The Star reports that many nightclubs are flouting city bylaws by allowing patrons to smoke inside their premises. I wonder if that's really the most pressing problem down in Toronto's little Gomorrah on Richmond Street. The city has chopped down nineteen healthy trees in a park near Don Mills and Leslie in a strategy designed to reduce teen loitering and drug dealing by making parts of the park more visible from the road. No......

Photo of Howard Moscoe at March's OCAP protest by Miles Storey. His forty-six friends include Adam Giambrone, Bob Rae, Adam Vaughan, David Miller, John Tory, Dalton McGuinty, and the Ottawa Citizen. His political views are "Left wing and a prayer." He's interested in "Friendship" and "Networking." His lone activity is "sculpting wooden birds." He cleans "council furniture with the Mayor's toupees at the start of council meetings." His favourite TV show is the Glenn......

Photos of CablePulse24's broadcast on July 25, 2007, courtesy of Joel Charlebois. Just before noon on July 25, 2007, Joel Charlebois caught a man, he says, breaking into his house. When Charlebois gave chase, the man fell from the second-storey deck, landing hard on the ground below and breaking his leg. As police arrived, Charlebois—an avid photographer who has a Flickr account under the name uwajedi, who is an active member of Torontoist's Flickr......

Over in the U.K., closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are a ubiquitous sight: the country—led by London—has more of the tiny public surveillance cameras than any other country in Europe. They're now a part of pop culture and are referenced in songs, used as album artwork, and in the case of one intrepid band, used to make a music video. The latest zinger in the debate over the effectiveness of CCTV is that, well, they’re......

180,000 people have applied to buy tickets for the eight games that the NFL's Buffalo Bills will be playing at the Rogers Centre between now and 2012. The tickets will range as high as $295 (pre-scalper), which is still better than having to go to Buffalo. Because it's such a long drive, we mean. Geez, stop being so sensitive, Buffalo. Ontario is planning to crack down on bootleg cigarettes by launching a public education......

The latest census stats show conclusively that the poor are either getting poorer, or that they're not. The Star toes the OCAP line, rambling about free trade and crappy jobs, while the Post weighs in for the plutocrats by observing that family incomes have actually grown across the board, and that the income stats are misleading anyway. As Torontoist likes to say, you load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older......

Last we checked on a group who have now been dubbed the "Fight Fees 14," they were loudly chanting "Shame on you!" to police officers because they were slightly annoyed over increasing residence fees at New College. According to an online petition and press release, fourteen of the students are now facing criminal charges. After turning themselves in, the students were released under strict bail conditions that prevent them from associating, except in class......

Happy Earth Day! Take the strike-less TTC today in celebration. Brazen thieves stole a truck containing about $11,000 worth of broccoli from a parking lot near the 427 on the weekend. Police are warning residents to keep their delicious vegetables under lock and key, and to keep an eye out for some healthy, but gassy, bandits. The Province is moving forward with plans to force retailers to remove all cigarette displays and hide the......

The Toronto Sun reports that Toronto has now gone 26 consecutive days without a murder, a streak unseen since the summer of 2006. A spokesman for the Toronto Association of Thugs expressed frustration at the dry spell, saying that their group was on track with shootings and stabbings but that their efforts were being stymied by effective medical services. Speaking of which, the Ontario government announced today that hospitals will be receiving $667.2 million more......

Copper theft in Toronto has reached record levels. Thieves just can't get enough of that golden-brown stuff. You can do anything with it—sell it for four dollars per pound, or...well, actually that's pretty much all a copper thief can do with copper, come to think. Jim Flaherty will have a nice sit-down with Dwight Duncan. The federal and provincial finance ministers are tentatively scheduled to enjoy a nice snack of tea and crumpets before......

Mayor David Miller unveiled a YouTube video asking Canadians to sign an online petition urging Ottawa to ban all handguns in Canada. While most handguns are already illegal, the gesture would serve a powerful symbolic purpose by pushing the blame for Toronto gun violence onto the feds. CBC News says that a highly publicized series of raids in 2005, which police said took a major gang out of commission, have resulted in almost no......

Get your bathing suits out people—spring may finally be here, with the temperature expected to hit 9° today and a sub-tropical 15° tomorrow. (Disclaimer: the phrase "get your bathing suits out" is not intended to recommend or endorse the practice of swimming in Lake Ontario. Residents should always consult with their toxicologist before bathing at beaches in or around the GTA.) Minimum wage in Ontario is going up from $8.00 an hour to $8.75......

When we named councillor Rob Ford as one of 2007's Villains for his consistent insensitivity, political grandstanding, and outright idiocy (witness statements like, "I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day," and, "If you are not doing needles and you are not gay, you won't get AIDS probably"), we couldn't have......

Ignoring Serbian protests, Canada yesterday recognized the independent state of Kosovo. That's diplomatic recognition, by the way; not looking at a map and saying, "Hey, that's Kosovo!" Turns out everybody won in yesterday's byelections, if you buy the spin—the Liberals because they scored three of four seats up for grabs, the Conservatives because they took a closely contested seat from the Grits, the Greens because they tripled their previous popularity, and the NDP because...hang......

If you're interested in pursuing a career in crime here in Canada, it looks like your best bet is to pack up and move to Regina. According to an article published in Maclean's, Regina (aka "The Other Other Queen City") has the dubious distinction of being the most dangerous city in Canada, followed closely by Saskatoon and Winnipeg. The rankings, based on per-capita crime rates published by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, paint......

