Morning Brew: Ford may have paid bills for 15 Windsor, cops worried about gala invite, Stintz urges council to move on, a protest brews, and Ford hits U.S. talk shows
The City of Toronto isn't saying whether Rob Ford paid the utility bills for 15 Windsor Road, the notorious drug house he was photographed outside. A notebook obtained by Toronto police as part of their investigation suggests Ford may have paid the water and other bills from January to March this year. "One possible explanation for these entries could be that the Mayor is dealing with house maintenance and bill payment at 15 Windsor Rd.," a police officer wrote.
Rob Ford and police chief Bill Blair appear to be in a stand-off over the mayor's attendance at the cops' annual gala. The mayor had been invited to the annual event as a guest at the head table but things have, obviously, changed since then. An email from police to the mayor's office appeared to retract the invite, but now cops say it still technically stands. Ford is currently refusing to speaking to Detective Sergeant Gary Giroux, a senior investigator, over his interactions with Sandro Lisi on the advice of his lawyer.
Rob Ford came out swinging yesterday, urging members of his executive committee to resign if they didn't want to be part of his administration. In a surprise morning interview with AM640's John Oakley, Ford seemed to be daring his members of his cabinet-like group to quit. "Anybody that wants to go, go," Ford told Oakley. "I'll be running the ship even if it is by myself. I'm going to be serving the city and guaranteed I'll be watching every dime."
Cllr. Karen Stintz, however, says it's no use calling for Rob Ford's resignation - he won't quit. "Let's just get on with it," the TTC Chair and mayoral candidate told reporters at City Hall. "We need to take the mayor at his word and we need to continue on with the business of the city." Will she get her wish?
A protest against Rob Ford is brewing at Nathan Phillips Square. Save Toronto is planning to decorate the square outside City Hall with chalk and posters at the next council meeting. "There is no right or left, there's only right or wrong. And clearly, something's wrong," the organizers say.
Riceballs are going gangbusters at the Me.n.u food truck. Allen Tan and Bryan Siu-Chong, the owners of the new Asian-inspired mobile eatery, spoke with Cindy McGlynn over at Toronto Food Trucks about their salad days.
Graphic designer Dave Delisle, he of the TTC Super Mario map, has updated his 8-bit interpretation of Toronto's transit wayfinding to include the Spadina line extension. The future never looked older.
Finally, as is the inevitable cycle of news, the Rob Ford crack scandal is currently doing the rounds on the late-night U.S. talk shows. Last night Ford featured on Craig Ferguson, Jay Leno, Howard Stern, WWE Raw, Chelsea Handler, Arsenio Hall, and Jon Stewart's Daily Show. Here's a clip from the latter.
IN BRIEF:
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Image: George Welcher/blogTO Flickr pool.
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