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

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2004 THE NEW TANNER GRA BRONZE SALON EXPANSION Bronze Salon is no longer just a tanning salon -- owner/operator Melissa Krause now offers a full range of spa services including aes- thetics, body and face treatments, manicures and pedicures and services of a registered massage therapist. "A lot of people were asking for a lot of services -- like eyebrow wax- ing --and we figured we might as well do it and go ahead and expand and offer more services for our existing loyal clientele," said Krause, also stating that business has been great since she took over in April. MY COTTAGE DREAM An Acton couple's dream of own- ing their own business came true last month when Carm Winstone and Joe Marzalik bought the former book store across on Eastern Avenue and re-opened as My Cottage Dream from the Olde Hide House. The store features an eclectic mix of bed, bath and kitchen items includ- ing imported French soaps and quilts, duvets and home decor. Winstone said her clientele is a mix of locals and visitors who she tries to please with an ever-changing se- lection of unique and well-priced stock. "We' ve been thinking about being self-employed' -- everybody dreams about being. an entrepreneur," Winstone said adding both she and her husband have unrelated full-time jobs. SPOOKY DANCE Proceeds. from a_ hockey Hallowe'en dance will help pay for government sponsored courses that the volunteer coaches must take. The dance is October 23 at the Le- gion, and includes a cold buffet, cash bar, best costume contest, raffle and a 50/50 draw. Tickets for the second annual Coaches Fundraiser dance are $10, and will be available at the arena October 16, or from an Acton House League hockey coach. HAUNTED HOUSE You can "take the tour of terror where each turn brings you face-to- face with the unknown" on October 30, at the Off The Wall youth centre on Mill Street. From | to 4 p.m., the centre, under the guidance of the Acton BIA (Busi- ness Improvement Area) will be turned into a scary haunted house. All are welcome -- even the faint of heart! SEATBELT SAFETY The cops don't know why, but more drivers are wearing their seatbelts than during the spring safety campaign. One ticket was issued for every 42 cars stopped during the Sep- tember 25 to October 3 campaign, compared to one ticket for every 48 cars stopped in the last check. Region-wide, Halton Hills has the worst compliance rate in the Region with 23 charges laid and 32 warnings issued by Halton police that stopped 243 cars. Region-wide, 9,380 vehicles were stopped during the fall campaign re- sulting in 27 seatbelt charges and 14 warnings. A seatbelt conviction carries a $110 fine and two points. BOARD AWARD Congrats to the Halton District School Board for winning its fifth Bravo award -- a national communi-. cations award for its Arts Capital Campaign for the Halton Learning Foundation. Judges for the Canadian Associa- PEV \ tion of Communicators in Education found Halton's campaign "strategic and professional." SORROW MANAGEMENT Managing chronic sorrow is the theme ofa free seminar being offered at the Georgetown Legion on Octo- ber 27 at 7 p.m. Hosted by the Halton Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the seminar titled "Chronic Sorrow" is billed as an emotional response to the real and anticipated losses associated with an unpredictable illness such as MS or Parkinson's disease. TUTORS NEEDED Do you have several hours a week to help someone with reading, writ- ing or spelling? Literacy North Halton is looking for tutors who are willing to work one-on-one with adult clients. Training is provided and no expe- rience is necessary. Patience and a good sense of humour go a long way. If you are interested, call 905-873- 2200 for information. : BARBER MILL The past, present and future plans of the Barber Paper Mill property will be revealed by local historian Mark Rowe at the October 13 meet- ing of the Esquesing Historical Society. The meeting, at Knox Church in Georgetown is free, and will be fol- lowed by light refreshments. AUXILIARY OFFICERS WANTED Halton police are looking for vol- unteers who would like to train as auxiliary officers to help police of- ficers at public events -- like the fall fair -- and to patrol with community patrol officers on busy weekends. There is an auxiliary officer infor- mation meeting scheduled for October 20 at the police HQ on Bronte Road and the next training session for successful applicants be- gins in January. The first phase of training in- volves a general aptitude test and successful candidates will receive over 100 hours of training and are required to be on duty for 12 hours per month. Volunteer application forms are available at the police Web site www.hrps.on.ca CHARITY FUN There will be a week of charity fun at the Acton branch of Prosperity One beginning on Monday. Along with a weeklong bake sale, raffle and prizes, staff will host a bar- becue on Thursday -- along with a cake to mark Credit Union Day --and chili on Friday. As in the past three years, Pros- perity One has chosen ASAP -- the Acton Sports Action Park commit- tee to receive proceeds to help build a skateboard park in Acton. That makes Deb Fendley, chair of ASAP very happy. "I think it's wonderful that Pros- perity One has once again chosen us to receive proceeds from their fundraiser. It shows how community minded they are and how conimit- ted they are to the youth of town," Fendley said. COMEDY CUISINE A two-act comic play and a hot and cold buffet will highlight a din- ner theatre presentation on October 30 at the Acton Town Hall Centre on Willow Street. Tickets are $40, and are available at Halton Hills Furniture and Appli- ances, Home Hardware and the BIA office. The ticket deadline is October 23. MAJOR EXPANSION: A wide-range of spa services is now available at the Bronze Salon. That means new staff including, from left: tanning tech Amy Tawse, aesthetician Sandra Stewart, tanning techs Kasia Sitarz and April Thomas, owner/operator Melissa Krause and aesthetician Amanda Harris. Absent: Sean Goodwill registered massage therapist. -- Submitted photo a When word of the fire aboard HMCS