Rob Ford once again skipped the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference, which took place in Saskatoon this year. In his place was the worldly Giorgio Mammoliti, who said that Ford is in constant communication with other municipal leaders. The mayor seemed to paint a somewhat different picture in saying, "I don't go to FCM. Since when do I go to FCM?'' SInce when, indeed.

It's anything but a secret, but the Grid has some new info about what Google has been up to with their latest Toronto mapping effort. Last summer the company revealed that it was using its Street View Trike to capture some of our city's hard to reach places, and now it looks like it'll being using its trolley technology to get inside local business as well. All cool, but when the hell are we finally going to see some of this documentation actually appear on our maps?

Lest we forget, some of Toronto's city zoos are still in danger of closure due to budget cuts. Advocates for Riverdale Farm are set to present their rescue plan to the city council, but it doesn't necessarily look like a slam dunk given the recommendation to maintain entrance fees and City ownership.

This is almost surprising given the usual city hall rhetoric, but Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday believes that city mangers and other non-unionized staff deserve a pay increase. Ok, then.

Perhaps that'll help with the problem that Peter Kuitenbrouwer diagnoses in his latest for the Post — namely the fact that urban planners don't seem to want to work in Toronto. Before we simply blame this on the current municipal leadership, it appears that there are a number of factors that contribute to this problem.

Remember that video of the Lemon Bucket Orchestra killing some time during a flight delay by playing an impromptu concert? Well, here is their homecoming.

OTHER STUFF YOU MIGHT CARE ABOUT

• Ford's park land purchase could be quashed Friday
• What's wrong, what's right with Toronto's libraries
• Victoria Park Station gets secure bike parking
• More about the Toronto Marlies (who are playing in the Calder Cup finals)

Photo by twurdemann in the blogTO Flickr pool