The Toronto District School Board is having a busy week. Not only are they set to announce a major green energy initiative today that will put solar panels on over 450 school rooftops in the next 20 years, but they also lifted the four-year ban on the usage of cellphones and other personal electronic devices in classrooms and hallways. The trustees argue that technology has become such a pervasive part of a student's life that they'd be crazy not to let the students have access to their phones in a place where they spend most of their day. Who else sees the irony in both of these announcements?

Ever wonder why you can hang out on a patio until midnight in a Greektown bar, but how you have only until 11 p.m. for other bar patios elsewhere in the city? You can thank your city councillor for that. Despite the harmonized by-law that was implemented to equalize rules across the city, your councillor has the final say when it comes to patio hours. As you can imagine, there's an outcry over the fairness of this mixed-bag of rules, with a lot of local BIAs insisting longer hours could make a huge difference with profits.

The big by-election in Ward 9 has been put on hold for now after a judge granted a hearing date for next Thursday for Councillor Maria Augimeri to contest the previous court ruling that invalidated last year's election results. This decision follows a joint submission sent by lawyers of Augimeri, Gus Cusimano, the city of Toronto, and a resident from Ward 9. Augimeri, who was expected to vacate her office this Friday, will be able to stay until the hearing.

Oprah can make people do some crazy things. An Ontario man was charged in Chicago for making up a story that he was beaten and robbed of his tickets to the final tapings of Oprah's talk show. Police say the man, Robert Spearing, actually cut himself with a rock to make it more believable. The real truth? Spearing couldn't face telling his wife they had travelled all the way to Chicago without actual tickets. Is that Angel Network worthy?

IN BRIEF:

• Gardiner Expressway is closed this weekend
• Jays lose to Rays
• Sonne on tight leash before his G20 trial

Photo by Michael Mitchener in the blogTO Flickr pool.