Photo: "sunset at cherry beach" by louise@toronto, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

The Special Investigations Unit has been called in to piece together an incident at a Scarborough movie theater that resulted in officers shooting and killing a Montreal man. Details are still sketchy, and police are mum (as they usually are in cases that involve civilian death at the hands of police).

Sam Mellace, a former Torontonian and now licensed B.C. pot grower, wants to eliminate Health Canada's monopoly on medical marijuana production. Not only is competition in this area good for the economy, but it also may force the government to produce stuff that's of comparable quality to what is readily found... umm... outside of the licensed realm.

Popular Annex pizza joint Cora's is once again open for business after forced closure by Toronto Public Health for health code violations related to rodent infestation. According to the Sun, the owners are still denying the inspector's finding of dead rats, instead claiming that it was a mouse and it was dead in a trap.

Out in Guelph, an Olympic torch bearer was knocked to the ground by a protester as the procession made its way through the downtown area. The flame wasn't extinguished, the bearer wasn't hurt, and the accused has been arrested and charged with assault.

Two High Park "residents" were saved from potentially disastrous, icy fate on Grenadier Pond in a daring rescue by the Toronto Police Marine Unit. Community members feared that the ducks, known affectionately as Brownie and Greenie, would freeze in the pond and/or be vulnerable to coyotes, so in came the boys in blue with drysuits, life jackets and a heroic effort that makes rescuing a cat from a tree seem like desk duty.

And Transport Canada is taking things ever further, and more or less enforcing a no carry-on rule for flights headed to the U.S. Some exceptions to the rule do exist (passengers can carry on medical devices, small purses, coats, items for care of infants, and cameras ad laptop computers, etc.). The RCMP have also joined the security fray at Pearson, bringing in 40 officers to join the efforts.