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News/4 Volunteer of the year is 'compassionate' CLARINGTON'S AWARD-WINNING NEWSPAPER SINCE 1854 Sports/13 Eagles looking toward playoffs WHAT'S ON Thursday: A notice published published in the Jan. 15 edition for the Clarington Board of Trade and Clarington Business Group's free information session session for a new Toastmasters club for board of trade members, members, contained an incorrect time. The event, which takes place Thursday, Jan. 23 at the Ontario Power Generalion- Darlington station on South Service road, takes place from 8-9 a.m. The This Week/The Canadian Statesman regrets the error. Feb. 1 : Youth Works is full of activities for children aged eight to 12. The program is run by teens; with adult supervision. supervision. Featured are puppetry, acrobatics, cartooning, illusion, illusion, drama and music, with weekly prizes. All activities teach and reinforce positive Christian values. The program runs on Saturdays from 3 to 4 p.m., from Feb. 1 to March 1. Registration is on Feb. 1, with the program running until 4:30 p.m. that day to allow for registration. registration. Youth Works will be held at the Bowmanville Seventh-day Seventh-day Adventist Church, Lambs Road corner of Hwy. 2 and Lambs Road. For information information call 905-623-6031. INSIDE Wheels: -Gommcmorating Buick's 1.00 th puni vers ary, the ,2003 " B u i c k C e n tient el concept' is a distinctive, distinctive, luxurious vehicle that combines the best features features of a sedan and sport utility vehicle. INDEX Editorial Page 6 Classified 9 Sports 13 GIVE US A CALL General 905-579-4400 Distribution 905-579-4407 Death Notices 905-683-3005 Sincerely Yours 1-800-662-8423 General FAX 905-579-2238 Newsroom FAX 905-579-1809 durhamregion .com c=r.^>- ■ScN- S~ ONTADIO'S DRIVE CLEAN • SERVICE • PARTS • NEW & USED SALES & LEASING EXTENDED SERVICE HOURS MON., TUES., THURS., FRI. 7:30-6:00 WED.- 7:30-9:00 SAT.-9:00-1:00 ACCREDITED TEST & REPAIR FACILITY •An offlchil murk of ihv PrmliKV of Oiiliirliiuwtl iimliT IkiiUT. Whitby - Oshm/va H o n d a 1110 DUNDAS. ST. E. WHITBY I,OPAL CJIIS) IMjl 666-1772 honda www.homlu1.com After three-month adventure, OAC student is... Out of Africa A.J. GR0EN/ Statesman photo Stephanie Lapointe went to South Africa to do volunteer volunteer work for three months on a wildlife reserve. WENDY GALLAGHER Special to The Statesman COURTICE - She loves the company of her friends, watches watches 'The Simpsons', isn't crazy about high school, even has her tongue pierced. So what makes Stephanie Lapointe different than most people her age? In the past few years, she has logged more air miles than a seasoned traveller. And, she just turned 18. The Courtice High School student returned home Christmas Christmas Eve after a three-month stint at a wildlife reserve in South Africa. She came across the adventure adventure while surfing the Internet last summer. To this day, she says she still can't figure out where on the Internet she found the site. "It was a complete accident," accident," says the soft-spoken teen. The site advertised a work program through ACE (African Conservation Experience). Ms. Lapointe decided she wanted to have the experience. "I love to travel," she says, although although she admits the airplane journey is not something she's fond of. Travelling is nothing new to her. She has spent several summers summers in Comox, B.C., serving as a member of the 279 Bow- manvillc Sea Cadets. She travelled travelled to London, England to take part in the Millennium Tall Ships program. And she's hop- Police find stolen cars in Durham auto wreckers yard BY STEPHEN SHAW Staff Writer DURHAM - Three brothers are charged following the largest ever recovery of stolen vehicles in this region at an auto wrecking yard in north Durham. "Scores" of stolen autos and parts have been uncovered at Hclmand's Auto Wreckers in Brock Township, a Durham Regional Regional Police spokesman said. Police allege the yard was home of a massive 'chop shop' where vehicles stolen from across Ontario and other provinces were stripped of parts, then sold at a Scarborough Scarborough repair shop, also owned by the brothers, Four men, from Whitby, Ajax and Toronto, are charged with more arrests anticipated. Durham investigators and members of the provincial auto theft unit began searching the 66-aere property on Simcoe Street, south of Manilla, last mg to be accepted into a B.C. university for civil or environmental environmental engineering. If her travels have taught her anything, it's about being on time. Her departure Sept. 28 for South Africa didn't go without a hitch. With a 12-hour layover in London, she decided to take in as much of the city as she could. She took in a little too much, arriving back at the airport airport only an hour before her scheduled flight, to find out her seat had been sold. Another traveller helped the teary-eyed Ms. Lapointe by convincing the airline that, as she was young and travelling alone, she should be put on the next flight, even though it too, already had a hannesburg she set off on another another two-hour flight to Port Elizabeth. Ms. Lapointe spent her days, and nights, volunteering for a variety of tasks including feeding feeding and capturing animals, and watching out for poachers on a 25,000-hcctavc game reserve. The reserve rescues animals such as giraffes from zoos and secures protected species such as lions and leopards from poachers. Lame animals are also nursed back to health at the reserve, which also serves as home to elephants and rhinocer- weekend after officers stumbled