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CCNA BETTER NEWSPAPERS COMPETITION 2000 oakvillebeaver.com DO IT NOW! Lawnmower Service C U R R E N TP O W E RM A C H IN E R YIN C . 1G61 Lakeshore Rd. W. Mississauga |2b lo c keasto fS o u th d o w n -QOOA04 4 R o a dinC la rk so n ) §0&Aa 4 t£ ll t M OMS W eek fin a l M edicA lert bracelet I hockey results good gam e plan S po rts WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4,2001 Focus M e rc e d e s-B e n z A Metroland Publication Vol. 39 No. 40 52 Pages 75 Cents (plus GST) S au lt m an su in g firm over d ru g Class action su it claim s Janssen-O rtho dow nplayed im p lica tio n s o fP re p u lsid By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 58-year old Sault Saint Marie man has launched a $600-million class action against the manufacturer of Prepulsid, the controversial drug now at the cen tre of a coroner's inquest into the death of an Oakville teen. The law firm of Girones and Associates filed the lawsuit in Timmins on behalf of Gino Policicchio, the representative plaintiff who is advancing the class action on behalf of all those who have suffered injury as a result of taking Prepulsid. The suit alleges that Janssen-Ortho - the Canadian manu facturer of the drug and a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Inc. - "negligently, deliberately or fraudulently concealed or downplayed scientific data which clearly showed the risks associated with the use of Prepulsid." A An Oakville Beaver carrier for 11 years, Colin Smith, 76, delivers his last papers Saturday. Photo by Erin Riley (See Inquest' page A8) ^ S e p t u a g e n a r i a n c a r r i e r *r e t i r e s ' f o llo w in g 1 1 y e a rs o f s e rv ic e Colourful senior says it's time to give up his paper routes By W ilm a Blokhuis OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Colin Smith may not have printer's ink flowing through his veins but for the past 11 years he's had it on his hands three days a week. A colourful character with silver hair jutting out from beneath his trademark blue baseball cap, Smith retired Saturday as the Oakville Beaver's oldest carrier. "Eleven years is long enough," said Smith, 76. "I'm getting too old." Smith delivered six routes - anywhere between 120 to 150 papers depending on the day. On `paper days,' he would load up his car, and drive to the various stops along his route to deliver the papers. He delivered in five apartment build ings, retirement residences and condomini ums including The Granary, 6 John St., and The Kensington. (Each building constitutes one route.) He also delivered to a number of businesses on Lakeshore Road and along residential streets between Kerr and Navy Streets, south of Rebecca Street. Smith, who has always delivered in this area, considered the onerous task as just being one very large paper route, deliver ing both the Oakville Beaver and the Shopping News. His customers appreciated Smith. Many gave the devoted carrier generous tips every Christmas. On Saturday, he gave his customers a simple thank-you note, informing them he was retiring because he felt he could no longer provide the level of service they desejved. He would start his route in the morning, and finish by mid-afternoon. Smith was named Carrier of the Month on more than one occasion. "We've never had complaints about his routes," said Marie Gallagher, a district representative in the Beaver's circulation department. "He was really good with his customers, and had regular contact with them. People bonded with him. He would stop along his route and chat with his customers." Smith frequently came to the Beaver's circulation department to check on his routes, and give names o f new subscribers. (See `Senior' page A2) *Tim e running out for holder o f $93,000 lottery ticket Check your wallet or purse. It may contain a winning lottery ticket worth $92,720. A ccording to the O ntario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, the winning ticket for the April 19, 2000 Winner Take All lottery draw was purchased Oakville, but the $92,720 prize has not been claimed, yet. The winning numbers for the draw were 7-9-3-0-7-1. Time is running out. Deadline for claiming the jackpot prize is 5 p.m. April 19. Anyone possessing the winning ticket has to fill in the back portion, sign it and contact the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation Prize office, 33 Bloor St. E., Toronto before the deadline. In the past, major lottery prizes have been claimed just hours before they were about to expire. In past years, a Hamilton woman claimed $92,934,70, and a Barrie man