Photo: "southpaw" by tomms, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

A suspected child abductor was arrested in Etobicoke yesterday, after allegedly being caught in the act by a group of citizens. While trying to force a 12-year old girl into his car, concerned witnesses intervened and held the suspect until police arrived. Police have released James Troisi's name and photo because they have reason to believe that he's responsible for other recent abduction attempts in the area and they want people to come forward. I wonder what Kensington shopkeeper David Chen thinks about this incident, where, much like in his shoplifter apprehension case, citizens forcibly confined a suspect.

Getting a divorce in Ontario is a common, lengthy, and emotional experience that often ends up costing families a boatload of money. Proposed changes to divorce procedures in the province aim to educate potential divorcees and help make the process less taxing through improved early access to legal advice, and diversion from combative approaches to options like mediation and arbitration. Divorce lawyers like being hired to work common, lengthy, and emotional experiences, so this isn't likely going to be a move they wholeheartedly support. The ones that have hearts, anyway.

Toronto is all abuzz for the arrival and parading of the 2010 Olympic flame. And a little rain on the parade - in the form of a small protest that managed to force diversion of the icon from its planned route - is getting lots of media attention. The "Toronto Extinguish the Torch Committee" argues that the Vancouver Olympics should not be held on lands stolen from Native peoples, and that hosting the event (and the G20 and the 2015 Pan-Am Games) "attack people's sovereignty and self-determination."

A Toronto Star investigation into off-duty, uniformed, paid police work has prompted a push for a more in-depth investigation by Toronto's auditor general. The most important question: how much (if any) funds for paying these officer gigs ends up coming from taxpayer coffers? And why has the union that represents police officers been unopposed in its requests for pay increases (only now capped at $65/hr) since 1957?

Blackberry users had a temporary but annoying email blackout yesterday, which RIM had to fix on the fly. The last major network disruption of this kind happened in February of 2008, which makes me think that they're doing pretty well with keeping down-time to a minimum.

Did you know that many sex toys contain toxic bisphenol A, and aren't regulated for this under federal product safety protocols? A Toronto-based MP wants this to change. In the meantime, perhaps consider some of the alternatives.

And the Toronto Sun is on the verge of creating lasting trauma for their readers. Their 187625th TTC suicide story reveals nothing that the previous 187624 didn't already.