Photo: "Crazy dude skating in the rain @ 4 deg C..." by chewie2008~, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):

Why would the RCMP in Okotoks, Alberta put out a press release yesterday, detailing a "definite maybe" sighting of missing Toronto teen Mariam Makhniashvili, more than a month after the alleged sighting reports were made? The questionable move sparked a knee-jerk media frenzy, an almost-press conference by Toronto Police, and a huge dose of false hope for the family. Everyone is hopeful that she will be found alive, but authorities and media need to remain responsible and rational.

Once again, City Council didn't get to conclude debate and vote on the proposed and highly contentious billboard tax, deferring the vote to Friday. A room full of frustrated journalism students (and a blogTO staffer) learned that they'd have to wait for another day to file their breaking news reports. What council did achieve, however, was a landmark decision to ban corporate and union donations to candidates in the upcoming 2010 municipal elections.

The lawyer for the Toronto Humane Society wants the public to realize that there are two sides to every story and that allegations of cruelty coming from the OSPCA have not been proven. Slamming the OSPCA for a TMZ-style approach to the case so far, such as inviting the media to the raid to capture handcuffed execs on camera, releasing accusations to the media in piecemeal, etc. (see embedded video below):

Oakridge Junior Public School teacher Shawn Carr, who works part time in a Village sex novelty shop, stands accused of sexual assault and sexual interference against a 15-year old boy. Eye-witness reports suggest that the boy claimed he was 19, which would make him legal for consensual sex. The law used to state 14 as the age of sexual consent, but was amended last year and currently states that one must be 16.

And the Raptors got absolutely trounced last night. The Atlanta Hawks scored a whopping 146 points, and held star Chris Bosh to just 2 points in just under 16 minutes of play time. According to the game's box score, Bosh only made two in-play shot attempts and scored 2 for 4 from the free throw line. Something seems off here... is he exercising some kind of secret work-to-rule protest? Does he have the flu?