[casita]

His brother called him a ‘rock star’, and there’s something of that in him: the bloated, drugged, larger-than-life Elvis figure who everyone wants to touch before he predictably dies on the toilet.

I wonder if Col. Tom Parker had anything to do with hastening Elvis's premature demise at age 42.

Col. Parker had him working an average of one show every other day from 1969 until June 1977 and a three-album-a-year schedule for RCA.

He apparently knew about his drug habit, and did little or nothing to stop it. Sounds like what we would today call "an enabler".
http://www.elvisinfonet.com/spotlight_thedarksideofcolonelparker.html

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Someone help a poster out here. It's beyond my familiarity, but I believe the private garbage collection is keeping costs down while playing a long game hoping for West of Yonge.
That Olivia, in the first debate, suggested a wait-and-see attitude rather than publicly committing to contracting out the rest of the service.
My knowledge is really dated, but waste management used to be the worst kind of mob-ridden business. Waste Management Inc., and BFI.
Then BFI started it's legit facade with school bus drivers. At some point Ford was associated with a speakeasy (on Bloor?) run by a waste management guy that packed up shop when reporters started asking questions.
Some posters have an encyclopedic knowledge and perfect memory of these bit players. A little help?

I think this may be what you are looking for: Romeo Di Battista (that name keeps cropping up!) owned an after-hours club[/url]. Ford was there. Stuff happened.

Edit: ah, I see others beat me to it, but I'll try to add a bit of additional info (not new to this thread, but just not mentioned here very recently): Di Battista knows Lisi. Donovan & Doolittle clearly think Di Battista is an important element of the Rob Ford story: they mentioned him by name in a Q&A they did last year.

Probably just a coincidence*, but Di Battista is a past associate of Patrick Dovigi. Dovigi runs GFL, the company which won the contract for private garbage collection west of Yonge. Ford was clearly a big fan of GFL on the day that was announced.

* or not

 

[stoobiedood]

I think this may be what you are looking for: [url="http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/01/rob_ford_crack_video_the_story_behind_the_bombshell_investigation.htmlRomeo Di Battista [/url](that name keeps cropping up!) owned an after-hours club[/url]. Ford was there. Stuff happened.

Di Battista knows Lisi.

Corrected URL http://www.thestar.com/news/city_ha...story_behind_the_bombshell_investigation.html

Quoting:
The police document also brings in nearly 70 other people who are somehow involved in the lives of Ford and Lisi.

One of those is Romeo DiBattista, a businessman involved in the recycling industry, who owns an after-hours club (which was gutted after the Star began asking questions) on Bloor St., west of Prince Edward Dr. in Etobicoke, south of where Ford lives. Ford, Lisi and DiBattista know each other and both had spent time at the club, the Star’s ongoing investigation has shown.

The police document reveals a meeting between Lisi and DiBattista, and police describe a “notebook” they have obtained that appears to be Ford’s and includes DiBattista’s telephone number.

Like many people close to Ford and Lisi, DiBattista responded aggressively when a Star reporter found him at his club and began to ask questions, particularly about a night at the club where Ford was present.

“Are you f---ing kidding? I can’t talk to you about that s---,” DiBattista said, when approached in his black Chevrolet Suburban SUV. DiBattista took off, his tires squealing.

There is no indication in the document that police have spoken to DiBattista.

 

[TOvp]

I 'unno guys, a nightclub really isn't the best place to buy drugs, but god knows how it works in Ford's world. He has the money I suppose. Generally you'd want to meet *away* from places with security guards and police outside and hundreds of people with cameras...

Unless the owner calls you with a personal invite at 01:30.

 

[westyvt]

I was not aware that they served soda pop without a top and a straw, or that they serve something else that holds a head like beer.

This photo with the beer appears not to be from Saturday night. The sweater is different; no white string tie on the front as in the photos with him in the hallway.

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Corrected URL

Thanks. URL already corrected.

I'm still waiting for the whole Di Battista thing to blow up. The Star must know stuff it can't print. There's no way they would have trailed Di Battista's name out there when they were speaking in person if they didn't have at least a decent suspicion of something... and given their track record on Ford issues, I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[stoobiedood]

Probably just a coincidence, but Di Battista is a past associate of Patrick Dovigi, who runs GFL, the company which won the contract for private garbage collection west of Yonge. Ford was clearly a big fan of GFL on the day that was announced.

G&M had a story on that: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ckhandles-his-way-to-the-front/article559083/

 

[vic]

Speaking of the Garbage pickup being contracted out, if it allegedly saved the city money then has anyone else noticed that there was a 3% increase in the Solid Waste Management fee for 2014? Let alone the 9% increase in the Water and Sewer charges for both 2013 and 2014............

I've wondered the same thing about these mythical savings. Apparently we're saving money, but fees are going up and we get fewer extra tags.

 

[stoobiedood]

Thanks. URL already corrected.

I'm still waiting for the whole Di Battista thing to blow up. The Star must know stuff it can't print. There's no way they would have trailed Di Battista's name out there when they were speaking in person if they didn't have at least a decent suspicion of something... and given their track record on Ford issues, I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

a trickle more info: http://www.robfordfiles.com/associates/project-brazen-2-profiles/dibattista-romeo

 

[casita]

IT WAS A JOKE. Good Lord.

View attachment 24867

 

[tariqata]

I've wondered the same thing about these mythical savings. Apparently we're saving money, but fees are going up and we get fewer extra tags.

But in the mysterious world of municipal finances, it appears that if a thing is not being paid for with property taxes, it counts as a "savings".

 

[dforthandbview]

Romeo Dibattisa (sp?). During a Star round table on this sad story one of the reporters brought up his name and said something to the effect of "we haven't heard too much of his role in the story yet..."

Greg McArthur from The Globe & Mail brought that up. He asked the audience how many had heard of him and he was surprised by the amount because his name hasn't really been brought up. McArthur hasn't been as involved in the Ford story as, say, Kevin Donovan is. Maybe he's working on a big story? He wrote the Doug Ford hash article which was a year-long investigation.

 

[SecretSquirrel]

The only Romeo-Ford angle I know of involves crazy party stories. The GFL corruption suspicion was a bust.

Thanks Jimmi. I thought I remembered something way back in this thread with details about Ford being at Di Battista's club (more details than in the recently=linked articles) but I came up blank. Anyone?

 

[casita]

An interesting, and recent, story about garbage collection in Toronto:
http://www.torontolife.com/informer/columns/2014/03/20/philip-preville-toronto-garbage-collection/

 

[vic]

But in the mysterious world of municipal finances, it appears that if a thing is not being paid for with property taxes, it counts as a "savings".

But it wasn't even paid for by taxes. It was a fee. No taxes saved. Fee goes up, number of extra tags (and therefore the service provided) goes down. I guess there's the "no strike" angle so far, but really, where are my savings?