Photo: "How???" by bensonkua, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):

Justice has finally been served in the Jane Creba murder case. It was almost 4 years ago to the day when Creba, an innocent bystander on a crowded Yonge Street, was shot and killed by one of many stray bullets related to a gang-related confrontation in the very busy shopping district. Jeremiah Valentine (previously a police informant) has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years.

The City of Toronto isn't dreaming of a white Christmas... because we literally can't afford it. As it stands, we're very fortunate not to have run out of our allocated snow removal budget for 2009. In November and December of last year, we saw about 65cm of snow, while this year over the same period, we've only recorded about 3cm.

Mixed Martial Arts (or MMA) is 1-on-1, violent fighting that also happens to be hugely popular but banned in Ontario. Apparently Dalton McGuinty is considering a review of the ban and the potential for licensing of the sport to allow fights to be conducted here. Since maintaining a ban is driving the sport underground, it makes sense to regulate it and allow fighters and spectators to enjoy the sport legally.

Wondering what's open and what's closed over the holidays? Citynews has posted a comprehensive list of businesses and services that will be open, closed, and rescheduled due to the coming of Santa/the birth of Christ/a much needed break.

Crackberry users have been forced to go to their desktop computers to get their email and surf the web (and actually be present in body, mind and spirit at group meetings), after RIM networks experienced their second wide-reaching problem in less than a week. We're still awaiting explanation of the first service disruption.

RIDE spot checks are out in full effect, and drunk driving infractions are up slightly from last year. It's amazing that people still hop in the car after drinking too much, given the known dangers and penalties that come with impaired driving.

And with family and holiday commitments galore in the next few days, the weekday Morning Brew will take a breather, returning next Monday. Happy holidays to you all! Have a safe, fun, stress-free holiday, Toronto!