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run Top ur The Durham Region has received the highest possible credit rating from a New York investors service. A slightly lower rating has been given by a second agency which recently investigated Durham's financial capabilities. Regional Chairman Walter Beath and Finance Committee Chairman John Aker announced in Whitby last Wednesday that Moody's Investors Services of New York has awarded the Region a "Triple A" credit, rating. Durham has received a "Double A" standing from Standard and Poor's Corporation., Both agencies are international Stedmans Re- Manager Keith Jackson advised The Statesman and Newcastle Independent today that Stedmans would reopen for business in Bowmanville on Thursday, October 19th at 10 a.m. With close co-operation from Stedman's suppliers, the grand re-opening is about eight weeks from the date of the fire that destroyed their store at 15 King St. West. The new Stedmans will be operating -out of two stores in the Veltri Complex at 68 King Street East, One unit will be geared towards Christmas with toys, trim- a-tree materials, gifts, paper and cards, to make it a one stop slhopping area for Christmas. The other unit edit bond-rating houses researched the Du pending an upcoî debentures. Mr. A Standard and Poor been known to ra Moody's. for'Regio which have When rtn are being urham Region, determined, such factors as ming issue of financial strength, debt repayment ker noted that industrial-commercial ratio and 's has usually future prospects of the area are te lower, than talen into cons ieration, expained Mr. Aker. The "Triple A" rating places Durham in a select group ncluding only four other Canadian municipal- ities - Metropolitan Toronto, Ottawa- Carleton, Peel and London. Moodys defines a "Triple A" rating as bonds "of the best quality...with the smallest degree of investment risk and are generally referred to as gilt-edged. open Oct. l9th will have a big showing of all the essential items required for the family and home. There will be hundreds of exciting grand opening specials and prizes. Every day of the big event, customers will receive valuable gifts. Stedman's Manager of Store Planning J. Johnson and his assistant J. Howek are expected to be present for the grand re-opening. Plans are also underway now for the reconstruction of the Stedman's store at 15 King St. West. Rebuilding should begin at once with the re-opening date scheduled for March 15th, 1979. Prestige It was pointed out these high ratings will improve the Region's prestige and ability to issue regional and area municipality obligations in both domestic and foreign bond markets. Accordingly, the interest rates the Region pays on debentures should reflect this. Savings of well over half a million dollars may be realized in the next 10 years, observed Mr. Beath. "In addition, the increased recognition which the Region receives as a result of the "Triple A" rating should further spur our efforts for industrial development. The "Triple A" rating is a tribute to the overall financial and economic strength of the Region." Mr. Aker attributes the Region's success to: strong current budget guidelines for 1978 which the finance committee and council adopted last Fall and which were subsequently bettered. Another factor was the decisive actions talien by council in connection with the water and sewer servicing and financing study to reduce capital spending, increase samtary sewer development charge Turn to Page Two Two Hurt When Car Noses Under School Bus Dense fog this morning blanketed the area and could have been responsible for the two accidents pictured on this page. This one oc- curred at the intersection of County Road 57 and the 9th concession. Ap- parently, the school bus was crossing the road Fastbound when the driver ot a soutnbound car faued to see it in time and drove into the rear, the front section of the vehicle going under the bus. Two women in the car were taken to Memorial Hospital by ambulance for treat- ment. committee to come up with a solution. W. A. Montgomery, author of the letter and petition which had previously been sent to council com- plaining about the beer garden said Chamber Has Suggestions For Parking on King St. At its regular meeting Tuesday mum 0f 50 teet to a maximum of 100 night, town council referred feet but 75 feet, 80 or 90 wouhd be suggestions from the Bowmanville more acceptable. Chamber of Commerce concerning In a letter to council, the Chamber the town's traffie study to Director recommended that at present the of Public Works, Jack Dunham, for setback be 50 feet "until such time consideration. as alternative parking areas could One item in the study recommends be established and put in use no parking within 100 feet of an in- following which consideration could tersection. This has raised concern be given to the removal of meters to among some downtown merchants, faciitate a future possible setback especially those within 100 feet of an of 100 feet from each intersection." intersection.. Mr. Dunham was askedto con- At the public meeting, Councillor sider these suggestions in conjun- Don Allin asked the director of the ction with the traffic study report study, David Babbs if the 100 feet with a view to imphementing the setback could be reduced. Mr. most judicious use of on-street Babbs said it could be from a mini- parking space. he and other nearby residents have lived with the beer garden for some time and the problem of numbers of people and noise has been increasing steadily. He said the activities at the beer garden have reached a point where they are no longer tolerable to its neighbours and "we ask that it be closed. We can