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Page 6 Acton/Georgetown - Friday, August 2, 2002 Letters to the editor.... The Independent & Free Press is published every Wednesday and Friday at 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown Ont., L7G 4B1. It is one of the newspapers published by Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., which includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Bancroft This Week,Barry's Bay This Week, Barrie Advance, Bolton Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Shopping News, Burlington Post, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Post, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Huronia Business Times, Kingston This Week, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishene Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga News, Mississauga Business Times, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa- Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for signature will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the acceptable rate. In the event of typographical error advertising goods or services at wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell which may be withdrawn at any time. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Price: Store copies 50¢ each; Subscriptions $26.00 per year by carrier; $92.50 per year by mail in Canada; $130.00 per year in all other countries. Plus G.S.T. Second Class Mail Registration Number 6869. The Independent & Free Press is a member of The Canadian Community Newspaper Association and The Ontario Community Newspaper Association. Ken Nugent, Publisher Steve Foreman, Advertising/Production Manager John McGhie, Managing Editor Lorne Drury, Editor-in-Chief Carol Young, Business Manager Dave Coleman, Director of Distribution Nancy Geissler, Circulation Manager Mailing Address: 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, Ont. L7G 4B1 Telephone: (905) 873-0301 Fax: (905) 873-0398 E-mail: production@independentfreepress.com Georgetown Market Place News Editor: Cynthia Gamble Staff Writers: Lisa Tallyn, Herb Garbutt Photography: Ted Brown Advertising Sales: Dianne Fascinato, Cindi Kerklaan, Alexandra Stabins, Christina Marshall, Angela Reynolds, Elaine Petkoff Real Estate: Sue Spizziri, Jenn Hunziger Classifeds: Mary Watson, Kristie Pells Accounting: Pat Kentner, Rose Marie Gauthier Production: Mary Lou Foreman, Kevin Powell, Shelli Harrison, Dolores Black, Debbie MacDougall Distribution: Kim McClure Distribution e-mail: distribution@independentfreepress.com Dear editor, We have suffered a great loss in our family with the recent and abrupt termination of our head coach of 14 years, Paula Lockwood. We would like to express our extreme discontent with this decision. Not only has Paula been the inspiration and innovative driving force behind the club's tremendous growth and success, she has singlehandedly made each one of us the coaches we are. We would like to thank Paula for always going the extra mile, not only for her staff, but for all the gymnasts over the years. Her hard work and dedication will not be forgotten and she will be greatly missed. Members of your loyal staff Halton Hills Gymnastics Club Dog owners should know what they're buying Dear editor, Re: Bylaw needed to ban aggressive dogs (June 26 letter). While I sympathize with the fact this little girl was attacked last winter, I don't agree with the message of the letter. The problem with aggressive or "problem dogs" is not the breed, it is the owner. Any dog can be aggressive if it is raised to be, whether the dog is a rottweiler or standard poodle. Speaking as a person who has been going to dog shows for more than 20 years, I take great offense to the comment, "Where is the common sense?" Dobermans, rottweilers, etc. are not bred for their "aggressive" nature. They were originally bred for that. Any responsible breeder will tell you the biggest problem is the person who breeds their dog just for the sake of having puppies without the proper knowledge of genetics or the breed itself. In the letter, Mr./Ms. Wilson wants the council to ban "problem dogs". His daughter was attacked by a beagle-cross, so with this logic, why not ban beagles? I think the solution is education of the dog owner and puppy-buying public to buy puppies from responsible breeders and to get them spayed or neutered to prevent accidental breeding. If society can't discriminate against a race of people, thinking they are going to act a certain way, then why should we be able to discriminate against certain breeds of dogs? On a final note, the comment, "... the ridiculous way in which people treat their pets as "human". This person has obviously never had a family dog before. Jennifer Carr, Georgetown Halton Region's health department does a reasonably good job of protecting residents from things that might do them harm. Since the Walkerton tragedy, the region has repeatedly communicated to residents-- via news media-- that what happened there, won't happen here. Halton's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Nosal, has been front and centre in his fight to persuade politicians to enact an immediate total ban of smoking. These examples of good communication make the region's methods of disseminating public beach closures information all the more perplexing. Had an Independent & Free Press reporter not stumbled across an inconspicuous-looking Web page announcing Halton beach closures, readers might not have learned about the Fairy Lake (and other Halton) beach closures in their Wednesday (July 31) paper. While the region sends a copious quantity of news releases, beach closures are not among them. Instead, information about these closures is made available one of two ways: by finding a deeply-buried page on the region's Web site, or by dialing the Beach Safety Hotline at 905-825-6111. The way this vital information is currently accessed assumes residents have the hotline number at their fingertips or the specific Web site page bookmarked-- that is if they own a computer with Internet access. Nobody is holding the region responsible for high bacteria levels at public beaches. We do, however, wonder why the health department wouldn't take advantage of the news media's ability to spread the word to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Editorial No day at the beach Letters to the editor must be signed and include an address and daytime telephone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 200 words and may be edited. Mail or drop off Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, Ont., L7G 4B1 Fax (905) 873-0398 E-mail jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Editorial e-mail addresses John McGhie jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Cynthia Gamble cgamble@independentfreepress.com Lisa Tallyn ltallyn@independentfreepress.com Herb Garbutt hgarbutt@independentfreepress.com Ted Brown tbrown@independentfreepress.com Letters to the editor Coaches upset with firing (This letter was originally sent to Ontario Premier Ernie Eves and Halton MPP Ted Chudleigh and a copy was made available for publication.) Dear Premier Eves, Re: Basic accommodation. It is pretty disgusting that your government intends to fleece our seniors in long-term care facilities $200 more a month for rent. Is it because they are mostly too weary, too muddled, too immobile or just too frail to muster much of a protest themselves? They already worry enough about their expenses and how they will make their money last. We are wondering how you justify your benevolence to private school parents, against your malevolence to our elders. Long-time supporters and contributors to the provincial Conservative party-- so far. Ken and Judith Galbraith, Georgetown Readers 'disgusted' with long-term care hike