Photo: "Smoke Screen" by jonathan ponce, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What's happening in the GTA:

The housing market in Toronto is experiencing drops not seen in years. We're seeing a whopping 35% decrease in sales this month over October of 2007, and houses are on the market on average 7 days longer. Buyers and sellers are certainly apprehensive. And builders are likely nervous as well.

Halloween was almost a week ago, but it wasn't until more recently that a box of Smarties given to a young girl in Pickering was found to contain a cold medication capsule. Weirdness, eh? I guess if a baby ate it or if someone with medicinal conflict issues swallowed it, there'd be trouble. But if an older kid inadvertently consumed it with the candy the worst that would happen is that they'd feel less congested and remain alert enough to put in a hard day of school work.

Is the National Post print version inching towards its demise? Torontoist points out the absence of papers in many downtown boxes as a potential sign of things to come, but also points out that an unnamed source at the NP simply claims that the situation is a reflection of poor sales in particular locations, and that they remain committed to servicing Toronto.

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School is out at York University. Professors and TAs have walked off the job after they failed to successfully negotiate a new contract incorporating wage increases and increased job security. With concurrent demonstrations by students demanding tuition decreases, one can readily see the greater dilemma our higher education system is facing.

Mass fuel theft is becoming an issue, despite dropping prices. A fuel depot for school buses in Kitchener was compromised yesterday, and an estimated 20,000L stolen. What's worse is that the alleged thieves had to cut the brake lines and push aside a school bus to get at the loot.

It appears that the story of the missing Barrie boy, Brandon Crisp, is ending on a truly sad note. Police believe they've found his body in a field near Orillia. How he died is still unclear. Thoughts and prayers go out to those that loved him.