claimed $52,250.50 after hearing radio announcements about two LOTTO 6/49 second prizes about to expire. W inner Take All is a nightly lottery game that costs $1 to play and where one player wins it all. Each night, an electronic draw chooses one winning ticket number from those purchased for that draw. Winner Takes All plays are all Quick Picks. There are no selection slips. Players can choose up to 10 plays per ticket. Confusion in Sikh student assault trial By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Fists flew as fast as the snowballs in a schoolyard brawl at OakvilleTrafalgar High School more than a year ago. Yesterday in a Milton Youth Court, testimony flew in a confusing circle about what happened the day that Sikh and white students fought. A s tria l in to fig h t a t O a k v ille T r a fa lg a r H ig h S c h o o l d r a w s to a c lo s e , it's still u n c le a r a s to w h o d id w h a t to w h o m Just who did or said what remained cloudy after half a dozen defence wit nesses took the stand. Four law yers representing four youths accused in the Feb. 15, 2000 beating o f two Sikh youths are expect ed to sum up their case as the trial con tinues for a sixth day tomorrow in Burlington. The four youths have pleaded not guilty to charges of "Assault Level 1." They can't be named under the Young Offenders Act. One of the four has also pleaded not guilty to the more serious "Assault Level 2". The witnesses, who testified before Judge Douglas Latim er presented varying versions of the fight. Court has heard that the schoolyard altercation was preceded by a lunchtime incident in which snowballs were thrown at some Sikh students. "Word was going around the school that something was happening after school," testified a 17-year-old who was originally charged in the incident, but has since seen the charge dropped. After school, shortly after a group o f Sikh students strode into the school's smoking pit, there followed several altercations, which left both a Sikh student and a white student bloodied. (See 'Incident1page A8) Power plant must meet tougher emission standards-Witmer By Angela B lackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Ontario Environm ent M inister Elizabeth Witmer says Sithe Energy's proposed gas-fired power plant on the east side of Winston Churchill Blvd. will have to meet the Province's tough new emissions standards. The Province introduced those new "caps" for Ontario's soon-to-be de regulated electricity market last week. And they may seal the fate o f the coal-fired Lakeview G enerating Station in south Mississauga, which must cease burning coal by 2005. It comes at the same tim e the Canadian arm o f New York-based Sithe wants to open the gas-fired B u t m in is t e r q u ie t o n E n v iro n m e n ta l A sse ssm e n t re v ie w Southdown Plant in 2003 -- a plant which could replace coal-fired plants like Lakeview. The proposed $500 million, gas- Charges laid after dead m an 's licence used A Toronto man faces charges after Halton Regional Police picked him up Sunday using a dead man's identifica tion. On Sunday evening. Constables Crystal Kelly and M ilo Cim bur stopped a car at the rear of a plaza at 1011 Upper Middle Rd. The driver identified himself with a photo driver's licence, but computer checks by police revealed the identifi cation belonged to a Toronto man who'd died in 1999. As Kelly began to question the dri ver, he became evasive, so he was questioned further and fingerprinted. The fingerprints were found to be different from the dead m an's, so police ran a computer check on the driver's fingerprints and came up with his true identity. Charged w ith personation and obstruct police is Dwayne Beecher, 29, of Toronto. Beecher was held for a bail hearing in Milton. fired Sithe plant, to be located just south of Royal Windsor Drive would supply the GTA, and possibly U.S. markets, with electricity. However, just whether the new provincial emission caps will pave the way for the Sithe proposal as it seals Lakeview's fate remains to be seen. "The Province is going to have very tough emission standards and Sithe, and others, are going to have to meet those em ission lim its," said Witmer, who was in town to open a clothing recycling facility. Nor would Witmer say whether she would grant an Environm ental (See `New' page A8) today' s paper ...............JkB ...............£ 1 _______ £ 6 __ _ Q1 Entertainment.............. _ n* Classified___________ u ____ f j r t u i t ra Automotive._________ _______ ,D1 .............. JJ6 Editorials. Focus. 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