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I i City's Downtown Mailed The Ontario Municipal Board decision decision on the Pythbow Shopping Mall is expected any day now. So it's appropriate that just this week, we heard from Clarence and Dorothy Oke in Florida who indicated indicated that the issue of malls versus downtowns is by no means limited to our own community. An excerpt that this reader had clipped from the Panama City Herald, in Panama City, Florida, only goes to prove that the controversy controversy is one which will occur in almost any community where the free enterprise system exists. But there's more to it than that. For the editorial from the Panama City newspaper highlighted highlighted an issue facing elected officials long after the actual mall issue had been resolved. Government was faced with the question of whether or not public funds should be used to help revive the downtown core. Apparently, it was in decline because customers preferred the plentiful parking, indoor indoor shops and suburban environment environment of malls and plazas. The article questioned whether the downtown core should continue to be propped up with tax-sup- ported programs or allowed to die a natural death and be "reborn from its own ashes." Taking the long-term perspective, perspective, the editorial-writer noted that if downtown property values decline decline far enough, then it will suddenly suddenly become profitable for businesses businesses to exist in central business districts. Given enough time, the downtown would experience a rebirth. rebirth. That assessment may or may not be true. But it will be cold comfort for the businessmen forced out of their livelihood because of competition competition from nearby shopping malls. The long-term rebirth of the downtown downtown core will be of little advantage to the downtown shoppers who suddenly suddenly find that some of their favorite favorite stores have closed up for good. Reading between the lines, one begins to suspect that the only way to halt the erosion of a downtown due to competition from suburban malls is by deciding early in the process that the downtown core will be protected. Conversely; a municipality which approves extensive extensive suburban shopping facilities facilities cannot decide at a later date to shore up the downtown core. By that time, it's too late. Once a large suburban shopping development begins to compete with the smaller downtown merchants you can only sit back and allow economics to take their course. It's not overly-dramatic to say that Bowmanville's economic future future is in the hands of the Ontario Municipal Board. Its decision will have a far-reaching impact on the town. Looking at the size of the proposed proposed shopping development and the number of stores already empty in the downtown core, one shouldn't have to wonder what course the future will take if the OMB rules in Pythbow's favor. Customs Closing Costly The Bowmanville customs port is about to become a casualty in the federal government's war on spending. spending. But it doesn't deserve such a fate and every effort should be made to see that federal authorities reconsider reconsider their decision. A recent news release announc- . ing the closure of 19 customs ports implied that the action was being taken to streamline operations and cut costs. The government's statement statement suggested that offices in question question were insignificant (as far as customs activities were concerned). concerned). The statement seemed to indicate that the abandoned offices would hardly be missed. Perhaps some of the 19 ports in question can be closed without seriously jeopardizing commençai activities and with a minimum of inconvenience. But Bowmanville should be kept open. First of all, the local customs office office is already located in the federal federal post office building. Therefore the government would realize little or no savings in rents and upkeep. Moreover, it is our understanding that all employees affected by the closing of an office will be re-assigned re-assigned elsewhere in the public service. service. In other words, the salaries saved by this exercise would be nil. So it's doubtful that the economic argument can be applied successfully successfully to defend the closing of the Bowmanville customs facility. On the other hand, the planned April 1 closing of the customs port will be a major roadblock to a number number of local businesses. Anyone importing goods will have to drive from here to Oshawa. And that means lost time, inefficiency, inefficiency, and added costs. From what we hear, the local port has actually had an increase in business during the past 10 to 15 years. And the lack of a nearby customs facility will not help the municipality attract new industrial or commercial clients. We might add that travelling to Oshawa will