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Newsstand: March 4, 2015
Welcome to Wednesday! Since we don’t know what is going to happen on Thursday yet, here are some news headlines to kick off your morning: 15,000 Torontonians are without power, an aide to MPP Monte McNaughton faces criminal harassment charges, a Good Samaritan helps a local Jane and Finch business owner, and TSN issues an on-air apology.
Like a visit from the ghost of ice storms past, Tuesday afternoon’s mix of snow and freezing rain left close to 25,000 Toronto Hydro customers without power. Toronto Hydro says that it was a mix of weather-related problems and transmission issues with Hydro One that contributed to the power outages. Toronto Fire Services also had crews out responding to the 26 transformer or pole fires around the city on Tuesday evening that were making matters worse. As of Wednesday morning, Toronto Hydro estimates that 15,000 customers continue to be without power.
The Progressive Conservative leadership race took an unexpected turn on Tuesday after it was confirmed that an aide for MPP Monte McNaughton now faces criminal charges for allegedly sending text-message threats to campaign workers for rival candidate Christine Elliott. A representative for McNaughton said that Rida Ali, 22, was working on a short-term contract basis for the MPP at his Queen’s Park office and was immediately suspended following her arrest late last week. While a court-ordered publication ban prevents reporting on the content of the threats, an attorney for Ali says that she maintains her innocence and will defend herself against the allegations. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday at College Park.
A local business in the Jane and Finch community is recognizing a Good Samaritan for reporting to police that the shop had been left unlocked by owners after they closed up for the day. Automotive shop Tires Tires Ltd. has been a mainstay in the community for 26 years. Diego Catala, who owns the shop with his parents, says that they forgot to lock the front door and turn off the lights after helping a shopper who came in a few minutes before closing time. Security camera footage shows five people enter during the three-hour span that the store was unlocked after Catala left. The fifth customer is seen on camera trying to locate contact information of the owners after realizing that no one is staffing the shop. When he fails to do so, he turns the lights off in the store and departs. The customer, whom Catala recognized on the security footage as a longtime customer, then alerted the police who contacted the store owners directly.
Fact: what happens on the internet does not always stay on the internet. On Tuesday night, TSN issued an on-air apology to Toronto Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf, his wife Elisha Cuthbert, and fellow Leaf Joffrey Lupul after an off-colour tweet was broadcast on the sports network during NHL trade deadline coverage. Peter A. Gall, a lawyer with Gall Legge Grant & Munroe LLP, demanded a formal apology on behalf of his clients earlier on Tuesday, and threatened legal action over what he called a false and defamatory tweet. While TSN host James Duthie delivered the apology that was also posted to the network’s website, no one from the network addressed how the tweet made it to air in the first place.