see no other alter- native." Mr. Montgomery said the garden is closed now for the season but he and the other 14 families who signed the petition want it closed per- manently. The beer garden operated from Monday to Saturday during the summer but residents complained Thursday night is the worst for disturbance. Mr. Montgomery told council he has talked to the proprietor of the A ,oint INew J] Constable Ian Douglas Snith bas recently been appointed justice of the peace for the area. Constable Smith, a Bowmanville resident, bas been a police officer with Durham Regional Police for 15 years. Car Collides with Gravel Truck in Fog While police and firemen from Bowmanville were at the scene of the earlier accident further north on County Road 57, another one happened at the corner of 57 and Taunton Road, when a car collided with the rear of a gravel truck in the fog. At least one occupant was taken to hospital. hotel, Len Jones, and although "there has been some temporary relief there has been no ongoing relief." He noted Mr. Jones has ex- tended his parking lot, but cars are still parking on Highway No. 2. Mr. Jones answered some of the allegations made against the beer garden by the neighbors. He said that although he doesn't like the profane language used around the hotel, it is common nowadays. In an effor to relieve the parking problem on Highway No. 2, he said he expan- ded his rear parking lot and posted signs prohibiting parking on the highway. The situation has im- proved, he observed, but cars still park on the highway and he feels this is a police problem. He also told council he hired two Turn to Page Two Blits & Pè' ieces WHAT WEATHER - Well, you couldn't ask for much better weather for the week following Thanksgiving. Admittedly it was a bit cool on Saturday and Sunday,but Monday was superb and it's stayed that way ever since. Now, if it will continue until Christmas and then start to warm up, we'll be laughing as long as we're not in the winter clothing or fuel oil business. COLOR TOUR - This Sunday, Bowmanville Kinsmen will be holding their annual color tour for senior citizens and hopefully the brilliant shades of tree foliage will stili be as colorful as they were last weekend. Anyone wishing to go should contact Gord Carnegie at Pro Hardware 623-5408. WALK FOR SPLASH - This Saturday, the Splash project will launch its Walk-A-Thon from the Lions Centre, Bowmanville at 8 a.m. Pledge sheets are available from Carnegie's Pro Hardware, the Dari Dream and Barry's Variety on Waverley Road. Get them filled in now and the put on your walking shoes and heavy socks and be ready to start walking. BASEBALL FEVER - Last night the opening game of the World Series took place in Los Angeles between the Dodgers and Yankees, traditional rivals for many years, long before the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles from Brooklin. They put on a good show and this year both teams appear in good condition for the battle. Those Yankees looked a bit sick last night, but that's only the first game. A public meeting held last Wednesday night to discuss the town's traffic study revealed that many residents favor a suggested one-way stop street system to improve traffic flow in Bowmanville. The report on the traffic study considered one-way streets as a long-term improvement and recommended that if a one-way system were developed, traffic should be re-routed down Queen St. However, this would be carried out only if the town could obtain the necessary property to' connect Queen and King Streets in the vicinity of Ontario Street. Too Expensive David Babbs, the director of the traffic study, said that at present it is too expensive-to develop Queen St. into a one-way thoroughfare because such action would require land acquisition. "If property becomes available at a reasonable price, we will re-evaluate the one-way street system," he said. Ivan Hobbs suggested that since Church St. is four lanes wide almost all the way through the downtown, it could be made a one-way street instead of Queen. He felt this would be a more logical choice, however Mr. -Babbs explained this was rejected mainly because the corner of Scugog and Church Streets is too awkward. There would be a better angle onto Queen Street. Mr. Babbs stressed to an addience of approximately 20 people that his instructions from the Ministry of Transportation and Communica- tions were to use the resources at hand to solve the immediate traffic problems of the existing street system in Bowmanville. The study, funded mainly by the Ministry, Turn to Page Two Mail Receptacle Damaged by Vandals The post office department has been having a considerable amount of trouble with its mail box on the corner of Alonna and Roser Streets in West Bowmanville. On one occasion, the box was stolen and found later in the creek at Thistle Valley Park. For the past several weeks, somebody has been using the receptacle to dispose of human effluent and last week a jar was tossed in containing what appeared to be vomit. Such items damage the mail that has to be cleaned up and forwarded, causing delays and making it necessary for postal staff to clean up the box before it is set up again, The co-operation of residents in that area is requested to find out who is being so stupid. If it continues, the box may have to be removed from the area, according to the Postmaster Larry Hall, shown here inspecting the damaged mail. Town council listened to two representations Tuesday night con- cerning the Elmhurst Hotel's beer garden in the village of Newcastle and decided to leave the matter with its finance and administration Beer Garden Issue Aired at Council d"i - - Ciitimens Commen IL On Traffie Report