There have been a few answers found in the case of Qian Liu, the 23-year-old York University student who was killed early in the morning on Friday, April 15. But although a man has been charged and arrested for the homicide, there are still lots of questions.

Qian Liu was speaking to her boyfriend in China from her Toronto apartment at about 1:30 a.m. Friday morning. After hearing a knock on the door, Liu answered it to find a man who entered her apartment. Liu’s boyfriend told police that the man wanted a hug from Liu and when she refused, he became violent. An argument started and the man became very aggressive with Liu, before disconnecting the webcam. That was the last time anyone saw Liu alive; her body was found naked from the waist down in her apartment on Friday.

The accused man’s name is Brian Dickson, a 29-year-old that friends say used to live with Liu before she suddenly moved out and into her own apartment. Dickson may also be the man that police had in for questioning early in the investigation before letting him go so that they could verify his alibi; but police won’t say whether or not its’ the same man. The police have also ordered that no photos be distributed of Dickson, as this could place their investigation at risk. They have stated that the allegations that Dickson stalked Liu online before murdering her are completely false, and that it doesn’t appear as though any criminal stalking was going on. Police also wanted to stress that the picture that’s being distributed now in Chinese-speaking chat rooms, claiming to be the suspect, also has nothing to do with their case.

The head investigator of the homicide squad that the new “team approach” they use to deal with homicide cases helped lead investigators to Dickson very quickly. This new approach allows a team of investigators to work on one case, not just two. Because of that, a suspect can be questioned five times compared to the two times that it used to be.

March 28 wasn’t a great day for cats in the city, or maybe it was, depending on how you look at it. It was on that day that two kittens were found in very bad shape, in a dumpster on Bloor and Young Street. Both of the kittens had their right eyes taken out, and the male kitten also had his teeth smashed in. An adult cat was also found nearby at Woodbine and Danforth Avenue, and that cat also had his right eye missing. It does seem odd that three cats were found within a short period of time each other, and that they all had the same injuries. But Alison Cross, a spokeswoman for the OSPCA, said when the cats were found that they couldn’t tell if it was a case of animal cruelty, or just an accident.

Toronto Animal Services was called immediately after the three cats were found. TAS was able to locate the owner of the older cat but the two kittens found in the dumpster were sent to Bay Cat Hospital. There, they both had surgery to remove both of their right eyes. Dr. Amanda Kolhatkar said that even with their injuries the cats were playing and purring when they came in, calling animals incredibly “stoic.” She also mentioned that even though the hospital sees a lot of bad animal cases, this one was particularly heartbreaking and that the staff found it difficult to look at the kittens when they first came in.

But the kittens’ sad story didn’t last very long. Shortly after coming out of surgery and with their right eyes sewn shut, both of the kittens sat and played with a string of yarn, following it with their left eyes and playfully swatting at it. The kittens have already been claimed by someone who has stepped forward wanting to adopt them.

But even with the successful finish, the OSPCA says that this story is not over. They are still treating the incident as extremely suspicious and are asking for the public’s help. Anyone with information about the cats or their injuries are asked to call the OSPCA at 888-668-7722.

In a story that involves drug addiction, alcoholism, murder, and a tragic fire, emerges one girl who, although only 16 years old, has proven that heroes do exist, and that circumstances do not determine character. All of this came to light at an inquest on Monday, which shed more light on the horrific details of a fire that broke out in a housing complex in 2007, and a girl’s resolve not to lose her entire family.

On December 22, 2007, at the Anderson-Simpson-Whittaker household, when a 3 year old boy  by the name of Jahziah Whittaker, and his five-year-old brother were playing with some school papers in their living room. Their mother, Diane Anderson, an alcoholic and drug abuser since her fiancé’s murder in 2005, was fast asleep in a nearby chair. The boys found her lighter and lit the papers on fire, which then quickly escalated into a disaster situation.

After a few minutes, the 5 year old boy saw that the fire was getting out of control and he went to wake up his sister, Ieisha Simpson. When testifying in court about the fire, Ieisha recalled how she was covered in sweat when she woke up and that it was very hot in her room. She quickly went downstairs with her brother and started screaming her mother’s name. When she got no response, Ieisha ran outside of the housing complex and started screaming for help. It wasn’t long before a neighbour heard her and came to help. Together, the two went back into the burning home to rescue the boys and Ieisha’s sister, Tayjah Simpson. While Ieisha and the neighbour were able to save two of Ieisha’s brothers, Tayjah, Jahziah, and Diane Anderson were all killed in the blaze.

Sadly, that wasn’t the end of the story. Now, four years later, everything has been rehashed and family members have had to live through it all over again as an inquest is ongoing into several issues, and with several organizations. One part of the inquest is investigating the TCHC, an organization that’s had its share of investigations lately. According to Ieisha Simpson, the fire alarm in their home was broken and always being set off for no apparent reason. When Diane Anderson complained repeatedly to TCHC about it, nothing was ever done, then leaving Anderson to remove the batteries to stop the incessant sound.