be a major inconvenience inconvenience for the general public which uses the customs port from time to time. Think how much further an Orono or Newtonville resident will have to drive to retrieve a package from customs. To make matters worse, the decision decision to padlock the Bowmanville customs port was made without consulting local business leaders. The first they heard of the planned closing was when they read about it in the papers. In short, the closure will save the federal authorities little. And, in return, the community will pay a heavy toll, in time, money, and allround allround inconvenience. Clearly, this is an arrangement that benefits nobody. Let's hope that the federal government government sees the considerable opposition opposition in this community and decides decides to at least delay any final decision decision until all sides have been heard. Scouts Still Need Support For just about as long as anyone can remember, the Bowmanville and area Scouting organization has depended on paper drives to raise badly-needed funds. This is just a reminder that the Scouts still need your support this Saturday as they once again operate operate their traditional paper collection. collection. Although the Town of Newcastle has introduced its own recycling program and now offers newsprint collection at the curbside on garbage garbage day, the Scouts are still very much in the recycling business. But they are not associated with the weekday pickups and, in fact, none of the money raised by Durham Recycling goes to the Scouts. Scouts. It is to be hoped that Bowmanville Bowmanville will really get behind the recycling recycling efforts. Ideally, there will be enough for both the weekday collections collections by Durham Recycling and the weekend program sponsored by Bowmanville Scouts. But recent paper drives have indicated indicated that the new group may be cutting into the profits raised by Scouts Scouts from this source. Let's support the cause of recycling and let's not forget the Scouts who started the whole idea and who have used it as a source of funds for so long. Qllfe (ftanabian Statesman 623-3303 (0Na Durham Counly'i Great Family Journal Eetabllihed 130years ago In 1854. Alio Incorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono Newi Second claea mall registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 62 66 King SI. W,, Bowmanville, Ontario UC 3K9 ii«e 0 L ► JOHN M. JAMES Editor -- Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. PETER PARROTT Associate Editor DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr, All layouts and composition ol advertisements produced by Ihe employees ol The Canadian Statesman, The Newcastle Independent and The James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and must nut be reproduced without written permission ol Ihe publishers. 115,00 a year -- 6 months 18.00 strictly In advance foreign -- 145.00 a year Although nvmy ptvcnulion will txt Iflken to ovoid error, Tim Comulun St.ilosman nccoph ndvoitifiing in its columns on Itm undofMandiMQ Huit rl will not tm linblu lor nny error in Urn nilvoMiaomunl published hereunder unless i\ proof ol Mich mJvoilisemonl Is ronunaled in willing by Urn mlvofh&vi end relumed to The Citniuimn Glitlecmnn business ollico duly signed by the ndvertiser nnd with such error or collections ptinnly noted in writing thereon, and in that cane it any error so noted is not corrected by Tim Canadian Slater,man its liability nhaii not exceed such a million ol llm entire cost ol until 'ldveilmtnmnl as the npaco occupied by Itm noted error beam to the whole space occupied by nucli advertisement Hydro's Reach-All Used to Remove Hazardous Ice SUGAR and SPICE Good Start for '85 Sorry,' chaps, but I've been a bit under the weather lately and have failed in my long-time boast of never missing a column. Nemisis. Now, that's a strange phrase: "under the weather." No wonder foreigners find English idiom so difficult to master. You can be under the car or under the bed, though I don't know what you'd be doing in either case, but how can you be under the weather? You never hear people, with the possible exception of airline pilots, saying they are "over the weather." On the other hand, you encounter people who say, "I'm over my cold," but no one who says, "I'm under my cold." Oh, well, ce ne fait rien, as we bilingualists say. That, translated, means, "this not makes nothing," proving that French idioms are just as silly as English ones. However, today is one of those rare but glorious winter days, when, after three days of steady snow and the roaring, growling and clanging of snowplows, the air is like iced champagne, the sun is blazing, there is no wind-chill, and the snow lies deep and white and everywhere. The sky is light blue and cloudless. My spruce in the back, now about sixty feet, seems to leap toward the