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Howard Brings Us No Plans for GO ' Green Eggs, Train to Come Q \ But No Ham * East of Oshawa J r CIVP Program Helps Victims of Depression Back on Their Feet Don't Forget! Clocks Leap Forward Saturday Night Educators Seek Answers to "Housing Crisis i -- i i„ --ii, « nti>< "fPlir. nocf nl' Hchnu/n U*nmnc nf Iho NnvtlllllTl- OSCCl pOOÜîlg üf illClllStlic 59 An educational lobby group -- the Northumberland and Newcastle branch of the Ontario Public Education Education Network -- plans to meet local builders to exchange view points on the province's controversial proposed proposed lot levy, and to raise its concerns about current, provincial funding of education. Michael Slocombc, Chairperson of OPEN, and a Bowmanville Public SijL CARPET /jwJ M WAREHOUSEjL EVERYDAY DISCOUNT PRICES 3 School Trustee said he hopes the meeting will encourage builders to look beyond the lot levy issue and at the critical issue of provincial funding funding "which is inadequate." The builders strongly oppose the proposed levy arguing that new homebuyers will end up paying it. Trustees with The Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education recently approved the idea as a tem- porary measure to help ease the current current school accommodation crisis. "There may be a housing crisis in certain parts of the province, but there is also an educational 'housing' crisis province-wide", said Mr. Slocombc, adding that about 18 percent percent of elementary students in this Board are currently housed in portables portables and the number will climb as more neonle move into the area. The rapid growth cast of Oshawa means overcrowding in some of our schools and that means there isn't enough space for libraries or gyms." Mr. Slocombc, Dr. Gary Tushin- gham, Director of Education for the Board, and the Board's Superintendent Superintendent of Business, Ron Sudds, will meet with Wayne Jeffery, President of the Oshawa-Durham Home Builders' Builders' Association and with Bob Haynes, President of the Northumberland Northumberland Builders' Association on 30 March 1089 at 2:00 p.m. at the Board Office. Mr. Slocombc said, "Lot levies could provide us with temporary relief relief but the province has to move to realistic levels of support for new schools and for renovations to aging schools." Schemes like lot levies or the prop osed pooling of industrial and commercial commercial assessment don't address the issue of more realistic provincial contributions to capital projects, he said. OPEN is a network of public school teachers, trustees, school board staff' and parents working to ensure that the province keeps its promise to protect protect the viability of the public school system. We Move It! 623-4433 Bowmanville Happy Hunting at Bowmanville Museum m vp mi m. BEWARE - Just a warning that practical jokers will be on the prowl come Saturday, April 1st, more commonly known as April Fools Day. At the moment, some of our staff are attempting to dream up a hoax that will fool everybody. You'll know if they/ succeed. KNOCK-OUT - Congratulations to Lakefield Chiefs who staged a remarkable comeback to put the Goodyear Jr. C Eagles out of contention contention Sunday night. The Eagles, after losing here 8-3 on Saturday, were leading 4-1 on Sunday with only six minutes left, Chiefs tied it and won in overtime. Wellington put out Port Perry Mojacks too and will now play Lakefield in the league final. \ ONE TO GO - Biggest hockey news here is that the Halminen Homes Major Midgets finished off Bolton on Saturday and will meet Woolwich in the Ontario finals. finals. First game of best of five is in Elmira tonight at 8; back here at Darlington Saturday at 6 and 3rd game to be announced. Let's bring those Midgets home with the title. APOLOGY - We hasten to apologize to two families whose Open House classified advts appeared appeared last week under the Card of Thanks heading. Fortunately, there is still time to correct the mistake because both events are scheduled for this Saturday, April 1st. Please check the Open House column this week for details. details. GOLFER'S DREAM - A note just arrived on the Editor's desk that will leave local golfers green with envy. The item says that Seth "Snuffy" Hunt and son Darryl Darryl have somehow wangled jobs as volunteer marshalls at the prestigious Masters golf tournament tournament this weekend in Augusta, Georgia. Look for them at the 3rd or 4th hole. POLITICS - Don't know what's stirring lip all the political activity activity in the days ahead. The Durham federal Liberals meet in Columbus Thursday for their annual annual meeting with Paul Martin Jr. speaking. The New Democrats have a big dance this Saturday at General Sikorski Hall, Oshawa. And Darlington PCs meet at The Acres April 10th. New members must join by April 3rd. There, that covers all parties. DANCE FOR HEART - So far, 42 people have enrolled lor this year's "Dance for Heart" tun- draiscr, sponsored by the Active Bodies Aerobic Studio, 95 King St. East. They are hoping to raise $8,000 for the Heart & Stroke Foundation dancing for three hours this Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. There probably is room for more if you arc interested or you could sponsor a dancer. Call 023-1299. LOSE AN HOUR - We understand understand that Daylight Saving Time comes into effect this weekend. So, before hitting the sack on Saturday, go all through your house and office, ifyou have one, and turn all clocks and watches ahead one hour. HERITAGE - "Be a Part of It" is