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2 - Orono Weekly Times 1937 - 2012 · Celebrating 75 Years Subscriptions $38.09 + $1.91 GST = $40.00 per year. No Refunds. Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund for our publishing activities." Wednesday, February 1, 2012 OrOnO Weekly Times - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON L0B 1M0 E-mail: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax: 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Production and Display Advertising - Roxanne Johnston Classified/Sports - Sue Weigand The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. Council gets mileage from reality TV The Clarington council meeting played out in full dramatic fashion on Monday night before television cameras. Usually the last council meeting of the month is filmed by Rogers Durham for live viewing on its cable television channel. There are those who save their presentations and delegations to council for these televised meetings, assuming that anyone sits at home with nothing better to do than watch a council meeting. At Monday night's meeting, Regional Chair Roger Anderson gave his annual address to Clarington Council. Following his presentation of all the great things the Region did last year, Councillor Traill grilled Anderson on the $75,000 ground breaking ceremony for the incinerator held at the Courtice site last August. The event recently made the MacLean's Magazine list of "99 Stupid Things the Government Spent Your Money On." Number 21 on that list was the Region of Durham which, the article says, "threw a $75,000 party to celebrate a new garbage incinerator, complete with air-conditioned tents and sushi." The exchange between Anderson and Traill was a moment of high drama complete with heckling from the audience. For the first time under the current ownership's 15-year history with the Orono Times, the paper was recognized at council in a very commendatory fashion. The owner/editor was presented with a certificate by the Mayor on behalf of Clarington council, congratulating us on our 75th anniversary. The sentiment was greatly appreciated and we thank the Mayor and council for the positive recognition. A great deal of Monday night's council meeting was a rehashing for the 2012 budget, which was approved at the special, day-long meeting held on Friday dealing solely with the budget. Councillor Traill brought up six individual items she wanted removed from the budget, including freezing of councillors' salaries and the removal of their mileage allowance in favour of reimbursing councillors for submitted travel receipts. These motions failed on Friday, and they all went down to defeat again on Monday in separate recorded votes, with Traill being the lone supporter of her motions. The travel allowance portion of the councillors' remuneration package has been a contentious issue since 2005, when council members, under Mutton's leadership, voted to double their mileage allowance. While four local councillors receive over $600 a month in gas allowance from the Municipality, Regional councillors also receive a mileage allowance from the Region, where they are reimbursed for miles travelled. Traill's suggestion that councillors be reimbursed on a per kilometer basis is a sound one. She made the argument that it's how mileage is compensated in the corporate world, and there is no reason Clarington councillors can't do the same. Councillor Wendy Partner brought up the fact that she represents the largest Ward, and she should be fairly compensated for the miles she travels representing her constituents. Reimbursement for kilometers travelled would ensure that councillors are fairly compensated for the wear and tear they put on their personal vehicles and for the gas they burn attending to their duties. Furthermore, when in the good weather Councillor Partner tears up and down the Ward on her motorcycle, not only is she reducing her carbon footprint, she could also be making money on her mileage allowance. Ward 2 Councillor Ron Hooper has opted to not take his gas mileage allowance because he lives in his Ward, close to the Town Hall and often walks to meetings. Councillor Hooper is a councillor who is often seen attending functions in other wards; we often see him here in Ward 4. The reimbursement model as opposed to a set dollar amount - would allow Hooper the freedom to claim those miles he drives for the job, while walking to meetings should he so choose. The reimbursement model might not save the municipality money, but it does make councillors accountable for the kilometers they drive for the job. From The House At The Centre Of The Universe Bring on the birds! by Tracy Tonkinson It is February at last and time for the company safeguarding the ten dollars and thirty five cents that is all that's left of my RRSP, since the market meltdown of 2008, to pull out the shoebox with my name on it and advise me on where I should invest my fabulous nest egg to best effect in the next few years. Past experience being what it is I feel inclined to spend the lot on frivolity and consumer electronics. To that end just before Christmas, and with his January birthday looming, I bought number one son a new smart phone. It came at not inconsiderable cost, but with a myriad of features that impressed my simple mind so much that I bought one for myself. As cool as it is to be able to pick up, where ever I am, my trillion emails offering natural male enhancement, online gambling and who knows what written in Chinese, the best thing about the phone are the apps. As a fledgling and somewhat Joanie come lately smart phone user, the ability to download the most unbelievably useless and trivial tripe for free has brought undiluted joy to my existence. Among the treasures on my frequent screen is the flip lighter that has no other purpose than to allow you to slide your finger across to flip the lid and then stroke the screen to make it light, thrills me every time. My second most used app is Talking Tom, literally a representation of a tomcat that will purr when you stroke him, shout ouch when you flick him with a malevolent finger, and this is the best bit for my money, repeat what you say to him in the kind of voice you get after sucking on a helium balloon; it makes me laugh. Yes I know, simple things please simple minds, but in this drab and dreary post economic Armageddon we currently have to endure, it is this kind of silliness that keeps me sane. All of which brings me to my number one app, the thing that has sucked the life out of my days for longer than I care to admit; Angry Birds. If you haven't seen it or tried it ask any kid with a smart phone about it, or a colleague, or that person sitting opposite you in the doctor's waiting room, staring so intently at their smart phone and looking more and more frustrated. I will give you ten to one they are playing Angry Birds. I admit that this crazy little game of flinging assorted birds at pigs in wood and glass houses, created by the Finnish software company Rovio, has me utterly addicted, a situation that has led me to be `neither fishing nor mending nets', as my grandmother used to say. In other words I am utterly unproductive; imagine my joy and relief then, when I read this week that Rovio has plans for an Initial Public Offering, (IPO), sometime around 2012 or 2013. Why so happy? Because first of all, I am only one of at least 500 million birdbrains that have downloaded this app, and with stuffed toy merchandizing, playground equipment tie-ins and the likelihood that the game will become a movie in the foreseeable future, Rovio stands to make a mint of money. Secondly, if I can take my ten dollars and thirty five cents and buy into the Rovio IPO, I will not only be fishing and mending nets, but turning my play time into making hay time. Who says addiction is a bad thing? Bring on the birds!