heavens, with only her lower branches, laden with white, bent to the earth to hold her there. Iley; maybe I am still under the weather. The spell of the weather, which does make sense. But it's the sort of day on which only an idiot would contemplate suicide. Not that I know what type of days they do. I'd guess one in November, when there's another long winter looming, or one in February, when it seems that spring is six months away. Got through Christmas pretty well. Managed to erect a tree, by holding it carefully while my neighbor did all the dirty work underneath with the stand. He's an expert. It didn't fall down once and only began to lean a bit after my grandboys had slid under it eleventy-seven times to pull out or push in the plug for the lights. They enjoyed this almost as' much as they enjoyed burning half my winter's supply of wood in the fireplace. The latter made me a bit skitzy. Not because of the wood, but because of the way they tended the fire, once lit. They didn't. As soon as it was blazing, they forgot about it, and himself had to lumber out of his armchair and close the firescreen or whatever. Took the whole mob out for Christmas dinner: son, daughter, Letters to and two grandboys. I hate to disappoint you, but it was a great success. Last time I tried that, years ago, it was a dismal failure: tough turkey, lumpy turnips, cold diningroom and half-sloshed waitress. This time, the idea was to give Kim a break and save yours truly from making the stuffing, doing the stuffing, trussing the bird and interfering with the gravy-making. And Hugh is on a vegetarian kick, another complication. Kim, who had typically, forgotten her dress-up clothes, dug up a classic black dress of her mother's along with a couple of gold chains and some earrings, didn't have to lift a finger and put on about , two pounds. Hugh, nattily attired in blue jeans and a jacket from Honest Ed's, with a pair of shoes I'd given him, found a vast salad bar and was in heaven. The boys kept running from buffet to salad bar, plate in hand, one way empty, the other way loaded. And all around us was ambience, whatever that is. Soft lights, fires burning, great service, excellent beef and seafood. No dry turkey. No lumpy turnips. No lukewarm gravy. No runny pumpkin pie, but fantastic cakes and tarts. But the clincher was that it didn't cost me a cent. All I had to do was sign a little thing, which will probably be lost in the holiday rush. Sounds idyllic, eh? No family fights, no major disasters. Even the TV set worked through the holidays. It usually breaks down when there's nobody to fix it. But my old acquaintance, Nemesis, was lurking in the wings. In my case, it took the form of my garage, an ancient wooden structure that looks like a green, sway-backed horse, if you can visualize that. On the Saturday evening after Christmas, I came home from a brief shopping trip, after dark. Drove into the garage, always tricky, because I think it was built for a Model-T. Got out to plug in my block heater. Discovered my front wheels were sitting on the cable. Put her in reverse to get off cable. Driver's door swung open. Leaned far left to grab door before it hit side of garage. Simultaneously stabbed right foot at brake. Hit accelerator. Still in reverse. Went shooting backward, right across street, before getting foot on brake. Mangled door of car. Mangled garage. Mangled ego. Good start for 1985. the Editor Dear Johnny I would like to comment on the mileage allowance of $361,24 paid one of our employees while on unpaid leave of absence. This unusual occurrence was discovered by Ken Hooper, it was brought to council's attention and apparently they did not know how to deal with it. They requested the mayor write Mr. Hooper, The mayor did so and he did not deny the mileage was paid. He claimed "after extensive examination, I wish to advise you that there has been no impropriety by tiie staff member in question and I believe the matter lias been dealt with In accordance with the policies of the lown." We arc now at what is known us (among oilier tilings) a dead end. Still a bit curious, 1 thought I would like to know a bit more of council's procedures, so 1 have made u study of the activity report for November 11)111, Tills is a report by the treasurer showing the cash position of the town as of November 30 and requesting the expenditures for that month be approved, It will he n lilt dry but you might find It interesting. Firstly, l looked for n list of the expenditures to be approved and found there wasn't one. Apparently, this is the normal procedure, In other words, council approves expenditures without necessarily knowing what they are, This struck me as being a little odd. Of interest is an "analysis of cash position." This starts with cash on hand as of October 31, adds in taxes $350,964, interest $5033, General $53,1112, Other $2311,610. Deduct debt charges $274,395, payroll $853,030, and another amount which is unspecified $26,069 (in 1983 the unclassified amount was $29,184) for cash on hand Nov. 30 $5,760,400. The debt charges arc about $9ti,ouo higher than a year ago though we have oodles of cash on luind. Tills mystery figure of $28,069 apparently holds pretty steady each mouth and in the life of tills council could amount to perhaps $700,000 • surely enough to deserve a heading. The cash position Is about $300,680. Hotter than a year ago. if council had voted to donate the $600,(KK) requested requested for our hospital rallier than the $250,000 they weal for wo would still have been ahead of » year ago. The next page deals with taxes receivable which as of October 31 were $2,750,463 (up $180,000 from a year ago), Add penalties and interest and subtract payments received and the balance (shown as October 31 I think it should read November 30) owing is $2,477,581 up $72,205 from a year ago. I think this is not a good report as it doesn't specify to what ycar(s) this $2,477,581 pertains. If it is all 1984 taxes it seems very large but might not be too bad, I think it should show what part of that $2,477,581 pertains to 1084, what part to 1983, to 1082, to 1081 ami so on. Follows a bit of statistical information - payments received for taxes 541, others 799, tax certificates issued 97, dog licenses 13, burial permits 10 and accounts payable cheques Issued 1175. This last figure may or may not he nil or part of the expenditures for the month of November referred referred to on page one. If anyone is interested in wlial these cheques cover the numbers are given to facilitate checking checking (as No. 344071 to No. 34438). The odd thing hero Is l it although there were 1175 enemies Issued the cheque maimers given cover 1UK) cheques, lb seem lost in the shuffle, There have been some results from Mr. Hooper's questions. The treasury office will make copies of a detailed list of accounts payable cheques which will be available available to councillors who request request it. Council Hamre ( apparently she is in charge of the finance dept.) spoke against it - she secs it "as rather wasteful of money and time" and claims "it is horribly horribly inefficient." Until now I didn't realize that knowing what you are paying for was "horribly inefficient." Councillors Taylor and Woodyard were not in favor of the listing: Councillor Hubbard was insistent that the list be available for those councillors wiio ask for it. Meantime how did an employee receive $301.24 mileage allowance while on unpaid leave of absence? Morgan Jan. 2o, 1085 Letters to the Editor 82 King W., liowmanvillc He abortion, James li, Cotter of Marrie wrote a letter captioned "Ultrasound horror of an abortion" which was published in that city's Examiner. This article appeared recently also in On Target, a thought provoking weekly from Flesherton. I shall somewhat shorten Ihe length of that letter, warning too of the detailed descriptions, nothing less than heartbreaking. Ex-abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson of the U.S.A. has produced the first film of an actual suction abortion. The picture was then enlarged for clarity from the victim's point of view, the 10-week-old child denoting 95 percent of all legal abortions. At 10 weeks, an unborn child lias all we have,'fully formed, an active brain, a beating heart, and sensitive to pain and very active, We saw lier playing, turning around, sucking her thumb. Her little heart was beating normally about 120. But when the first instrument touched Ihe uterine wall, the baby recoiled, her heart rate rising a lot. The child was literally slaughtered, First the spine, then the legs, the baby writhing writhing in agony, thrashing around. Wc saw her head thrown hack, her mouth open, which the doctor called "her silent scream." (there being no air in the womb,) At one point, her heart rate was over 200, the screen showing showing it beating frantically. Lastly, wc saw the ghastly forceps trying to find the head to crush and remove, it being too large for the suction tubing. The killing took 12 to 15 minutes. The abortionist filmed the ultrasound mainly out of curiosity. When lie saw the film, lie left the abortion clinic and didn't return. Scripture uses the Greek word"Breplios" (Lk. 1:14) for a child whether unborn, newborn, newborn, or later. Only for medical purposes can embryo or fetus be acceptable, Doctors advocating liberal abortion, except in one or two cases, know it's wrong, owing to their Hippocratic Oath. Yet, bleeding heart liberals iinve stopped the legal execution of criminals, but support abortion! Baby killing is the lowest kind of depravity, being a way of angering If not rejecting Jesus Christ. Thank God, no abortionist can cast babies into hell, since they are of the kingdom of Heaven. John Knott Oslmwa