC workers in the wake of Sunday's shooting, Ryerson to get a new residence, new TDSB trustees elected by a few people, Toronto Zoo's orangutans may soon have better stuff than you do, and the final years of Degrassi's Neil Hope.
Police have released footage of the suspect in Sunday’s shooting at Dupont Station. Turns out they had lots of images of the suspect because he has apparently targeted the same station twice before. The incident has spurred a discussion on how to keep frontline TTC workers safer, with suggestions ranging from using bulletproof glass rather than shatterproof glass in the collector’s booths to Doug Ford’s (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) suggestion to just get rid of human workers all together. No word yet on whether Ford will personally deliver the “Get well soon, but no hurry because you don’t have a job anymore” card to the injured worker.
And just as thoughts were on the safety of TTC employees, a man has been charged with threatening death to a TTC bus driver in Etobicoke.
Ryerson students hoping to trade the perma-dusty baseboards and kitchen-adjacent bathrooms of student apartments for that new carpet smell and whitewashed brick that defines institutionalized living are in luck, as the university has announced plans to build a new student residence. The new building, set to open in 2016, will house about 530 students, adding to Ryerson’s current housing capacity of 850. The new building will be a public-private partnership between the school and MPI Group, who will handle construction and development.
Watch out Scarborough-Agincourt and Don Valley East, there are some new school board trustees in town. The two new trustees—one is an electrical engineer with an interest in sustainable energy, and the other is an IT guy who promotes traditional family values, according to the Globe—were elected in a by-election that saw only 11 per cent of eligible voters turn out. Apparently, residents in those wards haven’t heard that the children are our future.
The Toronto Zoo may be turning into the Planet of the Apps. Badum-cha! See, the Zoo’s orangutans may soon be getting some iPads to play with as part of an orangutan outreach program that wants to make all the orangutans happy. Apparently, they get bored and lonely, and what’s better company than an Apple product. It’s nice idea and all. So long as the orangutans don’t dethrone us from the Bejeweled Blitz leader board.
On a sad note, the Star has chronicled the last years of former Degrassi star Neil Hope. R.I.P. Wheels.