Photo: "building with sculpture in foreground" by Rick McGrath, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

A scathing report by the (scandal-plagued) Ontario Ministry of Health found that bad decisions by Toronto EMS staff may have contributed to the death of James Hearst's death, and could have been prevented. Whether or not any of this is directly related to EMS operating at reduced capacity due to the civic worker strike is... well... the elephant in the room. Here's the timeline of the events that occurred that night.

George Smitherman's Toronto mayoral hopes may be dashed amid calls for his resignation related to lack of oversight in the eHealth scandal, during his tenure as the Minister of Health. Would you run for mayor in a money-starved city when $1-billion in wasted taxpayer money is (loosely or not) attached to your name?

Next week the TTC will be cracking down on riders who violate bylaws. Putting your feet on seats, blocking doorways, smoking, not paying fare, and littering are all ticketable offences that carry fines, which, incidentally, are going up. I don't want to be around when transit police and thugs square off over these kinds of things.

As many as 18 people fell ill (confirmed) and one may have died (to be confirmed) as a result of salmonella poisoning traced back to dining at Ruby Chinese Restaurant in Scarborough between September 12th and 20th. The popular 600-seat restaurant has been shut down by Toronto Public Health pending fixes. Why is it that whenever outbreaks or infestations shut down restaurants, the owners try to pull the wool over the eyes of the public by posting signs stating that they're closed for renovations (see linked CityNews' video)? Is cleaning, pest control, and proper food handling "renovation?"

And a backpack believed to be that of Mariam Makhniashvili, a Toronto teen who has been missing since September 14th, has been found in the Yonge & Eglinton area. Hopefully this provides clues that can lead to her being discovered alive and well.