The photos of the week collect each of the editor-selected photos of the day into one post for a contest to be decided by our readers. Sponsored by Posterjack, the photographer whose image receives the most votes will be awarded with a voucher code for a 24"x36" poster print of their work.

All the rules and fine-print can be found in the original announcement post on the blogTO Flickr page. One thing to add, however, is that the voting period ends at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, after which the winner will be contacted with the good news.

Toronto Bike Month 2012 is upon us, so if you haven't already dusted off your helmet and climbed back in the saddle, now is definitely the the time to do it. The festivities kick off Monday with a group commute from Yonge and Bloor to downtown, and the City of Toronto and Cycle Toronto have organized numerous other events for the next few weeks to celebrate being two-wheeled and engine-free.

Not sure how to maximize your Bike Month experience? Here's the skinny on the best or most interesting sounding events planned for early summer. The full calendar is available here.

The Doors Open Festival is back for 2012 this weekend, offering the public access to many spaces throughout Toronto that are typically hidden from view or restricted in some manner. Now entering its 12th year, the event has never been more popular — which is great from a civic interest standpoint, but not so good for those who despise line-ups. To avoid spending an exorbitant time waiting around to get into places, one needs to prioritize which buildings he or she most wants to see and arrive at them early.

Ossington Avenue used to have many names. Perhaps most notably (and confusingly) the stretch that now runs between Dundas and Queen West was itself known as Dundas Street until it was renamed in the early 20th century. According to the Toronto Archives, other streets eaten up by Ossington over the years include "Denison Street (By-Law No. 1115, 1881), Lancaster Road (By-Law No. 5470, 1910)... and Dundurn Avenue (Registered Plan T4395, 1924)." At one point Ossington also extended up to St. Clair, though that portion of the street was later renamed Winona Drive.

It might be hard to picture today, but Toronto's famous islands haven't always been an oasis away from the mainland. In fact, the Islands are a relatively recent natural creation traceable to a single powerful storm in the 1850s. Before that, the land now home to Centerville and Billy Bishop airport maintained a permanent physical connection to the rest of Toronto.

We've looked back at the Islands' past before, but never discussed how the land itself became permanently separated from the shore and evolved into the idyllic spot it is today.

What a week! First Rob Ford defied expectations by showing up at PFLAG's rainbow flag raising event at City Hall yesterday and today Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair has acknowledged that "there were things that were not done well" at the G20. As far as the latter goes, today's statement from Blair is carefully crafted to praise the TPS more than knock it, but has just enough of a remorseful tone to quiet some of the criticism directed towards him upon the release of yesterday's report from Office of the Independent Police Review Director.