NEWS
metronews.ca Wednesday, May 16, 2012
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Spring donation drive falls short of Food Bank’s needs Lower than last year. Food bank’s take hurt by layoffs, tough times, organizers say JOE LOFARO
joe.lofaro@metronews.ca
Sarah Burns stood next to a tower of 130,000 pounds of food Tuesday at the Ottawa Food Bank and explained that more of it is badly needed. The food bank’s events manager unveiled the results of the 2012 TenantLandlord Spring Hope Food Drive at the Michael Street warehouse. The results fell short of last year’s donations by about 10,000 pounds — a deficit organizers blamed on a tough economy and government layoffs. “This food isn’t going to last very long,” said Burns. “While this looks like a great amount of food and we’re very proud of
Participation
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NEWS
Over 10 days in April, landlords at 200 apartment buildings asked tenants to donate to the Ottawa Food Bank.
On the web
this food drive, it will go quickly, and the need is always high in Ottawa.” Burns said they deliver about 15 tonnes of food daily. Eastern Ontario Landlord Organization chair John Dickie was disappointed with the decrease. “It was in the back of my mind that it would be hard to match last year’s (total),” said Dickie, adding that “130,000 pounds of food is still an awful lot of food, and I would say it’s still a very successful food drive. “We’ll try and improve on it next year.” Follow Joe Lofaro on Twitter @giuseppelo
Tween blasts banks The latest tirade against Canada’s banking system isn’t coming from a leading economist, but from a 12-year-old girl. Posted by her father, Cambridge, Ont.’s Victoria Grant’s lectures have been making the web rounds and making headlines. Watch the pint-sized pundit at metronews.ca
Sarah Burns, Ottawa Food Bank’s events manager, and John Dickie, Eastern Ontario Landlord Organization chair, show the food that was collected in the 2012 Tenant-Landlord Spring Hope Food Drive Tuesday. JOE LOFARO/METRO
Killing was unprovoked, reckless: Judge
Mohamed Jama Yusuf POLICE HANDOUT
Mohamed Jama Yusuf’s apologies to the family of the man he killed came too late to reduce his jail sentence, an Ottawa judge said Tuesday before handing down seven and a half years. Yusuf, now 23, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2008 death of Sean Murphy and failing to appear in court. “His actions were those of a bully, a bullying emboldened and disinhibited by alcohol, who went out of his way to attack a smaller, intoxicated man who was on his way home on a bicycle. It was vio-
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Sentencing
“There are no assurances he will not offend again, with violence and without conscience.” Justice Lynn Ratushny
lence that was unprovoked, reckless, brutal and senseless,” said Justice Lynn Ratushny. “Mr. Murphy’s life was worth so much more than Mr. Yusuf accorded it.” Yusuf and Murphy had
been drinking in the same bar on Merrivale Road, but didn’t know each other. Yusuf punched Murphy in the head, knocking him off his bike and then kicked him as he lay on the ground. Yusuf returned to his home in Edmonton the next day and bragged to coworkers about “stomping an old man,” the judge said. Yusuf’s friend robbed Murphy’s unconscious body and was eventually arrested. He then helped officers with an undercover investigation that led to Yusuf”s arrest. Yusuf skipped bail in April
2011. On Jan. 2, 2012, police responded to a disturbance call and found him intoxicated at a house in Edmonton. He gave them a fake ID and a false name and birthday, but fingerprinting identified him. Ratushny said Yusuf’s actions before and after the attack made her question the sincerity of his apologies to his own family and Murphy’s family. “There are no assurances he will not offend again, with violence and without conscience,” she said. JESSICA SMITH/METRO
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