Morning Brew: Bike Lanes on Bloor, Gas Prices, Toxic Cormorant Guano

Photo: "Kensington Epicentre" by Xenomancer, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

Breaking News: Two arrests made in abduction of Victoria Stafford. Even more interesting would be the headline: Victoria Stafford found.

Mayor Miller has stopped eating quarter pounders with cheese, has started a rigorous exercise routine and now is boasting a 50 pound drop in weight, putting him under 200 lbs for the first time in two decades. Miller's weight loss is good for the economy, too: he's had to have his suits taken in, and also had to buy a few new suits.

Bicycling on Bloor may become easier in the (distant) future. Toronto officials are expected to announce a Bloor/Danforth bike lane feasibility study soon, which would look at ways to add a dedicated lane by reducing traffic lanes or parking. Dedicated motorists are sure to complain, but it's hard for me to imagine a compelling case against promoting cycling these days. Besides, with every major east-west route sporting streetcar tracks except Bloor, it only seems natural to consider a bike lane.

Creepy news of the day... a 15 year old girl was coaxed into stripping and being pimped out of Mississauga adult entertainment den Kennedy's, and now two guys under 23 are facing charges. Not sure what part of the story is worst... the pimps, the life situation that makes pimping seem like the good option, or the guys who will pay for sex with a 15 year old.

It seems like months since gas prices have been in the news, but they're making headlines again with a price jump to 97.7 in the GTA - the highest in about 7 months. Dan McTeague credits profit-making for the increase, which has been 15 cents in the last 3 weeks. At least prices aren't expected to reach last summer's levels.

W.J. Properties owns 13 mostly abandoned buildings overlooking High Park, right on Bloor Street, and wants to tear them down, likely making way for a new condo tower. The city has resisted without a firm redevelopment plan so the company requested - and is now getting - a hearing with the province. It seems a forgone conclusion that condos are on their way. I'm more fascinated how once-beautiful brick houses across from the park ended up undesirable.

Here's a head scratcher: Doorbell rings, man answers, man gets shot in leg, man remains uncooperative with police. Something tells me "man" has something to hide.

Yesterday it was all about the songbirds brightening life on the Leslie Street Spit, but today the cormorants - now numbering 30,000 - who live there are blamed for ruining the island with their guano (ok, poop). All the more reason to wear a wide-brimmed hat when visiting Tommy Thompson Park.