Authorities detained a British woman for allegedly going against a civil order and playing extremely loud music, causing disturbance within the neighborhood. According to local police, 33-year old Tracey Kirby, mother of three, insisted on playing Madonna songs at full blast, despite the local court sending an anti-social behavior order (Asbo) and retrieving her stereo in response to the complaints of local residents. Neighbors claim that the woman had violated the order a total of 11 times, continuously playing songs from what was apparently her favorite musical artist.

Education Minister Kathleen Wynne had sent an investigator to review the books of the Toronto Catholic School Board over its inability to manage its expenses. The probe comes in the aftermath of a report that the board's trustees spent excessively, particularly on benefit packages that cost taxpayers on the average $107,218 per trustee. Heading the investigation team will be Pierre Filitrault, a former senior business official of the same board. Wynne gave Filitrault one week to go over the books and management practices of the school board.

Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier continues to be hot copy. After his diplomatic faux pas in Afghanistan and questions over his former girlfriend's links with biker gang members, there is now a question over his excessive airfare. According to the Toronto Star, Bernier charged to federal funds $22,573 to cover his airfare to Laos, where he attended a two-day conference in November. The trip included a stopover in Paris. Bernier's travel details were in the Foreign Affair Department's website.

An audit will be conducted on the trustees of the Toronto Catholic District School Board after Ontario discovered excessive spending by the trustees. Despite the lack of legal authority, the trustees voted for themselves medical, dental and life insurance coverages, plus a yearly $8,604 car allowance. Those with excess funds from their discretionary budgets were generous to schools, charities and sports groups of their preference, which were not authorized under the country's Education Act.

It all began 30 years ago today. The mother lode of all spam - the bane of everyone's online existence - was first sent out via the U. S. Defense Department's Arpanet by a salesman named Gary Thuerk. The first junk mail or "Spam" as we know it today, was an invitation for a demo of the new system-20 mini computers being marketed by the Digital Equipment Corp.