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THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2004 GRAPEVINE HOT MARKET An unidentified out-of-town buyer wants to develop ground level stores with residences above, on a vacant property being sold by the olde Hide House. There's a conditional offer for the former Force Electric site, bounded by Eastern Avenue, Church Street, Fellows and Mill Streets, and the deal could close next month if zoning, land use and water issues can be resolved. Royal City Realty broker Damian Nikic said the same developer also has purchased two vacant lots, one on Eastern Avenue and one on Church Street, from the old Hide House. Nikic said two offers for another OHH property -- the former Foodland grocery store -- were rejected as unsatisfactory by the OHH, that has it listed at $399,000. FRIENDS AUCTION Next time you're in the Acton library -- check out the photos in the display case. All of the donated items in the pictures are up for bid ina silent auction being run by the Friends of the Halton Hills Libraries. To bid on the items -- including an autographed hockey puck, Frank C. Black oil painting, and Persian carpet -- you have to go to Young's Pharmacy on Main Street in Georgetown, where the auction items are on display with the bidding book. Bids close at 3 p.m. on March 27. Money raised would be equally shared by the Acton and Georgetown branches. The auction items are also on display on the library web site and there are plans to show them on Cogeco. ACE ARTIST Congrats to Acton artist Lar DeSousa who recently placed 13th in a field of the top 15 caricature artists at the National Caricaturist Network's annual convention in Florida. DeSousa, also earned 6th and 7th place finishes for the top 10 caricatures at the convention, and was "totally floored" with his outstanding results, especially with his new 3-D caricatures. DeSousa said that for him, caricature is about "having fun," not "making fun" of a subject, and that beauty is only skin deep and he likes to find out what else a person has in them. Lar DeSousa's charater G.S.T. AUCTION The Acton Seniors' Recreation Centre is looking for items for G.S.T. --a goods, services and talents auction -- on April 17. Centre members are co-hosting the fundraiser with the Halton Hills Seniors West Planning and Education committee, that will benefit both the Acton Centre and the community support program of Halton Hills Community Support and Information. The Centre is looking for donations of new items, services and talents to auction. Call the Centre at 863-5951 if you can help. BALL HOCKEY Women over 19 interested in playing ball hockey at Acton arena have until the end of the month to register with the new Women's Acton Ball Hockey League. Organizer Julie Scarlett hopes to have four teams play Sunday nights for 18 weeks this springs and summer. So far, the players include ice hockey players and those who want to have some fun, but Scarlett said there are also a lot of women who are new to town and want to meet people. Players require a full mask, gloves and a stick. Registration is $100. For details call 853-3385. JURIED SHOW AND SALE Congrats to rural Acton artist Barb VanSickle who will take part in an annual one-of-a-kind show at the CNE from March 31 to April 4. VanSickle, a former art teacher at McKenzie-Smith Bennett school, operates her Enchanted Earth gallery out of her rural Acton home, and specializes in stoneware clay sculptures. Her work caught the eye of a show official who invited her to apply to be part of the event that features the work of hundreds of artisans. VanSickle plans to take a lot of her outdoor work -- garden sculptures and fountains -- to the show and sale, along with her smaller indoor wizards. cs TUTOR SEARCH Patient people with good people skills are needed by Literacy North Halton to train as volunteer tutors for Acton area adults who want to improve their reading, writing and basic computer skills. Recruitment is underway for a semi-annual volunteer training session for tutors, who mainly work one-on-one with a client. For details call 905-873-2200. CANCER KICKOFF The Acton Branch of the Canadian Cancer Society says thanks to its volunteers, in advance, at the annual campaign kickoff and volunteer appreciation dinner on March 31 at Trinity United Church. The people who helped raise over $99,000 for cancer research and community programs in Acton last year, including canvassers, knitters, drivers and daffodil salespersons, have been invited to the 6 p.m. dinner. Volunteers are still needed for April's cancer campaign. Call Liz at 853-0585 for details. NO PARKING, PLEASE Watermain replacement work is causing traffic delays on Churchill Road North ini the Lasby Lane area, leading the Region to "respectfully request" people to avoid the area and park elsewhere for the next month or so. Halton is replacing the watermain on Churchill from Lasby Lane, northerly for 75-metres. Construction began March 4 and should take two weeks with another two or three weeks to test the main. No road closures are planned, but Churchill could be down to one lane during working hours. THE NEW TANNER COTTON CANDY LAND: The school creek has broken its icy bonds and flows quickly again under the Acton Library span on River St. enhanced by a cotton candy snowfall which started on Sunday and left Monday morning a scene etched from a painter's box. The snow gave us a sanitized world again for a few hours until old Sol and climbing mercury exposed the accumulation of winter debris again. The more I see of Paul Martin as P.M. the more I find myself humming the old Beatles song, "I'm a Believer." Being a realist, I know that P.M., the P.M., is in survival mode. After attaining the goal of his adult life he found a train wreck. Do you really think it's only dogged research by political opponents that's uncovering scandal after scandal? Remember, there are still plenty of Chretien