Photo: "The Happy Hohner" by sniderscion, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

Your Toronto morning news roundup for Friday July 4th, 2008:

The entire city is breathing a communal sigh of relief. TTC special constables will not be given the right to carry and use guns or tasers on our public transit system. The batons, cuffs, and pepper spray will have to do for now. If they want to be more kickass, I recommend that they all get full training in mixed martial arts.

Rogers CEO Ted Rogers has been named Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008 and given the Ontario Lifetime Achievement Award. The announcement comes not long after Rogers announced its exclusive and insane iPhone service pricing. In related news, Canadian consumers will give Rogers the Highway Robber Of The Year 2008 award and the Go Ahead and Take My Earnings Achievement Award.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair is talking tough after two police officers were arrested for their alleged role in an intricate organized crime ring that bought up houses and turned them into marijuana grow-ops. Ironically, one of the two officers was given a "teamwork commendation" just last year.

--

The Ontario economy is in trouble. The latest sign is a drop in GDP in the first quarter of 2008, which was mirrored on the national scale. While we're not yet being forced to sell the kids for food, we should definitely brace ourselves for some changes on the horizon.

"Clean up in aisle 3" may soon be a phrase from the past. Howard Moscoe wants public washrooms in larger stores in Toronto.

It was the largest crowd at an Argos home opener since 1992, and the home team took a beating. On the bright side, over 30,000 fans in the Rogers Centre means that they're rivaling the Toronto Blue Jays in that regard (and presumably making Ted money).