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www.durhamregion.com THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, JULY 2,2003 PAGE 5 More money for seniors, private schooling BY MIKE RUTA Staff Writer DURHAM -- Seniors and private school parents received received a break this week. New provincial laws mean seniors who own or rent will receive a tax credit for the education property taxes they pay, while the Province also increased the lax credit rale for private school tuition. In a press release, Premier Ernie Eves said the Ontario Home Property Tax Relief for Seniors Act will sec seniors seniors finally get a deserved tax break, after years of "working hard, raising families families and building the strong province we enjoy today." The private school credit, introduced two years ago, is designed to give parents more choice of where they send their children to school. Parents can now claim 20 per cent of eligible tuition fees, up to $7,000 per child. By 2006 parents will be able to claim 50 per cent. Senior households are in line for an average savings of $475 per year when the credit credit lakes full effect in 2004, but will also get a break for the second half of this year. While the Province claims public education funding will not suffer, Joe Petrie isn't convinced. The Sunderland resident is a member of the Sunderland Public School community council. "I'm afraid that they're going to be shifting money out of public education with this," said Mr. Petrie. "It's the same pool (of money); if they're giving tax cuts to eveiybody and then tax cuts to seniors and private schools, the bottom line is there are 'X' number of dol- Janct Ecker: Public education remains the government's 'primary focus.' lars in the province to be spent. The public system, I think, is going to suffer." He admitted that commenting commenting on the tax relief for seniors is "a tough call. "1 know seniors are on fixed pensions and the day- to-day living costs for them are going up." He would prefer, however, however, to see seniors given a break on the mill rale rather than on education taxes, since property assessments have risen due to market value assessment. Finance Minister Janet Ecker said Friday public education education remains the government's government's "primary focus. "People may agree or disagree disagree with more tax relief foi- seniors. The tax relief for seniors seniors has no bearing on funding funding for schools. Funding for schools is driven by the student-focused student-focused funding formula, formula, not the level of property tax revenue." While the government is helping private school parents, parents, the government will spend a record $15.3 billion on Ontario public schools in the coming school year, said Ms. Ecker. There is enough money in the pot to do both, she said. The government believes lowering taxes stimulates economic growth and creates jobs, in turn increasing tax revenue, revenue, said Ms. Ecker. She added the record over the past eight years has borne that out: the Province is collecting $16 billion more in revenue than when it came to power in 1995. Education is funded from a variety of sources, she said, including sales and business taxes. CONGRATULATIONS ROSE!! Rose soys, "I've always dreamed of being the weight I was 15 years ago. Thanks to the supportive councellors at Herbal Magic, my long time dream has become my reality." CALL NOW FOR YOUR FREE CONSULTATION Only one week left of spectacular specials! (905) 697-9484 243 King St. E. BOWMANVILLE (Bowmanville Mall) (905) 432-6999 1330 Ritson Rd. N. OSHAWA 1 (Ritson and Taunton) (905) 725-4146 1345 King St. E. OSHAWA 2 (King and Townline) UVijdjlH MnnujJiumunl mut Nniiiiionnl Ccinius www.herbalmagic.ca The Comfort lone by Glenn Trider Welcome to Summer & Cooling Problems Finally, the long wait for the hot weather is over, and now your sweating! You go to your thermostat and turn on tire cooling, and Oh, Oh, no cooling happens. What could be wrong? Well first of all, these are some checks as a homeowner, that you can do that may save you some time & money in having us come out. Let's look at some typical problems and what you can check. 1) First after you set the thermostat to "cool" and lower the setting down to 15" C., check to see if the furnace blower comes on. If it doesn't make sure the furnace has power. Check your fuses and/or circuit breakers. Also check that your disconnect switch for the furnace is in "on" position. If this still docs not turn outside unit on check that outside units disconnect switch is turned on and that circuit breaker/fuses are good. Problems that still exist after this is checked indicate a control or power problem. Refer this to a qualified technician to investigate. 