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News/3 Municipality grant system questioned CLARINGTON'S AWARD-WINNING NEWSPAPER SINCE 1854 Sports/12 Motocross racer Rider of the Year Pressrun 22,150 February 5,2003 • 32 Pages • Optional 3 Week Delivery $5/$l Newsstand durham :gi<^i.com WHAT'S ON Feb. 12: The Clarington Board of Trade will be "blasting "blasting forward" with its next Business by thé Lake event, Feb. 12. Local business people are invited to come out and meet their neighbours at a networking networking evening at St. Mary's Cement, 400 Waverley Rd. S., Bowmanvillc from 6 to 9 p.m. Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments refreshments will be served and a grand prize will be drawn. Board members can showcase their products with display booths for $50. Attendance is free for members who register by Feb. 10 and $5 for anyone else. To register or rent a booth, call (905) 623-3106 or register online at www.clarington- boardoftrade.com. Feb. 14: If your heart is still young for your Valentine, a Friday, Feb. 14 dance may be just the way to show it. The Clarington Older Adults Association Association Valentine's Day Dance will feature music by disc jockey jockey 'Then and Now Sounds.' The dance begins at 8 p.m. at the Clarington Beech Centre, .26 Beech Ave., Bowmanvillc. Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door. INSIDE Wheels: To mark the 10th anniversary anniversary of the Impreza, Subaru Subaru invited invited a number number of journ al-$ ists to try * the 2004- spec WRX on for size at the spiritual home of all rallying -- Monte Carlo for the fabled rally that kicks off the 2003 World Rally Championship series. series. INDEX Editorial Page 4 Classified 7 Sports 11 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 ! • J ONTAOIO'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 ACCREDIT ED T EST & REPAIR FACILITY ♦An nllUiul murk of Ihv IVmlnce of Oiihirlu used umlt-r IIittuv. Whitby - Oshawa LI ii o n 1110 DUNDAS. ST. E. WHITBY . 0 LOCAL (0115) 666-1772 HONDA VV www.homlii1.com tj On to the playoffs ANDREW IWAN0WSKI/ Statesman photo BOWMANVILLE - Bowmanvillc Eagles forward Matt Carroll tries to speed past a Wellington Dukes player during Sunday's 6-1 loss. The Eagles finished the regular season with a 19-24-5-1 record, and will meet the Trenton Sling in the opening round of playoffs. See page 11 for details. Tax bill could rise by $87 'Stealth downloading' and policing costs blamed BY JACQUIE MclNNES Staff Writer DURHAM - Many residents may not know exactly what services services the regional level of government government provides, but they will quite likely notice the additional $87 increase proposed for the average property tax bill. Regional finance staff have recommended a six per cent tax increase - three per cent for the general budget and three percent for police sendees - to cover about $21 million more in spending this year over 2002. That works out to an $87 increase increase for a taxpayer whose property is valued at $200,000. The tax hike will be more for those with higher property" values values and less for those with lower. But don't expect a lot more bang for the buck, Jim Clapp, the Region's finance commissioner, told the Regional finance committee committee when it met Tuesday. 'The three per cent doesn't get you any more than the basic services," he said, referring to the general budget increase. "There's not a lot of room there. I don't think there is any expansion expansion to current programs." The Region of Durham provides provides health and social services, road maintenance and cons traction traction (except municipal or provincial provincial roads), development planning, planning, some transit, non-profit housing, and funding for conservation conservation authorities from its general general operating budget, set at $90.1 million for 2003 under the staff recommendations. The operating costs account for 34 per cent of the Region's 2003 budget, another 24 per cent is accounted for through provincial provincial pooling for social services, See TAX page 6 Cop donates kidney to ailing dad Durham Regional police officer Corey Walsh underwent underwent six hours of surgery in order to donate one of his kidneys to his dad. Police officers and civilian employees employees donated 825 hours of sick time so he didn't face a financial crunch during recovery. sick-time can access a central And co-workers donate sick time BY JACQUIE MclNNES Staff Writer DURHAM - The philosophy philosophy of karma - what you do to others will return to you - figures figures largely in the story of a Durham Regional Police officer whose, generosity of spirit was rewarded in kind. Constable Corey Walsh, 33, a Port Hope