news
Newsstand: October 29, 2014
Welcome to Wednesday, Tory Nation. In the news: drivers snapping cellphone shots of yesterday's DVP rollover get charged, charges are laid against a TTC driver in a fatal crash, Doug Ford mulls a run for Progressive Conservative leadership, and a researcher finally discovers the name of a mysterious ROM mummy.
Yesterday’s afternoon commute was slower than molasses for drivers dependent on the Don Valley Parkway. Both northbound and southbound lanes were shut between Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue shortly after 1:30 p.m. when a dump truck hit the median and rolled over, casting debris into the southbound lanes. The DVP did not reopen to traffic until 6 p.m. that evening. While no charges have been filed in connection to the accident, Traffic Services tweeted that several people were charged for using their cellphones to take photos of the accident scene.
A Toronto Transit Commission driver faces careless driving charges in connection to a crash that killed a 65-year-old woman earlier this month. The driver is also charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian at a crosswalk, and not making a safe turn. He becomes the second bus driver in the Greater Toronto Area to be charged after a fatal accident this month: a bus driver in York Region was recently charged after being involved in a September crash that killed a 75-year-old woman.
The return of Doug Ford to the political arena may be coming faster than anyone had anticipated. In a new interview with the Toronto Star, Ford says that he will not rule out a run for leadership of the Progressive Conservative party. He is currently mulling over the prospect, and expects to make a decision within a few weeks, saying, “We bring a whole new demographic to the table. I think we’ve changed politics.” Ford claims that the current leadership prospects—including Conservative MPPs Christine Elliott, Vic Fedeli, Lisa MacLeod, and Monte McNaughton, as well as MP Patrick Brown—do not have the same popularity as Ford Nation within the GTA. While the leadership race does not officially kick off until papers can be filed on November 8, a number of Tories are not particularly excited by the idea of Ford joining the race, saying that his association with the party could be a turnoff for some potential voters.
Researchers have revealed the real name of a ROM mummy that has been commonly known as “Justine.” Last week, Toronto Egyptologist Gayle Gibson discovered that the mummy was called Nefret-Mut, which means “beautiful one of the goddess Mut.” Gibson says that according to the messy hieroglyphics on what is believed to be her coffin, Nefret-Mut was a chantress at the Temple of Amun-Re. According to Gibson, Nefret-Mut lived around 945 B.C. during the rule of King Shesonq I. The mummy was excavated in 1905 to 1906 by egyptologist Eduoard Naville before being acquired by the ROM’s first curator Charles Trick Currelly, and is currently on display at THEMUSEUM in Kitchener.