the slogan adopted by the committee committee in charge of the Town of Newcastle's Heritage Week, May 26th thru June 3rd. So far, volunteer volunteer reps from most town communities communities have been lining up activities, activities, with many more to come if individuals and organizations go to work, initiating heritage projects to make it all worthwhile. worthwhile. Town to Work with AECB to Close Port Granby Waste Site Li. „ lînnnno A/Tt« T^nfcorr inm. by Chris Clark Newcastle town council is moving in cooperation with the Atomic Energy Control Board to finally decommission the Port Granby low-level radioactive waste facility. Councillors last night passed a lengthy motion regarding the site and its new owners, Cameco of Canada. On the basis of the motion, the town administrator administrator and solicitor will speak before before and make submissions to the AECB in Ottawa on April 6. Upon purchasing the waste facility from Eldorado, Cameco immediately requested an extension of the site's operating operating licence which is due to expire on April 30 of this year. Town Administrator Administrator Larry Kotseff said at Tuesday's Tuesday's council meeting that the application application was for a three year extension of the licence. A decision has not been reached regarding regarding the licence. In the meantime, however, the federal government established established a siting task force to search Lotto Winner A Bowmanville area resident has vVon second prize in the March 25th Lotto 649 draw. . Frank Hifil, a 73-year-old retired 'General Motors employee, won a grand total of $181,449.90 in the lottery. lottery. . Mr. Hill and his wife, Bernice, have four children, 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The winner purchased his ticket in Bowmanville. for a long-term low-level radioactive waste management facility for Ontario. Ontario. The task force will sit for approximately approximately 14 more months. Accordingly, the AECB has recommended that Ca- meco's current licence be extended for 14 months to coincide with the completion completion of the task force. As part of its motion motion council unanimously agreed to the licence extension. Before voting in favour of the resolution, resolution, Councillor Frank Stapleton expressed expressed concern over any extension of the operating licence. Mr. Kotseff indicated indicated that the town's best route is to cooperate with the federal atomic regulator, regulator, and that means extending the licence for the 14 month period. Council stated clearly in its resolution resolution that the extended period of operation operation should be considered "a demonstration demonstration program only," which does not alter the primary goal of the motion which is to have the site decommissioned decommissioned "in the interests of health, safety, safety, and welfare of residents." Downtown Businesses Support Condominiums The Bowmanville Business Improvement Improvement Area Board of Management has thrown its support behind a proposed proposed seniors housing project in Bowmanville. Bowmanville. Town of Newcastle staff currently are reviewing the proposal and should report back to council shortly. John Rice has proposed a 150-unit condominium condominium for the area directly east of Scugog Street between Wellington and Church Streets. Plans also call for a 700 square metre commercial facility. A public meeting held early in March evoked emotional cries from both sides of the issue. Some people living in the area fear that the development development will increase traffic and endanger endanger pedestrians, particularly children children walking to school. Others welcome the condominiums as a step toward keeping seniors in Bowmanville Bowmanville when they decide to sell their homes. In a letter to council, BIA Chairman George Webster said that the area currently currently "serves no effective purpose and is an eyesore to both the local residents residents and to visitors." He also suggested that the development development "will serve both the senior citizens, citizens, who will have ready access to nearby shopping facilities, and the BIA which is mandated to promote the downtown." Mr. Webster also noted that "the proposed floor space for business purposes purposes on Church Street is within our designated area and will help to further further expand the commercial nature of our core area." Region Approves Highway 401 Plan The Region of Durham has given its support to a preliminary design study for the widening of Highway 401. This preliminary study, initiated by the provincial Ministry of Transportation, Transportation, calls for a 12 lane collector lane system from Brock Road in Pickering to Lakeridge Road (Regional Road 23) in Ajax and an expansion to 10 lanes from Lakeridge to Courtice Road in Newcastle. Last week, during the bi-monthly council meeting, regional councillors decided to support the ministry's recommendation recommendation provided certain conditions conditions are met by the province. These conditions are: the design and construction of an interchange at Stevenson Road in Oshawa as soon as possible; the acquisition by the Ministry Ministry of properties that may be impacted by the widening; and the investigation of the possibility of constructing an in- Price Tag is Newtonville Patients Welcome Canine Therapists terchange east of Harmony Road in Oshawa. FENCO Engineers Ltd., have been studying alternatives to widening the highway for the ministry since 1987. In March 1988, the ministry asked local councils affected