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The Oakville Beaver N O R T H . A M E R I C A ' S M O S T A W A R D E D C O M M U N I T Y N E W S P A P E R www.oakvillebeaver.com The many Faces of Oakville PAGE 24 A Metroland Publication Vol. 44 No. 26 Like a good n eig h b o u r STATE FA RM D eb o rah E B artu cci A g en t 90 5 -337-3276 INSURANCE ® ,, State Farm is th e re .1 '1 " USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES' FRIDAY, MARCH 3,2006 48 Pages $1.00 ipiuswn Who is that masked man? Town eyes tax hike Hydro dividend helps cut original tax increase By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 3.47 % Thanks to an $800,000 Oakville Hydro divi dend and sharp pencils wielded by this year's budget committee, Oakville property taxpayers could be facing the lowest budget hike in many years -- 3.47 per cent or $33 extra a year on a $300,000 home. Town of Oakville council is expected to give its stamp of approval on it Monday. The likelihood of the rec ommended hike being approved appears good thanks to the budget com mittee led by Ward 5 Councillor Jeff Knoll and the hydro dividend, which reduced a staff-recommended 5.47 per cent hike to the 3.4 per cent number. "We thought that the 5.47 per cent increase first pro posed by staff was simply too high and we're pleased to be able to reduce this increase to a more fiscally-responsible level without sacrificing Town services," said Knoll. Even without the pay ment from Oakville Hydro, the committee was able to See Budget page 10 Inside Artscene....: ............. ;.............29 ........................32 Worship.... ....34 Sports.................. Real Estate .....................38 Classified ......... 42 Full Delivery: Superstore, Fon3 Basics, Partial Delivery: Office Depot, NAM, Ashley Furniture, Sport Mart, Covers, Canadian Tire, Surekha Jasani, M&M' s, Price Chopper, Ho Lee Chow, Home Hardware, Loblaws, Longos, Sobeys, Pharma Plus, Rabba Fine Foods, Fortino's, MDG, Sears Portrait, Super pet, California Spa, Goeman' s, Shop & Save, Toys R Us, Dominion, Future Shop, Best Buy, Michaels, Home Depot, Sears, Zellers, 2001 Audio, The Bam, Shoppers Drug Marl, The Source by Circuit City BARRIE ERSKINEI OAKVILLE BEAVER HAVING A BALL: Christopher Carnovale, chair of the RBC Festival of Classics' Masked Bard's Ball and Holly Angus, media relations for the ball, don hand-painted masks from Italy as they extend an invitation to the Bard's Ball on March 31. It's the second annual costume party and this year's theme is Venice to preview the RBC play, the M erchant o f Venice. For complete story see page 22. Camouflage Bandit returns to bank, but flees empty handed this time The Camouflage Bandit -- a man wanted in connection with a score of bank robberies -- is thought to have made an appearance Tuesday at an Oakville bank he had previous ly robbed, only to flee when recognized by employees. According to Halton Regional Police, it was around 11:40 a.m. when a man, thought to be responsible for a spate of recent bank rob beries, entered the Scotiabank at 320 Speers Rd. Bank staff believed they recognized the suspect and called police. The man, who was waiting in line, became suspicious of bank employees watching him and fled before com mitting a crime. He was followed and seen getting into a See Bank page 15 Suspect E nd insurance confusion. For inform ed decisions that you can feel good about, contact us! We are pleased to offer com petitive insurance solutions in person, by email, or fax. Your hotline to great insurance products & services:905-845-9793 Vince Tomenson Dickerson a div. of The MAGNES Group Inc. The www.vincetomenson.com D O M IN IO N O F CANADA G en eral In su ra n c e C om pany 1540 Cornwall Rd., Suite #100, Oakville, ON L6J 7W5 Tel: (905) 845-9793 Fax: (905) 845-9149 Vince Tomenson Dickerson has its roots in Syd A. Vince Insurance Est. 1953 , · Home · Auto · Life · Business · *A s c h o s e n by O akviife B e a ver R ead e rs