Morning Brew: Sammy Yatim officer is "devastated," a witness speaks up, Ford gets hyperbolic on the campaign trail, a Leslie Spit windfarm, and stuck skunk gets saved

The police officer that fired on Sammy Yatim is "devastated" by the events of last Friday night, according to his lawyer. Constable James Forcillo, identified as the officer at the centre of the case yesterday, is serving a suspension on full pay. He's being represented by Peter Brauti, a lawyer with experience defending police officers accused of wrongdoing. Forcillo's $106,800.89 salary earned him a place on the 2012 Sunshine List.

Meanwhile, a witness to the shooting says a knife-wielding Yatim urged passengers to stay on the streetcar moments before police officers arrived on the scene. Aaron Li-Hill was on the westbound 505 vehicle with his girlfriend as the incident unfolded. When the streetcar stopped, everyone got off, he said.

Rob Ford says voting Liberal is "just giving a bank robber another gun." The mayor made the claim on the campaign trail in Scarborough-Guildwood where he's supporting Progressive Conservative candidate Ken Kirupa. Ford took issue with Liberal candidate Mitzie Hunter calling herself a "subway champion" on her promotional material. "I'll tell you one thing, Rob Ford and Doug Ford, my brother, obviously we're the subway champions. Tim Hudak, Ken Kirupa are the subway champions," he added.

Elsewhere, Liberal candidate for the Etobicoke-Lakeshore byelection Peter Milczyn is crying foul again over campaign photos used by Conservative rival Doug Holyday. Milczyn says a picture of Holyday on a TTC subway platform clutching two election signs is a breach of the rules because it was taken city property. Last week, Holyday posed in front of a city-contracted garbage truck, prompting a complaint to the city integrity commissioner.

Is the Leslie Street Spit a good place for a wind farm? A proposal by Sunwincor International, a mysteriously low-profile renewable energy company, says it's planning to submit a proposal for the east side of the Outer Harbour. Similar proposals for off-shore turbines by Toronto Hydro have met with resistance in the past.

This Toronto stroke patient can feel and taste colour. The anonymous man, featured in the medical journal Neurology, is one of only two people known to have developed synesthesia after a brain injury. Most people who display symptoms do so from birth. In this case, certain shades of blue cause disgust and the sound of high-pitched brass instruments induce euphoria. The James Bond theme works best.

Finally, here's a picture of a skunk with its head caught in a Tim Hortons Iced Capp cup. That is all.

IN BRIEF:

• Arson eyed as possible cause of early-morning fires [CTV News]


• Buehrle pitches Blue Jays to 5-0 win over A's [CBC]


• Zach Collaros tosses 3 TDs as Argos cruise past Lions [CBC]

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Image: Trevor Hughes/blogTO Flickr pool.

by Chris Bateman via blogTO