When you regularly threaten nuclear war and frequently kill off your own associates, there’s always a chance someone might try to assassinate you. According to CNN, the South Korean government says it has a plan to take out the quirky North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (Stable) and so do some of his nervous elite. He’s bumped off 64 of them so far this year.

Also in Your World Friday, Filipino expatriates, of whom there are a lot in Canada, may be wondering what’s going on back home. The new president, Rodrigo Duterte, has turned on the U.S. and embraced China. He says he may also ally himself with Putin. And Shania Twain has been honoured at the Country Music Television Artists of the Year awards giving her a chance to reflect on her long career.

The unwelcome series of before-and-after daylight pedestrian accidents this week reminds us that crossing the street is a learned skill. Sadly, too many pedestrians embark on this tricky passage without thinking it through. Safety experts say walkers — young and old alike — should train themselves to think about just how they are going to get from one side to the other in one piece. Such a plan is proof we’re carrying our “pedestrian walking permit”. Those who cross friendly Bayview Ave. in mid-block have only two lanes to navigate. A judicious use of stopped traffic when the lights are red pretty much guarantees a safe crossing.

LIVE TO SEE THE SPRING

But this is the point no matter where you are. One can’t just bounce off the sidewalk in the expectation that there will be enough time to get to the other side. This can be fatally true on four lane streets like Mt. Pleasant and Eglinton where cars can enter the street unexpectedly at a corner and leave a pedestrian stranded in the middle. Make a plan and judge your crossing time against the amount and speed of traffic. Live to see the Spring, okay?

The Gardiner Expressway will be closed all weekend from Carlaw Avenue and Highway 427 for annual maintenance. Closure occurs at 11 p.m. on Friday and remains in place until 5 a.m. on Monday. Motorists are advised to use Lake Shore Boulevard, the Queensway, King Street, Bloor Street and Evans Avenue.

Ali Velshi has been hired by MSNBC starting this week, channel president Phil Griffin announced Tuesday. Velshi is a Northern Secondary School alumnus and his sister, Ishrath Velshi, lives locally and was a candidate for Council for Ward 26 in 2014. His father Murad Velshi was MPP for Don Mills from 1987 to 1990. As a young reporter, Ali Velshi was employed by CFTO-TV and by the CTV Network. He most recently worked for Al Jazeera America, which closed down earlier this year. He worked for CNN and in 2011 hosted American Morning in an anchor-trio with Carole Costello and Christine Romans. In making the announcement, Griffin said Ali Velshi’s  “sharp economic analysis will be a valuable asset to MSNBC as we dig deeper into every angle of the news and build on our ratings momentum in all dayparts”.

As many as 190,000 Ontario high school students waited for close to two hours for a province-wide literacy test to appear online before being told that organizers had given up on the project for the day. Technical failures — previously known as Garbage In Garbage Out — seem to have defeated well-meaning officials of the Education, Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), which was responsible for overseeing the standardized test. They at first called the failure “a minor technical issue” but later, as students filled Twitter with sarcastic remarks about being tested for their patience instead of literacy, admitted they just didn’t know what had gone wrong. “We regret to inform you that we have cancelled today’s assessment,” EQAO said on Twitter about three hours after the test’s scheduled start time. “We acknowledge that we are experiencing widespread technical issues with the online #OSSLT network.”

All power in the Thorncliffe Park area has been restored. If you're still without power, please report to 416-542-8000 (press 1).

— Toronto Hydro (@TorontoHydro) October 20, 2016

The story of residents opposed to a housing scheme for lands quite close to the Toronto-Hamilton rail line continues with accusations that federal MP James Maloney (Liberal Etobicoke-Lakeshore) has been asking Metrolinx to withdraw its objection. The CBC says that Mr. Maloney rents a constituency office from the president of the developer, Dunpar Homes. CBC

The Leaside Towers apartment buildings remain without electricity Thursday morning after an outage occurred at about 3 a.m. in the area. Power has been restored to one Thorncliffe Park building but two remain in the dark.

