Photo: "taking a break from fighting fires" by Suziesaurus, member of the theGentries Flickr pool.

Your Toronto morning news roundup for Wednesday August 27th, 2008:

Remember all the budget crisis management news from back in the fall? Next Monday marks the introduction of one of those controversial new taxes specific to Toronto residents. The $60 "personal vehicle tax" will be collected when drivers renew their license plates, and we'll suck it up and pay it (because a metrosexual driver moving to Mississauga, Vaughan, or Ajax would be so terribly uncool).

Police have staged a major crackdown on "health spas" on the Danforth that cater only to men, and offer services ranging from reverse nude massages to full on intercourse. The undercover officers that were on this case must have been operating under some strict guidelines.

A garbage truck slammed into a house in south Etobicoke yesterday, after the driver is believed to have suffered from a panic attack. Perhaps the driver's composure was overcome by constantly having to dodge the vast array of gigantic blue recycling bins dotting the collection route.

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In theatre news, Mirvish Productions has scooped up two more larger venues. Their acquisition of the Canon and Panasonic theatres was approved despite an attempted legal injunction led by the rival company Dancap.

In TTC news, the German company Siemens is poised to scoop up the major streetcar manufacturing deal that for a while looked like it would go to Montreal-based Bombardier (before the TTC expressed concerns that Bombardier's design would derail). Siemens claims its design won't derail, Bombardier claims that just $10million in track modification will keep their design upright, and Adam Giambrone claims that it would cost 100 times that.

And tomorrow, before heading out for the day, do up a scrambled egg breakfast to celebrate the launch of Toronto's first scramble crossing. At 11am at Yonge & Dundas, the traffic lights will be red on all sides, as pedestrians flood the intersection and feel all Tokyo.