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Newsstand: April 3, 2012
Like Brad Pitt wandering in the desert, you might be asking, What's in the box? Well we'll tell you what's in the box, it's news: crackdown on unleashed dogs in full effect; CUPE president is quitting unions, considering a run at city council; sports leagues try to defer extra fees; Regent Park residents rally around their neighbourhood; debit and credit at the TTC; and cheap gas takes us on a trip down memory lane.
Dog owners beware: dogs running free will net you a fee. The mayor announced an enforcement blitz for the unleashed dog bylaws, meaning any dog seen walking without a leash or with a leash longer than two metres outside the designated no-leash zones could face fines of up to $240. When discussing the increased enforcement on his radio show, Rob Ford said, “I don’t want to be heavy-handed and say, ‘You know, start fining people,'” but that is pretty much exactly what’s going on.
There’s another contender in the not-really-upcoming 2014 municipal election. CUPE Local 416 president Mark Ferguson tells the Star he is considering a run for city council as his next career move. Ferguson’s term with the union ends in November, and he says he won’t be continuing on after that. He’s been president there since 2008, and presided over the 2009 outside workers strike and the most recent round of tense negotiations that left some paramedics pretty pissed. Ferguson says a job with city council would be less stressful and allow for a healthier work/life balance. If city council is the less stressful career choice, Ferguson’s probably doing the right thing.
Representatives from local sports leagues meet tonight to try and get a deferral on new fees proposed for use of City fields. The new fees were included in the 2012 budget passed in January, but organizers say they didn’t have enough warning to come up with the extra cash in time for this sports season. A staff report on solutions will go to council this week, which sports league people hope just says, “Hold off on these fees till next year.” Instead, the report probably has things like flexible payment plans and cost-cutting solutions. Lame.
Some changes are happening at the TTC, including eliminating the need for change by allowing Metropasses to be purchased with debit and credit. In addition to the existing Metropass kiosks, the TTC is testing the use of wireless debit and credit machines, like those ones the pizza delivery guy uses. Now, if only you could get unlimited pizza with your Metropass.
Regent Park residents rallied yesterday in support of the neighbourhood’s revitalization in response to Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy’s series of stories disparaging the project. Though not everyone who came out to the rally agreed, most of the 100 or so people say they like the way their neighbourhood is changing and they like their new units.
And cheap gas had car owners lining up for upwards of two and a half hours to get their nozzles on it. The black gold was selling for 50 cents a litre as part of a promotional event. The last time gas cost that little, it was 1998. Shania Twain was a hit and Titanic won all the Oscars and life was good.