30 arrested for using fake Metropasses

An enforcement blitz in Scarborough has resulted in 30 transit riders being caught with fake TTC Metropasses.

The riders with phony passes face almost 100 charges, including fraud.

The problem of bogus tokens and passes continues to be a major problem for the TTC. The commission says it loses millions of dollars every year from these types of counterfeit schemes.

Toronto police Const. Laura Middleton said officers found the bogus passes by doing random checks.

"We had special constables and Toronto police officers riding the buses and set up at the Scarborough Town Centre. And we checked every pass that came on the bus or came through the Scarborough Town Centre," she said Thursday.

TTC special constable Mark Russell said the illegal passes were almost identical to the real ones.

"They would photocopy a colour copy of an authentic pass just on regular paper and they would use the glue sticks to adhere them to plastic card stocks," he said.

Half of the people arrested during last week's operation were younger than 20. Most are minors and cannot be identified.

The TTC says it seizes about 500 bogus passes every month.

The TTC eliminated paper tickets last fall, in part to cut down on counterfeit ones.

Metal tokens were replaced three years ago with new ones harder to duplicate but fake ones are turning up in cash boxes.

The TTC says it will take new measures to cut down on counterfeiting. Details are expected in the next few weeks.

Chipper Jones hates Toronto

Don’t expect Toronto mayor David Miller to hand ballplayer Chipper Jones the key to the city any time soon.


The Atlanta Braves third baseman wasn’t exactly selling the city as a tourist destination this week while attending the World Baseball Classic as a member of Team USA.

“Just way too many days off,” he said to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We stayed in Toronto for a week and played three games. I don’t know if you ever stayed in Toronto, but it’s not exactly Las Vegas. To say that we were plucking our eyebrows out one at a time would be an understatement.”

Jones, who has never managed to play a full 162-game schedule in any of his 14 major league seasons, strained an oblique muscle during the tournament and has since left the American club to join the Braves at spring training for treatment.

The sour grapes didn’t stop with Toronto.

Jones told the newspaper there’s far too many days off between games, and if the format doesn’t change, he won’t play again.

“There’s some serious problems with the WBC setup,” said Jones, who will skip the rest of the tournament. “I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. But I wouldn’t do it again under the current format. There’s way too many days off. This tournament could be over by now.”

The 2008 National League batting champ went 0-for-10 with six strikeouts in three games for Team USA.

Complaining about having too many days off? not having anything to do?? If you can't find something to do in Toronto, there is something wrong with you.

Have you heard of The Art Gallery of Ontario, The Royal Ontario Museum, Casa Loma (I love that place) the CN Tower, The entire entertainment district, All of our restaraunts (foods from all over the world can be found here) I could keep going and going.... Nothing to do in Toronto? What are you talking about???

You're fiiiirrrrreeeeeeddd!!!!!

City of Toronto employees fired after alleged fraud

Nine City of Toronto employees caught allegedly bilking benefits from the city's insurer have been booted from the taxpayer-funded city payroll after spending approximately two weeks at home with pay.

The city confirmed today it has terminated the employment of nine civic employees who submitted fraudulent claims for benefits under the employee benefits plan.

"The City takes very seriously every instance of alleged wrongdoing in the organization and the actions taken today follow the City's investigation of the matter," officials stated in a press release.

City officials sent out the release just as Councillor Mike Del Grande was asking about disciplining employees at the city's audit committee meeting.

After questions from the Sun the city publicly revealed the social services staffers were at home with pay and that Manulife Financial had uncovered the alleged fraud through their audit process.

"The City's Fraud Prevention and Conflict of Interest policies formalize the expectations of personal honesty and integrity required of City officials and employees," the release stated.

"It remains a fact that the number of City employees found to have violated City policies related to fraud remains very, very low."

The Sun revealed last week Toronto Police’s fraud squad is investigating the incident.

Toronto Mayor David Miller is expected to comment on the firings further.

Suspect in T.O. subway shooting surrenders

A 21-year-old man sought in connection with the January 22 2009 shooting at Toronto's Osgoode subway station has turned himself into police.

