Photo: "golden eye ducks landing in mist" by louise@toronto, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

Igor Kenk must have enjoyed his time away from the Don Jail yesterday as he got not only some time out from behind bars but the assault charges against him were stayed by the judge, effectively concluding his court appearance schedule. Perhaps a fitting end to a story that started with fireworks - near endless bike seizures - and has been slowly fizzling (run of the mill plea bargain). No doubt when Kenk is released from jail his life will be dramatically different. When and how he lands on his feet - and I predict he will - could be another interesting chapter.

Will it be the City of Brotherly Love to the rescue? In the TTC's attempt to take its proverbial foot out of its mouth, officials are looking at Philadelphia's transit system - and major customer service improvements that agency has implemented - for help. Any help is welcome in my book.

Speaking of the TTC, Mayor Miller is standing by his man. He endorsed Adam Giambrone as the right man to helm the TTC at this time. That's a position not everybody agrees with, and Giorgio Mammoliti is suggesting this is an issue for the ethics committee. We're only talking about the next 8 months or so as the next mayor will undoubtedly select somebody not-named-Giambrone as TTC chair. Could a new chair really accomplish much more than Giambrone the rest of this term?

And speaking of Adam Giambrone, now a report has surfaced that he won't even run for his council seat, which would end (for the time being, anyway), his municipal political career. Giambrone's inevitable return to the public eye, and what he'll do over the next 8 months - and beyond - are sure to be hot topics.

And back to the TTC for a second. Unlike just about any other city service, the much-maligned transit agency (under the chairmanship of the much-maligned Giambrone) broke even in 2009.

Tweeting Toronto: Twitterers who care about Toronto and its mayoral race convened in the Annex to Tweet their ideal mayoral traits. As "candidates" spent 4:16 minutes making their case the audience Tweeted reactions and commentary. Is anybody not on Twitter listening?

On the eve of a decidedly higher-profile sporting event kicking off, Ian Troop (a business executive) has been named CEO of Toronto's 2015 PanAm Games. He's got a career's worth of experience in consumer packaged goods and a $1.4 billion budget. Good luck, Ian!

What better way to celebrate the Olympic opening ceremonies than with Amy Pataki's pizza olympics gold medal winner? After anointing a Junction legend as gold-worthy, I, sadly, found my favourite slice in the city - King Slice - doesn't hold its own in delivery (which, also sadly, I've seen borne out in my experience, too).

And my public service for the day: still looking for a Valentine's treat? Maybe start here.