Jumping over Giambrone
Thank you for warning us on last week’s cover that Adam Giambrone was writing from Sudan on page 14 (NOW, January 6-12). I was able to save time, skip the whole postcard and go right on to the rest of your very excellent publication.
C. John Barry
Toronto
Cops worth 100K a pop?
That was an interesting article on the Toronto police budget (NOW, January 6-12).
Doing a quick run on the numbers, the average employee on the police force costs taxpayers more than $100,000 per year. Now, that is a real crime!
Bill Tufts
Toronto
Crime down, “events” up
Regarding the police budget. of course there are fewer crimes in Toronto. That’s because they don’t call them crimes any more. They are now called “events.”
We had things taken from our car before Christmas. I called in, spoke to someone from Toronto Police Services and was given an “incident” number. Later, an officer called to ask what was stolen. He gave me an “event” number, corrected me and explained there are no “crimes” now.
What, I asked, would he do with my information?
Well, apparently it would be sent to a central office where someone would put little dots on a map.
My “event” would be one of the dots. If there are a lot of dots in a particular area, they might have a police car patrol the area a little more often.
Lori Moore
Toronto
Fish: food or foul?
Over the years i have read NOW’s articles on food with increasing frustration. First we were encouraged to eat salmon for their omega-3s. Then came articles “exposing” the harm of farmed salmon to consumers as well as to the environment.
It would appear that NOW would have us give up fish altogether. Your recommendations actually influence people’s food choices.
That is a heavy responsibility. Spider-Man warned us that “with great power comes great responsibility.”
NOW has contributed to a culture of individual responsibility where the buck stops with the consumer. Encouraging people to eat a balanced diet while being conscious of the environmental impact of our food choices is important but those do not need to be sensationalized.
Jonas Spring
Toronto
Review swamps veg café
Following Steven Davey’s review (NOW, January 6-12), we have experienced an increase in customers that we quickly realized surpasses our current set-up and preparedness.
So, to make improvements and maintain quality of service, we will be closed both Mondays and Tuesdays until further notice. We will be open Wednesday to Sunday from 9 am to 8 pm. Thank you to all our customers for their continued support.
E.L. Ruddy
Toronto
Matlow off Transit City
After Rob Ford’s victory, I was one of those who participated in the Facebook letter-writing campaign to save Transit City. I emailed concerns to my councillor for Ward 22, Josh Matlow, the mayor, the premier and various other MPPs and city councillors.
I was impressed by the quick replies from politicians like Trinity-Spadina MPP Rosario Marchese, Councillors Mark Grimes, Adam Vaughan and Gord Perks, as well as MPs Jack Layton and Mario Silva. I even heard from the mayor’s office, eventually.
I was saddened and disturbed that I never heard from Councillor Matlow, as I am his constituent. I emailed a follow-up to my concerns and have still not heard a thing. I’m disheartened that Matlow hasn’t shown any concern whatsoever for the wants of his constituents who are directly affected by the Eglinton LRT.
Michelle N.
Toronto
Take nothing over subways
With less than one-third of the number of riders needed to justify a subway, the Sheppard line is a billion-dollar boondoggle.
Now cost-cutting, respect-for-taxpayers Mayor Rob Ford is going to add to it (NOW, December 30-January 5).
If he doesn’t like LRTs, fine. We’ll build them after we’ve gotten rid of this guy. Building nothing would be preferable to building an underused Scarborough subway that will be a perpetual drain on the TTC budget.
R. Young
Toronto
Disservice to LRVs
You do a disservice to Transit City LRT lines by using a rendering of the new mixed-traffic downtown streetcars to advocate them (NOW, December 30-January 5). The LRV lines do not take away space from cars. The design on all the lines widens the roads and retains the same number of car lanes.
The vehicle model is also different. Downtown streetcar lines are getting a heavily customized Flexity, while the LRV lines would get a much prettier, off-the-shelf Flexity2.
Finally, the added expense of subways also comes from things like the need for a track wye with the existing system, the need for a grade-separated connection to a vehicle yard and a more expensive yard location.
Leons Petrazickis
Toronto
Mixtape this
Dismissing tape labels as “gimmicky” (NOW, December 30-January 5) is an unfair swipe at a few local imprints that are releasing great music, namely Telephone Explosion and Orchid Tapes, both of which offer exciting, vibrant music and downloads with purchases.
In answer to your shrill rhetorical question, “Who even has a tape deck lying around any more?” The answer is: many people listen to mixtapes from lovers and/or friends. The editors at NOW surely must have received a mixtape or two in the 90s, no? Did they do something heartless like download tracks from tapes to their iPods and then toss the tapes away?
“Un-totable?” They fit in your pocket! “Impossible to locate the start of a track?” Try the rewind or fast-forward button. And maybe try a little patience. This isn’t a race. This is music. Remember those idiots who tossed out their turntables when CDs came along?
Danny Lindsay
Toronto
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