Photo: "Toronto in wide angles 3" by gingerbugjones, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

And so it begins. As the clock struck 12 and we rang in 2009 the homicide counts in the region mercifully reset. But in Peel, it didn"t stay at zero for long as a woman was found dead, possibly stabbed to death, near the airport. Not to be outdone, Toronto featured two people shot on the Danforth following a botched robbery, leaving one man in critical condition (and the other basically fine). At this rate, Peel"s homicide tally is on pace to hit 365, and "beat" Toronto"s total for the first time.

Three babies vying for the ultimate prize - first born in 2009, in the GTA - may never know for certain who gets top honours. Mere seconds separate the births of Nyla, Martin and Chantal Milana, born at three different area hospitals. It"s also not clear what being the first baby of 2009 would actually get you, given that the 15 minutes of fame would expire years ahead of the baby"s first memories.

Least shocking economic news in 2008 for those with Canadian investments: the TSX was down 35% overall in 2008 (which represents about $700 billion). The composite index closed at 13,833.06 a year ago and at a mere 8,987.7 two days ago. Experts are predicting more turbulence in 2009 (how did they come up with that one?!?). I thought I was buying low a couple months ago and have watched that investment drop 20% so I look forward to the upward momentum, even if I won"t be holding my breath. Posted by: Joshua    Source

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