A new poll suggests roughly half of Toronto residents believe the alleged Rob Ford crack tape is real. The Ipsos Reid poll commissioned by CTV News and CP24 found half of the 530 people polled thought the story was part of a media agenda to oust the Ford brothers. Support for the Fords was strongest in (drum roll) Etobicoke.

Speaking of Rob Ford, the mayor spent yesterday afternoon showing four new recruits the ropes. Victoria Colussi, Jonathan Kent, Rob Krauss, Katrina Xavier Ponniah plug vacancies created by internal shuffling related to the departure of five important staffers, including chief of staff Mark Towhey and press secretaries George Christopoulos and Isaac Ransom. All are listed as special assistants. [via @benspurr]

Mark Towhey's last order as chief of staff was to tell other staffers to ignore all calls from the mayor, the Toronto Sun's Don Peat revealed yesterday. "Do not answer calls from the mayor tonight," Towhey said the same day Ford was fired as coach of the Don Bosco Eagles. "Take the night off." Towhey was dismissed the next day.

Toronto police have launched a guns-for-cameras amnesty aimed at taking unwanted guns off the street. For each gun turned in the owner will receive a $100 digital camera as part of the Pixels for Pistols initiative. Ironically, the news comes a day after a Toronto Star photographer was placed in a headlock and cuffed by a cop for taking pictures at Union Station.

There's something distinctly unappetizing about this Island Foods lunch. A Reddit user posted the picture of what appears to be a stray blade yesterday, saying it was found in food purchased from the King and Dufferin location of the West Indian restaurant. The company hasn't had a chance to respond yet.

Finally, So much for Terry Turl's private island ferry. The city has put the kibosh on the yacht owner's plans to make a quick buck carrying passengers from the crowded ferry terminal to the picturesque offshore park, telling him it's against the rules. The private ferry is now in "bureaucratic limbo," according to the Star. Should the city allow private ferries to compete with its own vessels?

IN BRIEF:

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Image: Jeff Stewart/blogTO Flickr pool.