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B ea ver For the finest in CUSTOM UPHOLSTERING call Baier's. (betwan" Biane& ThmJ Line) \--adruonl S H I N E S Makers of tine upholstered furniture. 2333W vecroft Road. I nit 7 m *VS1 (m i / ' m W I RockinRhythm Entertainment 52 Pages Focus WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15,2000 A Metroland Publication Vol. 138 No. 32 75 Cents (plus GST) F a lg a rw o o d c a t b u rg la r c a u g h t Area residents terrorized by entries By Howard Mozei OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Photo by Barrie Erskine SUPER SHOT: H alton R egional Police are adding m ore to their arsenal in com batting aggressive drivers in th e region. Police are u sing new ligh tw eigh t laser technology to catch speeding m otorists. H alton Regional P olice C onst. Strath C raw ford from the T raffic E nforcem ent D ivision is show n using one o f the new units on B ron te R oad yesterday. F or s to r y , s e e p a g e A 3. L ast w eek's arrest o f a cat burglar has both police and Falgarw ood resi dents breathing a sigh o f relief. A ll o f the 25 entries and attem pts that occurred since January, transpired dur ing the late-night or early-m orning hours w hile the occupants were sleep ing. `T h e re was a real high priority for this," said Halton Regional Police Sgt. Blase Wasser. Jam es A lfred B arn h ard t,^2 8 , o f G ainsborough Drive, was facing 12 counts o f break-and-enter and theft and pleaded guilty T uesday in Oakville Court. He will be sentenced next week. In one instance, a burglar rem oved a ladder from a garage, propped it against the house and entered through an upper floor window. On another occasion, he broke into a house w hile its ow ner - a black belt in K arate - was sound asleep. Police had issued a w arning to Falgarw ood residents to be on the lo okout for suspicious p ersons or activities in the wake o f the entries. T hey were preparing to blanket the area with pam phlets at the tim e o f the arrest. (S e e `Police' p age A 2) S olid police w ork and a poor choice o f footw ear has put a 28-year-old O akville m an behind bars in connection w ith a string o f nighttim e hom e robberies. Ed Williams ready for St. Patrick's Day walk But after 24 years, he' d like someone else to join him By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Doctor charged in alleged $2-m health clinic scam By Declan Finucane SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER An O akville resident is am ong 12 doctors facing fraud charges after a tw o-year police probe o f a M ississauga walk-in clinic revealed an alleged $2million billing scam. Investigators believe the O ntario H ealth Insurance Plan (O H IP) w as defrauded out o f the m oney between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 1997, by three m ethods: billing for services that were not rendered; billing for services that were not m edically necessary; and billing for m edically unnecessary referrals. D etective Staff Sergeajrt Keith M esshtm , oft the O ntario Provincial Police health fraud investigation unit that launched the probe in April, 1998, would not com m ent on w hat perform ed medical services police believe to have been unnecessary or how many patients were involved. M essham said the investigation into the Advanced W alk-in Clinic, located at 21 The Queensway W. near Trillium H ealth Centre M ississauga, was launched after his unit received a com plaint from the M inistry o f Health concerning billing irregularities in early 1998. A ccording to reports, seven o f the doctors charged still practice at the Q ueensw ay W est clinic. All 12 -- including the ow ner/operator o f the facil ity -- have practiced at the clinic at one tim e or anoth er, said M essham . Police charged 11 o f the doctors M arch 1st, while the other -- who had been out o f the country -- was charged earlier this week. M essham said the investigation is continuing. S e a n M c P h e e , s p o k e s p e rs o n f o r th e c lin ic , s a id (S e e `Physician' p age A 4) Young crash victims to be buried together The families o f the young couple killed Friday afternoon on icy Lion's Valley Bridge, say the two will be buried together. The devoutly Christian couple were thinking o f marriage, said family mem bers. James Filiatrault, 22, o f Stoney Creek and his passenger, Alana Dryfhout, 18, of Brampton died after their westbound pickup truck collided almost head-on with an eastbound minivan. The pickup was propelled into the bridge's retaining wall and broke through the railing but did not plunge through to the valley below. The pair had to be extricated by the Oakville Fire D epartm ent and were rushed to Oakville-Trafalgar M emorial Hospital (OTM H) where they were pro nounced dead. Both victims - who had been wearing their seat belts - were on their way to Filiatrault's home at the time of the accident. The sole occupant o f the van, a 21year-old Oakville man whose name was not released by police, was treated for minor injuries at the Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. A light freezing rain had been falling for hours prior to the tragedy. The collision remains under investi gation by Const. Daryl Dalton o f the Regional Traffic Unit. Anyone who may have witnessed the accident is encour aged to contact