Summerhill and Rosedale residents like to call Yonge their main street and this pretty photo shows why. It was taken by the Yonge and Roxborough News blog.

News reports say the Italian railway system depends on a 19th Century procedure to keep trains from colliding on the stretch of single track where 23 people died yesterday. The accident occurred near the southern City of Bari. There is no automatic system to stop or even alert trains that they might on the same track. Instead, say officials, engineers relied upon the station master to phone ahead to tell other station masters to tell other engineers that a train was leaving. Red Cross workers on Wednesday were shuttling family members to the morgue in Bari, the regional capital, to help identify the dead. Coroner Franco Introna told the ANSA news agency that 22 bodies were at the morgue, with a 23rd expected to arrive later from Andria.

The Anglican Church of Canada seems deeply divided tonight — and a little confused — after it reversed itself on the question of allowing same-sex marriage. It was believed the vote had narrowly rejected that resolution but when a recount was held a similarly narrow victory for same-sex union was recorded.  To pass, the resolution required two-thirds of each of three orders — lay, clergy and bishops. The clergy failed to reach that threshold by that one vote. But that vote was there, not counted amongst clergy because it got mixed up with the lay order vote. The error was discovered after delegates requested a detailed hard copy of the electronic voting records.

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Two passenger trains collided head-on Tuesday morning in a rural area of southeastern Italy, killing at least 23 people, a medical official said, and prompting authorities to ask for blood donations for a number of injured. Pictures from the scene in the Puglia region in “the boot” of Italy show both trains were on the same track about 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of the Adriatic Sea.

A group of Davisville area residents known only to themselves at this point have circulated a petition to the City asking for an investigation into the possibility of a traffic light at the corner Bayview Ave. and Davisville Ave. It is a busy corner, and a tricky one. The idea might be rejected because northbound traffic already backs up past Davisville when the light is red at Millwood Rd. Still, the corner is difficult enough for pedestrians that the suggestion it should be reviewed. Sponsors of the petition are asked to say hello to the South Bayview Bulldog. 

The Urban Nature store on Brentcliffe Rd. in the Dawsco Plaza has extended its hours. You can shop for pet goods, birdhouses and feeder equipment, bat houses (they eat mosquitoes) and a host of other garden and nature goods up til 8 p.m. Wednesday and til 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

A young woman who was slashed by a still unidentified man on Danforth Ave. east of Pape Ave. Saturday, June 27 has been befriended and given support by a local mother’s Facebook group. Alicia Taylor, 24, was slashed twice on the face in an unprovoked attack by a man she had never seen before. As reported by the CBC, she fell backwards, blacked out and lost a litre of blood before paramedics could help her. A member of the East Toronto Young Mothers Facebook group, Tiffanie Yarema, heard about Alicia and flagged the case to the 2,400 members. She learned that Alicia had a five-month-old baby and works two jobs to make ends meet. She works full-time for Canada Post, and also works as a bartender. Sunday  night Alicia was able to meet Tiffanie and receive the gifts and donations offered by the group valued at more than $1,000. Police say the man is believed to be black and was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. CBC

 

The Pokemon Go app will seem curious to many people who have real things to do with their time but there is no denying this variation on a previous generation’s pastime is very hot with kids. It is not your dad’s Pokemon and it may be dangerous. If a “beacon” tells kids to head down a dark alley at 2 a.m. we’re hoping young fans will think twice. Still to be released in Canada and how to get it now. 

A story in the Wall Street Journal has taken note of the not-so-new trend in mall shopping away from full up department stores. Some may ask so what. It’s now 17 year since Eaton’s went bankrupt and there are kids who ask “Mom, what’s an Eaton’s?” But the finer points of this trend include the capacity of malls to do better with something like the Cheescake Factory where there used to be a Sears or J.C. Penney. Today, according the WSJ, customers are less interested in hulking department stores than speciality shops and places with racks and racks of fashions. At mall operator Simon, for example, new tenants are Forever 21 (fashion) Target and European fast-fashion shop Primark, which entered the U.S. market by slipping in into former Sears stores. Then there’s Canadian owned (The Bay) Nordstrom which is said to be soldiering on against slumping times in the U.S. Let’s hope this mark and its parent are able to attract customers here.

Yes, it’s true that Theresa May will become prime minister on Wednesday when David Cameron resigns, but the UK, and the rest of the civilized world, is waiting for Ghostbusters, the women’s edition. Helping this along is the appearance out of the floor of London’s Waterloo station of the menacing Stay Puft man. From the trailer above, the sequel is just as loony as the original. What fun. It opens in Toronto Friday.