SANTA'S CLOWN POSSE 

Santa shows up for the annual parade Sunday, November 15, with a colourful entourage of clowns, some of them creepy, but most of them nice.

POLL

SPOTTED

The much-loved neon sign hanging outside the former Edgewater Hotel at Roncesvalles and Queen is gone, much to the chagrin of aficionados of circa-50s architectural stylings. We’re told the city ordered the marquee down after it became a safety hazard, though there’s some suggestion wilful neglect on the part of the owner forced that decision. Local councillor Gord Perks says the city’s numerous attempts to have the sign repaired were rebuffed by hotel ownership. (Before photo: Brian Cameron, after photo: Enzo Di Matteo)

STREET SMARTS

REALITY CHECK

The Toronto Port Authority has invited federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser (again) to probe allegations made by former board members that TPA directors are tucking into some luxurious meals at Harbour Sixty Steakhouse. But the TPA doesn’t fall within the AG’s mandate. Just an attempt by the TPA, then, to deflect attention from those five-figure meal expenses getting ink in the papers these days? Check out the Sixty’s menu: pan-seared foie gras ($39), shrimp cocktail ($36), 10-ounce filet mignon ($47), bone-in tenderloin steak ($75).

BOOK MARK

100 Photos That Changed Canada was officially released this week. Our favourite: this circa 1847 shot, one of the earliest surviving daguerreotypes in Canada, of aboriginal chief Maun-gua-daus. Other notable moments captured: a shot of the Winnipeg militia catching a few zzz’s on the train transporting Métis rebel Louis Riel to trial in 1885. (Photo: possibly Anotoine Claudet / Library and Archives Canada)