Photo: "Elmo Cooling Off" by Zen Imagery, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

School is just out for the summer holidays, but come September, when students return to class at 50 Toronto high schools, they'll be meeting police officers that have been assigned to duty at those schools. Last year 30 high schools had uniformed police officers, so I suppose the program is expanding because it's either working so well, or it's still so needed elsewhere.

Protesters fighting the 19 temporary garbage transfer set-ups that are in our city parks aren't going to be pleased with this news. The city is mulling over the idea of using 150 more parks and recreation areas for the same purpose. I can hear the raccoons and flies cheering right now.

A popular summer treat is under fire, and the issue is food safety. Toronto Public Health is cracking down on soft serve ice cream vendors after many tested too high for coliform bacteria, an indicator for E. coli and other bacteria responsible for food-bourne illnesses. Ice cream is supposed to bring about joy, not hasty and frequent restroom visits.

Someone is mocking the Toronto union strike by posing as Local 416 on Twitter, and the union isn't impressed. Apparently the backlash online is building, and requests to remove commentary from Twitter, Facebook, and Toronto news media sites are being made. Here's the fake union feed (it's not particularly funny, witty, or well-followed).

A section of Mississauga townhomes that were still under construction were gutted by fire for the second time since February. 10 units are gonzo, as many as 30 in total damaged, and everyone is going "hmmmm..."

Tim Hortons is coming home. After a failed attempt to penetrate the US market under a US parent company tied to Wendy's, the coffee chain is bringing its business core back into Canadian ownership and territory.

And if you haven't yet figured out what you're doing to celebrate Canada Day tomorrow, be sure to check out a few of the options in the city.