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Newsstand: December 30, 2013
It's almost New Year's Eve, the worst time of year to have a cold (because of the kissing). If you do have a cold, though, you're not alone. There should be a support group for us. In the news: former deputy premier George Smitherman's husband has died, Toronto Hydro is closing in on getting power back on across the city, BlackBerry is still (barely) holding in there, Talking Points Memo bestows an honour on Ford, and a holiday ham heist has a happy ending.
Christopher Peloso, husband of former deputy premier and Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman, has been found dead. Smitherman wrote on Twitter, “We will celebrate his life and we will find comfort somehow in knowing that he has found peace from the depression that has wreaked havoc on his mind.”
Toronto Hydro and Mayor Rob Ford estimate that 3,000 customers are still without power in the GTA. As Toronto Hydro continues to cut down that number, figures are coming in on how much financial damage the ice storm has done to the city. Current estimates place the number at $1 million per day, with a likely total of $8-10 million. Ford wants city council to call a special meeting on January 10 to ask the province for compensation through the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program.
Newly instated BlackBerry CEO John Chen has high hopes for the flailing company. It’s been a few years of failures for the former smartphone giant, not least of which was January’s BlackBerry 10 phone line launch. But Chen says he plans to go “back to the roots” of the company. It may be too late, however: the company posted losses of $4.4 billion in the last quarter and on Christmas Eve, co-founder Mike Lazaridis sold $26 million of his shares in the company. Hopefully Chen is the man for the job, because he’s got his work cut out for him.
There’s a lot of insanity and corruption in America, but U.S.-based political news site Talking Points Memo awarded Mayor Ford its Golden Dukes award, “recognizing the year’s best purveyors of public corruption, outlandish behaviour and The Crazy.” Ford tied with failed New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner in the “Best Scandal – Sex and Generalized Carnality” category, and he took top prize in three other categories: best local scandal, the best general scandal, and outstanding achievement in corruption-based chutzpah. Hooray, Toronto!
London, Ont. was the site of a horrific and hilarious Christmastime crime when bandits made off with 180 hams, with a street value of around $20,000. Only 26 of the hams were recovered, but the suspect was also found and will have his day in court.
This post originally stated that George Smitherman was former deputy mayor, when in fact he served as deputy premier and ran for mayor of Toronto.