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SMf firïrf <ip v < "•X V ï f 3 ^ $S! fiS Si frîf 11 tMIlCw • SINCE 1854 • AMALGAMATED 1999 WITH CLARINGTON THIS WEEK • Pressrun 20,000 14 Pages Wednesday, January 19, 2000 Optional 4 week delivery $5/$l newsstand There's still time to take a winning photo News, page 7 The final 10 games., Sports, page 8 Durham paramedics may ignore hospital re-directs BY CINDY UPS HALL Staff Writer Durham's paramedics may start to ignore hospital critical care bypass orders in light of the weekend death of an 18- year-old Toronto asthma patient. patient. "If I've got a child that's critically ill I'm going to the closest hospital. Nobody is going to stop me from going to the closest one," says Michael Dick, chairman of the CUPE Ontario Ambulance Committee Committee and union steward for Durham Region Emergency Medical Services. The Ajax paramedic and Whitby resident predicts "you will see some paramedics defy the critical care bypass" out of frustration over the current situation situation and fear of a repeat of last weekend's tragedy. In that case, a patient died after being directed to a Markham hospital because the closest one, 10 minutes away, was on redirect. Critical care bypass orders have been a hot topic over the last few months as hospitals, citing a lack of space or staff, close their doors to patients coming in via ambulance. Walk-in patients cannot be denied denied care. But while local paramedics may take the defiant stand, it may not mean hospital care any sooner for patients. Mr. Dick says when discussing discussing the Toronto incident and the desire of paramedics to bring patients to the closest hospital, he was told by a nurse at one hospital if they did "you can take care of the patient as well." Despite this, paramedics have brought critically ill patients, patients, on direction from their dispatchers, to hospitals on redirect when all hospitals have been closed to ambu- See PARAMEDICS page 4 CARL FERENC2J. Statesman photo Fire investigator Mike Potvin of the Fire home on Regional Road 57, after a fire Fri- Marshal's office and Clarington divisional day. Cause of the blaze is still under investi- Fire Chief Cord Weir, foreground, examine a gation. No one home as blaze rips through Bowmanville house The cause has not yet been determined in a $100,000 blaze that ripped through a Regional Road 57 home in Bowmanville Friday. Ontario's Fire Marshal is probing the cause of the blaze at 2547 Regional Road 57, though Clarington Fire Department Department Divisional Chief Cord Weir says officials "don't really deem it suspicious at this point." Fire officials are not yet saying where they believe the blaze began. No one was home at the time of the fire. One firefighter firefighter suffered a sprained ankle while fighting the blaze. Bomb threat leads to arrest An 18-ycar-old man was arrested arrested Monday after a Friday afternoon afternoon bomb scare at Bow- manvillc High School. Police say the school received received two phone calls Friday, indicating there was a bomb in the school The second time, the caller said they had 30 minutes to evacuate before the bomb would go off, said Durham Re gional Police Sergeant Mike Closs. According to BHS principal principal Rusty Hick, the school was thoroughly searched, and nothing nothing was found. The school was not evacuated. Robert James Mitchell of Concession Street in Bowmanville Bowmanville has been charged with uttering a false message, mischief mischief and breach of probation. A feline heroine Cat alerts owners to electrical fire ACCREDITED TEST & REPAIR FACILITY •An ntlldal mark (it Hie Province nf Ontario used under licence. WHITBY - OSHAWA HOMBA 1110 DUNDAS. ST. E., WHITBY LOCAL (905) TOR. LINE (905) 666-1772 686-1745 a www.honde1.com ii \w mmmm WHERE TO FIND IT Editorial Page 6 Sports 8 Classified 10 GIVE US A CALL General 623-3303 Distribution .. .579-4407 Death Notices .683-3005 Sincerely Yours .1-800-662-8423 Web site durhamnews.net statesmn@durham.net General FAX .. .623-6161 Newsroom FAX .623-6161 LESKARD - Kisscc may have used up three of her lives early Saturday morning -- and she loaned two of them to her owners. The feline, who is more often referred to by the apt nickname 'Cat,' is being credited with waking her owners just after 3 a.m. and alerting them to a fire in their Concession 8 home, which was not equipped with smoke detectors. "We've had her quite a while," says Cat's owner, Norman Norman Fee. "We got her from the Pet