Curt John, 21, of no fixed address, is due in court Monday at 10 a.m. to face 12 charges, including attempted murder.

Police allege John fired three shots on the Osgoode subway platform in a Jan. 22 incident, injuring a 19-year-old man in his upper leg and abdomen.

John surrendered Sunday night, turning himself in at a police station in North York. Police say he was accompanied by his lawyer.

John and the shooting victim had allegedly been squabbling on and off the day of the shooting. Prior to the shooting, the two men had been on a bus which travelled from near Jane Street and Finch Avenue to the Downsview subway.

The victim was released from hospital the next day.

Last Thursday, police identified John at a news conference as a suspect in the case.

Police also allege that John:

- committed a robbery/car jacking while he was armed with a firearm on Jan. 28, 2009

- assaulted and robbed a woman on Nov. 27, 2008

None of the allegations against Curt John have been proven in a court of law, and for this reason, he should be considered innocent, until proven otherwise in a court of law.

TTC board chair defends public transit safety

Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) chair Adam Giambrone said Friday that the recent mid-morning shooting at Osgoode station may have left subway riders shaken, but they have little reason to be concerned about their general safety while riding public transit.

"Obviously when something like this happens, it's very disconcerting and it causes us to reflect on security,"

"Over the last couple years, the Toronto Transit Commission has put in over 10,000 cameras across the system, we've hired more special constables and we've worked, most importantly, with Toronto police to beef up the amount of security on the system."

"These incidents are incredibly rare and of course we know crime in Toronto, as it is across the country, continues to decline and that's true of incidents on the TTC," Giambrone added.

The TTC chair's comments come as Toronto police continue their search for a single male suspect in the shooting incident that sent a male teenager to hospital with gunshot wounds.

Police say a 19-year-old male suffered serious injuries after he was shot twice -- once in the stomach and once in the thigh -- at around 10:45 a.m. Thursday on the Osgoode subway station platform.

The suspected shooter was captured on security cameras and police were able to release his image to the public.

He is described as a black male, between 20 and 27 years of age. Between 6' and 6'2" in height with a medium build, the suspected subway shooter was wearing a Toronto Blue Jays cap along with black, fur-lined parka, black pants and black Nike Air Jordan running shoes.

Anyone with information for police should contact investigators at 416-808-5200, or to call Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477

UPDATE: New Surveillance video of the suspect has just been released

Filmmaker to use eye camera for documentary

Big Brother is watching you - and so is Little Brother.

Toronto filmmaker Rob Spence says he is getting a tiny video camera put inside a prosthetic eye to allow him to secretly film his subjects.

Spence says his goal is twofold: to raise awareness of constant surveillance in society and to get people talking unself-consciously.

"When you bring a camera, people change," said Spence, who lost his right eye as a young teen in a shooting accident on his grandfather's farm. "I wouldn't be disarming at all. I would just be some dude. It's a much truer conversation."

He hopes to have a prototype eye cam by February.

"As opposed to Big Brother watching from above, there (will be) Little Brother checking things out from below," he said of his project.

Spence, who has been writing about it on his blog "Eyeborg," plans to use the device for a documentary that will touch on his concerns about surveillance. His subjects won't know they will be on camera.

"People won't be aware of it at all. There's ethical issues with that, but I am a filmmaker," he said. "If you're averse to it, that's fine, don't sign the release form. I won't put you in the documentary."

Spence, 36, likens the idea to HBO's TV show "Taxicab Confessions," where participants can sign a release to have their cab conversations - recorded by hidden cameras - made public.

He's getting help with the project from the University of Toronto's Steve Mann, an expert on wearable computing and cyborgs (organisms that have artificial and natural systems). Mann also has expressed concerns about surveillance in society and how it needs to be counterbalanced by ordinary citizens.

Spence said he believes the tech-savvy will be the modern keepers of civil liberties.

"The more techno-geek you become, probably the safer we will all be."

Spence starred in the 2007 documentary "Let's All Hate Toronto," which aired on CBC-TV. His work has also appeared on Discovery, Vision and Space TV.

