In case you were wondering, it's probably not a great idea to be hanging out in the entertainment district at 3:15 a.m. Especially if you're in a luxury SUV. And especially especially if you've got a ponytail. In February of 2006, Toronto police officers arrested Irshad Ahmed and Omar Betty for failure to stop, failure to comply, and obstructing police. Their trial is currently being conducted at Old City Hall, and some interesting evidence......

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve. A Toronto Kind of Love BY SILLYLITTLETHINGSYOULAUGHABOUT......

The Stephen Harper government unveiled its plan for the country in the Throne Speech last night, emphasizing the usual panoply of tax-cuttin', crime fightin', environment dismissin' Conservative virtues. Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe have already stated they will not support the government, while Liberal leader Stéphane Dion will decide whether to force an election after consulting with his caucus. Dion is envied by the other opposition leaders for his massive caucus. Water prices for Toronto......

Employees of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission, which now oversees the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation, will not be permitted to buy lottery tickets in Ontario. A representative of the affected staffers complained, "why do you think we wanted to work here in the first place?" before shotgunning a 40-ouncer of Absolut and collapsing to the ground. Who says you can't go home again? Well, if you're former Canuck Conrad Black, Judge Amy St. Eve does.......

Ontario plans to ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012 to promote the use of CFLs. Good ban, Ontario. "There's no cell after the bell." The Toronto District School Board bans cellphones in public schools. Bratty ninth graders everywhere let out a collective whine. A Toronto police officer has been charged with corrupt practice, neglect of duty and discreditable conduct after discovering a lost laptop at Spadina and College. The officer took the laptop home,......

Nerd alert! A Toronto company made biometrics news this week when they announced a new camera that not only functions as a plain, ol' webcam, but also scans your face in three dimensions. Headquartered in Markham, Bioscrypt has been known for devices like fingerprint authenticators and smartcard readers, and they feel that facial scanning is a friendlier (and more sanitary) alternative to finger or iris scans. Plotting 40,000 identification points on your mug with infrared......

L’Oréal Fashion Week kicked off this morning with an 11 a.m. press conference at Queen's Park. Seems the Ontario government excludes fashion from its definition of culture. So members of the Fashion Design Council of Canada want fashion visionaries to get the same recognition as their colleagues in art, dance, theatre and music. Clearly Toronto Fashion Week isn't the same kind of high-octane glamathon as Paris or Milan. In fact, most shows will be......

Thousands of college and university students rally across Canada for lower tuition fees and greater education funding. FUN FACT:This is approximately the 17th or so national day of rallies for lower tuition fees and greater education that I have seen, and interestingly, tuition fees have never actually gone down during that time, but instead gone up steadily! A Toronto man who slapped and allowed his elderly mother to lie in filth and squalor for......

Only a day after it was reported that the customer information database for Winners was hacked, a hard drive with the private information of 470,000 CIBC clients was lost/stolen. So even if you shred your personal documents before putting them in the trash, those pesky identity thieves can still get you where you buy your panties. UN study reveals: "Human activity causes global warming." Well, it's about time someone came out and said it.......

Amazingly, Maher Arar is still on the US government's terrorist watchlist. No, seriously. No joke. He's still on it. Metro police place three closed circuit cameras around Dundas Square for the holidays. Remember, nothing deters criminals determined to shoot at people in the busiest intersection in Toronto like cameras. Ontario Hydro's combined costs have risen 50 percent in five years; during the same time period revenues have increased only 15 percent. At the press......

The City is paying over $28 million to make sure we get bigger recycling bins. The plan is to make recycling easier for Torontonians. We think the Sun's headline spells it out best "Recycling now 4 times the fun." Who could hate that? The OPP raid biker gang strongholds all over the province, including a chapter of the Vagabonds here in Toronto. They found guns and meth labs. 500 police officers were involved in the......