Chicoutimi first reached home, Canadians reacted with some frustration and even a touch of resigned humour. It seemed our government and armed forces had done it again. The subsequent death of Lieutenant Chris Saunders three days later, while enroute to hospi- tal, escalated the incident to a full blown crisis. We're probably all aware of the circumstances surrounding our purchase of four subs from the Brit- ish. Some are already trying to blame the Brits for selling us dam- aged goods. The subs were 18 years old. Would you buy an 18 year old used car from a friend. If that car was stored oceanside wouldn't you expect some serious deterioration? I expect the powers that be also considered these, and other details, before proceeding with the purchase. So the question still lingers: why did we buy these subs? The offi- cial reason is to patrol our coastal waters enforcing fishing and drug laws. That's pretty hard to accept when you consider all the drug problems on the west coast. We did not station a sub there until last year, even with all the drugs arriv- ing from the Orient. I suspect the real reason for buying subs is be- cause the military brass considers them to be sexy. We don't have much in the way of B19 military toys. Subs give the brass bragging rights with our Nato Allies. What other reason could there be? With the size of our coastline, four subs can't give us any kind of coverage. Wouldn't the $750 million be bet- ter spent on satellite and high performance aircraft? Today's technology allows satellites to read a newspaper from space. That ca- pability is more than enough to identify illegal fishing trawlers or drug runners. We paid $750 million for the subs and a further $250 million, so far, to refurbish them. The program is four years behind schedule. The three subs now in service have fre- quent breakdowns. They have limited dive depth due to structural concerns. The government contin- ues to prattle on about what a good deal this was. The first description of the fire on Chicoutimi said it was relatively minor. After Lieutenant Sanders \died we were told the fire was more Fire Down Below! The Way I See It with mike OLeay serious than previously described. Now the crew is telling us the fire was extremely serious. They de- scribe the terrifying moments when the sub was filled with black acrid smoke. Chicoutimi, powerless, wal- lowed in seas running twenty to thirty feet for days before a towline could be attached. It's a miracle, and a testament to Canadian seaman- ship, that more lives were not lost. The Irish and British were first on the scene. They rendered invaluable aid and we owe them a debt of grati- tude. Then, when the towing operation looked to be in trouble, the Americans sent a huge ocean going tug which computed the job and brought our crippled ship and wounded crew back home. We probably wont thank the Yanks. If we try, | wouldn't blame the "idi- ots" and "bastards" for ignoring our official overtures. Now, as more facts come out, I would like to know why we were misled in the early days of this trag- edy. Why was the extent of the fire downplayed? I can understand that, in the early hours of this incident, communications were spotty. Once help arrived I'm sure our military brass know exactly what was going on. We could all accept the admi- rals saying that any fire on a sub was areal problem and that more details would come when the ship and her crew were safe. But that's not what happened. Ottawa tried to tell us the fire was minor. Why? Perhaps I'm becoming too cyni- cal in my old age but I fear the answer is politics. The government knows the public is sick of horror stories regarding our troops equip- ment. Remember the green camouflage uniforms we sent our troops into the Afghan desert in? Last week was also the opening of our minority government. The last thing the Liberals wanted was to give the opposition any ammunition which could embarrass the govern- ment over the used subs. So, was this why initial reports downplayed the seriousness of the fire? I don't know: " but I have my suspicions. P.M. Martin said that Lieutenant Saunders died defending his coun- try. I trust the P.M. said that to console Lieutenant Saunder's fam- ily, friends and shipmates. But it isn't true. While Lieutenant Saunders perished on duty, he was killed by substandard equipment. He wasn't the first and he sadly, probably, won't be the last. Since Liberal Paul Hellier began to integrate our armed forces the Canadian government has given our military the brown end of the stick. We sent troops to the former Yugo- slavia without enough flak vests to go around. Those coming off duty had to give vests to those going on duty. Troops were killed in Afghani- stan while riding in a jeep-like vehicle that offered little or no pro- tection. The Sea-King helicopters have earned the nickname "Widow Makers". The litany of abuse of our armed forces stretches back to the 60's and Mr. Trudeau. Don't be fooled into. thinking a change of government will imme- diately fix the problem. Mr. Mulroney's conservatives didn't do much for the military over two terms. I don't count Mr. Clark's government since he wasn't in of- fice long enough to even learn to spell Petawawa let alone wonder what they do there. I don't think the government will change its attitude unless and un- til we absolutely demand it. Until we raise such a hue and cry that political, civilian and military types are held responsible, and heads roll, the status quo won't change. Don't hold your breath. Watching the Adscam inquiry is like watching someone try to nail mercury to the floor. We all re- member the non-decision of the Somalia inquiry. Even today, while the funeral of| Lieutenant Saunders is fresh in our minds, the horror stories continue. Our new Cormorant helicopters, the politically dictated replacement for our Sea-Kings, require twenty two hours of maintenance for every hour in the air. They were expected to require seven hours. Despite all the cost over-runs on politically driven programs, the government expects defense to save $200 million from its budget this year. The cuts will come from the troops, not the politicians, gener- als and admirals. You can bet the farm on that. Sy,