Events in toronto: Morning Brew: Alleged Ford crack video dealer appears in court, Scarborough LRT is on ice, a Rob Ford portrait, Yatim streetcar to return, and street naming controversy

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Morning Brew: Alleged Ford crack video dealer appears in court, Scarborough LRT is on ice, a Rob Ford portrait, Yatim streetcar to return, and street naming controversy

toronto google office The man who (allegedly) tried to shop video of Rob Ford (allegedly) smoking crack cocaine briefly appeared in court yesterday via video link. Sporting a beard that the Toronto Star says is new, Mohamed Siad confirmed his name for a justice of the peace. Daniel Brown, Siad's former lawyer, is now officially off the case and his replacement Nyron Dwyer confirmed he's received seven DVDs of "information" related to the case.

The Scarborough LRT is official on ice, for now, sort of. As decades of false starts and back tracks tell us, no transit project is ever really dead in Toronto, but Metrolinx says it's officially stopped planning work on the line pending the city's ability to drum up funds for subway extension. There's still a chance the line could revert to light rail if the additional money isn't available. Predictions?

Cllr. Gary Crawford is getting ready for his artistic masterpiece - an acrylic portrait of Rob Ford. The executive committee member and part-time painter plans to use the summer break from council to make good on the promise he made to the mayor's mother more than a year ago to paint her son. He's also considering one of Doug Ford and a "Last Supper" scene featuring members of city council.

The Toronto streetcar involved in the Sammy Yatim shooting will return to active service some time this week without a change to its serial number. TTC CEO Andy Byford spoke with the Yatim family before the decision was made public. There will be no further announcement regarding the return of the streetcar or the route it will be assigned to out of respect for the family, Metro reports.

Cllr. Shelley Carroll has agreed to step in and attend the naming of Morton Shulman Ave. after Cllr. Denzil Minnan-Wong backed out over Shulman's abortion rights legacy. In June, Minnan-Wong left the council chamber before a minute's silence to honour Dr. Henry Morgentaler because his work clashed with his Catholic beliefs. As Ontario's chief coroner, Shulman pushed to relax the province's strict anti-abortion laws.

Google Street View has invaded the Ontario Science Centre. Now you can explore the inside of the building as if you were a really tall person unable to touch any of the exhibits. It's a bit of a tease, really, but we well worth a few minutes of your time.

Finally, we'll find out today whether the Sun News Network will become a basic channel on cable and satellite TV. The network has been seeking mandatory carriage from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. If the CRTC says yes, the right-wing news network will become a standard feature of all television packages.

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