A compendium of links

Lightning loves the tower [Toronto Star]: Keraunophobes, don’t look up. The CN Tower is struck by lightning more frequently than any other structure in Toronto, according to a 15-year study by researchers at Ryerson University and the University of Toronto. Keraunophobia, the fear of lightning, is a condition that should send sufferers running from the tower during a storm, though a safe seat near the 553-metre building would provide a “spectacular lightning show,” the researchers suggest.

TOR STAR EDITORIAL: Don’t return Moscoe to TTC chair: Indications are that Howard Moscoe will not be returning for another stint as chair of the Toronto Transit Commission. If that happens, it will be a good move for the future of the city’s vast public transit system. Moscoe’s performance has been so awful that barely six months ago even he raised, on his own, the possibility of his stepping down after the Nov. 13 municipal election. But having recovered from what he called a moment of weakness, Moscoe recently announced he intended to stay on. That was unwise. And Mayor David Miller would have been similarly unwise if he let it happen.

Miller eyes parking lot tax [Toronto Star]: Mayor David Miller, freshly armed with new taxing powers by Queen’s Park, is considering the possibility of parking lot surcharges in downtown Toronto and North York’s city centre. And newly elected Toronto councillor Adam Vaughan said the city could perhaps go further, charging for city parking permits according to the size of the car you’re driving. “If you think about it, why should someone who drives a Hummer pay the same for a parking permit as someone who drives a Smart car?” Vaughan asked. “You could have a system where owners of cars that give off higher emissions pay more for parking permits.”

CHRISTOPHER HUME: TTC’s St. Clair plan is good — in theory [Toronto Star]: There is a better way; but around here it has nothing to do with the TTC. In classic Toronto style, this city’s transit commission seems unable to distinguish ends from means. There are many examples but none illustrates its constant confusion more than the St. Clair Ave. right-of-way. In theory, the idea is a good one. In practice, it will be much less so.Yes, Toronto needs enhanced public transit, and although subways are the best alternative, we have been told again and again that they are just too expensive for poor little old us.

Tax standoff could delay GO growth [Toronto Star]: The regional politicians on GO Transit’s board are playing a game of chicken with the province. And when the dust clears, the commuter could be left stranded by an inter-regional transit system unable to build out fast enough to meet demand. That’s the risk, according to Durham Region chairman Roger Anderson, who also sits on GO’s board. “There’s all sorts of things that could suffer: expansion of service; all-day service; extra tracks so we can get more trains moving east and west; the rehabilitation of Union Station,” says Anderson.

Miller’s task: let’s make a new deal [Globe and Mail]: On the night of his re-election romp last week, Toronto Mayor David Miller threw down the gauntlet with an audacious demand. “Tonight, you have given me a strong mandate to tell the Premier [of Ontario] and the Prime Minister that Toronto needs a one-cent share of the existing sales tax — and that we won’t take no for answer,” he declared, brandishing his 332,969-vote win as reason enough to cow Queen’s Park and Ottawa into submission. Hardly.

Within 24 hours of the mayor’s victory, the federal and provincial finance ministers bluntly delivered their own variation of “N-O,” a response the mayor shrugged off as low opening bids in a poker game.

New twist in Vaughan mayoral recount [Globe and Mail]: A fresh twist has been added to the simmering controversy over a recount of the Vaughan mayoral election. Yesterday, a lawyer for Mayor Michael Di Biase, who lost the Nov. 13 election by 90 votes to regional Councillor Linda Jackson, said he has asked city clerk John Leach to step aside from the recount expected next week because of comments made to The Globe and Mail this week.

Globe and Mail’s Inside City Hall [Globe and Mail]:  It looks like the CN Tower is going to lose its status as Tokyo approves building a taller tower. And the gossip mill is whirling as committee and executive committee positions are on the block.

This art strictly for the sewers [Globe and Mail]: Art isn’t just in the eye of the beholder. In Toronto, it may soon be underfoot. Following such cities as Vancouver, Tokyo and Kyoto, which have decorated manhole covers on their streets, the city is inviting citizens to submit design ideas for Grounds for Art, a project to bring public art to the new streets of Regent Park.