Photo: "exit exit exit, etc." by thru the night, member of the BlogTO Flickr pool.

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

Switching our public transit system to a zoned fare arrangement (i.e. what you pay is proportional to how far you travel) is not part of the plans for the TTC. Why not? It's difficult and expensive to make the switch, and the revenue model is revenue-neutral. Um... wouldn't a revenue-neutral model be better than our current model, which apparently creates greater deficit with increased ridership?

The nation's tallest building, First Canadian Place (aka the BMO building), is getting a major facelift. Exterior Italian marble paneling (heavy stuff that fell in winds storms in the spring) will be replaced by white glass. What will become of all the old marble? I think it should be donated to the city, so we can use it for a swanky public art piece or park walkway!

The Toronto Zoo is considering adding a pair of giant Pandas to their exhibit list, a move that would likely boost attendance and revenues. But do they really need to send a 9-person delegation to China to secure the animals and then build a $15-million facility to house them?

Getting a fraudulent but real driver's license (which can then be used to rip off banks, to skirt traffic offenses, and for all kinds of other illegal activity) would be easy if you had people on the inside. Arrests have been made and charges pending after as many as 160 false licenses were allegedly issued out of the Orangeville MTO DriveTest office. You'd think they'd have measures in place to account for all cards, and a means of flagging off counts.

And Jamie Kennedy has sold his Wine Bar. The new owners plan to keep the slow food and local traditions of the place alive, but also plan to focus on Mediterranean flavours... and dabbling in Turkish and Tunisian. Sounds great!