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Volume 72, Number 18 GST Included $1.25 Wednesday May 6, 2009 Orono Town Hall Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 Males arrested for break and enter In the early hours of Sunday, May 3, 2009, Durham Regional Police responded to an alarm call at Clarke High School on Hwy 35/115. It was discovered that a break-in had occurred at the school. While officers were investigating this incident, another alarm call came in from the Oshawa Ski Club in Kirby. Police responded to this second alarm and were directed to a suspicious vehicle in the area. The driver of this vehicle was subsequently arrested for break and enter. The investigation lead to the identification of three other parties who were also involved and later arrested and charged. Further investigation revealed that three of the four men were responsible for another break in at Clarke High School on May 1, 2009. Three 18-year-old males from Bowmanville, Kody Kroontje, Hunter Jones and Matthew Regush, were charged with three counts of Break and Enter, two counts of Possession of Burglary Tools and Possession of Property Obtained by Crime. Also charged was a 17year-old from Bowmanville with two counts of Break and Enter, Possession of Burglary Tools and Possession of Property Obtained By Crime. Four-year-old Alijah Crichton draws a line in the sand at Pearce Park at the Port of Newcastle Saturday morning. Humane Society investigates Newcastle nine by Sue Weigand Note: Exact locations, as well as some names of people involved in this story, are being withheld for safety and security reasons. When Sonya Common, of Cobourg, heard from a fellow animal welfare enthusiast in Toronto that there was a group of neglected dogs on a property in the vicinity of Newcastle, she felt duty bound to look into it. Common said she confirmed the situation for herself and then contacted the proper authorities, including the Humane Society of Durham Region (HSDR) and the Municipality of Clarington. Now she and a group of fel- low animal welfare advocates, including members from Newcastle, want the public to be aware of what is going on. According to Common, there are nine dogs, most of them chained up, on a wooded property in the Newcastle area. She said there is no residence on the property, and that the owner of the dogs rents the property from a landlady who lives elsewhere. The dog owner lives in another city and, according to Common, he was only coming out to feed and tend to the dogs once a week. Due to the pressure from the recent involvement of the HSDR, the owner is now coming to tend to the dogs twice a week, she said. She and the rest of the group members felt that not enough was being done for the dogs, which they considered to be in deplorable conditions. "This is a situation that's been allowed to go on. It is not the fault of the Humane Society, they are monitoring the situation. But we are concerned about the limits of the Humane Society's mandate. And we are concerned about a landowner allowing a tenant to carry on activities destructive to both animals and the water system [due to alleged run-off from feces that accumulates on the property]," said Commons. The group decided to cre- ate an online petition, appealing to the Municipality of Clarington for action (see story Online mistake on page 9; see also 9 Chained sidebar on page 6). Municipal clerk Patti Barrie confirmed to the Orono Times that the municipality responded to the group's petition in an email dated April 22, 2009 (see Official sidebar on page 6), informing them of the ongoing monitoring by the HSDR. Mayor Abernethy said that he has not been out to visit the site, but he is being kept appraised of the situation by Barrie and the DRHS. "I understand that no bylaws are being broken. From HUMANE see page 6 Whats Inside See page 17