Rob Ford and his legal team are due in court again this morning to request a stay of a judge's decision to remove him from office. If he's successful, which seems likely, Ford will remain mayor until his formal appeal against the decision can be heard in the new year. Paul Madger and Clayton Ruby, the team that argued against Ford in the original case, have decided not to oppose the request for a stay.

Councillor Adam Vaughan says a referendum on a Toronto casino should be included on a mayoral by-election ballot to save cash. A full-blown election will cost the city about $7 million, more if it decides to go to the electorate again on a separate question of whether a major hotel and gaming complex should be built in the city. Thrifty move?

Yesterday set a temperature record for Dec. 4 when the thermometer reached a positively scorching 16 degrees Celsius. It broke the previous record of 15.9 set in 1998. Despite the mild weather, it's supposed to be a winter of typical seasonal temperatures and regular snowfall overall.

The Clean Train Coalition isn't about to just give up on electric trains for the Union-Pearson rail link. Despite having to pay $30,000 in legal costs, the group plans to appeal an Ontario Divisional Court decision that ruled Metrolinx was mandated to use diesel vehicles to get the line ready for the 2015 Pan Am Games.

A small, student-run bus service from Toronto to London has been nixed by Greyhound Canada over concerns the company isn't licensed. A letter from a law firm to "London Rocket" says only Greyhound is licensed to run the route between the southwestern Ontario town and Toronto. Are Greyhound being meanies or looking out for the law?

Prince Amponsah suffered serious 2nd and 3rd degree burns and lost both his hands in an apartment fire above the Cameron House on Nov. 12. He's still in a coma as a result of his injuries but his friends are rallying round to help him when he wakes up. A campaign to raise $5,000 for Amponsah when he wakes up has already reached its goal, but why not donate a little more? Here's a video.

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

Photo: "Long commute" by asianz in the blogTO Flickr pool.