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Council ponders off leash olic for town parks Free Press. Photo by Mark Reesor FUN FAIR COMING UP FACE PAINTERS at C.E. Broughton public school are honing their artistic skills in preparation for the school's funfair, set for Friday May 30 from 5 to 8:30 p.m. You can get your face painted like Stephanie Lowry (above) or take part in games or a raffle. Craft tables are available for the event; call 665-8229 for more information. Deadly virus hits OGH rehab By TAMMY MACLEAN Special to the Free Press Oshawa General Hospi- tal issued a quarantine of their second floor reactiva- tion Wing Wednesday when the potentially deadly virus Vancomycin-. Resistant Enterococcus (VRE) was detected in a pa- tient transferred fromTo- ronto General Hospital. The individual was tested in Toronto prior to his move, but Oshawa Gen- eral accepted him before test results were con- firmed, according to Lori Marshall, Vice President of Support and Community Services. Oshawa General issued its own test and after find- ing a positive result, took immediate precautions. Tests on patients sharing the room have been nega- tive, Marshall said. Complete results of tests on others on the floor were expected Friday afternoon, after Free Press deadline. Enterococcus is a strain of bacteria normally found in the human bowel and does not usually cause dis- ease. However, the strain detected at OGH is resis- tant to antibiotics and is a potential threat to hospi- talized patients who have had recent surgery or those with weakened immune systems. There is cur- rently no effective drug to treat infections caused by VRE. "All necessary precau- tions are being taken," said Marshall. "This type of bug is something that is in all of us. There is no reason for general alarm." Patients in the Reactiva- tion Wing have been iso- lated to their rooms pending the results of tests performed on patients as well as staff. Visitation is limited to immediate fam- ily only, and anyone enter- ing a patient's room must wear a gown and gloves. By MIKE KOWALSKI Free Press Staff Writer There still might be a place for Fido and Rover to run free in Whitby. Town council this week rejected a recommendation from its operations com- mittee which opposed the establishment of "off leash" zones in municipal parks. Instead, council referred the matter back to commit- tee for further review and ordered staff to notify resi- dents in the Palmerston Park area that a request for a "pilot project" in their neighbourhood will be dis- cussed by committee at a later date. Should area homeowners not object, council could conceivably allow dogs to be let loose in a fenced-in por- tion of the park. Town by- laws now require dog owners to keep their pets on a leash when on public property. "It's a small victory and we'll keep going forward from here," Paul Graham of the Palmerston Park Pet Association told reporters following council's decision. "We have several vets who will attest to the need for dogs to run free and other information, but no one's ever approached us for it," he said. Earlier in the evening, Graham and wife Sharon asked council to overturn the committee's recom- mendation and endorse a parks and recreation de- partment report which sug- gests holding a public meeting to receive input on off leash zones. The report stemmed from the association's re- quest that such an area be located in the southwest part of the park, adjacent to the nearby railway tracks. The Grahams told coun- cil that off leash zones are becoming more popular in places like Toronto and that there are few reported incidents of unleashed dogs creating problems. But while staff was will- ing to investigate the mat- ter further, the majority of committee members wanted no part of it. Since the association was not no- tified that the item was to be discussed last week, their case could not be presented. "We feel that if council squashes the recommenda- tion of our (parks) director to hold a. public meeting, it puts itself above the demo- cratic process," charged Graham, while adding that the association had a 700- name petition backing its proposal. Councillor and commit- tee chairman Dennis Fox replied that the committee was under no obligation to See "dogs"page 2 Merge or be merged. says Mayor Diamond By MIKE KOWALSKI Free Press Staff Writer Town council has been warned that its appeal to Whitby residents to resist Oshawa's desire fpr amal- gamation could ultiniately prove harmful to i both communities. Oshawa Mayor Nancy Diamond believes that un- less officials in the two mu- nicipalities develop a plan for closer ties, they are in danger of having the On- tario goyernment do it for them. If the only way to prevent this from occurring is a merger, then so be it, Dia- mond says, regardless of the outcome of this week's 'call to aims' .by Town council. On Monday, council unanimously endorsed a course of action in response to Oshawa's decision to seek provincial approval of amalgamating Oshawa, Whitby and the community of Courtice in Clarington. Whitby residents are be- ing urged to register their disapproval of Oshawa's proposal with MPPs Jim Flaherty and John O'Toole. Council will also consider placing the issue on the Nov. 10 municipal election ballot and is iniviting inter- ested citizens to sit on spe- cial committees that will deal with the matter in greater detail. "It's not about aggres- sion, it's about co- operation," said Diamond in explaining the rationale behind her council's March resolution. "We (Oshawa) think this (amalgamation proposal) will help each other and it's unfortunate the headlines say we're going to annex somebody, we don't have that ability," she said. "What I'd like to see is positive dialogue on less government, more efficient government, fewer politi- cians and long-term goals. "We're all proud of our communities, but surely there is a way to recognize pride and not let pride get in the way of better govern- ment." But while he admits that pride is involved, Whitby's future well-being is also at stake, Mayor Tom Edwards insists. "We have sufficient infra- structure, financial base and facilities to take this community to a population of 160,000," Edwards told council. "We accept that changes have to come about and we are prepared to share serv- ices," he said. See "war" page 2 1611, 6