Connection -- I picked her out because she looked pretty smart." Smart, indeed. Cat, who is thought to be about three years old, "jumped five feet in the air," says Mr. Fee, whose wife got up to sec what was causing the commotion. "She went out to the kitchen and got a whiff of smoke, not much though," relates relates Mr. Fee, "She looked into the basement, and the cat was sitting there, looking at the ceiling." ceiling." Sure enough, what is thought to be an electrical fire had started started in the kitchen ceiling. A spot the size of a quarter had burned through," says Mr. Fee. "Another "Another 15 minutes would have made a big difference." Cat has wakened the Fees in the night before, but "not quite so violently as the other night," says Mr. Fee. The Fees called 911, and the Clarington Fire Department responded responded quickly, says Mr. Fee. Damage is estimated at $5,000, says Clarington Fire Department Department Divisional Chief Cord Weir. The Fees had a smoke detector, detector, but hadn't put it up, says Mr. Fee. But, Saturday morning's morning's incident served as a wake- up call, he admits. The fire department department installed one detector Saturday, and "I went in and ordered ordered two of the best smoke detectors detectors (Saturday) ... We'll be well protected," lie says, This serves as a good message message to the community, says Chief Weir. "If they haven't got (a smoke detector), go out and get one, and check the batteries." batteries." Clarington Public board considers charges Homebuyers could face fees for school sites BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer Buyers of new homes may soon be paying up front to finance finance school sites. Education Development Charges (EDC) -- a possible way to fund new school properties properties -- arc on the agenda for Thursday night's meeting of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. EDCs amount to a levy on new development; for each home built, the developer is required to pay a certain amount to cover the cost of new school sites. The Province just recently made EDCs available to school boards, says Bryan Fisher, KPR's superintendent of administrative administrative services. "The Ministry (of Education) Education) is funding new pupil places based on space for the number of kids you have," he says. "But there was nothing in (the funding formula) for the purchase of sites, so they made EDCs available for the purchase of sites." The amount charged per newly-built house is based on a projection of the number of houses to be built, and the number of children who will require space in schools, according according to a study requested by the board and completed by the Urban Analysis Group, a consulting firm from London, London, Ont. "You determine how many pupil places you're gong to need, therefore, how many schools you're,going to need, and therefore, how many sites you're going to need," explains explains Mr. Fisher. The calculations calculations arc made based on population projections for the next 14 years, according to the study done for the board. In order to keep up with BRYAN FISHER Discussion on levying Education Development Charge on new homes still in 'initial stages'. long-term projected growth in the Clarington area, the study says EDCs in the municipality municipality would have to generate over $13 million by 2014. That means an EDC levy of $918 for each new home built. Elsewhere in the board, in lower growth areas, EDCs, if implemented, arc projected to be much lower. For example, in Northumberland, EDCs would only be expected to raise a little more than $1 million, million, which would result in a ■ $251 charge per new home. In Peterborough County, less than $1 million would need to be raised for new school sites, resulting in a charge of $110 per new home. Mr. Fisher says the idea of KPR charging EDCs is still in its "initial stages." After discussion by trustees Thursday, if they choose to proceed with the idea, the next step is to meet with the various municipal governments where the EDCs would be charged. RON PIETRONIRO/ Statesman photo Norman Fee may have borrowed one of his cat's nine lives after the feline alerted him and his wife to a Jire at their home Saturday. Mr. Fee stands below the spot where the Jire started in the ceiling. %. f nnirkYuPf ïï ï Pczj&ir ' r „ .".Tïtï- ---, 2 Medium Pizzas 2 Fresh Toppings 4 12 Chicken Wings 2 1L Cokes 6 Cheezzie Bread Sauces & ' [tvy w'ifj ■ 200 KING ST. E., BOWMANVILLE -vW I Pif $ !;! V U Û