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Newsstand: June 8, 2012
Congratulations Friday, you finally got here. In the news: York University gets grifted, the city is back to fighting bedbugs, 17 youth outreach workers keep their jobs, $65,000 for an automotive-grade power bar and some extension cords, and Paulie want a taste of freedom?
Two former York University executives have been charged with $1.2 million in fraud. Michaelo Markicevic, who was the university’s assistant vice-president of campus services and business operations, and Philip Brown, the former director of maintenance, are said to have taken the money between May 2007 and April 2010. An employee brought evidence of the fiscal fudging to light in 2009 and Markicevic left the university in February of 2010. Still, York paid him $209,854 in 2010—just $23,718 less than they paid him for all of 2009. In addition to the criminal charges, York has brought civil suits against Markicevic and Brown. Wait, how high is tuition?
Bedbugs, the scourge of Toronto’s sleepers, have not won the war yet. Yesterday, city council voted unanimously to provide $250,000 from the 2012 public health budget to reinstate the City’s bedbug eradication team. The team still needs more money, which the City’s medical officer of health is going to ask for from the province. Let’s hope they get it.
Now for another story about averting a loss of services in the wake of funding cuts. Yesterday, council voted 33-5 in favour of keeping 17 youth outreach worker positions that were slated to disappear at the end of June. The 17 positions were eliminated in the current City budget, but councillor Pam McConnell (Ward 28, Toronto Centre-Rosedale), who had been working to save the positions prior to the weekend, is sure that the Eaton Centre shooting had an influence on the vote.
A proposal put to the city would see electric-vehicle charging stations installed in five locations across downtown. Victoria Street, Elizabeth Street, and Ed Mirvish Way would each get a station, while Wellington Street West would get two. The proposal goes to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee next week and, if approved, would be passed along to city council for a vote. The $65,000 required for the project is coming from the Toronto Atmospheric Fund.
Watch your fingers because there might not be a cage between them and Paulie the parrot any longer. The talkative bird, who “most likely would bite anyone trying to take him from his cage,” has been missing since a robbery at a house in the east end on Wednesday night. Police have not said whether Paulie has any ties to the Iago crime family or if they suspect Jafar of any involvement in the jailbreak.