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www.independentfreepress.com RIck Bonnette ........ 7 Calendar ...17, 20, 24 Sports ............22, 23 Directory ...... 27, 28 Classifieds ... 29, 30 50 Cents (+ GST) Circulation: 22,800 WHEELS. CA Look inside for the latest news and views from the automotive world 8-PAGE SECTION WAGJAG FOR THE HOLIDAYS Stuck for a Christmas gift idea? Why not consider WagJag? PAGES 8-9 56 Pages Halton Hills' award-winning newspaper Thief swipes tires... and replaces them with worn ones By LISA TALLYN Staff Writer THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS THURSDAY, December 2, 2010 Marta Jurcic recently spent $600 on new winter tires, and now she's going to have come up with more money to buy another set. The St. Thomas woman was in Georgetown visiting her parents when early Monday morning someone stole the tires and rims from her 1997 Escort parked in her parent's Metcalfe Court driveway. But the thief didn't just take the tires and rims, they were replaced with cracked rims and old, bald tires. "That is out of the ordinary," said Halton Regional Police Det. Sgt. Murray Drinkwalter. "The normal situation is they would leave the vehicle on blocks." "I almost feel like I've been pinpointed," said Jurcic. "They replaced them with four very unsafe tires thinking I would not notice, or possibly get into a car accident with these wheels that were put back on." She said the tires are so "bald and thinned out" she fears what would have happened if she had gone on the highway with them. She doesn't understand why the culprit(s) would have replaced the tires with old ones. Jurcic also wonders why the suspect(s) didn't steal anything from inside her car, which was left unlocked. She figures the theft may have occurred around 3 a.m. because the neighbour's dog was barking about that time. Jurcic had recently bought the tires and had her car safety-checked at a local garage in preparation for a drive to Calgary, where she's planning to move. She has left the car with her parents. Police say the stolen tires are two BF Goodrich and two Canadian Mike Jurcic shows off the worn tires a thief put on his visiting daughTire brand. ter's car in the middle of the night Monday after stealing all four of her Anyone with information about the theft is asked new tires. Police say the theft was "out of the ordinary". Photo by Ted Brown to call Halton Police at 905-878-5511 ext. 2105. Council zaps Province on hydro tax By CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer Despite recent concessions on hydro prices by the McGuinty Liberal government, the Town of Halton Hills will forge ahead with sending a message to the Province-- eliminate the PST (8%) from the HST portion of hydro bills and limit any future rate increases to close to the rate of inflation. Council unanimously approved the resolution to be sent to the Premier, the Minister of Energy, Leaders of the Opposition and Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott, at the November council meeting. This was before the Province announced a 10 per cent discount on hydro bills over the next five years-- at the same time it warned that bills will go up by 46 per cent in the same time period. The Province also announced it would, starting in May, cut evening power rates. But for Wards 1&2 Regional Councillor Clark Somerville, who brought the resolution to council, said that's not enough, and the Town will still urge the tax be dropped from the bills. "Absolutely," he said in a phone interview. "You can't keep having it (hydro bill) go up and up." He pointed out that businesses, not just homeowners, are getting hit by the higher cost of electricity and that's a hit on economic development. The government, he said, See PROVINCE, pg. 3 7e HANDLE ALL INSURANCE work. Georgetown Volkswagen 203 Guelph Street Thinking of buying or selling? sTruck Accessories s5PHOLSTEry s(Eavy %QUIPMENT 'LASS s7INDow 4INTING 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown 905.877.5285 georgetownvw.com (905) 873-1655 0.9% Financing up to 48 mo. & 2 year / 40,000 km warranty. Great selection & great value. Dir: 416-991-4247 EFFIEatDIMOU 905-456-1000 at Sales Representative www.georgetownrealty.ca edimou@georgetownrealty.ca at Call Effie Dimou for all your real atneeds. at 905-456-1000 905-456-10 905-456-1 at estate 905-456-1000 Realty Services Inc. Brokerage Independently Owned & Operated SO LD