City’s gift to taxpayers of Toronto and East York

The Toronto Star has published an editorial urging City Council, when it meets Nov 25 and 26, to approve snow clearance for all sidewalks across Toronto. Right now, sidewalks are cleared in Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough but not in Toronto and East York. This unfair arrangement is a hangover from the days of Metropolitan Toronto and more than 20 years later is an offense to taxpayers of the inner City.

Environment Canada has issued a warning of strong winds gusting up to 90 km/h Sunday afternoon and evening. It says a strengthening low-pressure system is forecast to track across northeastern Ontario. This system is expected to bring southerly winds gusting up to 70 km/h Sunday morning. Winds will then shift to the west and strengthen with isolated gusts up to 90 km/h beginning late Sunday afternoon. Winds are expected to ease Sunday evening.

What’s the best mask? CBC Marketplace consulted the U of T school of public health and found that one of the best is the cheap, replaceable surgical kind you can buy at the corner drugstore. Then, President Trump has not conceded the US election but he at least alluded to a future administration at a subduced news conference. Below that, the infamous Yorkshire Ripper has died in prison apparently from Covid-19. Finally, you may be happier in isolation with a pet. Who knows.

Shattered window reveals force of blast/Graham Paine@GPmedia_24

Several assessed by paramedics/Graham Paine@GPmedia_24

Authorities say a so-far unexplained explosion has collapsed the wall of a unit in an apartment building near Rathburn Road and Fieldgate Drive in Mississauga Friday. Peel Regional Paramedic Services told CP24 they assessed several people at the scene but no injuries have been reported by mid-morning. More as available.

The City will hold a Webex virtual meeting November 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. on the application to build a 13-storey condo at Yonge St. and Marlborough Ave. That’s the site of Staples (now closed) in the historic one-time Pierce-Arrow auto showroom. Many want the project lower at more like nine storeys. The street address is 1134-1140 Yonge and registration for the meeting is here.

Former Staples, 1140 Yonge was a Pierce-Arrow showroom

Fancy flivvers of bygone days at 1140 Yonge

Mansion sized home under construction burns down in Vaughan

Fire has destroyed a mansion-sized home under construction on Greenbrooke Drive between Weston Rd. and Pine Valley Drive in Vaughan Thursday. Many photos of the raging blaze were posted by the Vaughan Fire Department and area residents. Stunned neighbours watch the fire with familiar expletives. No one was hurt.

New statistical modelling from government wonks (educated guesses really) paints the darkest kind of picture of the winter months in Ontario. The vile choice is between a society overwhelmed with raging C-19 or the wreckage of a closed economy. Cynthia Mulligan with this widely foreseen and foreboding look into the next few weeks.

Some residents of Moore Park are raising questions about the appearance of 5G cell phone transmitters on hydro poles in their neighborhood. The equipment was installed over the summer by Rogers Communications in an apparently unannounced arrangement with Toronto Hydro. The transmitters sit at a much lower height than the well-known roof-top towers which are now a common part of urban landscapes. One resident, Rani Jamieson, is a mother of three sons. She has written to Rogers, Mayor Tory and Ward 11 Councillor Mike Layton asking for the equipment to be removed.

Moore Park Residents Association to discuss

The Moore Park Residents Association has put the question on its agenda. Just how widespread the Rogers roll-out has been or is intended is not known, although there have been sightings of the equipment elsewhere. CBC science writer Marc Montgomery has written on the advocacy of Dr. Anthony Miller of the University of Toronto. Dr. Miller has long expressed concern about the long-term effects of communications radiation. The American Cancer Society has written about the 5G issue.

Fifth generation (5G) cellular networks are now being rolled out in many parts of the United States and in other countries. 5G networks are capable of transmitting much larger amounts of data over shorter periods of time than previous generations (4G, 3G, etc.).

Earlier generation networks have used RF wavelengths below 6 gigahertz (GHz). 5G networks will use some wavelengths in this range, but will also use some higher frequency wavelengths, at the lower end of the millimeter wave spectrum (which ranges from 30 GHz to 300 GHz). While these RF waves are higher frequency (higher energy) than those used by older generations, they are still forms of non-ionizing radiation, so they still lack the ability to directly damage DNA.

The higher frequency waves used by 5G travel shorter distances and don’t go through objects (such as buildings, or even tree leaves) as well as lower frequency waves. Because of this, 5G networks require many more, smaller versions of base stations (often referred to as small cells) in some places, especially in densely populated areas. These small cells can be mounted on streetlights, utility poles, buildings, and other structures. This could result in the antennas being closer to people, although small cells typically operate at much lower power levels than the larger (macro) base stations.

The addition of the higher wavelengths from 5G networks could also expose people to more RF waves overall.

At the same time, these higher frequency RF waves are less able to penetrate the body than lower frequency waves, so in theory they might be less likely to have any potential health effects. But so far this issue has not been well studied.

At this time, there has been very little research showing that the RF waves used in 5G networks are any more (or less) of a concern than the other RF wavelengths used in cellular communication.

Disaster as properties teeter on edge of slide

Promises to replace trees fall by wayside

The ravine looking up to Thursfield Cres in 2012

They say the only thing engineers really have to worry about is gravity. Will the house fall down or bridge collapse? Or, will a landslide jeopardize the homes of innocent people in the name of mass transit. Up on Thursfield Cres. in north Leaside overlooking the Eglinton Ave. LRT, silence has fallen over the construction consortium Crosslinx in the wake of a project that has devastated the street. Three weeks after a road-widening left at least three properties in jeopardy. It seems the engineers are trying to figure out what to do. A release from residents detailing their futile resistance to the Thursfield horror story will leave most people wondering what on earth the contractor was thinking.

• Metrolinx rips up trees, shafts Thursfield Cres. homeowners

The Sunnybrook Veterans Centre’s Service of Remembrance was pre-recorded.