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Lawnmower Service for most makes & models We can fix it! » s6 9 « C U R R EN TP O W E RM AC H IN ER Y IN C . 1661 Lakeshore Rd. W. Mississauga (2 block east of Southdown Road in Clarkson! >1044 * * Not your average I Spidey swings by assembly-line artist Best Buy opening A rtscene B usiness M erced es-B en z Q.E.W. & D orval Dr. v.o a k v illeb ea v er.co m T H E O A K V IL L E Idling cars easy pickings for thieves Car owners in north Oakville are making it easy for car thieves. The Halton Regional Police are investigating a rash of luxury high-end automobile thefts from residential driveways in the Glenashton Drive, Grand Boulevard. Iroquois Ridge area. All the thefts have one common denominator -- the unlocked and unoc cupied cars were all left idling in the driveway. The latest theft -- a 2002 Mercedes from a Grace Drive home Friday morn ing prompted police to issue a warning against motorists idling their cars in the driveway. Police said the four-door silver Mercedes with the licence plate ALHJ 998 was stolen sometime between 7:157:20 a.m. Police said the heist was the latest in a series of similar thefts of high-end luxury cars -- Mercedes, Lexus, BMW and Toyota. The thefts all occurred between 7 and 9:15 a.m. The same area was the target of a similar alert in January. Police are also concerned that chil dren may be strapped into the car seats of these idling cars. They advise that children should never be left unattended in a car. Anyone with information on this theft, or information on suspicious activity in the area, should call the Halton Police Oakville District Car Theft team at 905-825-4777, ext. 2316 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). PER Councillors balk at call for higher density development Want public input on new housing targets By Melanie Cummings S P E C IA L T O T H E B E A V E R Councillors at Monday night's planning and development committee put the brakes on a push by town planners eager to see the landscape filled with more townhouses and highrise buildings and fewer single detached homes. Currently single family homes comprise about 69 per " We don't have to cent of the town's residential gerrymander away from makeup, while townhouses building single family consist of about 17 per cent and highrises about 14 per cent. homes. That will But by 2016 a less concen fundamentally change trated mix is the target, accord the town if we opt ing to a Municipal Housing for more highrises. Statement created in February 2001. Increasing density To satisfy social and eco isn't a good idea." nomic needs for affordable · Ward 3 Councillor housing, the target is to have Keith Bird only half of the residences built as single family spaces, and 30 and 20 per cent respectively as townhouses and apartment type highrises, said town planning director Peter Cheatley. He attributed lower birth rates combined with an aging population for the swing toward compact housing. "If we build it, will they come?" asked Ward 6 Councillor Janice Wright. "What if it's not the right type of building for housing demands?" After two hours of debate on the housing issue that has (See `Councillors' page A7) Cab driver assaulted by two passengers Halton Regional Police are looking for two suspects who assaulted and robbed an Oakville cab driver in Bronte early Sunday morning. According to the police, the cab driv er picked up two men at the Pioneer Gas station at Bronte Road and Lakeshore Road at 2:40 a.m. The men asked to be driven to an address near Upper Middle Road and Bronte Road. But as the taxi drove up Bronte Road towards Speers Road, the two men start ed swearing and verbally abusing the cab driver, who turned the car around to return to the Bronte Village Mall where he had earlier spotted a Halton Regional Police cruiser. As they approached Lakeshore Road and Jones Street one of the men grabbed (See `Cabbie' page A7) Oakville firm appeals bribery conviction Acres International Ltd., of Oakville, has been fined about $3.5 million after being convicted of bribery in the tiny south African country of Lesotho. The fine was handed down Monday, but the Oakville engi neering firm continues to deny any wrong-doing in the cor ruption scandal, which involves construction contracts for a massive water project. Acres said it is "equally disturbed and dismayed" by the judge's sentence as it was by the "unjusti fied" guilty verdict delivered last month. The company is in the process of appealing the decision, spokesperson George Soteroff said. "It took a long while to get all the full transcripts and the decision of the trial, so it's been a slower process than hoped." It is not clear whether Acres will be forced to pay the fine immediately. The court reserved its decision on a defence request to suspend payment of the fine pending appeal. (See `Company' page A5) Chantal Ayotte · Special to the Oakville Beaver FUN W ITH SLIME: Before you turn the same shade as the ghoulish-slime pictured above you should know that six-year-old Isabella Munden is actually playing with green Jello and not some thing horribly disgusting. The youngster, decked out in her Halloween costume, was participating in an afternoon of fun and games at Oakville Museum at Erchless Estate Sunday. Children were able to make creepy crafts and enjoy a variety of contests and games during the haunting event. For more photographs o f the event, see page A2. II Editorials................... A6 Best Wheels...............B1 Focus........................Cl Update...................... G Classified.................. C5 Artscene................... C8 Sports....................... D1 Business....................D4 Partial Delivery: Hot time for charity F ir e f ig h t e r c a le n d a r m o d e ls tr e a t a p p r e c ia t iv e f a n s to p e r s o n a l a p p e a r a n c e By Paula Henriques a \K V I L L E B E A V E R S T A F F Sport Chek, Staples Business Depot, Gino' s Pizza, Home Depot, Mark' s Work Warehouse, Uniglobe-Glen Abbey Travel Inc., The Bay, Sears, @ Your Library Canadian Publications Mail Product Agreement #435-201 Eleven firefighters set women's hearts aflutter Friday at the official launch of the second Oakville Firefighters Charity Calendar. More than 250 women and even men wedged themselves into a packed Firehall Cool Bar, Hot Grill in Bronte to welcome the men, who graced the pages of the firefighters calendar. Filling in for one of the months was Rosanne Johnston, Miss September, who sits proudly with the Canadian and American flags behind her. Andrew Lee, calendar chair, said it was a respectful memento for the fire department. More than 200 calendars were sold that night and Lee said they are expecting to raise more than $30,000 for a number of charities and non-profit groups including: Ian Anderson House, Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides, Sunnybrook Foundation Skin Bank, Dreams Take Flight, Salvation Army, OTMH Foundation, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Bronte Butterfly Foundation and the Oakville Distress Centre. Lee said they worked on the calendar since March. Initially 23 interested firefighters posed for preliminary photos. The female staff at the fire department had the final vote. Amid screams, whistles, and claps, the men danced along the aisles and sat at booths to sign a personal note on the women's calendars. Some even faced lineups of women who had already picked their favourites. (See `Hot' page A3) Chantal Ayotte · Special to the Oakville Beaver Kay Matthews couldn't resist giving firefighter--turnedmodel -- David Drewbrook (December) a kiss after he signed her calendar during the Oakville Firefighter 2003 Calendar presentation at the Firehall Cool Bar Hot Grill. LOCKWOOD C H R Y S L E R 17 years in the sam e location. C H R Y S L E R · .J E E P * D O D G E F I V E S T A R S « C E R T I F I E D 175 W yecroft Road, Oakville 905.845.6653 w w w .lockw oo d chrysler.co m m