Rob Ford's brief two-day trade mission to Chicago wrapped up yesterday with the mayor renewing the two city's marriage vows (I think that's how it works), taking a boat tour, and visiting U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, for a photo op. Ford continued to hand out business cards and proclaim Toronto "open for business." Despite recent criticism, The Star is calling the trip a success.

Back home, The Globe and Mail reports Ford pushed the city to make unscheduled repairs on a street leading up to his family's business, Deco Labels and Tags, in time for a 50th anniversary party. The repairs cost between $7,000 and $10,000 dollars.

Metrolinx says the TTC will not operate the new Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown, Finch and Sheppard light rail lines when the projects are completed in roughly ten years. TTC input will now be limited to designing interchange stations where the light rail lines connect with existing subways. Metrolinx says it can get better value for money from a private partner. The decision, which follows years of tension between the transit agencies, raises questions about how the services will work together.

The province wants to give municipalities like Toronto more say over its speed limits to cut the number of pedestrian fatalities. The chief coroner says implementing a 30 km/h limit on residential streets and making sidebars on heavy trucks mandatory will save lives. The report also recommends a 40 km/h limit on streets where the current limit is 50 km/h. Sound like a good idea?

Hey, is that... wait, what? The new iPhone mapping application released yesterday shows Pearson airport as it might look if the area had come under heavy artillery fire. [via Reddit user lololol1]

In old money, a 300-piece collection of Roman coins will be auctioned off at the Toronto Coin Expo next week. One of the set was minted before the year 1 and features the seal of Julius Caesar. It is expected to sell for roughly $3,000. Man, this really puts my lucky 1946 nickel to shame.

Ontario's labour ministry says it's investigating the "gas and dash" death of Jayesh Prajapati Saturday near Eglinton West subway to discover whether there were any employment standards violations in the workplace. It is illegal in Ontario to dock an employees wages to recover lost or stolen merchandise. Staff at the Shell station say they don't have to pay for stolen gas.

Finally, the trade mission to Chicago caught the attention of the CBC's Rick Mercer. Here's his take on the meeting of Rahm Emanuel and Rob Ford:

IN OTHER NEWS:

• Another break-in reported in south Etobicoke neighbourhood [CBC]
• Bills to cross border only once per season: CEO [Toronto Sun]
• Protesters fight deportation of U.S. war resister [CTV]
• Toronto man thrilled after return of lost engagement ring [The Star]
• Ai Weiwei retrospective show coming to Toronto [CBC]

Photo: "Colour and Reflection" by DMVphotography in the blogTO Flickr pool.