Photo: untitled by Megan Faulkner, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

Your Toronto morning news roundup for Monday May 5th, 2008:

This weekend, Toronto's contingent in the Global Marijuana March amounted to about 15,000 to 20,000 supporters, despite the heavy rain. The Star notes that most were teens and people in their 20's, and there are logical explanations for this. The thousands of older smokers have far too much at stake should they get caught, and those brave enough to risk getting caught were too relaxed at home to bother making it to the rally.

Happy (?) national Emergency Preparedness Week. Do you have the recommended items and plans to deal with a major emergency?

Speaking of potential emergencies, beware the bad beef. Hamburgers and ground beef sold in the city may be ridden with E.coli. Cross-verify the lot numbers if you bought the brands listed within.

This afternoon, the party-throwing folks at Promise once again lucked out and managed to have a beautiful weekend afternoon for their annual ambient music chill-out-fest with the cherry trees in High Park. Blue sky, warm temperatures, the short-lived bloom of the cherry blossoms, and ambient background music brought a throng of happy folks out to enjoy the fleeting moment together.

Continue for a photo slideshow of all the cherry-blossom-viewing, dog-petting, camera-clicking fun.

Every year, for a rather short window of time, spring flaunts its beauty loud and clear and the cherry blossoms at High Park bloom. The rain this week is a much needed part of the recipe for spring springing, but it's also taken a bit of a toll on the delicate blossoms, which are already beyond peak bloom and starting to paint the ground (stunning photo in the blogTO Flickr pool). Tomorrow afternoon may be the time to visit the park.

The restaurant business in Toronto, much like in most cities the world over, can be a relatively volatile scene. Old favourites continue to shine, but some also suffer sad, seemingly untimely deaths. Some new places open and within a few months fail, while others become thriving, trendy hot spots within no time at all.

This diverse list of some the best of the newer restaurants in Toronto (those that opened in 2007) in the cheap eats category (entrees under $15) highlights those that garnered the attention and adoration of diners who come hungry and leave satisfied.

The blogTO Flickr Forum is a weekly sampling of themed photographs taken by Torontonians and aims to not only feature the talent they possess, but also spur dialogue and reveal the stories behind the images.

Today's collection of Toronto photographs is made up of responses to our call for photos that fit the theme "MACRO". These images were all recently submitted to the blogTO Flickr pool.

To the photographers: we'd love to hear about your photos. A little info on where it was taken and the story behind the photo is always a great start.

To the rest of you, feel free to ask questions to the artists, submit photos to the blogTO Flickr pool for next week's consideration, or just sit back and enjoy our weekly mosaic.

Continue for links to larger versions, and to check out the next theme.

Photo: "Spring" by chewie007, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

Your new stuff morning news roundup for Friday May 2nd, 2008:

Shady people active at the Queen and Bathurst intersection have new eyes watching over them. The troubled street corner has been a hot spot for crime, and police hope that recording the daily goings-on will act as a deterrent. People who aren't shady will also be recorded, and are encouraged to look up and smile in support or scowl in disgust.

New immigrants to Canada and the GTA, and the middle class in general, are struggling more financially these days than previously - and the numbers are shocking. In 1980, the average recent male immigrant and female immigrant made 85% of the average non-immigrant income. By 2005, that dropped to 63% and 56% for male and female immigrants, respectively.