Top headlines from Vancouver and beyond for October 25 2011:

Time is running out for Occupy Vancouver protesters, The Globe’s Gary Mason opines. The looming November 19 civic elections are sure to make the protest a hot issue in the coming weeks, with no clear wins for Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver. Kick them out and there will surely be physical confrontation (Robertson’s Rampage, Mason suggests), leave them there and critics will attack the public health risk or the growing costs of policing the tent village.

The Vancouver Courier provides its analysis of their Friday morning mayoral debate, while managing to artfully avoid dealing with any issues of party policy.

Meanwhile, a new poll from Toronto’s Forum Research Inc. suggests that Mayor Robertson’s approval ratings are among the lowest in Canada.

A free trade agreement between the U.S. and Colombia has eliminated the tax exemption for Canadian, Mexican and Caribbean travelers entering America. Visitors from Canada will soon be required to pay a $5.50 tax if arriving by air or sea.

The Crown is appealing the sentence handed to a known drug-dealer who slit a stranger’s throat with boxcutters during the 2010 Winter Olympics. A Vancouver Provincial Court Judge gave Christopher Hurtado a double-time credit for time served, plus an additional two years in jail and two years probation for the crime. Crown prosecutors were originally seeking a 10 to 12 year sentence.

BORED AT WORK BONUS: For the grammar nerds out there: Irony Punctuation