Toronto media was abuzz yesterday with the "story" that the Niagara Parks Commission was dissin' on the Big Smoke with a series of ads that depicted this fair city as a graffiti and crime-ridden mess. Yes, I got into it too... But, you know who really took these little, infantile jabs to heart? Furious George! Yup, hoping to curry favour with the reactionary and naive -- a demographic he needs to pull back from the Ford camp -- Smitherman stomped his way to the offices of the NPC to deliver this letter. Well done, George -- that's one for our side!

So the official dissemination of G20 photographs is apparently working. After the TPS released an additional 21 photos yesterday, another suspect is in custody. Kelly Pflug-Back turned herself into Lakefield Police yesterday afternoon. She'll make an appearance in a Toronto court this morning in connection with "thousands of dollars in damage" during the G20. According to Pflug-Back's fiancĂŠe, she was on bail after being charged (and detained) during the summit.

The head of the Toronto Cyclists Union received two tickets for having her bike in the middle lane on Jarvis St. yesterday. According to Bambick, she was taking photographs of the street in order to post about how not to ride along it, when she was approached by an officer in an unmarked police cruiser. I guess he wasn't so understanding of her intentions. But here's the worst part: one of the tickets was for not having both of her hands on her handlebars. Are you kidding me? There's a ticket for that?

Robert Deluce, the CEO of Porter Airlines, is suing Air Canada for not letting him and his wife fly for free. I know that sounds completely ridiculous, but he actually might have good reason for taking his case to court. According to his statement of claim, when he sold Ontario Air and Austin Airways to Air Canada in 1986, the two reached an agreement that he and his wife would be able to use the national carrier for free. Now he claims that those privileges have been revoked without warning. Really? With multiple lawsuits between the two companies -- Porter and Air Canada -- it seems only natural that a deal like this might suffer.

In Brief:

Conrad Black is free. Sort of... 2 million bucks is big bail, and the poor chap can't even come "home" to Canada.

Kids attending Regent Park/Duke of York Junior Public School will no longer be able to swim at a nearby pool because the City has asked it to pay $40,000 for its use, after about 15 years of free access.

A dog received communion at St. Peter's Anglican Church, which caused quite the stir among some parishioners.

And don't be surprised if the proposed open payment system is a long way off at the TTC. Rocco Rossi isn't the only one who favours the Presto card.

Photo: "Under the Bridge" by collette v of the blogTO Flickr pool.