The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

"A Family Tradition for 131 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, April 8, 1997 -7 I. ETTERS Loss of jobs not Scugog"s fault To the Editor: Re: Reid Stainton's letter March 18, 1997: Reid, it's time to wake up! Why do you feel it's the town's responsibility to feel sorry for the 10 IGA employees who got laid off due to (ownsizng? More than 10 people from this town get laid off every week. Lots of other people have to feed their families on unemploy- ment cheques, which are a far cry from the regular paycheque they earned while working. It's too bad IGA has been af- fected by the added competition of the new grocery stores. But maybe people of this town have finally realized how over priced things are at the IGA. People these days are much more cau- tious with their money. Have you ever heard of competitive shopping? As for the new grocery store invading our beautiful water- front: It was about time some- one finally developed that eye- sore we looked at for years. Our community is growing quickly, and finally the town has real- ized they too have to progress. Now if only we could get a major department store. What would you have pre- ferred? Maybe more parkland so everyone could stand on shore and read the warning signs about swimming in the contaminated water? Or maybe it would be better to gaze out at all the weeds and scum that float on the water every sum- mer. If you need help filling out your unemployment forms, I've always found them to be very helpful at the Unemployment Office! You see my employer has put me out on the unem- ployment line more than I care to remember, and I don't recall blaming it on the town of Por Perry! Jeff Johnstone, Port Perry To the Editor: It is with many thanks to Paulmac Pet Foods, the Port Perry Star and all of the people from the surrounding areas who very generously do- nated to save our dog that we sent this. It is thanks to all of you that Ditch is in the third year of his life, and is healthy and happy. He has gone from being half starved and nine pounds to being a very healthy 21 pounds. Although he still has displacia in his hips from the accident, he is very energetic and vete- rinarians assure us that this won't be a problem for him until he is older, and arthritis sets in. He has full use of both of his back legs and roams freely over our 10 acres in Blackstock. He Thanks to those who helped out has also given us the bonus of keeping our older dogs active as only a young dog can do. We are especially grateful to Paulmac's for sponsoring the fundraising activities and mak- ing people aware of how desperately we needed their help. Once again, thank you so much for your generosity in the fight to save Ditch. You all helped to give him his life and in re- turn he has given us more than we could ade- quately describe. Thank you, Chelan, Gord, Ditch, Trapper, Buddie and Sam (The Berry Clan) Blackstock Grits, Tories have no real plan To the Editor: In the 70s the federal liberals under Trudeau and Chretien started the big spending pro- grams that now have all Cana-. dians in such high debt. On top of that, they added the high cost of dividing us into French and non-French. Now Chretien has added a still higher cost of trying to unite the very people who are being divided by the previous French government in Ottawa controlling all of Canada at dou- ble the normal cost. At the same time, these great Canadians have publicly stated that if Quebec leaves Canada, they will be with Quebec. The pollsters now tell us that the people of Ontario will re- elect all the Liberal candidates in Ontario, again under Chreti- en in the next federal election. Let these wise people who take to make the same mistake as they did in the past, when we al- lowed Chretien and his gang to take over the Ottawa rule. We are paying too high a price for a mere federal administra- tion which is ravaging our coun- try and exploiting the people. The Liberals and the Conser- vatives have no plans except to continue the status quo --- no jobs, and more debt. {/ by Jeff Mitchell FINALLY, THE VERDICT THE FINAL CHAPTER: Thursday's verdict of guilty .against Mitchiel McArthur no doubt amounted to what they refer to as closure for many here. The handing down of a sentence next month will be the final installment, denouement. The trial, and the subsequent finding by the jury, was the climax the community has awaited for so long. There was a genuine air of frustration for the months and years after Oct. 20, 1994, the night that is etched so deeply in our collective consciousness. What appeared to be endless legal wrangling caused the proceedings to drag on interminably, leaving