Dalton McGuinty not only has a personality, he's apparently been chosen "personality of the year" by a British investment magazine. Foreign Direct Investment magazine selected McG because of his efforts to promote research and attract investment to Ontario. It's not People's 50 Most Beautiful People but it counts for something. Three student designers from the joint York and Sheridan design program have won a competition to design a mission emblem for an upcoming shuttle mission.......

City staff are hard at work looking for a place to dump our sludge. Fortunately Mayor Miller has said that the city is not considering dumping sludge into the lake. Like, we needed any more gunk in our lake. Those of you going away to the cottage better bring your candles and hand-cranked radios. Cottage country got battered by Wednesday night's storm and many areas might still be without power. A security breach grounded a......

After much righteous chest-thumping over fiscal responsibility and respect for the taxpayers, council barely decided to give itself a 9% pay raise. The vote passed 22-21, and the three interim councillors who won't be running in November's election, all voted in favour of the increase. Councillors' salaries have now been bumped up to $95,000 and the Mayor's salary will be hiked to $160,000. Jane Pitfield has vowed to make this a campaign issue so we......

Jane Pitfield is opening a campaign office in the Junction area, close to Mayor Miller's High Park home. Both campaigns are gearing up for the fall and raising money. Mayor Miller is going grassroots and offering anyone who puts up raises $100 for his campaign an "I Public housing around the GTA is falling apart. The Toronto Community Housing Corporation estimates that it needs $225 million in repairs. A Toronto man saved two others from......

Despite criticism from the media, many councillors and Rick Ducharme's public admission that his actions as TTC chair made him quit, Howard Moscoe made it clear he won't be stepping down from the Chair. That is until he talked to his wife. Gloria Moscoe, his wife of 46-years, would like him to spend more time with his family which means Moscoe might step out of the TTC Chair's role but not until after the November......

The Star weighs in on Dalton's new rent laws. The big improvement is that landlords can no longer jack up the rent permanently after making repairs, tying rent to inflations, and guaranteed hearings for those about to be evicted by non-payment of rent. Star columnist Thomas Walkom doesn't think it's enough and doesn't actually do anything to help with skyrocketing rents. The man apparently responsible for yesterday's cabbie murder may have attacked a second cabbie......

Say, hypothetically, you were given $25 a week to buy popcorn and beer. Finding beer is relatively easy, as it's only sold in bars, the Beer Store and LCBO. But popcorn? Besides the free sample-friendly p-corn chain Kernals, and over-priced, canola-oil heavy theatre popcorn, where does one find good popcorn on such a budget? As with most low-end delicacies, the tastiest and most inexpensive dishes can be made right in your own home. Allow Torontoist......

The U of T Humanities Department's Voicing Toronto Conference is a mixture of lectures, screenings, performances and readings. Attempting to rope in six humanistic disciplines, they're offering something for everyone, or at least for anyone who lives in Toronto and enjoys the occasional foray into obscure local history. The film events include works by Don McKellar, Clement Virgo and David Cronenberg. The music component includes shows about Glenn Gould's Toronto and A Toronto Songbook. And......

Expect distasteful Jello and Cliff Huxtable jokes to fly around the office/classroom/closet today as Bill Cosby has been accused of sexual assault. A Toronto-area woman has come forward to Durham police about an alleged incident involving Cosby in Philadelphia area in January 2004. Cosby denies the very serious charge, saying through his lawyer that it is a case of "inappropriate touching" at best. No charges have been filed as the investigation is on-going. Cosby, known......

Please excuse the shorter mixtape this week - a certain university is trying to ruin my life (rhymes with Dyerson). 1. The Old Soul - Holding Weapons A Toronto band repeatedly compared with the surreal pop of Brian Wilson. 2. Babyshambles - Killamangiro Babyshambles is led by the former drug addict from the Libertines. In RealPlayer. Also check the Libs live-in-studio session at CBC3. 3. The White Stripes - Jolene From Under Blackpool Lights Live......