Porter Airlines wants to extend the runway at Billy Bishop further than it originally announced for its proposed new fleet of jet aircraft. Under an alternative proposal, the landing strip would be extended by 200 metres at both ends - 32 metres longer than the airline first claimed would be necessary. Porter says the extra room will make the Bombardier CS1000 jets quieter by giving them extra landing and take-off space. Should passenger jets get the green light?

Public consultations on Porter's plans start today at 2 PM, 250 Fork York Boulevard.

The teenage girl struck by a dump truck on her way to school yesterday is being described as a "fantastic student." Violet Jia Liang, 14, was walking to C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute for the first day of new year when she was hit at Sentinel Rd. and Lamberton Blvd. "She was always happy and she always knew how to make people laugh," family friend Cindy Tran told CTV News.

An 80-year-old woman fractured her hip after being tasered in Mississauga last week. "At some point" in a conversation with police an officer deployed the the stun device, knocking the woman to the ground where she sustained the injury. The SIU is investigating.

Toronto police have charged a man in connection with the bizarre theft of a rare piano from a downtown hospital. The Steinway Boston baby grand valued at $27,000 was taken from Toronto General Hospital on July 14 and later sold to a local business. Artem Timofeyev, 27, is charged with theft over $5,000, trafficking in stolen goods over $5,000, exposing a counterfeit mark and fraud.

Lake Ontario was a lovely neon blue last week - too bad you had to be in an airplane or a space station to see it. The spectacular colours were either caused by microscopic cyanobacteria - blue-green algae - or a process called calcium whiting (no-one seems 100% sure, though it's likely the latter.) Still, it made good pictures.

A metre-long escaped snake was found winding its way through undergrowth at Port Royal Public School, near Midland and Steeles yesterday. The non-venemous but still extremely creepy reptile was scooped up by Toronto Animal Services a short time later. It's possible the snake was someone's pet who had broken lose.

Le Dolci, the kitchen behind the maple bacon jam that sickened more than fifty people at this year's CNE, is planning to re-open, presumably without the item on their menu. The Dundas West bakery made the toxic topping for the cronut burger and closed voluntarily in the wake of Toronto Public Health test results. The team of bakers returned for the first time yesterday morning.

IN BRIEF:

• Officer who collapsed at half-marathon full of gratitude a year later [Toronto Star]
• Boy, 14, charged in fatal shooting of Yusuf Tifow [CBC]
• Alouettes, rookie QB Tanner Marsh dump Argonauts [CBC]
• Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays blast Diamondbacks [CBC]

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

Image: Jonathan Castellino/blogTO Flickr pool.