$25,000 Break-in Video equipment, TV, movies stolen Ralph Ballard wasn't angry exactly when he discovered that approx- imately $25,000 worth of goods had been lifted from his store but he was shaken. Sometime between closing Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, theives slipp- ed open a window on the Homestead Furniture building (on Highway No.7A) and crawled inside. Without missing a single tape, they removed every video movie in the store, nearly 300 movies, as well as seven video machines and a few television sets. Police say profession- al thieves. were prob- ably responsible for the break-in and suspect the merchandise has already been re-sold. "It happens quite often because video equipment is so easy to get rid of," Durham Regional Police Staff Sergeant Doug Aird said. It's the second break- in the store has sustain- ed in the last month, (the first involved the theft of a small amount of money in the till -- Mr. Ballard says he never keeps large amounts of cash in the store) and owners Mr. Ballard and partner Richard Car- negie are sick and tired of re-establishing them- selves after a robbery. "You're a bit angry and a bit upset but you've got a lot of work ahead of yourself to put everything back together again,'"' Mr. Ballard said." The partners are now looking into increased security measures to prevent the same from happening again. Police say evidence was left at the scene of the crime including foot- prints and fingerprints. The investigation con- tinues. Building starts up over $6 million By the looks of the Township of Scugog building report, you'd think we were under- going a major housing boom. This year (until August 31) the number of building permits issued - has more than doubled in value since 1982. Last year the number of permits total- ed only 186 valued at $3,300,565. This year, with four months re- unique features. a 1] Homes' -a new Star feature Starting with this issue, and continu- ing every-other-week, the Star is presen- ting a new feature called '"Homes." The articles and photographs will feature homes within Scugog Township listed by local realtors that have some We are sure with the great interest generated in real estate, and particular- ly homes, this new feature will prove to be very popular. "Homes" will feature listings from these Port Perry Real Estate Companies: Frank; Howard Forder; Marj Tripp; George Stone and ReMax Scugog Realty. For the first in this series, turn to page 8 of this issue of the Port Perry Star. Country Lane; W. maining, the building department has issued 282 permits valued at © $8,513,588. Single family units valued at $1,850,000 with 35 permits in 1982 increased to $6,102,000 and 101 permits in 1983. Additions "and "alter- |. ations increased from 53 permits -valued to at $345,500 to in 1982 77 permits valued at $575, 300 in 1983. Garages and swimm- ing pools increased from 46 permits valued at $142,105 in 1982 to 61 permits valued at $313, 538 in 1983. Agricultural permits increased from 17 valued at $151,400 in 1982 to 25 valued at $568,650 in 1983. Industrial _ and commercial permits decreased from 14 to 12 while schools and churches decreased from five to two. Mis- cellanous building per- mits also decreased from 16 to 4. Vol. 117 No. 41 Tues., September 13, 1983 Soccer Star In The Making It was an extremely hot day at the soc- cer fields last Saturday as the Scugog Soc- cer League held their annual Cup Day. In fact it was so hot that 18 month old Todd Mit- chell stripped down to his pampers to kick the ball around for awhile with his brother Chad, 5. Soccer players and fans alike sweltered through the day, and the conces- sion booth selling ice cream and cold pop was all but sold out by days end. For results of Cup Day, see Sports pages. Commissioner wants Durham taken seriously Gerard Gervais thinks it is high time the rest of the world take a more positive look at Durham Region. And part of his job over the next couple of years will be to see that this takes place. Mr. Gervais is the - newly- hired commiss- ioner of economic and industrial development for Durham Region. He stepped into this office about four weeks ago, hired by the Regional council on a two year contract for a salary reported to be $52,000 per year. He's young (30), very articulate, assertive, and dresses the way one would expect an economic com ioner to dress with ay crisp white shirt and conser- vative blue pin-stripe suit. Regional councillors who were present when Mr. Gervais was hired for this job say they were most impressed with the way he handled himself in convincing them he was the man for this tough position. Ore thing he did was insist on the title of "commissioner" rather than director because it has more punch and is loftier in bureaucratic and industrial circles. Mr. Gervais' mandate (he calls it the bottom line) over the next couple of years is to increase the industrial and commercial assess- ment base in Durham and create new employ- ment in the Region. He believes that Dur- ham is now "well posit- ioned for advancement in the growth indust- ries" like computers and other high tech enterprises. And he believes that enticing industry to locate or re-locate with- in the boundaries of Durham requires more than just telling com- pany presidents how much serviced indust- rial land there is avail- able, or how good the transportation facilities are; more than just showing executives a chunk of land and telling them what a great spot it would be for a new factory. ""It is also very important that we pro- ject the Region as a good, attractive place to live" he told the Star in an interview last week at the Durham head- quarters building in Whitby where he has his office. He calls it improving "frontal awareness" of Durham Region. For years, he goes on to say, the industrial progress has been to the north and west of Toronto which has resulted in the almost phenomenal growth such areas as Halton, Peel and York Regions, while Durham has been almost treated as "a poor sister." He says virtually all of the highly successful financial people in the industrial heartland around Metro "live west of Yonge Street." Convincing the industrial and financial movers and shakers of this province that Dur- ham can be just as attractive or more attractive as a place to live is a key element in the movement of new industry to the east of Metro. ""Making people want to locate and live here is a total package requir- ing a total promotional campaign on a number of fronts," he says. One way of doing this is to try and ensure that the right people get a picture of Durham through the right forums of commun- ication, and Mr. Gervais is very pleased that the next issue of 'Business and Finance" will feature Durham chair- man Gary Herrema on the cover and include an extensive supplement about Durham on the inside page. He says there are two ways to run an indust- rial development (Turn to page 2) GE po TE A