He's not alone in his quest for an eye camera. San Francisco artist Tanya Vlach wants a camera implant in her prosthetic eye and has put out a call on her blog for engineers to build her an eye cam, which could let her shoot video from her perspective or "lifecast" events.

Spence said he isn't going to focus on "lifecasting," or broadcasting his life 24-7 on the Internet.

He also isn't going to swap the eye cam, which won't restore vision, for his regular prosthetic eye on a permanent basis.

The video camera will be embedded in a prosthetic eye shell being made by Toronto ocularist Phil Bowen, who said he's not looking at the project from the "whole Big Brother thing."

"I am looking at it as the first step in taking a prosthetic eye that people might be able to see out of," Bowen said, adding that he is hoping a doctor will be able to take the research forward.

He described the camera as about the size of a pea and said people shouldn't notice Spence's camera eye. "It would look slightly lazy, but you shouldn't be able to tell."

The eye cam could be similar to a tiny medical camera used in such procedures as colonoscopies.

Digital commentator Carmi Levy said Spence's eye camera documentary should make people think about how they can move from convenience store to gas station to office to bank and home under the view of surveillance cameras.

Levy said Spence is taking back control.

"It's a Little Brother to the Big Brother presence," said Levy of Toronto's AR Communications Inc. "You are pointing the camera at the world instead of the other way around."

What do you guys think of this idea? would you be open to being recorded by the camera? would you be willing to appear in the documentary? or does the idea of being recorded by someone you don't even know sort of freak you out? post your thoughts...

First Baby of 2009 Born At the Stroke Of Midnight

What are the odds? Right on the stroke of midnight, as fireworks lit up the Toronto sky to ring in 2009, the city's first baby of the year was born.

Baby Nyla Adrianna (pictured) came into the world at Toronto East General Hospital, oblivious to the celebrations going on around her.

"Twelve o'clock on the dot she came out.They did the countdown in our room," revealed new dad Paul Gonsalves. "As soon as she came out, everyone started cheering."

Mother Erica Dumont agreed.

"There was an audience in there as I was pushing."

But she managed to keep her composure throughout the entire delivery, which, relatively speaking, was a breeze. Nyla weighed in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces.

"They were surprised I was eight centimetres dilated when I came in because I was so calm. And I was just laughing. [Paul] was making me laugh."

It was something of a photo finish in the race for the title of first new year baby.

About two seconds later, Chantal and Roberto DiMarco became the proud parents of a healthy baby girl, 7-pound Milana Amelia, at the Trillium Health Centre in Mississauga.

"I'm just glad she's healthy. That's all that matters, really," noted Roberto.

Chantal had been in labour for most of Wednesday, which also happened to be her 32nd birthday.

Baby number three was a little girl also born in Mississauga at Credit Valley Hospital.

And eight seconds into the new year, baby boy Martin popped out at North York General Hospital.

Man Clings To Life Following Overnight New Years Shooting

What a way to bring in The New Year, Bullets rang out on Danforth Ave during an argument outside a New Year's party at the Paradise Sports Bar and Billiards Club at 940 Danforth Ave at about 3:30am Thursday. The gunfire sent two men to hospital, one with life-threatening injuries.

"It's very critical, I'll put it that way. We don't know if he's going to make it or not. He's being watched closely by the doctors at this point," explained Det. Gerald Ball of Toronto Police.

Paramedics found the gravely hurt victim on the sidewalk, shot in the head. He's listed in critical condition in hospital.

The other individual was shot in the leg, but was still able to run for his life. Officers picked him up a short distance from the club.

The shooter fled with a group of friends.

Investigators would like to speak to anyone who brought in the New Year at the Danforth and Jones Ave. area bar.

"When we got here, they were almost all gone. There was no one here except for about eight people. So if there's anybody that can offer any information, we would like to speak to them," noted Det. Ball.

You can call Toronto Police 54 Division at 416-808-5400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).

Another person was shot in the leg not far away from where this incident took place, in the area of Dawson Ave. and Earl Grey Rd. There's no word on whether that incident, which occurred at about 5am, is related to the shooting earlier in the night.