2) The outside unit starts and runs but there is no cooling. Flere the problem may be a couple of items. Usually again, this is an electrical or refrigerant problem. If the unit is running, the fan may be running only,you would need to check to see if the compressor is running, usually you can tell the noise of the unit if compressor is working. If the compressor is not running, you will have to refer the problem to a service technician to investigate. If on the other hand, the compressor is running, the outside fan is running and there is no cooling, this usually points to a refrigerant problem. To operate correctly the unit needs a fairly accurate charge of refrigerant to circulate these systems. When the refrigerant charge is dropping icing begins to form on the lines, sometimes inside and sometimes outside. This is an abnormal condition and should be corrected promptly. Running the unit like this for extended periods of time can damage the compressor. A rough rule of thumb is to feel the line that is insulated that comes out of the house to the compressor. Feel the bare copper underneath, if it is cold and sweating, chances are the unit is working OK. If it is warm there may be a problem. Never take the outdoor unit apart or stick items into the condenser or fan area, as serious injury could result! These are some quick checks that you can do to check the system's operation. Being as specific as possible on the phone helps us-diagnose the problem quicker and keeps the service cost to a minimum. If you have any questions and wish to Email me send them to glenn@comfortshoppe.com or phone me below. Drink lots of fluids and try to stay cool! _ _ i 10 L of Liquid Chlorine $4.99 1 Pool Heaters from $1099.00 A/C Tuneups from $89.95 i n _Pre-Season Pricingjon Central Air _ „ i 'CEfye (Enmfnrt JUjappe 160 Baseline Rd. E. Bowmanville (905)623-2956 u websiteiwww.comfortshoppe.com liitiv ema 'l ; comfort@comfortshoppe.com LENNOX' T HYDROPOOL MOT TUfcfl • «OUAtniiNCM ln«|«Ni/W gMitf} HflM, 1 ONE LESS THING TO WORRY ABOUT: Alleged shooter feared rival drug dealers BY STEPHEN SHAW Staff Writer . WHITBY - Marlon Maragh is a twice-convicted crack dealer who was serving a weekend jail sentence when he allegedly shot a man during a basketball basketball game at Pine Ridge High School, court has heard. . During testimony Friday, the 23- year-old man told a jury he's part of group known as the "Galloway Boys," named after the rough Scarborough neighbourhood where he grew up, and hé earned a pistol for protection from rival drug traffickers. , Mr. Maragh, known as "Indian" on the street, has pleaded not guilty to attempted attempted murder, flight from police and numerous firearm charges in connection connection with the April 3,2001 wounding of Teran Richards. The 22-year-old former Ajax man was shot four times with a .357-calibre revolver during a dispute over a foul at an after-hours pickup basketball game in the school gymnasium. Identity of the gunman is the central issue in the two-month-old trial; the defence defence maintains someone else pulled the trigger. . Mr. Maragh, testifying in his own defence, told court he started selling crack cocaine for money while growing up in Galloway. He was convicted of drug possession in 1999, drug trafficking in 2000 and received received a second trafficking conviction Feb. 26,2001. He was serving a 90-day weekend jail sentence at the time of the shooting. Mr. Maragh, who also has convictions convictions for taking a motor vehicle without consent and breaching bail and probation, probation, told court he was trying to stay out of trouble after getting out of jail in December December 2000. Around that time, he said, his friend was shot to death by a rival group from the Scarborough neighbourhood known as Malvern, which has been in a violent turf war with the Galloway Boys for several years. "People were just fighting over who can sell drugs where, who's tougher, who's stronger... One person had a problem with another person and they just turned it into one area against another... another... It had been going on for years," Mr. Maragh said of the conflict. When his friend was killed, word went around the Malvern group was issuing issuing death threats targeting all Gal- 1 loway Boys. "...They just wanted to get anybody from our area... My group didn't didn't have none (guns) and we wanted to protect ourselves... We needed a gun 'cause someone killed our friend," Mr. Maragh said, He said he asked an associate he identified as "Razor," for whom he sold crack, to sell him a gun. "Razor", he said, showed him several guns, including including a .45-calibre pistol and a .357-revolver .357-revolver - the type Mr. Richards was shot with anil which was recovered after the shooting. Mr. Maragh said lie bought the .45 from "Razor" and paid $700. on ALL MATTRESSES AMD FURNITURE "U$f| IP Single 11 v ->j Mattress Set S 189 Double s 159 Set s 269 Queen s 209 Set s 379 coupon not valid with this unit MMnv/;!;]» .-.Single' ' àttrêss. ^P*pSet s 319 DotB *219 Set *389 Queen *279 Set *479 King *469 Set *759 A Frame Futo Complete *167 Captain Hconomy $0*7*7 > Pi.puts lilt hided Ld / / 188 Vanessa Payhed Silver IrtJTT Fliton Complue $223 wmif*' a Waterfall Payhed $ 85 » ~T • Alexander Futon $ 366 s 129 jfil JL Bedroom Suite Msmmm ÉmSSM Bed Frame a NO GST «Set-up I NO PST « Comforter » Disposal of Old Set i > Mattress Pad = Layaway ° Percale Set of Sheets i Bed Rails «Pillow « Local Delivery 1 With Any Mattress Set Purchased L -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 4 IMP ,,, Set s 339 tièubfe ' *239 Set *419 Queen s 299 Set *519 King M89 Set *809 Single' ^ G \ M ^ lt®569 i^Set *699 *579 Set *829 *709 Set *1089 f i.. y aver (~f\ $i Metal Hunk $199 Silver Harvard Hunk Complete ON SALE Futon Hunk 277 Christina Iron lied *191 I. 1 ,k )J% Fteelrlc Complete 264 Monaco Bed Since 5559 r® 1978 tiSUy 40 FACTORY OUTLETS ACROSS ONTARIO INCLUDING... 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