Dining: The owners of Bar Toto and Bar Tano — the sleek, Euro-modern bar-cafes — are expanding their mini-empire to include an all-day cafe in the Eighth Avenue storefront just vacated by the failed Pumpkins Organic Market, The Brooklyn Paper has learned. Comment.

Red Hook: Four masked men held up a charter bus company on Sigourney Street in a brazen midday heist on Nov. 25 that was reminiscent of Red Hook’s lawless past — except this robbery came with a twist: someone called to tipoff the victim seconds before the crime went down. Comment.

Smartmom: If it’s Tuesday, it must be Smartmom day at BrooklynPaper.com. This week, Smartmom’s family makes Hepcat feel welcome at the Thanksgiving table — as always. Comment.

Clinton Hill: Yes, those are city summonses — 116 of ‘em to be exact — all written by one Sanitation enforcement agent. Now a Clinton Hill pet-grooming shop is in danger of going under. Comments (2).

Spa: We work our interns pretty damn hard over here and we certainly don’t pay them in anything except matchless experience — so we were pleased when we heard that Susan Stratton of Sage Spa in Park Slope was offering free massages to “deserving individuals in special need of some personal pampering and care.” Comments (1).

TV: MTV gave The Brooklyn Paper a screener of the first episode of “Real World: Brooklyn,” now filming in Red Hook. Naturally, rapier-wielding critic Sarah Portlock has a strong opinion. Comment.

Downtown: Claudia Corwin, a community leader and the longtime president of the board of directors of the Concord Village complex in Downtown Brooklyn, died suddenly on Nov. 25. She was 61. Comment.

Park Slope: The nation’s financial behemoths and auto giants reacted to the financial downturn by asking for more money; Robert Amato of Park Slope’s Tempo restaurant is asking for less. Comment.

Shopping: The Brooklyn Paper’s annual holiday gift guide. Comment.

Music: The term “the new Dylan” gets thrown around a lot, sometimes with success (Bruce Springsteen, Bright Eyes), other times prematurely (Jakob Dylan) — but, heck, let’s do it again: Frank Hoier is the new Dylan. With video … Comment.

Mean Streets: Opposition to newly painted bike lanes on Kent Avenue is so strong in Williamsburg’s Hasidic community that one Orthodox leader vows that the faithful will block traffic if the city does not remove the cycling routes. Comments (35).

Downtown plan: The Swedish cheap-chic clothing store H&M will come to Fulton Mall next year, making it one of the first tenants in a giant glass-walled mall at Bridge Street. Comments (1).

Shopping: Some like it hot, but here in Williamsburg, most like it dark. Comment.

Coney Island: The city has budgeted $200 million in taxpayer money to buy privately held land and make other improvements in Coney Island as part of its turnaround plan for down-on-its-luck neighborhood. Comments (2).

Link: If it’s Wednesday, it’s Police Blotter day on BrooklynPaper.com. Find your neighborhood below or click the link above to get a full list.

Cinema: If you don’t attend a night of short films at a Williamsburg gallery next week, then you might be looking for love (and lust) in all the wrong places. Comments (1).

Park Slope: The postal service says it will deliver mail come rain, sleet or snow — but city marshals, well, that’s another thing. Comment.

Fashion: When Barack and Michelle Obama move into the White House, some people will be watching more than just how the First Couple solves the financial crisis. Comment.

Waiting in the Wings: A Manhattan-based troupe prepares its big play on Brooklyn gentrication. Comment.

Theater: No, the two men running around the stage wearing dresses and cursing about a son on parole or the filthy language of Christmas carols aren’t part of a ribald holiday drag show at the Gallery Players; they’re bringing to life all 22 characters in “A Tuna Christmas.” Comment.

Clinton Hill: The worst may be over for merchants along Fulton Street in Clinton Hill after suffering through years of roadwork that turned the commercial corridor into a retail graveyard. Comment.

Cinema: Short films are getting their moment in the spotlight in two different mini-festivals next week. Comment.

DUMBO: They’re always watching. Comment.

Bay Ridge: The aria-loving owner of Dyker Heights’ da Tommaso restaurant sang a different tune in a Brooklyn federal court this month, amid charges that he stiffed his own workers. Comment.

Letters: Once again, our readers respond to our reports. Comments (1).

Parenting: This week’s fun things to do with your kids. Comment.

All the community meetings you should be going to. Comment.

Bay Ridge: A Bay Ridge educator wants to build a floating science lab in the shadow of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge — but the city says his dream is dead in the water. Comments (1).