Photo: "7L" by dinamyteTO, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

The Leslieville big box issue isn't quite over yet. A (very late) decision by the developer of SmartCentres, to appeal the OMB's decision to reject the proposal [G&M], along with news that they also want the city to pony up $1.4million in court costs, has the battle alive again.

Yesterday a police chase on the QEW ended with a three vehicle crash. It's not much of a story really, but because of the way it was reported here [CityNews], I thought I'd point it out. The language is, like, so cool, man. The last time I heard theft referred to as "lifting" and the authorities referred to "the heat" was when I stole a chocolate bar from my high school vending machine and had to flee because the janitor saw me... dude.

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Welcome to Toronto, a city that wants mandatory green roofs [NP] but can't even have zero emission (and slow-moving) electric cars because the provincial government's proposed regulations are too strict to allow them to be feasible.

Today I learned that only 16% of parking fines assigned to out-of-province car owners are actually collected by the City of Toronto [Sun]. Does this mean that I'm in the clear for the unpaid parking ticket I still hold from when I was in Montreal last summer? Apparently in St. Louis, Missouri, instead of fighting a losing battle, the city gives visiting drivers who park illegally coupons for steak dinners, to boost tourism.

Toronto has joined other cities around the world that are trying to cope with the global recession by uniting the jobless with support and job recruiters [Star]. A "pink slip party" was held last night, and as one would expect, those seeking jobs outnumbered those looking for workers 10 to 1. What I want to know: why did attendees have to pay $20 a head to attend? Was it open bar?