Photo: BMO by bensonkua, member of the blogTo Flickr pool.

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

Representing what I hope will be the last occasion to mention the Toronto municipal workers strike, city council approved the negotiated contracts with CUPE locals 79 and 416. Here's an illuminating tally of how each councillor voted in the 21-17 victory.

Given this slim margin, the bitterness of the contract talks, and the fact that many current employees may still bank their sick days, debate rages as to whether David Miller won or lost.

In another ongoing saga, lawyers for Jim Balsillie are charging that the NHL has sabotaged his bid to purchase the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes. Details are yet to surface, but this seems to be a last ditch effort after the NHL's board of governors voted unanimously to reject his offer in favour of the one made by Jerry Reinsdorf. That's not to say the accusations are false; the NHL has made it pretty clear Balsillie doesn't know the secret handshake.

Staying on both sports and the continuing saga theme, the MLB trade deadline passed without Roy Halladay being moved. Apparently, general manager J.P. Ricciardi could not get close to what he was asking. Optimists will say it's great that the Jays have him for 2010, but I can't imagine that he won't be moved at some point in the future.

Some customers of Toronto Hydro have had their personal information stolen, including their names, addresses and the amount of their last bill. Thankfully it appears as though no additional financial or banking information has been compromised, leaving me to wonder who in the world wants to know what I paid on my last Hydro bill?

I've also often wondered who owns those swanky yachts docked in Toronto's harbour. Helping to clear up this very important mystery is a strange article in the Globe about some recent residents in Toronto's waters.