by the widening to endorse the preliminary designs. Newcastle council offered its support support in June 1988 along with Pickering Pickering and Ajax. Oshawa reluctantly accepted accepted the proposal last month and Whitby's planning committee approved approved the designs just last week. Construction costs alone for the project project are estimated at $209 million. The province may need to purchase ; property along the highway that could be affected by the widening. A report from the Durnam Region planning staff didn't say when the construction construction will begin. Lower for Water System The cost of bringing municipal water water to Newtonville may be less than the amount originally anticipated by the Region of Durham. On March 22 regional council approved approved a report accepting tenders for the project at a cost of almost $3.5 million. million. This was $278,800 less than the amount originally approved for the project by regional council. The watermain construction contract contract has been awarded to Rabito Sew- . er and Watermain Contractors Ltd, Power Contracting Incorporated, H.C.L. Engineering and Construction Ltd. and KWI Construction have each been awarded portions of a second contract contract that includes construction of fee- dermains, a booster pumping station and construction of a standpipe. Financing for the project will come from the Ministry of the Environment, homeowners and developers. The MCE will be providing a grant for 60 per cent of the total cost of the project ($2,070,000). Property owners will be contributing contributing $342,000 to the project for frontage and connection charges and developers will be contributing $1,316,000. Any excess financing oyer the required required amount for the project will go into the lot levy reserve fund for water. water. _ The project is expected to begin sometime in April and conclude near the end of October. At Memorial Hospital Bowmanville, dogs are among the long-term patient's patient's best friends. The hospital has started a program using dogs as part of the therapy for- patients facing a lengthy stay in the hospital. Linda Hargreaves, the recreational therapist at the hospital, said the program program has been very successful. She said patients are interested and constantly constantly ask when the pets are coming back to visit. The program has been operating at the hospital since December 17. Twice a month canines from the 'Working Dogs Program" come into the hospital for a visit with the patients. The Working Dogs Program has been in existence for the past four years and has enjoyed tremendous success at the various institutions they visit in the region. Maralyn Bell, from Working Dogs, said they take the animals to the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital, Oshawa General Hospital, and to some of the nursing homes (including regionally- operated Fairview Lodge in Whitby) in the municipalities. Of the many places she has taken the animals during her three years with the project, she said "I have met very, very few people that don't want to pet the dogs or see them." "It's a memory for them of when they were younger or in their own homes," she added. Ms Hargreaves agrees, saying that when the patients go back to their rooms they feel good, "Pets and children work well with seniors or people with a disability," she said. That's because they aren't afraid to be held and touched. 'They love hack." According to Ms Hargreaves, there has been little publicity about the use of dogs for therapy in Ontario even thougli the program has been operating operating successfully in the United States for years. The results of this type of therapy are many. She said it increases social interaction, provides stimulation and frequently decreases depression. When people come into the hospital, she said, they lose a lot of their independence. independence. 'This brings back memories to them and keeps them in touch with reality," she said. "We like to think of long-term care as a home rather than an institution. This keeps them attached to the outside outside world," Ms Hargreaves continued. The recreational therapy program has been in place at the hospital since June of last year and the pet program has so far been its greatest success. Before it could be implemented it was approved by the hospital's board of directors and the infection control committee. There are specific requirements the dogs in the program must meet before they are brought in to visit patients. All dogs must have had the proper vaccinations for disease; they must be either on a leash or in a cage; they must be clean and they must be able to work well with people. Ms Hargreaves said all dogs are screened and any patient that might have allergies is kept out of the program. program. The only problem with the pet program program right now is that there are many patients in the therapy and it is difficult difficult to get them all into the physiotherapy physiotherapy room at once. Ms Hargreaves emphasized the success success of the program by mentioning that even the cat lover in the group has a new love. Last Wednesday night that love was Peige, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Part of the recreational therapy program at Memorial Hospital in Bowmanville Bowmanville consists of pet therapy. Twice a month, dogs are brought into the hospital to visit patients that may be in the hospital for an extended length of time. Francine Bandstra is pictured here holding a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Lacey.