Morning Brew: December 18th, 2008
Photo: "Chancho's Chair" by Scorchez, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
Well, folks. It was nice knowing you. [deep booming voice] It's coming. You've been warned. The sky will go dark. The squirrels will rely on collected nuts more than ever, in hopes that they'll rough it out and have a chance to survive. Then... it will be white. It will be... SNOWMAGEDDON! [/deep booming voice] ZOMFG! Environment Canada should stick to weather reporting and stop watching Hollywood movies, even for just for a short while. They should also see about fixing their Twitter feed for Toronto because we don't need to be warned about the storm every 4 minutes.
[citynews "staff" voice] OMGWTF! Do you own a Honda Civic? Are you sure it is still in the driveway where you left it last night?! OMFG it could be stolen because it's high on the list of cars that generally get stolen. You'd better go look out the window RIGHT NOW! [/citynews "staff" voice] I can't get enough of these news articles that are seemingly written for idiots.
Tragedy struck hard yesterday, when a Humane Society animal shelter in Durham experienced a fire of still unknown causes, that resulted in the smoke-inhalation deaths of some 200 animals. This may be where animal lovers choose to send donations this holiday season.
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Remember how confused people were about their property assessments, and how many complained that their homes were given valuations that seemed way too high? Well don't expect the economic downturn and huge drop in actual property values to spur immediate fixes. Premiere McGuinty isn't going to force any rush adjustments just yet. Perhaps the province could use that surplus money?
Metrolinx is starting to look like much more than a board of consultants with expensive ideas that are impossible to implement. They have used their wider scope and acted like a broker, on behalf of 12 Ontario regional transit agencies, to get a deal on a bulk purchase of 160 new buses for $70million. That's $437,500 per bus. I can't imagine what one would cost if I were to buy just one, but I assume it would be a lot more.
Toronto Police, through an arbitrator, have finally gotten their contract settled, and will likely get their retroactive base pay raise. An announcement is expected later today. Much like the TTC, the Toronto Police want their workers to be paid more than elsewhere in Ontario (eg. Peel) but rather than claiming that their work is harder and more deserving of higher pay, the union cites wanting to "attract and retain members". Really? I was under the impression that there are a lot of folks wanting to be police officers in Toronto.
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