The final lineup for the benefit concert for the O'Keefe family has been announced. Organized by Andrew Copland—John O'Keefe's close friend and the Duke of Gloucester's head bartender—the concert aims both to honour John O'Keefe, who was killed walking home from the bar a month and a half ago, and to raise money for an education fund for John's son, Iain. This Sunday, March 2, the Mod Club will host a mix of Toronto......

Federal finance minister Jim Flaherty emphasized that today's budget will be "frugal" in anticipation of an economic slowdown in the coming year. To demonstrate the concept in symbolic terms, Flaherty had an old pair of shoes resoled instead of buying the pair of new shoes traditionally associated with budgets. Flaherty also announced that he's saving money on undergarments by going "commando," although to be fair that gesture is more about sexiness than symbolism. A......

In what may be the most surreal chase in Toronto history, a snowplow driver slowly pursued a stolen backhoe through the snowy streets early Wednesday morning. The thief, later apprehended, had used the backhoe to remove a change machine fastened to the wall in a local car wash. This unusual sight attracted the interest of the plow operator, who notified police and gave chase. Illustration by Kevin McBride.......

It's been a little over a month since John O'Keefe was killed outside the Brass Rail, walking to the subway from the Duke of Gloucester. While the makeshift memorial outside the Rail is gone now, the man it was for is far from forgotten––by friends, family, or city. Many of the stories about O'Keefe have told of a dedicated, loving father; indeed, the reason why he left the Duke of Gloucester early––a friend wanted him......

If only keeping thieves at bay could be that easy. Remember the '80s and '90s, when car radio theft was all the rage? People etched parts with identifying marks and put "no radio" stickers on their car windows to warn thieves away from a fruitless exercise. Attempting to curb increasingly bold metal thieves, Hydro One started following the lead of frustrated car owners last year, putting up these signs at some of their substations.......

The Tory minority government is double-dog-daring the Opposition to force an election over their crime bill. Prediction: Stéphane Dion will grumble and pretend he doesn't care, Jack Layton will howl impotently, and the Bloc will negotiate another billion dollars for folk-dancing in Rimouski. Stephen Harper is truly the alpha Parliamentarian in this bunch. Did you know that Toronto has already gotten as much snow this winter as the past two winters combined, and that......

Deep in a Toronto basement is the former office of budget dentist, Dr. Jimmy Connolly. Though he claims to have been a dentist in Kosovo, Connolly, whose real name is Gzim Bytyqi, isn’t licensed to practice in Canada. License be damned—Jimmy has been practicing in Toronto, Ottawa, and Quebec for at least a year. Soon, his only clients may be fellow fraudsters in the joint. Illustration by Kevin McBride.......

Even on a street as gaudy, inconsistent, and ugly as Yonge, the Brass Rail has always felt out of place. Bordered by Ginger on one side and Kitchen Stuff Plus on the other, the building's façade eschews subtlety: unflattering snapshots of women in bikinis––the focus squarely on breasts and torsos––cover the exterior of the building, while an LED marquee scrolls the latest club news past (there's always something about "Porn Star Nikki Benz"), and......

The owner of a Coffee Time franchise at Queen and Sherbourne was arrested this week for allegedly selling marijuana, crack, and illegal cigarettes out of the store. The news won’t surprise those familiar with the neighbourhood, but it will bring new meaning to the question "Will that be one lump or two today, sir?" Illustration by Kevin McBride.......

The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is usually a repository of "the urban equivalent of messages in a bottle." It’s home to those wishing for a second chance at a serendipitous encounter and to cute, shy-person flirting, as nameless, faceless people share their private emotions in a very public way. The messages usually affirm that no matter how much coldness there seems to be at street level, there’s just as much hope and optimism......

This is outside––far outside––of Torontoist's scope, but reader Chris Stone e-mailed us to ask for help in publicizing a missing child case, and we figured we should do what we can. Five-year-old Alana Livas (pictured) is missing, abducted by her birth parents, Vivene and Peter Livas. Missing from Toronto since November 29, Alana has rickets and may need medical attention. Her most distinguishing physical characteristic is a blue birthmark beside her right eye. The RCMP......

Rarely does a Toronto murder get such visceral international attention. As you have probably heard by now, Aqsa Parvez (pictured at right), Grade 11 Applewood Heights Secondary School student, was killed by her father, allegedly (according to the girl's friends) because she fought with him over whether to wear a hijab. The news is as big in the States as it is here, with CNN and MSNBC both running stories for a hungry audience. If......

There were 4 more murders in Toronto on the weekend, meaning we only need 11 more to tie the all-time record of 89 set back in 1991. A spokesman for City Hall said that sure, the numbers look bad now, but crime would drop once all the thugs had killed each other. Not only more violent, but poorer too––a United Way report says that the median family income in Toronto is $10,000 lower than......

City Council considers removing the downspout removal subsidy. This news item brought to you by The Council For Reminding You That Municipal Politics Are Often Incredibly Dull Even If They're Necessary. (The group promises to come up with a better, catchier acronym as soon as possible.) RCMP to review Taser policy after the death of Robert Dziekanski. See, they're sorry, but they're not quite so sorry as to, for example, charge their officers with any......

Poor OCAP. They can't even complain about the police watching them without the police watching them. At noon on Wednesday, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty held a press conference (not a rally or an action or a march but a press conference) at the northeast corner of Dundas and Sherbourne, and there was about one police officer for each person in attendance (around twenty). As eight or so cops casually observed the conference from......