It's deja vu, to be sure — but will Mayor Ford's plans be undone once again? Roughly 120 urban planning and transit experts — many of whom criticized the Fords' redevelopment vision for the Port Lands last September — have released an open letter that urges Toronto city councillors to put a stop to a plan that would see the Eglinton Crosstown LRT buried in its entirety. Noting that the current policy would "inflict punitive social costs on large numbers of our citizens who will receive no relief from unacceptably poor transit service and unremitting congestion," the authors outline a three-step plan to get Toronto transit planning back on track.

Well, Adam Vaughan was right. Interviewed by CP24 shortly after CUPE local 416 president Mark Ferguson announced that the City had offered his union a take-it-or-leave-it offer on Friday, Vaughan speculated that the two sides might be a lot closer to a deal than they were letting on. That seemed a dubious observation when the City announced that it would impose new terms and conditions of employment as of 12:01 a.m Sunday., at which point the a lockout or strike could legally begin.

Eric Fischer, digital cartographer extraordinaire, is at it again with a new series of maps that track the paths that smartphone-toting people take to travel through cities. Using geotagged tweets, the Oakland-based data visualization specialist has plotted the arteries of Twitter traffic for a host of cities around the world including Toronto.

Although Gordon Chong's report on the feasibility of the Sheppard subway extension won't go before the City's executive committee until February 13, excerpts revealed by the Toronto Sun indicate that the project is "doable" (or "do-able," as some would put it). That's mildly surprising given the reticence of the private sector to fund subway expansion in the past. So what's the catch?

The Real Jerk will get to stay at the southeast corner of Queen and Broadview, for a little longer anyway. After being given a paltry 31 days to vacate the space they've occupied for over 20 years, owner Edward Pottinger and his wife filed for a temporary injunction to remain at their current location until they can find a suitable alternative.

The restaurant confirmed earlier today via Twitter that it had won the case. Although not all the details have become available, it would appear that the victory means the Real Jerk will remain where it is for another year.

Update (12:00 p.m.):

Ed Pottinger has told the Globe and Mail that he is already scouting another location for his Queen east fixture. Although a reprieve was granted, there will be a steep increase of rent in the upcoming months if the restaurant doesn't find a new home.

Entrepreneurs Rick Aulier and Scott Brockington are gunning to open an Irish pub in the space at a rate of $12,000 a month, a $5,700 hike from the rent Pottinger has been paying. Although the restaurant has the right to stay for a year, if it doesn't relocate by March 1, 2012, Pottinger will be required to make up the rent that Aulier and Brockington would pay.

Despite this potential increase, he remains upbeat with the news. "This is what I always wanted. I just wanted a little more time to relocate and I now have that. Whatever happens from now on, I'm going to be looking for a new place to relocate the Jerk, hopefully in the neighbourhood," he told CTV news on Wednesday evening.

Update by Roxanne Hathway-Baxter

Compromise? We don't want compromise!

In a move that amounts to an open revolt against TTC chair Karen Stintz, Ford supporters on the TTC board voted yesterday to prevent the study of further above ground options for the Eglinton Crosstown Line.