The Toronto vehicle-registration tax is one step closer to the chopping block. Rob Ford's hand-picked executive committee unanimously voted to scrap the fee. It was one of three of the mayor's key campaign pledges they pushed through, including cutting councillor office budgets and asking the province to designate the TTC as an essential service. Before you get too excited, the committee decided that there will be no refunds for the vehicle registration tax if it's repealed by January 1st. So if you're born in December, even up to December 31st, you will still need to pay the $60 fee. Just another reason for me to hate my Boxing Day birthday.

The Special Investigations Unit has finally identified 14 of the police officers present at the time of Adam Nobody's assault at the G20, including the officer who used a baton to hit him. The police watchdog is still gathering information and tracking down civilian witnesses, said SIU spokesman Frank Phillips. However, names will not be revealed by either the SIU or police. "We do not identify people who have not been charged criminally," said Toronto Police spokesman Mark Pugash.

The Toronto City Summit Alliance has a new name: the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance, a change that is supposed to renew and broaden the alliance's focus. The group's chairman, John Tory, says the divisive atmosphere at City Hall is making his group's work both more difficult and more urgent. Mr. Tory said it would be unfair to suggest Mr. Ford was not interested in city building; however, Ford's main focus has concerned transportation and revamping the city's finances -- leaving "less time" to address other issues, from the environment to poverty to the marginalization of certain communities.

IN BRIEF

• The Bieber is one of Google's most searched this year
• Blair's G20 conduct not malicious, just over his head
• Fewer apartments for rent in GTA
• Leafs lose...again

Photo by Oz John Tekson in the blogTO Flickr pool.