The Children’s Aid Society is also under inquest as it’s felt that more help and support should have been offered to Diane Anderson, who suffered from depression, drug abuse, and alcoholism, and more importantly, that help should have been offered to her children. Victims Services Toronto and the Toronto School Board are all also organizations that are now under investigation in regards to the fire and the family’s situation. What will be done about it is anyone’s guess at this point. As coroner David Evans, who presided over the hearing, stated “As upsetting or difficult or systematically challenging as a person’s life may be, an inquest does not look into the whole life of the deceased but focuses on the circumstances surrounding and leading up to the death.”

It was November 2008 and Ashley Kirilow had to visit her doctor to have a benign lump from her breast removed. This simple procedure that bore no health risks whatsoever turned into Kirilow telling her then-boyfriend that she had breast cancer. While initially Kirilow told the lie in order to only gain some sympathy and attention, it turned into an elaborate scheme that Kirilow used to scam thousands of dollars from unsuspecting people.

After finding out that she could lie to people about having cancer and get away with it, Kirilow took the story even further. She shaved her head, plucked her eyebrows, and started a Facebook Fan page for the bogus charity called “Change for the Cure.” This Facebook page had over 4,000 members on it at one point. Kirilow also took approximately $12,000 from people who believed they were donating to charity when really, they were only giving money to Kirilow.

Kirilow appeared in a Burlington courthouse on Thursday, April 7, 2011 to face charges of fraud for concocting her scheme and using it to cheat others out of money. There her psychiatrist, Dr. Turner, explained to the court Kirilow’s background of a dysfunctional childhood where she was neglected and ignored by her parents. Dr. Turner suggested that Kirilow was suffering from post-traumatic stress that had been with her for several years since her early years and that these actions were a result of that. Dr. Turner also suggested that Kirilow was mainly seeking attention, not cash. Kirilow’s lawyer, Brendan Neil, also explained that Kirilow was on a cocktail of drugs for her psychiatric condition.

However, both also wanted to make very clear that Kirilow was not there for a pity party, and that she was ready to accept responsibility for her actions. And while Kirilow did not speak on her own behalf, her lawyer also told the court that Kirilow had future plans to contact each of the people she had cheated so that she could personally apologize.

After appearing in court on Thursday, the judge decided along with the prosecuting attorney, that restitution would not be necessary or practical, as the victims were robbed mostly of their trust and not their money. Kirilow was sentenced to 10 months of house arrest, 5 months of strict curfew, 2 years of probation, and 100 hours of community service. Kirilow is currently living at the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital in Burlington, in the psychiatric ward. It is here that she will begin serving her house arrest sentence.

You would think that if you were a hot dog vendor in Toronto and the city told you they were about to become more lax in their street food regulations, this would spell nothing but good news. And while the changes are good news for new street vendors that want to come in and try something new, it’s not so good for those that have been serving the city through their food carts for many years. And more specifically, for those that have been serving hot dogs.

It was last week that Councillor Cesar Palacio, chair of the food cart and truck operators regulation committee, announced that they were planning on changing the existing rules to street food vendors. The changes would allow street vendors to expand their menus and they come, according to the Councillor, in response to demand for healthier street food fare. But, hot dog vendors that are currently stationed around the city are very skeptical about the claims that people want healthier food options. They instead, see the reason for the new relaxed rules as a way for the city to make more money, as they did with their a la Carte program in 2007.

This program allowed street vendors to sell different kinds of food other than the hot dogs and sausages that passers-by were used to seeing. The entire program consisted of a great deal of micromanagement from the city, who looked over the shoulder of vendors, or made it very difficult for them to get a cart in the first place. Finally in 2009, eight new vendors were allowed to sell a variety of foods including Greek, Thai, and Caribbean. Along with the new choices though, vendors also have to undergo extensive red tape procedures, including getting a truck from the City that’s been approved by the City, and pay many fees for licensing and different permits. A City-approved cart is $30,000, never mind that there are several taxes and fees that come after that. And, vendors are also only allowed to operate in specific locations, also determined by the City. Although 8 new carts were up and running in 2009, only a handful are still operating due to the new fees associated with running a street food cart.

Current hot dog vendors are no doubt incensed because they believe that new street vendors may take away from their own business, and who ever wants to deal with constantly changing laws when they’re just trying to make an honest living. But, what the hot dog vendors seem to be most frustrated with is the fact that they have been doing this their entire lives, and have been successful. They’ve also watched as the City has tried to control and manage something when they have no idea of how it really works, and the vendors have already sat by and watched the City fail with a similar type of program.

In another completely independent project, hot dog vendors were also told that for an extra $1,000 they could also sell other items from their carts such as pre-packaged fruits, nuts, and soup. Of Toronto’s 200 hot dog vendors, not a single one of them paid the additional fee, happy to stick with the hotdog that has made them so successful in the city thus far.