There is an apparently amazing video for sale—says Gawker, which has seen the video and broke the news—showing the conservative mayor of Toronto smoking crack-cocaine within the past six months. While in office. And his dealers, says Gawker, service a wide swath of the cognoscenti in Canada's New York. Ford's lawyer addressed the claim rather curiously in the Toronto Sun: “I think unless one has expertise in crack cocaine smoking, it is very difficult to gauge what a person is actually doing in an alleged video.”

You remember Kai, the "hatchet-wielding hitchhiker," right? He's been charged with murdering an elderly lawyer who met Kai in Times Square took him back to his home in New Jersey. The rest of the story gets really weird, though. Maybe they had sex or maybe Kai was drugged and raped and then decided to kill the attorney?

Republicans lathered up about a supposed Benghazi coverup are now accused of doctoring the White House emails they leaked out to make their case.

Russia is beefing up the fleet it has stationed at a base on Syria's Mediterranean coast, maybe a sign to NATO types to think twice before staging an intervention in a country that's coming apart at the seams, with warring factions carving it up into autonomous fiefdoms after months upon months of civil war.

A million bucks in jewels meant for the red carpet at Cannes vanished suspiciously during the screening of a Sofia Coppola movie all about teenagers stealing jewelry. "Ironic twist?" Or how about "guerrilla marketing?"

The Pakistani doctor who helped with the vaccine scam used to suss out Osama Bin Laden's compound, landing in jail for his troubles, had previously been denied asylum in the United States.

The IRS' deposed acting boss answers Congress over claims Tea Party groups were targeted for extra investigation. "We provided horrible service here. I will admit that. Whether it was politically motivated is a very different question."

Years before Arizona targeted people with darker skin by demanding they carry their immigration papers all the time, the state went after the businesses that hire undocumented immigrants. How's that 2007 law working? Hundreds of workers have been prosecuted. But only three of the state's 147,000 businesses have had a day in court.

Justin Bieber has until midnight German time—which is only hours away—to pick up the pet monkey he toured with and then left behind (and pay thousands of dollars in boarding fees) before the government transfers the sad animal to a zoo or somewhere else.

Here's a good reminder that the Pearl District, with its buildings reserved for low-income Portlanders, is not solely a playground for the wealthy.

PREVIOUSLY ON BLOGTOWN, ICYMI: Another poll on fluoridation shows a widening lead for opponents. And, in big political news, Mayor Charlie Hales and Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen struck a budget deal last night that picks up funding for about a $1 million bucks in safety net programs the city wanted to stop funding.

AFTER THE ELECTION, WE SHALL PUT ASIDE OUR FEELINGS AND WE SHALL DANCE! ALL OF US!