Audra Brown of City News at Humphrey’s training wall

Big boy is a good boy when trainer wants to check his paws, give him a shot etc.

All on board escaped injury after a Fly Jamaica jet bound for Toronto had to turn around and return to a Guyanese airport after the aircraft hydraulics started to fail. Close call. Next, a harrowing look inside the cars of people trying to escape California wildfires. They pray and sing to keep children calm in truly terrifying circumstances. Below that, Uber is caught between the security value of video in its cars and silly drivers who post personal conversations online. What to do? Finally, let’s visit Toronto Zoo where an eight-foot bear named Humphrey seems docile and obedient at his “training wall.”

From left Susan Scandiffio, Serena Wilson, 7, Elizabeth Wilson and Karen Siddiqi gather to fill a purse for a sister/Bulldog

The work begins

The Midtown Fill-A-Purse-For-A-Sister Campaign is nearing the end of its three-month push to obtain and fill purses for women in need. As the December 1 deadline approaches, three members of the group with children helping were busy in the Davisville home of Karen Siddiqi filling purses and bags. They estimate there may be more than 400 purses to be shared with those at places like the Red Door Shelter and Eva’s Place For Teens. Last year the total was about 80. But this year, for example, group member Susan Scandiffio has some 200 purses in her basement alone. Much interest came from a post by Elizabeth Wilson to the employee intra net at CIBC headquarters downtown. That initiative produced 100 purses all filled. Fill A Purse For A Sister was created by Markham social worker Angel Freedman in 2015. The Midtown group was inspired by Ms. Siddiqi who learned of Freedman’s work via social media and then started the Midtown Fill A Purse Facebook page.

MANY ARE HELPING

The spirit of Fill A Purse touched two students from Bishop Strachan School. They are Kyra Hillier and Charlotte Tilley. They sorted and filled purses and Kyra made a direct request to Shoppers Drug Mart and the Shandex Group to make a donation of items for the campaign. These firms came through, helping to fill more purses. It is a triumph of decency and goodwill like others seen across the community. One can only imagine how much such purses full of life’s necessities and needs — toiletries, socks, gloves, scarves, lipstick and so on — mean to women who have essentially nothing.

Kyra Hillier

Charlotte Tilley

The annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show returned to Manhattan’s Pier 94 Thursday night after two years abroad (Paris 2016 and Shanghai 2017). The night marked the end of an era for one Victoria’s Secret Angel Adriana Lima. The supermodel hung up her wings with an emotional tribute, retiring from the fashion show that made her a household name. The show will be televised December 2.

A number of condtional passes have been granted to Toronto eating places including the Hero Certified Burgers location at 1627 Bayview Ave. Hero Certified has 20 locations in Toronto and the GTA. A list of conditional passes issued by Toronto Public Health.

Emile Ratelband

Hania Aguilar

Chris Crippen

Oh those Dutch. They are Canada’s best friends from way back but they have some funny ideas. TV personality Emile Ratelband, at left, is taking legal action to lower his age by 20 years in a move he says will push back against age discrimination and boost his dating prospects. Apparently a court has agreed to hear this physical impossibility. Some might call it fibbing. Then at centre, the desperate search for Hania Aguilar has brought a $15,000 reward from the FBI. The North Carolina 13-year-old was taken from her front yard in a brazen abduction as she waited for her mom and dad to drive her to school. At right, Chris Crippen, the former drummer of Hedley, has some ugly things to say about Jacob Hoggard’s conduct with female fans.

A 59-year-old woman is dead and 32-year-old man has been rushed to hospital after they were struck by a vehicle that jumped the a curb in Scarborough. Emergency crews were called to the scene near Birchmount and Ellesmere Rds just before 7 a.m. Friday.

Prime Minister Trudeau is hinting that he expects a settlement in the three-week old postal strike or else. He said Thursday that “all options” are on the table and that he is looking for a “significant resolution”

TRANSIT TSAR?

Mayor Tory says he is looking for a  “transit tsar” to  be a “point man” for all the many transit plans, issues and hiccups that beset Toronto. The notion of a highly-paid “tsar” added to the civic bureaucracy telling other well-paid bosses what to do may not be everyone’s dearest wish. At least it isn’t a highly-paid “night mayor” to preside over Toronto’s night life. That idea seems to be dormant for now.

STATSCAN SNOOPING PLAN CANCELLED

Statistics Canada’s has been told to stand down on its inflammatory plan to order the chartered banks to hand over the transaction records of 500,000 customers so it can somehow make use of information.  StatsCan recently caught nine financial institutions off guard by informing them they were required to provide the information. The ensuing public outrage has put a spotlight on Canada’s privacy laws, which critics have called outdated and inadequate in an era where privacy fears are deepening and data is becoming an increasingly valuable commodity. A national petition was started to stop the scheme.

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Reports from Cabo San Lucas say that Leslie Sole and Terri Michael died in a head-on collision with a pickup truck. It was so violent that the driver of the truck died too. Mexican police who went to the couple’s retirement home there were met by Sole’s mother, Violet, who was visiting them from Vancouver. They had to break the news to her that both were dead. FYI Music News  Global News

 Bombardier is cutting 5,000 jobs over the next 12 to 18 months as part of a cost-cutting effort. Most of the layoffs, about 2,500, will be in Quebec but there is also concern in the UK where the firm employs people at 21 sites including Belfast, Brighton and Derby.

Mabel Elmore

Her advertised welfare breakfast

Real cost of food

The South Bayview Bulldog has advanced the knowledge of human behaviour over the years by documenting the use of Other People’s Money (OPM). This exercise is not about corruption or malfeasance but rather deals with the survival instinct that prompts us to avoid spending our own money when we can spend someone else’s. It seems rooted in primordial times although there was no money when we lived in trees. This time it’s BC NDP MLA Mabel Elmore who expensed $61 a day in food purchases during a $19 a day welfare challenge. Ms. Elmore is very upset with herself and has paid back the difference but in the end it was easy to do because she was using OPM. Instinct just kicked in. It’s a little appreciated human weakness that needs work.

There’s a possibility of snow across Southern Ontario Friday although the chances of a white Friday in South Bayview may be less likely. Next week may well see flurries here. Be ready.  Weather Network