Photo: "Honest Ed's" by byronjyu, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

The Bloor-Yorkville Cartier boutique was held up by unsophisticated gunmen yesterday. Apparently the burglars went after the lower end goods in the store. I'm not so sure that's a bad idea, though. I'm no expert on crime and dealing stolen goods, but I'm thinking it may be easier to quietly peddle "lower-end" Cartier. Besides, the return on investment will be impressive no matter what when you acquire goods for free.

A somewhat more sophisticated criminal had his west-end grow-op busted yesterday. The unnamed suspect had expertly dug a tunnel between two neighbouring houses, which he owned, and he could shuffle plants back and forth between the basements, which were closed off from the tenants occupying the rest of the houses. The seized plants were worth $385,000 so I get that this business is lucrative, but somebody with that much ambition and know-how could probably go far in the world. Legally.

From the public service department, Statistics Canada is warning that a fraudulent agency is calling people and requesting personal information under the guise of StatsCan. As much as you may be tempted, don't be giving out your credit card, bank account or other personal numbers over the phone (unless you know for sure it's legit).

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The Ontario government wants manufacturers to take more responsibility to reduce the "tsunami" of packaging on the products we buy. The move makes sense - the amount of packaging on every little thing we buy is ridiculous and often frustrating, although calling it a "tsunami" seems a bit much. But you know it's bad when special packaging cutters are produced - and sold inside heavy duty packaging.

After lengthy debate and passionate outcries from both sides, the city's first Africentric school was approved a year ago. Now the school is in jeopardy before it ever opens as only 15 students are enrolled, 25 less than is required to hire staff. Enrolment will remain open into February, but unless the numbers pick up, expect to see the empty wing of Sheppard Public School stay empty.

Toronto native Brad May is joining the Leafs, bringing a veteran presence for the young team. Actually, it's more like nepotism as Brian Burke surrounds himself with familiar faces.