Reporter @JustineLewkowic is outside the Thorncliffe high-rise buildings that have had no hydro since 3:30am pic.twitter.com/x4of3UyEL0

— NEWSTALK1010 (@NEWSTALK1010) October 20, 2016

Thorncliffe Park outage update: crews continue to make repairs and hope to have power restored by late afternoon. pic.twitter.com/HHHUohAO5g

— Toronto Hydro (@TorontoHydro) October 20, 2016

People who understand party politics will get a chuckle out of the Prime Minister’s observation (in French) that Canadians are less interested in electoral reform now that the Conservatives have been defeated. Or is it that his party’s practical ladies and gentleman of the back room have said he ought not to rush into an arrangement where the Commons contains curious splinter parties (not counting the NDP) which might jeopardize a Liberal majority if the next election (or any election) is close. Just imagine the Tories teaming up with the Libertarians, Family Value Farmers, Flat Tax Axe Party and God knows who else to make the life of a Liberal minority government pure hell. Why invite that calamity on nice Liberal MPs anyway?

PARTIES WHICH CAN’T SEEM TO WIN

The voguish cry that there is a Democratic Deficit, whatever that might be, seems to live in the minds of those who don’t believe in the old rule of winner take all. Or, as some might say, the parties that can’t seem to win. Mr. Trudeau had committed during the election campaign to sorting out vote percentages and giving out seats on that basis.  Maybe the Dog Leash Party could actually sit in the House. But hey, why not just insert a plank in the Liberal campaign platform that promises Dog Leashes for All.  Now, will Liberal MPs who have planned serious seminars about electoral reform this fall and winter decide instead to hold a party? Certainly hope so. See also: MP Oliphant to convene meetings on democracy this fall 

The informative Metrolinx meeting at Eglinton Public School Wednesday night saw a good crowd of residents asking questions about the Eglinton LRT construction. As is the format at these meetings, storyboards which told the story were placed around the room. Most importantly, this winter will see at least three months excavation on Eglinton and Mt. Pleasant as crews build the underground part of the Mt. Pleasant stop. This will mean the road will be narrowed and at some points vehicles will travel over wooden planks and concrete cover. Traffic at the intersection will be reduced to one lane north and south as well as one lane east and west. Only after the underground work is finished will the 1920 stones of the Imperial Bank bulding be put back together on the northwest corner to form the above-ground part of the main station. At present the long-time site of the bank is merely a hole in the ground. Large doors to accommodate heavy pedestrian traffic will be inserted on the Mt. Pleasant side but the gracious corner front door (Palladian style) will also be a working entrance with retail business of some sort inside. Nice. Below, a picture of the secondary entrance also on the north of side of Eglinton east of The Moore retirement home which is on the northeast corner.

The streets of Hamelin were no more vacant after the Pied Piper did his dirty work than are Toronto’s during a 4 p.m playoff game between the Jays and the Indians. This is the scene on Laird Drive Tuesday during rush hour as the home team got to work against Cleveland. Many would have been happy to stay off the roads for a week to see the Jays win this series but it was not to be.

Leonardo Cornacchia, a long-time friend and barber on Bayview Ave., has died at age 76. An obituary posted today says Leo died suddenly although it was known that he had reluctantly retired last year from the barber shop that he owned for decades at 1693 Bayview in the face of serious pneumonia and apparent related respiratory difficulties. His obit suggests donations to the Canadian Lung Association. Leo Cornacchia is survived by his wife of 53 years, Maria, and by daughters Paula (Rocco Volpe) and Fernanda (Paul Bertani), and by grandchildren Adrian, Juliana, Christian and Anthony. Visitation will take place at the Highland Funeral Home (3280 Sheppard Avenue East, 416-773-0933) on Thursday, October 20, 2016, from 2 to 4, and 6 to 9 pm. A funeral mass will be held at St. Lawrence Martyr Roman Catholic Church (2210 Lawrence Avenue East) on Friday, October 21, 2016 at 10 am. Entombment to follow at Highland Memory Gardens (33 Memory Gardens Lane) with a celebration of life to be held at Le Parc Banquet Hall (8432 Leslie Street, Leslie St and Hwy 7) at 1 pm.  Arbor Memorial