It's surprising to see what local headlines make international news. Things like the plane crash at Pearson or a massive propane explosion are obvious candidates. But sometimes the best stories get overlooked and are almost exclusively covered by local media.

That's not the case with Igor Kenk and the recent bike busts. The main feature right now on the home page of the New York Times screams Black Hole for Bikes in a Cyclist-Friendly City. Check out the article which posits, among other things, that Igor just might be the unofficial world champion of bicycle thieves.

What's Your Story? features the different characters that roam the streets of Toronto. Every Monday and Thursday, a new person shares their story, likes and dislikes about the city, a little secret and more.

Photo: "Round About" by tomms, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

Your Toronto morning news roundup for Thursday August 21th, 2008:

You've seen the ad campaigns telling you that tap water rocks, but now the city is taking the war on bottled water one step further: by banning plastic water bottles altogether. London has already taken the first step; should Toronto be next?

Before you crack open that package of salami for lunch, check the label: meats packaged at Maple Leaf's Toronto plant has been recalled because of a listeriosis outbreak that has already claimed one life here in the province.

CityFlitz, Toronto's newest auto-sharing company, showcased its $1 a day rental program in Toronto at Yonge-Dundas Square yesterday.

Its premise is simple: Drive around the city at least 30 kilometers a day in a car plastered with advertising, which heavily subsidizes the cost of the rental.

I took a test drive with Andreas Kotal, President and CEO of CityFlitz (pictured above with his head poking out of the sunroof of a MINI Clubmans) as we chatted about his new venture.

"It's most exciting today to see this idea taking off," said Kotal, a Toronto resident and graduate of York University's Schulich School of Business MBA program. "Inspiration came from a similar business model that was developed five years ago in Vienna, Austria, developed by former Formula One driver Niki Lauda. They now have a fleet of over 600 cars."

For less than the price of a TTC fare, members of CityFlitz can rent for a day a MINI Cooper, MINI Cooper Clubmans or a Smart car wrapped with in an advertisement from one of its clients. Yahoo! Canada is the first main partner.

There's a modern day Houdini and she's performing at the Canadian National Exhibition this year.

Escape artist Kristen Johnson (pictured on right) performs with illusionist Kevin Ridgeway in a show that has toured extensively throughout the United States and Australia.

The Indianapolis, Indiana couple have toured with their 1 3/4 hour-long Living Illusions theatre show for the past eight years. Their half-hour show at the CNE is performed daily outside The Automotive Building.

"We've had over 3,000 people a show here," said Johnson. "People are intrigued. We're honoured that people just stand on the concrete in the sun to see our show."

Ridgeway starts by warming up the crowd, getting the kids to do funny things with their hands. Then he does some unbelievable things with a Coke can.

Without giving too much away, I can tell you there's some intricate lock-picking and breath-holding involved in the rest of the act.

Keep reading for my interview with Ridgeway and Johnson and more photos from their show....

Photo: "good neighbours make good parks" by Lú_, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

Your Toronto morning news roundup for Wednesday August 20th, 2008:

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) announced its full schedule yesterday. 312 films from 64 different countries will be shown on 36 screens (including the new AMC at Yonge-Dundas Square) over 10 days. And if you put all the red carpets that will be used end to end, they'd go to the moon and back 6509 times.

Toronto will soon have new, purple neighbours. Kyiv and Istanbul will flank us on the new world edition of Monopoly, which resulted from votes tallied on the internet. Montreal earned the coveted property that is Boardwalk, and Vancouver beat us too. Did our fellow Canadian cities have better campaigns, or do Torontonians just not give a funk about getting high rank on a board game?

Can it be?! The end of the condo boom in Toronto is near?! According to some condo market analysts, things will certainly be taking a downturn, but not necessarily crash.