him at 825-4747 ext. 5108 or Crime Stoppers at 825-8477. The accident marked the fifth and sixth fatalities on the Oakville stretch of Dundas in four accidents in less than two years. m S S JT g p j Parkvisitor sent to hospital after Bronte Creek horsesbolt A trip to the maple syrup festival at Bronte Creek Provincial Park resulted in a w ild ride for about 15 visitors on M onday when a horse-draw n w agon w ent out o f control and smashed into a bam and a tree. Param edics had to be called in to treat several people who were slightly injured in the mishap. O ne female patron, Lisa Hribar, 30, o f Stoney C reek w as transported to Joseph Brant Hospital for treatment. The horse-drawn w agon was about to tour the park when both horses draw ing the w agon were spooked for unknow n reasons. The w agon driver, Richard Zila, 39, o f Beam sville, attem pted to gain control but was tossed from the w agon and dragged a few metres. The wagon then hit the bam and a tree before com ing to a stop. Park superintendent Paul de Courcy said the horses are being exam ined by a vet to determ ine if they sustained any injuries. In the meantime, the w agon rides will be pulled by tractors w hile the O.P.P. carry out an investigation o f the inci dent. W hile Ed W illiam s' annual St. P atrick's D ay w alk from Toronto to O akville may seem arduous to som e, the 4 8 -y ea r o ld takes it all in easy stride as always. "I 'm lo oking forw ard to a good w alk ," he says simply. T h is F riday m arks the 24th year E d W illiam s: ready for in a row that yearly w alk W illiam s, a m ainteat nance m an H om e D ep o t in B u rlington, has m ade the trek, and given his track record, he has every reason for opti mism. A fter all, he says, during only tw o walks out o f the last 23 has he been forced to en d u re le ss-th an -id eal w eather conditions. "Last w eek would have been too w tum . Lust Sat lit day was p er/ect," he said. "S om eone's sm iling on m e." Even on the best o f days, the coldest portion o f the jou rn ey is through Toronto w here the w ind off the lake d o es its b est to chill W illiam s in his tracks. O nce past D ixie Road, though, it's clear w alk ing all the way. The tradition dates back to 1922 when a sm all group trudged from Toronto to the old H alton H otel - one o f the few taverns licensed to serve liquor that day. T he first solo walker w as a m an nam ed C h arlie Priestm an, a tradition taken up by an o th er fellow , B arney H eard. W illiam s took up the torch after reading that H eard had fallen the year before and could not finish. On Friday, W illiam s will leave Nathan Phillips Square at 9 a.m. and plans to m ake it back to the Bearded Collie in D ow ntow n O akville by around 4 p.m. Key to this annual odyssey are W illiam s' boots. O nly about a year old, they are certainly broken-in: alm o st every w orkday W illiam s w alks the 10 km s fro m his W aterdow n house to H om e D epot on G uelph L ine in Burlington. Iff (S e e `Trek' p a g e A 4) IN S ID E today' s paper Editorials............ Focus. ............................... .....B1 Automotive..............................C1 Entertainment... ................... C8 Sports............... ................... D1 Classified.......... ................... D4 Business............ ................... D6 Fashion.............. Special Supplements: Home delivery: Hy < SZeis, BIWay Partial delivery: Business Depot, CIMS Guardian, Lansing Buildall C a n a d ia n P u b lic a t io n s M a il P r o d u c t A g r e e m e n t #435-201 M u n ic ip a l r e s tr u c t u r in g C d n . C lu b to p ic M unicipal restructuring will be the topic o f discussion at the next Oakville Canadian Club meeting on M arch 20th. Guest speaker is D avid O 'Brien, City M anager for the City of M ississauga and a special advisor to the M inistry of M unicipal Affairs and H ousing regarding local governm ent reform for Hamilton-W entworth. O 'Brien will discuss various aspects o f m unicipal restruc turing including delivery o f services, impact on property taxes and municipal administration. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Oakville Ram ada Inn and is preceded by an open bar at 6 p.m.. Cost is $27.50 for m em bers and $37.50 for non-m em bers. Reservations must be made advance by calling the secretary at 845-2862 or via fax at 339-0469. Photo by Peter C. McCusker LAST RUN: She m ight have an opportunity to hit the slopes o f G len Eden again before all the snow is gone, but Laura R ichards w a sn 't w asting the w eekend...just in case. If the w eather forecast ers are correct, w arm er tem peratures this week should end the ski season on H alton slopes. 7 n = S J iU h is i; 2 0 0 0 C H R Y S L E R N E O N 2 2 0 2.0L 16 valve, 132hp engine, auto, air, AM/FM/cassette, 4-wheel fully independent suspension, tilt, full console w/centre armrest, 60/40 split, dual ext. mirrors w/ driver's side manual remote, tinted glass, child protection rear door locks, next generation dual airbags. OR I N V E S T M E N T S m Plus freight, taxes & license. up to 60 mths. FINANCING LEASE FOR SO dow n $ 2 6 5 .6 9 /m th OR W E RETIREMENT PLANNING SPECIALISTS Free C o n s u l t a t io n 48 m ths. 25,200 Ians. /yr. i c i i r y si er 175 Wyecroft Road, Oakville 845-6653 8 4 2 -2 1 0 0 P e t e r C Wm m h i C M * . ftK ft. I