Meanwhile, police in the west end are also looking into the circumstances of a shooting near Dixon Rd. in the west end. The victim in this shooting suffered a gunshot wound to one of his legs. He was taken to Etobicoke General Hospital to be treated but his injuries weren't considered life threatening.

Anyone with information in any of the overnight incidents can call Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477), Again, you can do so anonymously if you prefer

The NFL in Toronto

Landing a National Football League team has always seemed a remote possibility for the city of Toronto.

After all, with a new NFL franchise estimated to be worth $1-billion US these days, who can blame the skeptics who view Toronto’s continuing fascination as mere rhetoric.

While these few exhibition and regular season are nice (for now) they're still not "Canada's own" we only have them on loan

New stadium a hurdle

The NFL’s head office, has reiterated on numerous occasions that the cities within the United States remain its only priority for an expansion team in the foreseeable future.

Even if the league were to consider Toronto, the Rogers Centre is currently not up to NFL standards with its seating capacity. The stadium currently holds roughly 55,000, significantly less than the 65,000 the league mandates.

Many also believe that the NFL will require any prospective owner to pour millions more into a new stadium if Toronto is to be granted a franchise.

“We’d like to try and convince them that we can adapt the Rogers Centre to house a National Football League team,” said Godfrey. “We think that adjustments can be made to the facility. But I also think a new facility can be built by personal seat licenses the way they’ve been done in the United States.”
- Paul Godfrey

Don't count on the city's help: Mayor Miller

Should Toronto land an NFL franchise, the funding for a new stadium may have to come out of the owners pockets.

Toronto Mayor David Miller has made it clear the city won’t help with any public money for a new facility and remains adamant of the area's loyalty to the CFL's Argonauts.

“If private people want to raise a billion dollars for the NFL franchise, good for them,” Miller said. “But the health of the CFL is very important to this city and to the country and I don’t want to see anything happen that’s going to risk this league."

Miller, who lived in Boston for a time, also doesn't see the NFL expanding into Canada under any circumstances.

“I understand how Americans think, and there’s no way on Earth that a team in Toronto is going to come before a team in the U.S., it just won’t happen,” he said.

"So if somebody has the money to buy a franchise it may be different, but it certainly won’t be an expansion team, not in the next 10 or 20 years.”

For his part, Howard Bloom, publisher of sportsbusinessnews.com, backs Godfrey on the expansion issue, but on a much larger scale. Based on the continued financial bonanza the NFL receives through the major television networks, Bloom sees four cities, including Toronto, added within the next 10 years.

"Four billion dollars in expansion fees is a tremendous source of revenue," he contends.

Bloom also predicts the NFL will expand its television coverage to include games from Thursday to Monday on a weekly basis.

"In order to be able to successfully play from Thursday to Monday, the NFL needs a strong presence with more teams. It’s not going to work any other way."

Billion-dollar bill for Buffalo

Some, however, are convinced Toronto's only hope lies with a neighbouring team about 130 kilometres west along the Queen Elizabeth Way.

Since Ralph Wilson has been the owner of the Buffalo Bills, the franchise has been a stabilizing entity in an otherwise struggling economy.

But there are growing fears in Western New York that the team will be sold and moved once the 87-year-old Wilson passes away. Moreover, no other local Buffalo,NY business owner has shown an interest in purchasing the Bills.

"It’s not going to stay in Buffalo unless you have the most amazing philanthropist in the world who’s got a billion dollars, and I can’t image who that would be," said Brunt.

"The team will be sold, and outside of L.A., there is no other market left where you can max out sponsorship and stadium advertising like Toronto.”

It not expansion, may not necessarily be by purchasing and moving the Bills either, The other teams currently in danger of losing there franchise in the NFL include : The 49ers, The Jaguars, The Saints, The Raiders, The Vikings, The Chargers, The Bengals and even The Falcons.... so a Toronto - Buffalo NFL game may even be a possibility some day! (a great rivalry waiting to happen!)

With the NFL continuing to avoid the issue, debates over the city's chance of landing a team carry on, but the question of whether Toronto can afford a franchise has been answered.

the NFL in Toronto

The National Football League (NFL), is, and has always been the dominant professional competition in American football and the leading U.S. professional sports league.

