Meet a high school teacher with a scandalous secret

Plus, the children's Tylenol shortage and a rise in noise complaints in Toronto [Get access now!]( [The Star] First Up [By Ashley Okwuosa] By Ashley Okwuosa Good morning. [Expect a mass text on your phone]( this afternoon as the government conducts a test of its emergency alert system. Here’s the latest on a Hamilton high school teacher’s scandalous secrets, the children’s painkiller shortage, and Parkdale’s noise problem. DON’T MISS Toronto star Photo Illustration getting rich: part 1 [Richard Taylor had scandalous secrets. But what happened when a family trip to Greece threatened to expose his lies? ]( Richard Taylor, a high school teacher in Hamilton is on trial for two counts of first-degree murder. He is accused of setting his childhood home on fire and burning his mother and stepfather alive for financial gain. In the first instalment of a four part series, Susan Clairmont paints the picture of Taylor’s secret past, which included living paycheque to paycheque, ignoring bills until he faced the threat of having his car repossessed or credit card deactivated, and lying to his family about their own finances.  [Here’s what happened when a family trip to Greece threatened to expose Taylor’s financial secrets](. - Wait, what? Though Taylor’s wife, Evangelia, earned $65,000 a year, she had no direct access to money. She went at least two years without a credit or debit card, repeatedly asking her husband — who made $90,000 annually — to get them for her. He promised to, but never did. - More: Colleagues at Taylor’s high school even suspected the phys-ed teacher of stealing money from the school. - Go Deeper: Taylor’s father lent him $9,000 without knowing his son was in debt. About $4,000 of that was handed over just weeks before the fire that killed him and his wife. Rick Madonik/The Star health [I spent an entire day hunting for children’s painkillers — here’s what I found]( As a reporter, Kate Allen kept up with the news on the Canada-wide shortage of pediatric painkillers. So as a mom of two young kids, she knew the medication would be hard to find. But when she set out on her hunt, she wasn’t expecting this level of desperation. [After seven hours of driving and 13 stores, here’s what Allen was able to find](. - Why it matters: Part of the intensity of demand for these products is because they can’t easily be swapped. Kids’ dosages are determined by their weight, and it’s dangerous to get it wrong. Higher than prescribed levels of acetaminophen can cause severe liver toxicity. - Silver Lining: On Tuesday, [Health Canada revealed the cause of the kids’ Tylenol shortage]( and said more is on the way — even though they won’t say how much. Paige Taylor White/The Star quiet please! [A battle over noisy neighbours in Parkdale raises doubts about the city’s overhauled noise bylaw]( Longtime Parkdale local Beth Nobes has filed at least 12 noise complaints; emailed her local councillor six times, called the police an estimated four times, has been assigned to three different bylaw enforcement officers, and has provided one witness statement to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, all in an effort to quiet the noisy neighbourhood businesses that make her and her family feel like they’ve been kicked out of their own backyard during the prime summer months. Nobes’ quest for quiet in her neighborhood highlights Toronto’s noise enforcement system, which some say is mired in bureaucracy and, at times, frustratingly ineffective, despite an overhaul only three years ago to make it “easier to understand and enforce noise complaints,” reports Ben Mussett. [Here’s how the battle over noise complaints is playing out in Parkdale, and why many say the city’s sluggish approach to noise enforcement is a problem](. - By the numbers: Noise complaints are on the rise in Toronto, doubling from 2015 to 2021. They’re on pace to exceed 20,000 this year — over 3,000 more than last year, with amplified noise accounting for more than half. - What we know: In 2019, the city set specific decibel limits for amplified sound and established a so-called Noise Team, a crew of 24 bylaw enforcement officers equipped with sound-measuring technology who work in rotating shifts from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Its 2022 budget neared $3.5 million. - Wait, what? Over the past two summers, the Octopus Garden, a “secret” patio near Queen and Dufferin, received 111 noise complaints from 25 different residents. WHAT ELSE Donald Trump has announced he plans on running for president again in 2024. [Here’s where he stands with his GOP base](. Doug Ford was unmasked at question period on Tuesday, despite his top doc’s advice. [Here’s how the opposition responded](. Ford’s under fire for not boosting health spending amid packed hospitals and surging respiratory illnesses. [Here’s what the government said](. Researchers discovered a new COVID-19 variant in Canadian white-tailed deer. [Here’s everything we know about the “highly divergent” variant](. Justin Trudeau quickly [deleted a tweet containing false information about mass death sentences in Iran](. Could missile strikes in Poland trigger NATO’s Article 5 and launch WWIII? [Here’s what we know](. A senior Toronto cop is facing charges of professional misconduct for [preventing fellow officers from investigating whether alcohol was a factor in her nephew’s “bad accident.”]( Tony Sinopoli — a.k.a. Tony the Contractor — has been [arrested and charged with fraud in connection with renovations done on the home of retired nurse Judy Allen and 14 other homeowners](. [Girl Guides of Canada is changing the name “Brownies”]( following reports of the name causing “personal harm” to racialized girls. Economists are predicting our grocery bills will [remain “stubbornly high” for a while](. ICYMI Tara Walton for The Star [A business feud is putting Ontario’s world-class battery recycling program in jeopardy — here’s how experts say it can be saved.]( CLOSE-UP Ng Han Guan/AP Photo JIANGXI: A prolonged drought since July has dramatically shrunk China’s biggest freshwater lake, Poyang. [Here’s why advocates are calling for the creation of “sponge cities”]( that can withstand variable temperatures, drought and heavy rainfall.  Thanks for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at [firstup@thestar.ca](mailto:firstup@thestar.ca?source=newsletter&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=emailutm_email=6C53B63A8E3FAD70AD4EF13004527437&utm_campaign=frst_154068). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. 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