Newsstand: October 16, 2015

The Jays start their AL championship series today against the Kansas City Royals, and the federal election is in just three days. Two long nightmares (the Jays drought and this extended campaign) are at their end. Sometimes life truly is good. In the news: Metrolinx, baseball, and untidy schools.

By Tannara Yelland • Illustration by Matthew Daley

A new feasibility report on Mayor John Tory’s proposed SmartTrack transit system apparently makes reference to the possibility of the city taking over management of the beleaguered Union Pearson Express, currently run by provincial transit authority Metrolinx. “I’m willing to talk about anything that’s going to get people moving in the city with the province,” Tory said. “It’s their train, but I’m willing to talk about anything.” However, he admitted the paper contains little more than a “passing reference to the idea, and Metrolinx appears to have no plans to relinquish its control of the train.

Following Wednesday’s tense Blue Jays game against the Texas Rangers, where in the seventh inning a (bad) call had fans in an uproar and some tossing beer and debris onto the pitch, the Jays will be reviewing security protocols and the sale of beer cans at Rogers Centre. It’s unlikely the sale of outrageously marked-up beer will stop anytime soon, but just to ensure it doesn’t, fans would do well to stop throwing beer that almost hits babies.

If you’re voting at your local school on Monday, please wipe your feet before entering. Toronto District School Board schools are preparing apology signs to the general public for the unkempt state of their buildings. Hallways have not been in their normal shape for the past three weeks, as local teachers are on work-to-rule in the hopes of speeding up the resolution of labour negotiations. The signs will be located at as many as 354 local polling stations on Monday.