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2 - Orono Weekly Times Subscriptions $38.09 + $1.91 GST = $40.00 per year. No Refunds. Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs." Wednesday, March 10, 2010 ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON L0B 1M0 E-mail: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax: 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Production and Display Advertising - Roxanne Johnston Classified Advertising - Sue Weigand The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. W h o w r o t e t h at ? As a community newspaper operating in a village with a population of 1,900, I want to say we value the opinion of each and every one of our readers. From time to time we do publish articles that some of you do not agree with and often we will hear about it. Sometimes we hear about it by way of a "Letter to the Editor," and sometimes people will stop me on the street, or call on the phone and say how disappointed they are that we have taken a certain editorial position. Often too, we get comments about what a great job we are doing, and how much people appreciate the fact that there is still an independent newspaper in the area. Whatever your comments or opinions, please keep them coming. It is vital to our operation to know what people are thinking. Obviously the subject of editorial content in the Orono Weekly Times has been the topic of some discussion around the dinner table in the Tufts household as of late. A few months ago Tim and Francis Tufts wrote a "Letter to the Editor" stating that the reason the Orono Times exists is to report and comment on issues of local concern. When they want opinions on issues of a national concern, they refer to national sources for those opinions, they said. This week we received another letter signed by Francis Tufts, expressing concern that the Orono Times might have been the victim of a media take-over, because we published an editorial last week from a media outlet. Francis says in her letter she is not sure who the editor of the Orono Times is. First of all, in response to Frances' letter, let me say that the editor of the Orono Weekly Times is still Margaret Zwart as is clearly indicated in our masthead on the top of this page. If that name were to change this paper would carry a front page story announcing the change. The only person who could potentially be seeking to acquire a weekly newspaper in a very small market is currently doing time in a Florida jail. Besides the two letters we received from the Tufts about our choice of editorial content, we received one verbal complaint several months ago. We have also received verbal and written expressions from people who appreciate an editorial from time to time from someone other than the editor of this paper. Within a community the size of Orono, one is sometimes hard-pressed to find a local issue to write about. Many of the editorials we carry are sparked by issues arising from meetings of Clarington council. As it happened, last week's council meeting adjourned at 11:30 p.m. During this term, council meetings often extended past midnight. As we go to print on Tuesday night, that leaves a very compressed time frame in which to report on the activities of council, and write an opinion piece to fill the editorial slot. Unfortunately a paper this size cannot afford to have an editorial staff on which to draw on in such situations. As the editor of a small town newspaper, it falls on one person to be the photographer, taking the pictures in the evenings and weekends as events occur, to cover the meetings that should be covered, which usually take place in the evenings, to get the papers to all the appropriate post offices on Wednesday morning, after they have been individually labeled by hand, and hopefully to sell enough advertising each week to pay for the privilege of putting out a weekly edition. The editorial we used last week, as written by Doug Firby, managing editor of Troy Media, a Calgary-based organization "dedicated to fostering debate about issues shaping Canada and the World," as Francis correctly points out in her letter, was on the Vancouver Olympics. While the Olympic Games did not occur in Orono this year, it was a subject of great conversation locally and nationally for the past number of weeks. Mr. Firby's editorial very accurately expressed our sentiments about the Olympic Games, in far better manner than I could have (time permitting) so we used it. Obviously the Tufts care about their local paper, or they wouldn't have bothered to share their opinion about our editorial policy. However, in the interest of doing what is best for the paper, we will, on occasion, publish editorials from other sources -- while we await a take-over bid from Lord Black when he's released from jail within the next four years. Letters to the Editor Public service workers help Dear Editor, Earlier this week, as I was walking along Church St toward Temperance St in Bowmanville, I saw a woman trip slightly and fall to the sidewalk hitting her head with a horrifying sound. Her glasses flew off her face and smashed and as she struggled to get up, blood was flowing from the cut above her eye. As I went to help her, two workers from the Municipality came out and helped her into the Town Hall to a quiet room where she could sit down and they provided gauze pads to help stem the flow of blood. In asking her her name, we discovered that we were neighbours, although we had never met. The ambulance was called and the two EMS personnel who arrived were most reassuring, very professional and immediately took over. Later when I called the hospital to see how she was, the switchboard immediately connected me to the Emergency nurse who explained that their patient had been patched up above her right eye but had not damaged either of her wrists or shoulders and was ready to go home. The Municipal helpers, the EMS staff, and the staff in the hospital, all were professional and went out of their way to help. What a wonderful community in which to live. Our public service workers do their jobs extremely well and promptly, with courtesy, good humour and a high level of professionalism. Sincerely Judy A Hagerman What is being hidden? T o x i c Dear Editor: Last June, Clarington Council gave our CAO Frank Wu full authority to negotiate the Host Community Agreement (HCA) between Clarington and Durham Region; a mistake in my opinion, but that's another story. In any event, even though the Region insisted that an agreement had to be signed by June 24, 2009, this did not happen. A draft agreement was drawn up and presented to Clarington Council about that time. The final agreement was not signed by our Mayor Jim Abernethy until midFebruary of this year. Clarington town solicitor Dennis Hefferon also reviewed the document and HIDDEN see page 3 breath Dear Editor: The concept of incineration of garbage belongs in the dust bin, a figment of its inglorious past; hazardous to the earth, and to every breath taken by its citizens. Yours very truly, Pat Irwin Lycett & W.K. Lycett Orono