It has long been rumoured to be considering placing one of its franchises in Canada's largest city, (and the hometown of yours truly) Toronto, Ontario.

Toronto is the fifth most populous city in North America, making it one of the continent's largest markets and an intriguing city in which to operate an NFL franchise. While there are professional Canadian football teams in Toronto and nearby Hamilton, there are no professional American football teams in Canada. Despite being in Canada, Toronto is actually further south than existing NFL franchises in Minnesota, Seattle and Green Bay. Furthermore, San Diego Chargers executive Dean Spanos, speaking in regards to international NFL play, stated in January 2008 that "the long term goal is globalizing our sport" and that "it is possible that within five or 10 years, the league will have franchises outside the United States."

There has been speculation that current NFL franchises, most commonly the Jacksonville Jaguars and the nearby Buffalo Bills, may possibly be relocated to Toronto. There has also been speculation that the New Orleans Saints or Minnesota Vikings could be moved to Toronto. However, a new stadium in the works has all but silenced the Vikings rumors (for now). Similarly, ramifications resulting from Hurricane Katrina have reduced the prospect of moving the Saints. The Jaguars are often mentioned due to the fact that they struggle to sell out Jacksonville Municipal Stadium even with its capacity reduced by covered-up seats. The Bills, on the other hand, are mentioned not because of attendance problems but because of the team's proximity to Toronto; the advanced age of Bills owner Ralph Wilson, who has no apparent successor; and the persistent economic and population problems that plague the Buffalo region, forcing the Bills to keep their ticket prices the lowest in the NFL.

Toronto would most notably be competing with Los Angeles, the second most-populated city, and metropolitan area, in the United States, to lure an NFL team.

The NFL has had a presence in Toronto since back in 1959, when the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) played (and lost to) three NFL teams in a three-season span. These exhibition games, which had been first tried in Ottawa in 1950 and would be imitated by Montreal, were played by CFL rules in the first half and NFL rules in the second. Injury problems led to many of the Argonauts' losses; the Argos at this time were in a rut and had missed the playoffs several times since 1953.

The Bills themselves, then an American Football League team, tried their hand with a game against the nearby Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Unprepared, and suffering from some injuries, Buffalo lost the game 38-21.

After several years, the American Bowl series brought three preseason games to the city between 1993 and 1997, two of which featured the Bills.

Former Toronto Blue Jays CEO and President Paul Godfrey has been interested in pursing an NFL franchise for Toronto since 1988. Before recent developments, most skeptics believed that it would be too expensive to bring an NFL team to Toronto and most possible investors may shy away from the approximately $1 billion (US) price tag that an NFL franchise comes with. Then-NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue himself dismissed the prospects of a Toronto team in 2006, although he left the door open to including Toronto in the NFL International Series.

How does Buffalo fit into the "Toronto in the NFL" equation?

For many years, the Bills have had a large market in southern Ontario. In fact, the Bills average 15,000 Canadian fans to Ralph Wilson Stadium per game. On October 18, 2007, the Bills announced plans seeking approval to play a pre-season and at least one regular season game in Toronto in an attempt to capitalize on the Canadian market. The team has a Canadian sales office and a radio affiliate in Toronto, CJCL. The NFL's television rules have also been applied in a similar manner to secondary markets in the United States, so that nearly all Bills games are televised in Toronto, on CFTO and CITYTV, except for home games that do not sell out (the Toronto television market extends to the Canadian border in Fort Erie, Ontario, well within the 75-mile radius of Ralph Wilson Stadium, and is thus subject to the league's blackout policy).

On January 30, 2008, it was announced that the Bills reached an agreement to play five regular-season and three exhibition NFL games over the next five years in Toronto.
The first of these games took place in the 2008 NFL season. The first game in the series was announced April 3 (although it had been leaked through various sources throughout March) and featured the Bills facing the Pittsburgh Steelers in an exhibition game August 14; this date was one day before the Toronto Argonauts play in the same stadium and the same date and time as a Hamilton Tiger-Cats game (although the latter game was in Winnipeg). Buffalo won the game, 24–21, but the game was marred by reports that the game organizers had to give away over 10,000 tickets to assure a sellout crowd, an accusation that Ted Rogers denies. The regular season game will take place on December 7 against the Miami Dolphins, after the end of the 2008 CFL season. Ted Rogers is effectively leasing the team from Wilson at a cost of $78 million (Canadian) and has hired his own general manager and management staff to handle the games.

