WARNING: The video is disturbing. It shows a painful but non-lethal electrocution of a defendant on the order of a judge in a Maryland courtroom apparently because the man would not stop his presentation when the judge told him to do so.

The minister of municipal affairs will bring in legislation to permit towns and cities to employ ranked balloting in their civic elections. Sadly, Toronto has turned its back on this concept.  The council voted last October in a breathtaking reversal of a committment to democratic reform to stay with the present first past the post system. In simple terms, ranked ballots permit voters to have two choices for an offiice, first and second. This then permits a run off count so that the ultimate victor has a true majority of the vote. It is quite common in local elections,  and elsewhere, for candidates to be elected with as little as 30 percent of the ballots cast. CBC  City Council backs away from ranked ballots for 2018

Air France flight attendants have complained to the airline about having to wear head coverings and related modesty-inspired dress when they work the airline’s new flight to Tehran. It is one of a number of cultural issues that has arisen since the rapprochement with Iran. Another was a complaint from the Iranians that wine would be served at lunch with the Premier. He promptly cancelled lunch and said anyone in France can drink whatever they like.

Everyone will make his own assessment of this encounter. The Premier met with Black Lives Matter demonstrators outside the Legislature and seemed to accomplish an understanding about how meetings may be held. The demonstrators were fully engaged with personal complaints of “police brutality” against them and the failure of Ms Wynne to use the words  “anti-black racism.”  She said she had used them. She said she believed there is “systemic anti-black racism.”  We shall see where it goes.

A ceremony to officially name Stickney Avenue in Leaside will be held Sunday, May 15, 2016 at noon on the street. As many will already know, the City has approved the re-naming of Markham Ave. to Stickney Ave in honour of David Stickney, a much-loved mathematics teacher, coach and friend at Leaside High School. Mr. Stickney died of a heart attack a year ago this May while coaching a baseball team. Markham Ave is a short  street running from Airdrie Road to Laird Drive. The committee which raised the money to provide fitting memorials to Stickney will also place a bench at the top of the steps leading down from Cameron Crescent to the Talbot Park baseball diamond. The balance of some $15,000 raised by the committee will be directed to The Leaside Scholarship Fund.

Here is the CBC and Weather Network summary and forecast for an April morning. Ugh.

Councillor Mary Fragedakis and Mayor Tory are seen with Georgia at the Greek Independence Day Parade held Sunday afternoon on the Danforth.. The parade was well attended and saw the presence of Premier Wynne and other office holders from the area. It was a cold day for a march. Other photos at the mayor’s Twitter account. 

The 150-foot harbor bay cruis ship San Diego Hornblower lost control of rearward propulsion and slammed into the dock where dozens of tourists and sightseers were waiting. Everyone on shore scattered and one man can be seen helping an elderly woman to get out of the way. Passengers aboard suffered minor injuries as they were thrown to the deck by the collision with the dock.

Here is a scary bit of video of a woman driving the wrong way on Highway 401 near Kitchener on Saturday afternoon. It was posted on Facebook but this version is embedded from Global News. The couple shooting the video are quite terrified and call OPP.  “It looks like an elderly lady and she’s driving very fast in the right hand lane shoulder,” the woman can be heard saying to police. Police stopped the driver without incident. Amazing.

The Leaside Hockey Association minor peewee division (girls and boys 10 and 11) had a playoff Saturday on April 2, 2016 and it was the South Bayview Bulldog (Bulldogs) team versus Humphrey’s VIP squad for top honours.  There were three games on the Bert F. Grant rink at Leaside Gardens for 5th place, 3rd place and for 1st place. After a hard-fought three periods it was Humphrey’s collecting gold with the Bulldogs taking silver. Final score was VIPs 6, Bulldogs 4. Well done everyone with thanks from parents and sponsors for a lot of fun at the arena. Other division sponsors are  Gyro Mazda, Laird and Son Heating and Air, Onodaga Camp and Forest Hill Orthodontic

At least two people have died and dozens injured after a motorway pile up in China’s eastern Jiangsu province between Shanghai and Nanjing. A traffic police officer said at least two trucks, three buses and twenty cars were involved.