Dodgeball spot tries to flip the provincial election script. Digital advertising for the June 7 vote has been in flight for a while, but traditional TV time is still sucking up its share of money (even as Doug Ford’s campaign produces its own pseudo-news for Facebook, which Liberals are trying to counter on Snapchat). Now there's an irreverent NDP commercial that shows what could happen if the other parties get out of the way. Those with less to lose can afford to look like they’re having more fun:

Who's killing the caricaturists of Toronto? Requiring cartoon portrait artists to buy a $468-per-year permit and $2 million liability insurance evidently contributed to the demise of the business—so city staff are recommending a regulatory rollback. Another bit of data reflects an irreversible trend: the number of licensed newspaper boxes has declined by 77 per cent in 12 years, eliminating about $1 million in annual revenue for the city.

The rally around a Kensington Market spice shop. Rent increases on Baldwin Street are threatening to end the 42-year run of Reg Dried Foods, owned by an octogenarian woman known by various names, who emigrated from Romania in 1976 and claims to have worked 14 hours every day ever since. The situation has merited a report on CityNews along with an effort to overwhelm her with customers:

“Passengers travelling by streetcar should carry a Presto card, a token, or exact change for fare payment in the event they board a streetcar with reduced payment functionality.” The latest in the TTC’s fare follies: new streetcar machines that don’t accept debit or credit. Finalizing details with Presto to restore that feature has meant coming up with a "hybrid solution" involving new and old devices.

King Street will be best experienced by sitting in one spot. Ryerson researchers did a study that concludes that any gains made by the streetcar pilot project will likely come undone after 8.000 future residential units are occupied. Meanwhile, plans to liven up the atmosphere are continuing apace:

Drake is way too emotional for the NBA. The first game of the Eastern Conference semi-finals ended with reports that the Raptors’ courtside celebrity called Kendrick Perkins of the Cleveland Cavaliers a “fucking pussy,” amidst other fighting words—which led to the rapper reportedly getting admonished by the league. So, he returned to the ACC to watch a second Toronto loss in a visibly subdued mood. He could always learn from his middle-aged Toronto hip-hop forebear about how to concede to reality:

Air Canada can’t win Twitter. Clarkson, Michigan barista C.J. Poirier remains a long way from the 530,000 retweets that will apparently earn him a free trip to meet his internet girlfriend in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Nonetheless, the media attention has been intense. But another tweet to Air Canada might be enough to offset such goodwill: champion pole vaulter Alysha Newman claims the airline's baggage handlers busted the tools of her trade.