There is speculation that when Ralph Wilson, Jr. dies, interests may bid for the franchise in the hopes of moving the Bills to Toronto.

Ted Rogers, owner of Rogers Communications, Rogers Center and The Toronto Blue Jays, and Larry Tanenbaum met and discussed the possibility of an NFL franchise in Toronto. Tannenbaum said that he and Ted Rogers were "highly interested" in bringing an NFL franchise to Toronto. He also stated that he was going to "pursue it more rigorously" as soon as the NFL gave him word.

On Thursday, April 3, it was announced that the Bills will play the Pittsburgh Steelers in a pre-season game on Thursday, August 14, 2008, at Rogers Centre. On April 15, the regular season match was revealed, with the Bills hosting their division rivals, the Miami Dolphins, on December 7. Both games will have standard ticket prices ranging from C$55 to C$295 and VIP tickets from C$325 to C$575. The average standard ticket price of C$183 drawfs the highest priced average in the NFL, that of the New England Patriots, at US$88.

The biggest roadblocks to bringing a team Toronto into the NFL thusfar have been:

- The Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts currently play in the city and have in the past been protected from American competition. The World Football League intended to place its own franchise in Toronto known as the Toronto Northmen, but then Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau threatened to pass a Canadian Football Act to prevent such a move. The WFL backed down and moved the team to Memphis, Tennessee, where it became known as the Memphis Southmen and later the Mid-South Grizzlies in a failed bid to join the NFL.

American teams that have made their home in Toronto include the Continental Football League's Toronto Rifles (1965-67) and the Arena Football League's Toronto Phantoms (2000-02). Any NFL team that entered the Toronto market would have to deal with the Argonauts as well as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who play in nearby Hamilton, Ontario and have vehemently opposed any presence of the NFL in Canada.

- The Tiger-Cats responded to the Bills' move to play games in Toronto by making an April Fool's Day mock announcement on April 1, 2008 that they would move one of their home games against the Montreal Alouettes to Ralph Wilson Stadium, and would play the Bills in a rematch of their 1961 contest, which the Tiger-Cats won, in June 2008 (when the Bills would be in minicamp and the Ti-Cats would be playing preseason).Tiger-Cats fans, while acknowledging it was a hoax, reacted positively to the idea.

The other major issue would be stadium. Although Paul Godfrey believed that the Rogers Centre could be home to an NFL franchise, it is unclear if the Rogers Centre could be the home long-term. Rogers Centre (formerly known as Sky Dome), a retractable roof stadium, has a maximum capacity of 54,088 when configured for CFL games; in comparison, the smallest NFL stadium in terms of capacity (excluding the exhibition-only stadiums in Canton and Honolulu) is Chicago's Soldier Field, which has 61,500 seats. While extra seats could be added near the end zones as a result of the shorter NFL field, a large-scale expansion would be very difficult because of the stadium's design. This means that a new football specific stadium would have to be built. David Miller, mayor for the city of Toronto, has stated that funding for a new stadium would not come from the City of Toronto and would have to come from private funding. Counteracting this small capacity is the large number of luxury boxes in the stadium, which count as "unshared" revenue in the NFL's revenue sharing and collective bargaining agreements.

Will we see an NFL club in Toronto? it may still be too early to say for sure, would it be through expansion or relocation? If Toronto were to get a team into the NFL, would it work or be a failure? Is a Toronto team in the NFL something better in our hearts and minds then can ever possibly be on the field? These are all questions we may never know the answers to, but as a fan of the game, I for one would definitely like some answers!!

What do you think? will we see the NFL in Toronto, and just these exhibition games, but an actual club to call our very own? why won't we? post your feedback on this topic as I would love to get the input of others on this one and see just where we all are on it.

Until next time........