Mattea Roach is kind of smart

That Mattea Roach is kind of smart. The 23-year-old Halifax native has the eighth-longest streak in “Jeopardy!” history. Monday she secured her 15th straight win. In doing so, Mattea achieved the 10th highest winnings of anyone in the show’s regular-season history, a tidy US$352,781. She has answered 93 percent of clues correctly through her 15 games so far. Her streak – the longest held by a Canadian contestant – has earned her a spot in the show’s Tournament of Champions, which is set to air in the fall. Mattea Roach now works in Toronto as a tutor.

Testing the Eglinton LRT

The Toronto Star says that the TTC and Metrolinx are having trouble agreeing on just how to run the Eglinton LRT. The system is jointly owned by the City and Ontario government in what is called a complex public-private partnership (P3) model. Although the midtown transit line is set to begin service in a matter of months, the two bodies have been unable to agree on whether trains should run every 5 minutes or every 3 minutes and 10 seconds at peak times. The issue is money with the City trying to save a bit. And the Star has found a transit expert who says aspects of the LRT agreement are “exceedingly awkward” and at least have the potential to lead to disputes. Metrolinx and the TTC haven’t always had a good working relationship. They initially disagreed on the LRT design and have sparred over the Presto fare card system. Toronto Star

Elon Musk has done it. Shows you what $44 billion can do. Now there is massive worry on many sides about what it will mean for freaky Twitter jibber. Or should we say free speech?

But maybe he just dislikes stupid people

Here’s a US professor whose solution to social media “blackmail” is to somehow or other remove the 20 percent of stupid people who cause it. Hmm.

Twitter testing a way for you to hide from the stupid

And Twitter has announced that it is testing a new way for users to remove themselves from conversations they don’t want to be a part of. The company calls this “unmentioning” and while it’s only a test for now, it’s one many Twitter users weary from years of harassment would be happy to test drive.

TPS map showing auto theft this year in 53 Division

Two hits in four months for family near Southvale and Rolph/Google

The costly nature of car theft extends to the damage done to the vehicle even if the thieves fail. This plaintive post tells of the expensive repairs required to a Toyota Highlander after two recent attempts within four months near Southvale Drive and Rolph Rd. TPS Crime Stats Map

Many on social media think they can see signs of ill health in Vladimir Putin. It’s certainly not conclusive but the 70-year-old autocrat is seen in posts below which can be interpreted as signs of some anxiety or infirmity.

Toronto will launch a “major spring pothole repair blitz” this weekend. Weather permitting, City crews will be busy on expressways, major roads and neighbourhood streets. Some 40 crews totalling about 100 orange-jackets will work a 12-hour shift from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday to repair as many potholes as possible.

Dancing on the beach/Colin Mcconnell

These flexible canines are dancing on the beach. Comments to this post by photographer Colin Mcconnell are fun. One wag captioned it “OMG Garlic Breath”. FB

Work is scheduled to begin in May on maintenance to the CP Rail bridge over Eglinton east of Leslie Street.

Shamsa Al Balush

Rachel Gilmore

Avery Cormier

Faces, faces. And this post begins with Shamsa Al Balush, the woman who survived a nasty shove onto subway tracks last Sunday. “I’m terrified,” Shamsa told CP24. “The way I felt, the way I was pushed, is just crazy.” We couldn’t agree more. Then there’s Global News gal Rachel Gilmore who employs YouTube’s newly-adopted app with phone-shaped images called Shorts. It’s an anti-TikTok thing. Rachel says you may be further ahead to rent than buy but many comments seem to doubt that. Lastly, we see plucky teenager Avery Cormier who chased a burglar out of her mom’s home with a pair of kitchen knives. Then she had the wits to turn on a camera that recorded the guy’s truck. He’s in jail.

Someone in Ontario is waking up $60 million richer. There was a single jackpot-winning ticket sold in Tuesday’s Lotto Max draw. The draw also included 10 Maxmillions of $1 million each, and three of them were claimed, all sold in Ontario as well.

Netflix ponders “ad tier”

The loss of members to competing services like Disney has prompted Netflix to say it is thinking about adding a so-called “ad tier” to the offering. An ad tier is seen in CBC streaming where a viewer can watch the GEM service with or without ads.

Ontario to change real estate bidding rules

The Ontario government is introducing new real estate regulations that would allow home sellers to share bids on their property and disclose the details of competing offers. As the system stands now, individuals looking to put an offer on a home do so blindly, without knowing how much their competitors are offering above the asking price. The new regulation will give sellers the option to “opt for an open offer process.” CTV

Light coating

But slippery

A light coating of wet snow is a common mid-April occurrence. The week is warming up as we move along. These scenes are in Moore Park.