loyalists in Ottawa who see Martin's demise as being more important than a party win in the next loss would only make their man look better in view of his three successive victories. Last week Mr. Martin gave the heave-ho to VIA Chairman Jean Pelletier. No big surprise there. He also turfed the VIA president who had been on suspension. More heads are due to roll over the sponsorship program. The fact most of the people under the gun are Chretien appointees is simply a bonus. The P.M. claims he will run an entirely new and responsive government. I wish him well. After suffering through the last 30 years we deserve decent representation. ~ Personally, I don't think we've had. a federal government dedicated to public service since the waning days of the Pearson years. I know Mr. Martin won't be able to completely return us to those simpler years. Too much of the bureaucracy is so ingrained it is self-perpetuating. Perhaps I'm naive to hope Mr. Martin will do his best to restore integrity and ethics to senior government departments. But wouldn't it be nice ifhis government was dedicated to public service and accountability instead of being constantly preoccupied with plotting to be re-elected? OK, call me Pollyanna; Polly to my friends. I think the chances ofa late spring election are still good. The Liberal polls are coming back up. Granted, they'll lose some seats in Ontario, the Maritimes and possibly Quebec. Mr. Martin's plans for a big comeback in the prairies will have to wait for another day. A few more popular beheadings though and expect the writ to fall about three to four weeks after the Conservative leadership convention. A sure sign will be a major firing within a week of the new Conservative leader being elected. Probably someone in justice general election. In fact, a Martin -- ' Schemin', steamin' and dreamin The Way | I See It Mike O'Leary or prisons given public opinion in those areas. Few tears will be shed for Tequila Sheila. Last weekend she lost the nomination for the new riding of Hamilton East -- Stoney Creek. Transport Minister Tony Valeri knocked Ms. Copps off. Sweeeet! But don't count "Nobody's Baby" out just yet. She would be quite at home in the N.D.P., as would most Chretienites. She could also run as an independent and be the spoiler who could split the Liberal vote and bring Minster Valeri down. Revenge is a dish best enjoyed cold. More to come from Butthead country. Yessir, the election hasn't even been called and already it's the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Stay tuned, the action will be fast and furious over the next month. RaKKK I was not surprised Martha Stewart was convicted. Nor would I have been surprised had she been proclaimed innocent. What was surprising was that she was found guilty on all four counts. That result was damning. None of us really know the facts of this case. I'm not at all sure Martha even remembers the exact sequence of events. As I see it, the real problem is that people in Martha's snack bracket see themselves as above mere mortals. They may not describe it that way, but hey obviously they think many of society's rules don't apply to them. Ms. Stewart, said to have an evil temper, must be hopping mad she's been brought down by something so inconsequential i in her world. One thing bothers nie about the results of the Stewart trial. In the U.S.A., jurors are allowed to publicly comment on the trial once they are dismissed. During an interview, one juror referred to the decision as being justice for the "little guy." Another insinuated the verdict may have been different had Martha taken the stand. I have no problem with the conviction. I just hope the decision was based on the facts rather than some misguided effort to punish the s) privileged class. That wouldn't be justice, it would be legal vigilantism. The silly side of this story is that, by dumping her Imclone stock, Ms. Stewart saved herself less than $60,000. Her losses since the charges were laid are a different matter. It is estimated that Martha Stewart has lost more than $200 million on her personal stock portfolio. That's why I say her decision to dump Imclone was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Based on the feeling of privilege rather than a thought out business 'decision. Waste no pity on Ms. Stewart, though. It's estimated she still has a net worth of over $400 million. No fundraising bake sales need to be organized for Martha. It appears Martha will spend some time in the federal slammer. Unlike | ~ here, once sentenced, there is no time off for good manners. Estimates are she'll spend between 12 and 18. months behind bars. I'll spare you the cell decorating scenarios but when you see U.S. federal prison guards decked out in new uniforms of taupe and chartreuse, and it works, you' Il know -- Martha's in residence. RKEKK On the local scene, this column extends sincere congratulations to Acton resident Larry DeSouza. DeSouza, who signs his creations "Lar", placed 13" out of over 200 international competitors at the Golden Noseys. The Noseys, the caricaturists version of the Oscars, are awarded at the National Caricaturists Network Convention. This was only Larry's second trip to the competition. Tanner readers may recognize DeSousa's work. On. several occasions my friend found something in this space worthy of satirizing with his pen. The last was a fanciful illustration of your humble scribbler in a cowboy boots and a thong. (Sorry for the visuals). He was also responsible for the Chret- |" yen which accompanied a piece on the state of our dollar. We at The New Tanner have always appreciated Lar's talent. It's exciting to see his work recognized by his peers and on behalf of everyone in Acton we offer him our sincere congratulations. © If I'd known he was going to be so famous, I'd have had him sign those original caricatures. They're probably worth serious bucks now. Damn -- 20/20 hindsight again! --_/