globeandmail.com: Ontario

Saturday July 19, 2008

OPP chief sidestepped negotiators in Mohawk protest talks, court told

Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino was personally involved in a police operation against native protesters last summer in which a wiretap was set up without a court order and in which the Commissioner took over telephone negotiations with a native activist, at times threatening him. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

Premiers seize climate-change initiative

The Harper government faced new pressure yesterday to adopt a more aggressive climate-change plan after Canada's largest province threw its considerable political weight behind a North American initiative to tackle global warming. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

Ambitious teen remembered as family, friends grieve

Shazad Khawaja was supposed to be gone for half an hour.It was Thursday evening. The 17-year-old student spent the day at home and had just run out to buy a carton of milk for his mother, Naila. She was about to prepare dinner in the family's apartment, on the top floor of 90 Mornelle Ct., when her son asked her to wait. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

TTC chair backs away from Bombardier comments

After a rebuke from Bombardier - the only major firm that bid on the TTC's massive streetcar contract - the transit agency's chairman yesterday backed away from his accusations that the Montreal-based giant knowingly submitted a vehicle it knew would derail on Toronto's tracks. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

Man facing tire-slashing charges goes missing

With a home in Wychwood Park and another on the Toronto Islands, Albert Fulton has long sought quiet refuge in two of the city's most exclusive enclaves.Yesterday, it was the Toronto police who set out in search of Mr. Fulton, a 70-year-old retired teacher, Neighbourhood Watch member and volunteer archivist for both communities. On Thursday, Mr. Fulton went missing, just days after news surfaced that he faces a raft of charges involving a rash of tire-slashing in Wychwood Park, apparently stemming from a long-standing dispute over street parking. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

FIVE THINGS: YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TORONTO THIS WEEK

1Slashing prices like ...Ed Mirvish. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Honest Ed's tomorrow on Markham Street, the iconic discount store is selling two-kilogram bags of sugar for 60 cents a pop. The party will also feature a bargain-couture fashion show and free hot dogs. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

That's not a weed, that's a $10 salad

I've been eating a lot of weeds lately. Not out of my own garden, mind you, but out of everyone else's. Last week, I encountered a salad of lamb's quarters at the Inn at Manitou's serene dining room on Manitouwabing Lake, north of Toronto. The salad came as a surprise: The succulent leaves had a fleshy, almost creamy texture - a nice change from the ubiquitous frisee and baby lettuces. Though the lamb's quarters leaves are familiar to gardeners, it's rare to encounter them on a salad plate outside Iceland. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

THE DOWNSIDE OF UP

The garlands were up, the Christmas songs were playing, but inside the Danforth Avenue store Paper and Presents, the mood was anything but merry.It was December, 2007, and instead of spreading good cheer, customers were hurling abuse about cross-border price discrepancies. Store owner Grace Wong was facing her second year without drawing a paycheque, and she was fed up with skyrocketing business costs. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

Wonder what the condo fees are like

The Toronto Islands are far from a gentrification hot spot, but islanders are buzzing about the rise of the islands' first condo.For bees and wasps, that is.Peek behind the Franklin Children's Garden, an educational centre, and you'll find the Pink Bee-Wasp Condo, a wooden box perched atop a three-metre-tall pole. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

I'm still an Igor fan

I'm a bike buff and Igor's on Queen is my closest bike store. I'd go there a lot for repairs and tuning. Chat - mostly about gear-head stuff. Even though I'm 6'5'', 240 lbs., Igor Kenk always frightened me, a little. With his shirt off, he's ripped, an Adonis. And there was something in his eyes. He looked a little volatile. Someone told me he was an Uzbek (he's actually Slovenian). Once, I mentioned someone was bothering me and Igor offered to bestow a ''real Gestapo beating.'' From Print Edition, 19/07/08

First: No lemon cake for kids

In the competitive sport of children's birthday parties, balloons and streamers are no longer enough. Kids will pan a magician (cheesy) or birthday clown (creepy). But whether you've got a bouncy castle or a Miley Cyrus impersonator, when it comes to the piece de resistance - the cake - you can't afford to go wrong. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

Guys and a doll, or two

''You can never have too many reasons to hang out with the guys,'' said Don Mason, one of about 700 men who attended the second annual Boys' Night Out fundraiser benefiting prostate-cancer research at Princess Margaret Hospital. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

Bylaw scofflaws beware: There's a new licensing chief in town

On a Scarborough street notorious for illegal business activities, it was the flashy new BMW that stood out among the beat-up cars at an auto repair shop.That sighting by a sharp-eyed bylaw official was one of many reasons the city's municipal licensing and standards (MLS) department spearheaded a high-profile crackdown on Crockford Boulevard last week. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

My mom can get more votes than your mom

There are nine finalists left on Canadian Idol, but only one's mother is driving around Toronto in the ''Mookie Mobile.'' That's Julie Wang Morris, ex-publisher of the Town Crier, who has been doing her utmost to raise support for her son, Peter (Mookie) Morris, 18, named after former Blue Jay Mookie Wilson. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

But is it right for you, Wasaga, dear?

Wasaga, darling, we need to talk.It's difficult to discuss this so openly, but a recent visit underscored the need to say something. It seems that you've reached that age, and seismic changes loom on your Georgian Bay horizon. It's best you prepare for the storm before the calm. From Print Edition, 19/07/08

Graffiti we love

SPUD PHIL SILENT bird ... where are you? Or, more to the point, who are you? Recently, this graf showed up on the wall of a building near the burned-out location at Queen and Bathurst. We were arrested by the restrained printing style. It almost looks as if it were drawn over a ruler. And the mysteriousness of the saying. From Print Edition, 19/07/08