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Newsstand: February 21, 2013
Yeah, it's Thursday, what's it to ya? In the news: a tough slog for city council's left wing, new charges in last summer's Little Italy shooting, MGM makes a digital push for a casino at the Ex, and a look inside the mind of Glen Murray.
Wednesday was a tough day for Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina). First, council shut down his last-minute motion to open up a debate around shelter beds for the homeless, leading to a protest that cleared the council chamber. Then a bid to have him appointed to Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee was similarly quashed after a couple of hours of debate, fighting, insults, and no hugs whatsoever. Fortunately, with many items left on council’s agenda and the current rate of getting through them being slower than molasses going uphill, he’ll have plenty of time to redeem himself when council resumes this morning.
More details have come to light in the high-profile café shooting that took place during last year’s Euro Cup. Police have laid charges against two more people in connection with the shooting, which looks like it could have been motivated by money, drugs, or God knows what else.
With parties across the political spectrum agreeing that transportation infrastructure in Ontario needs to be ameliorated, it’s going to take some bold, driven leadership to have the guts to implement concrete solutions for raising the necessary funds. And after reading this interview in the Globe with Transportation Minister Glen Murray and this one in the Star, meh.
From No Casino to Woah! Casino (we just kind of wanted to say that). MGM Resorts is stepping up the PR battle over a casino at Exhibition Place with this new website dedicated to the den of pure, concentrated evil “integrated resort development” the company would just love to open up, if given the chance. The resort would include a permanent home for Cirque Du Soleil, a restaurant by Mark McEwan, hotels, shopping, and *cough*gambling*cough*, all right next to the heart of the city, our vibrant Lake Shore Boulevard. See, this is what happens when foreign companies come to town with visions of shaping our future. Anyone who has ever been to the CNE knows Exhibition Place already has world-class food and entertainment in the form of deep-fried butter and puking your face off. Who needs anything more?
Residents and councillors in Port Hope have roundly rejected a Toronto design firm’s plan to turn the town into a children’s cartoon new logo as part of the town’s re-branding project. Our favourite part of the logo is the thought bubble coming up from the town’s name, which states, “Like nowhere else!” as if it’s just Port Hope itself thinking that.
This post originally misspelled “McEwan.” We regret the error.