Last Saturday, CTV’s news-documentary program W5 aired an investigation of the (legally available) drug salvia divinorum, featuring the story of a 20-year-old B.C. woman who fell out a window after smoking the stuff. The show—and accompanying online article—sparked an animated discussion whether it was alarming, or just alarmist.

On Tuesday, Toronto FC captain Torsten Frings, who recently underwent surgery for a hip injury, announced he was retiring from soccer after 18 seasons. The German-born midfielder was one of Toronto FC’s brightest lights—no small thing for a team that’s faced more than its share of hard knocks. Fans said goodbye to Toronto’s biggest soccer star via an outpouring of Twitter love.

Roll Up the Rim season is back, and the annual marketing stunt-cum-national event is a bit more exciting this year: Tim Hortons has introduced new prizes, including 100 pre-paid MasterCards worth $5,000 each. But, as always, donut-loving Canucks are much more likely to get one of the 47 million food-and-beverage payouts. Timbit, anyone?

That massive dump of snow that seems to have disappeared as quickly as it arrived was especially vexing for streetcar riders. Over 100 incidents of streetcar blockage were caused by vehicles parked too far from curbs due to snowbanks crowding them out. On Twitter, the storm of outrage lasted long after the blizzard ended.

On Monday, GO Transit announced a “quiet zone” for trains heading to and from Barrie. Starting Feb. 11, riders in the top levels will be asked to mute their electronics and refrain from conversation. If successful, the three-month pilot project could be expanded system-wide. Torontonians took to social media to debate it, which is appropriate: On Twitter, no one can hear you rant.

On a warm, rainy Tuesday in January, Toronto’s Parks and Environment Committee discussed how Earth’s warmer future will stress our infrastructure in the coming decades (spoiler alert: it’s not looking good). Complicating things was committee chair, councillor Norm Kelly, who expressed skepticism about the whole premise of climate change.

On Monday, Torontonian Elsa La Rosa complained to the TTC that too many people were blocking bus and streetcar aisles with strollers, and suggested a two-stroller limit during rush hour. TTC CEO Andy Byford quashed that idea, along with proposals for a surcharge on stroller users, but has asked staff to study how the bulky baby-carriers can be better accommodated.

Don’t call it an orgy: The U of T Sexual Education Centre (SEC) will host an “epic sex adventure” on Jan. 21 at Oasis Aqua Lounge (a sex club) to kick off Sexual Awareness Week. The SEC requests students keep it in their pants until 7 p.m., when the “party becomes clothing-optional.” (They also remind partygoers that no one is required to have sex.) On Twitter, the mood was best described as “shocked/bemused.”

Following the news that the NHL lockout was coming to an end, club owners began sending letters of remorse to fans.* The Leafs’ message didn’t contain the words “sorry” or “apology,” but the sentiment was implied—and, for most the most part, reluctantly accepted, even as fans continued to nurse a slight grudge over the whole debacle.

CORRECTION, JANUARY 9, 2012: The original version of this article contained an incorrect link. It has since been updated.

As the Gardiner Expressway continues to slowly fall apart, Toronto’s political class can’t agree what to do with the city’s main commuter artery: lease it, bury it, toll it? Councillor Adam Vaughan even suggested selling it off for a big cash windfall, an idea councillor Shelley Carroll called an “insane fantasy.” The city’s tweeters were divided, but agreed on one thing: The Gardiner may be the scariest thing in Toronto.