onto the sprawling crime scene. Up to 900 vehicles and hundreds hundreds of auto parts were found in the yard, said police, who arc still searching the site. By Monday, 35 vehicles and 200 parts were confirmed stolen, they said. Due to the size of the investigation, investigation, detectives have applied lor an extension on the warrant allowing them to continue searching the yard. The investigation began last Thursday when uniform officers officers paid a routine visit to the donkeys every four days, a task she says not everyone was willing willing to do. The donkeys are fed to the wild cats and are a cheap form of food, she says. But the worst job was tearing down fences that once surrounded surrounded old farms, she says. Her favourite task was game capture, where animals would yard. Sergeant Paul Malik said constables Michael McArthur, Scan Sitaram and Richard Cain went to the business to check if the owners had been keeping a record of vehicles bought and sold, a condition of the Highway Highway Traffic Act. "They couldn't produce the required documentation," Sgl. Malik said. During the investigation, officers officers ran the registrations of five vehicles through police See CHARGES page 7 be caught and taken to be released released on other reserves. On her second day at the reserve reserve her group of volunteers came across a giraffe with a swollen leg. The animal was tranquilized and antibiotics injected. injected. It was discovered the gi- See ADVENTURE page 7 Information meetings tonight BY JACQUIE MclNNES Staff Writer CLARINGTON - For parents parents considering enrolling their children in French immersion the decision can he daunting, especially especially if they don't speak the language language themselves. But schools throughout the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board offering the program program can help parents determine if the program is right for their families. Parent information sessions sessions arc being held tonight (Wednesday) at Ontario Street Public School in Bowmanville and Dr. G.J. MacGillivray in Courtice beginning at 7 p.m. Parents considering a French immersion education for their children often have a lot of questions, questions, says Carol Mcycttc-Hoag, education services adviser for the board. Often, if they don't have a French background, parents will eliminate the French immersion option but in reality most parents whose children attend the program program have little or no French- Long bus rides an issue BY BLAIR EDWARDS Metroland staff writer CLARINGTON - Long bus rides have sparked complaints complaints from parents of Catholic students who say their children aren't getting their homework done because they are too tired when they get home. Clarington trustee Barb Malone told the local Catholic school board some elementary children traveling from Ponty- pool to Bowmanville spend more than an hour on the bus. "I can't imagine those young kids travelling an hour twice a day," said Mrs. Malone. She says teachers at St. Francis in Newcastle told children children to do their homework on the bus if they found they were too tired by the time they got home. "We should tell teachers not to say that," said Mrs. Malone at the Jan. 14 board meeting of the Peterborough, Victoria, Northumberland and Clarington Clarington (PVNC) Catholic District School Board. "Our ttfachers can be a little compassionate." The board's transportation statistics show, board-wide, 231 of 10,892 students spend more than an hour on a bus to get to school -- 170 are high- school students, 33 attend French immersion and 28 are elementary students. Director of Education Mike Langlois promised administration administration would look into the problem problem at St. Francis. "There are 28 elementary students, which is kind of unusual -- that can be looked at," he said. Other transportation statistics statistics show: • Forty-three of the board's 240 bus routes have a maximum maximum travel time of more than an hour -- 18 per cent of all See STUDENTS page 7 speaking abilities themselves. Almost all of the children coming coming into the program are Anglophone, Anglophone, she adds. "Parents have to believe in French immersion. Do they have to speak French? No, they don't. They can still support their children by reading to them in English and helping them with math (and other subjects) in English. English. The most important tiling they can do is to keep the line of communication open with the teacher." Still, Ms. Mcycttc-Hoag adds, "French immersion is not for all kids." The best way parents can assess whether their child might benefit from the program is to attend attend the information nights, arrange to visit the school with the child and even to enrol the child in the kindergarten program program and see how lie develops, she says. Ontario Street Public School is located at 116 Ontario St., Bowmanville. Those parents who cannot attend the information information session can call the school at 905-623-5437. Dr. G.M. MacGillivray is located at 75 Meadowglade Rd„ Courtice and can lie reached at 905-436-2054. oses. She helped kill and butcher Police were on the scene of what they say could be one of the largest stolen vehicle recovery sites in Ontario. Making a decision on French Immersion MOTORS LTD Chev Olds & Chev Trucks HWY. *2 / m ? NICHOLS 101 TORONTO LINE 905-427-4444 rovnloholsmotors@gmcaneds.eom 2728 COURTICE RD., HWY. #2, COURTICE i MW L. DON'T PAY 'TIL NEXT YEÂB •0 Get 12 months payment-free. plus DON'T PAY FOR 100 DAYS. ON VIRTUALLY ALL NBW 2003». 8Bi DIALER FOR DETAILS. CHEVROLET i 1 □ Goodwrench Servkc On time,