Photo: "IMGP1484" by blogTO Flickr pooler Mike DiBiasio.

Your morning news roundup for Tuesday, March 4th, 2008:

Next time you're on a subway platform, make sure you're smiling and looking your best. Ontario's privacy commissioner has okayed the TTC's plans to install 10,000 additional cameras on buses, streetcars and subway cars for safety.

You might want to check that new piece of jewelry you got for your birthday: police seized as much as $7 million of counterfeit items from the home of a North York senior citizen yesterday.

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Because no day is complete without a mention of this city's most talked about councillor: Rob Ford is suggesting that Toronto city council be chopped in half in order to save money. Smart idea, or simply more of Ford's usual shenanigans?

While Rob Ford is out trying to cut city council, another councillor, Anthony Perruzza, is pushing to make water sprinklers mandatory in city-owned buildings. With fires ravaging several buildings in February (including the famous Queen West fire two weeks ago), it's clear that this city has a lot to do in order to ensure fire safety. The idea seems like a good one to me.

And in closing...
As someone who holds the Toronto Public Library — the busiest public library system in the world — near and dear to my heart, I'd like to thank Josephine Bryant, Toronto's chief librarian, for all her hard work and dedication to the system. I hope she enjoys her early retirement; she will definitely be missed.