resident who works out of the Clarington detachment, detachment, underwent six hours of BY JEREMY LE PAGE Staff Writer OSHAWA - The magic may soon be over between Corns Entertainment Entertainment and two local radio stations. Contemporary music station CKGE Magic 94.9 EM, and CKDO 1350 AM, are being sold by Corns lo the owner of country music station CJKX 96 EM in Ajax. Corns, which owns television television and radio stations throughout throughout Canada, including CM EX TV, lias owned the two stations since 2000. Steve Macaulay, general sales manager at CJKX 96, confirmed the sale. He says an application lo purchase the two Oshawa stations stations was made in August, and is currently awaiting Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Telecommunications Commission approval, approval, "The hearing is this week surgery in Calgary Jan. 15 to donate one of his kidneys to his father, who lives in Medicine Hat. His dad, Lyle, 54, was diagnosed diagnosed as being in massive kidney failure just over a year ago. For that year the senior Mr. Walsh was reliant on dialysis every four hours and his health was deteriorating. So, when the doctor said he needed family members to step up to the plate to see if someone had a compatible compatible kidney to donate, Const. Walsh was first in line and.fortunately, and.fortunately, the match was made. While the tale of a son donating donating a major body organ to in Montreal," he says. "We're expecting expecting approval within 60 to 90 days." Mr. Macaulay insists the stations stations will retain a local focus, and that no major format changes arc expected to take place. "We're looking at the markets and doing research," lie explains. It makes sense to have all three stations, lie says, "creating more of a local synergy. "We want to mould them lo have a wide appeal lo the community community at large." Although some staff from the stations will stay, others will he dealt with by Coras. "We agreed to purchase assets," explains Mr. Macaulay. "We are keeping some of the folks." He says Corns will probably transfer some of its other employees to other radio or television stations, and perhaps lay olliers off. his ailing father is touching, the story only becomes more so thanks to the goodwill of dozens of Durham Regional Police officers who gave up their sick-time hours to Const. Walsh, to ensure he would not be put in financial hardship by the good deed. Const. Walsh has only been witli the force for two years so did not have a lot of sick-day credits available, says Doug Cavanaugh, president of the Durham Region Police Association. Association. Those he did have were mostly spent on the days lie went to St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto for donor compatibility compatibility testing. In total the Durham Region police officers and civilian employees employees donated 825 hours, "probably way more than is necessary," says Police Chief Kevin McAlpine, who put out the word to staff through an interoffice interoffice memo. "Almost in a matter of a week or two we had to put out another notice telling people to stop donating because we had enough hours," says Mr. Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh. Chief McAlpine says usually, usually, employees in need of extra DURHAM - Freezing rain turned roads and highways across the region into skating rinks Monday night, causing dozens of minor lender benders. benders. No one was seriously injured injured during any of the mishaps hut the icy conditions claimed more than 50 vehicles, including including two Durham Regional Police Police cruisers that slid into ditches ditches in north Durham. bank where officers pool surplus surplus hours. However, because Const. Walsh lias only been with the force two years, lie didn't yet qualify for the pro- One cruiser was pulled out of a ditch on Marsh Hill Road by a municipal grader, another was yanked from the side of Regional Road 23 by a low truck. Regional police were called to 36 collisions - 16 involving minor injuries - while provincial provincial police responded lo 24 crashes, most of them on 1 Iwv. 401. A single-vehicle collision gram. All the hours donated for Const. Walsh that he does not use will go to the central leave bank for "the next person in See GENEROSITY page 5 collisions near ITwy. 401 and Hwy. 115 sent two people to hospital, but their injuries were not considered considered life-threatening, OPP said, "People were going a little too fast. It's a good time to remind remind people to drive for the conditions, and please slow down," said OPP Const. Julia McCuaig. The ice storm also knocked out traffic signals at some Durham intersections. 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