people to wonder just what the hell was going on: "Do they really have the stuff to nail the bad guys?" When the trial began, we found out what had been so time consuming: The prosecution and the coppers had carried out a most exhaustive investigation, gathering information from dozens of witnesses and relying on the experts at the Centre for Forensic Sciences to provide DNA evidence as a back-up. The culmination of it all was odd: Mitchiel McArthur found guilty of the 17 charges he faced, while his brother and co- accused, Angus, was aquitted. More weirdness followed: Mitchiel firing imaginary pistols at Port Detective Paul Mooy as he was led out of the courtroom, while outside a jubilant Angus kissed his lawyer on the face and told the assembled media he planned to get good and drunk, or catch a flight to Jamaica and smoke up all the pot they've got there. ...Meanwhile, somewhere, there's $50,000, the loot from the Bank of Montreal. Never recovered. VOTE ON THE WAY: The signs are accumulating, like the damp, humid air and gathering clouds that signal a summer thunder storm. Nomination meetings, rumors in the media and, today, the first -- of, I'm sure, many -- big, fat envelopes from Elections Canada. | So far in Durham we've got incumbent Alex Shepherd, who grabbed the Grit nomination at a meeting Friday night in Port, versus Tory hopeful Sam Cureatz, whose razor-thin win over Scugog"s Llewellyn Jones this past winter is still in dispute. No word yet from Reform or the NDP. But brace yourself: It's on the way. HAPPY ENDING: It was nice this week to get a letter from Chelan and Gord Berry, the folks who captured your hearts last year as they attempted to save a badly-injured dog they found near their home. The appropriately-named Ditch has recovered, and, although he has some lingering complaints as a result of his ordeal, is a happy. and healthy doggie. It's never ceased to amaze me, during my years in newspapers, how people respond to stories about critters. stated policies of the federal Doug Wi . itch i g Cover Dolio heen toad the polls be assured the Jsople g Wilson, You'll find an update on Ditch in today's paper. h-------------------------------- J Ra n ad ® b ~a¢ Michiel "Micky" McArthur was found guilty last head as she stood there speaking to reporters, so it - INA BY FREER WARREN RI Thursday of 17 charges, including attempted murd- made me wonder how long she worked on that line, | ooo erand will quite likely spend the rest of his days ~ knowing she would get at least one good quote § byJ Peter Hvidsten pehindbars. ~~ ~~ fromthe hoards of media. mt Buthis alleged accomplice, brother Angus, was ~~ AWELCOME CHANGE | | TIMETOPUTTHE acquittedonallcountsandisnowafreeman. As much as Sunday's beautiful weather gave us a 8% CRIMEBEHINDUS While police reaction suggests they were pleased taste of things to come, Old Mother Nature brought a ~~ ~~ withthe verdict, it mustbe a bitter-sweet victory us back to reality Monday as cold air, and wet snow I Finally, it's over. when they see the young McArthur walk awaya blew back into the area. | | S| |tsbeenmorethantwoanda freeman. We have to keep reminding ourselves that it's willabaes half years since the last shotwas: Bt the trial is over and life can now getbackto only April and we've had some extremely bad fired at Port Perry za with guns blazing. Plaza, when two masked, armed men entered the Bank of Montreal, shooting the 'manager during a robbery and then woundinga "civilian and three police officers as they fled the pla- "The physical wounds of the victims have long -gince healed, leaving only scars and bad memories normal for all those concerned. At least as normal as it will ever be again. Note: As | watched the televised reports of the verdict last week, | couldn't help but be amused at 'Michiel McArthur's lawyer Cindy Wasser, who stated her client was a victim and just one of the many "miscarriages of justice." | doubtthat statement came off the top of her | storms during this month over the years. In fact, anyone watching the news Sunday night got a good indication what could be ahead with reports on the terrible winter storm blasting through our neighboring province, Manitoba. ~Butalas, it was great to see people strolling the ~~ Streets in shorts and t-shirts, busy raking lawns, to remind them of how lucky they are tobe alive. «yg ik the three M's: (Donald) Marshall, (David) sweeping down sidewalks, bicycling and enjoyin i 'emotional scars of not ny ihe vic- Milgaard, (Guy Paul) Morin. Now Mitchielisthe ice po cones with the kids in a wn y munity can beginthe long fourth M," she stated to the media. + soaking up the sun's warm rays. ~~ Justdon't put your coats and boots away yet