Photo: "Img2009-11-01-009" by picturenarrative, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

Remembrance Day in Toronto is being marked by ceremonies honouring those who have fallen in military battles. Some offices are closed for the day, some open late, and most of us will work through the day and take a moment of silence at 11am.

When you buy lots of anything, you generally get great pricing. But not always. The City of Toronto, for example, appears to have gotten shafted when it rush purchased over 200,000 bottles of hard sanitizer for health professionals at $2.59 per bottle. I bought one mini bottle of Purell at Shoppers this weekend - for about the same price.

The Toronto Port Authority has gone ahead and made the decision to rename the City Center Airport "The Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport," despite there already being an airport in Owen Sound, Ontario. The TPA generally does whatever it wants, doesn't it?

Recycling, composting, and landfilling is a complicated process in Toronto. Some egg cartons are recyclable and go in the blue bin, but others are not. Batteries shouldn't go in the grey bin garbage. But human hair should.

Between blue bins, green bins, grey bins, and special pickups and drop-off depots, there have been many times when I've been less than completely certain about how to dispose of something. Until now.

Photo: "Fly a kite" by Lizzie's Libation, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

2010 mayoral hopefuls George Smitherman and John Tory squared off face-to-face on CFRB Newstalk 1010 last night, in what was being touted as the first opportunity for battle lines to be drawn. Smitherman wasn't impressed that Tory allowed the media into the studio, and declined a follow-up interview, but they did manage to chat briefly about healthy eating habits.

Toronto is losing its economic edge, and road tolls may be a way to help reverse the trend. A study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says billion of dollars are being lost in the GTA because 71% of us rely on cars and are tied up in traffic rather than being productive. In-car offices could probably also help solve the problem but would surely introduce new ones.

Bed bugs are back, and a big problem in the city. Infestation by these little critters can be a real pain, especially on the psyche. It's best to get a pro to come in to solve the problem, but not everyone can afford the service or to replace pricey household items.

TTC token hoarding is already becoming a problem and the transit commission has sprung into action with a serious effort to thwart it.

Effective immediately, TTC staffers have been instructed to sell no more than 5 tokens at fare collection booths. Automatic token dispensers in unattended subway entrances will be programmed to deliver just one token. And the worst part of this all? If a fare collector booth run out of tokens, staff have been instructed to charge riders the full fare of $2.75. Is this fare fair?

Photo: "Mural - DSC 0926 ep" by ericparker, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

George Smitherman has declared that he will be resigning from his post as minister of energy and infrastructure in the provincial cabinet to prepare for his bid to be Toronto's next mayor in 2010. He's either banking on memories being short, forgiveness being widespread, or his own ability to convince the public that his performance through the eHealth spending scandal was acceptable.

Murder in a sushi restaurant kitchen has a particular B-movie-esque plot ring to it, but this weekend it actually happened at one of the most popular sushi joints in Toronto - New Generation in the Annex. A minor dispute turned violent, one chef is dead, and I'm sure some people will have a hard time shaking the visual and eating raw fish any time soon.

Does the 407 Express Toll Route have a billing problem? Is the problem worthy of official investigation? Hundreds of people have come forward to tell their stories to the Toronto Star, many involving massive, interest-accrued bills from disputable road use dating back several years. In some cases, the 407 has issued invoices to the deceased even though the license plate in question hasn't been on the road for some time.

Photo: "Graffiti Artists At Work" by marty_pinker, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

In addition to pro athletes getting vaccinated ahead of high risk groups, we're now learning that members of the board of directors at Mount Sinai Hospital also got the H1N1 shot in advance. While they claim that they made the decision before they knew that there would be a shortage of vaccine, it doesn't look good that hospital executives have little regard for what are supposed to be strict deployment guidelines. Is it fair to call this vaccination process a fiasco yet?

TTC Chair Adam Giambrone appeared on CP24's new "On the Rocket" show last night, and was interviewed by the Star before taking to the air. He hinted that the insane $126 price tag for the Metropass (proposed for January 2010 implementation) may not have his endorsement (and hopefully won't get approval!) - probably because it makes no sense and they can't spin it to make any sense. Rob Ford would rather see the 22,000 free passes for TTC employee and retiree revoked.

Will Toronto score the 2015 Pan Am Games? We'll learn later today. In the final push to convince the deciding committee members that Toronto is their best choice, we waxed them with showers of Toronto's finest poutine, smoked salmon, and chardonnay.