Photo: "Swimming with ColorCheckers" by Daifuku Sensei, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

Toronto managed to evade a winter storm this weekend, but a few of our prominent local politicians have become embroiled in a storm of epic proportions. The Prime Minister's Office sent out a recording made by the Conservatives of an NDP caucus teleconference that reveals Jack Layton leading coalition-related discussions. I'm pretty sure I have an opinion on what's worse - that these discussions were held well before the insane economic plan was delivered by the Conservatives, or that the talks were infiltrated, taped, and shared by the Conservatives. It's believed that a deal to form a Liberal-NDP coalition, with support of the Bloc is in the works, and coalition action in the form of a stimulus package is being planned.

Total mayhem and horror erupted at a child's birthday party in Oshawa this weekend, leading to the stabbing death of a mother, injury to a few others (including two kids), and the assailant being shot dead by intervening police. What a horrific tragedy.

Something about this story just doesn't seem right. Five fires broke out in five different TTC subway stations within half an hour of each other - due to heaters used by the TTC to prevent switches from freezing? Ummmm. Does this happen often? Even Fire Marshall Bill wouldn't approve!

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Spacing had a post over the weekend that revealed a problem I've had on my mind for years - not only are the TTCs local area maps (at station exits) generally kind of sucky, they're also so outdated in some instances that they deliver incorrect information. To a local it's no big deal, but imagine the runaround that may be a reality for tourists and newcomers to Toronto.

While the city is actively considering putting regulations in place to reduce plastic water bottle waste, one giant corporation that bottles it is making insane claims that bottled water is environmentally friendly because most are recycled. Personally, I like the stuff that flows from the taps.