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PAGE 8 THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, MARCH 5,2003 www.durhamregion.com •_> Newcastle village constable program gets a reprieve Ron Hope, past-president of Newcastle's Newcastle's BIA. "The fact that there was somebody around here all tire time (meant) we didn't didn't have so many packs of kids as we used to have," lie says, noting the change in the program meant downtown merchants merchants were seeing "a dramatic swing the other way." The return of the village constable is most welcome, notes Mr. Hope. "The nice thing is we have somebody with a face and a (phone) number instead instead of having to go through the bureaucracy bureaucracy in Oshawa," he says. Robbery, fraud statistics on the rise BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer NEWCASTLE - A popular Newcastle Newcastle village policing program, which had been altered due to staffing constraints, constraints, has received a reprieve. The village constable program, which had changed somewhat under staffing requirements in which the officer officer was required to re-join a regularly- scheduled platoon, will continue in Newcastle, says Inspector Tom Cameron, of the Durham Regional Police Police Clarington Community Office. "My supervisors decided to give me an additional officer above my complement complement to allow me to rejuvenate the program program in Newcastle," lie says. That means the officer, Constable Greg Knopp, will be able to be more flexible in his scheduling, in order to better respond to the needs of the com munity, says Insp. Cameron. While on the platoon, the village constable was required required to work a regularly-scheduled shift, though lie was still to concentrate on the village. Other areas in Clarington, including Bowmanvillc and Courtice, will still have the re-vamped program, with village village constables for those centres still required required to be part of the platoon. "We are required to have these officers officers on platoons, but they are tasked with focusing their time and attention to the area to which they arc assigned," says Insp. Cameron. The return of the village constable to his post in Newcastle is great news, says Dave Rickard, a director with the Newcastle Newcastle Ratepayers Association. "We're very happy it's back," he says. Newcastle's downtown core had benefited benefited greatly from the program, says ROBBERY from page 1 Mayor John Mutton asked Insp. Cameron about the appearance of an increase in home invasion type crimes in Clarington. But the average person need not be concerned, Insp. Cameron said. "Many of these, if not most of these, are related to drugs," assesses the inspector, noting there are exceptions exceptions to that rule, including a recent home invasion involving a local mer chant and his wife. However, "These are not ordinary people sitting in their homes usually ... "Most of the suspects in these do not live in Clarington. Our Clarington residents arc the victims of these as opposed to the suspects." Clearance, or solving, rates for crimes in Clarington is about on par with, or slightly better than, the rest of Durham Region, the inspector says. The increase in staff means more officers on.duty at any given time. In 2002, minimum staffing rules required required one sergeant and five consta-' blcs to be on duly. This year, there must be one sergeant and seven constables constables on the day shift and one sergeant and eight constables working working at night. Still, Insp. Cameron says there's always a need for more officers. officers. "It really doesn't matter how many people on a platoon, we could always use more." Students get to school despite transit strike BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer DURHAM - Local students who rely on public transit got to and from school even after Oshawa and Clarington Clarington buses ground to a halt Monday afternoon. Three of four local boards had contingency contingency plans in place under which those students who usually rely on Transit strike affects thousands TRANSIT from page 1 chanics $24.18. Offers from the commission were for a nine per cent increase over three years with no COLA, or no increase over a three-year period except for COLA. 'That's just not acceptable to us," said Union unit chairman John Johnson. Johnson. "We haven't had a wage increase in two years and we need the COLA to protect against inflation...we want both." Acting Mayor Joe Kolodzie said he "deeply regrets" the disruption of service service and was hoping they could get buses "back on the road as soon as possible," possible," but lie also said the City cannot afford both an increase and the COLA. Oshawa Transit' General Manager Bob Goody said transit riders in the city were "out of luck," but claimed the commission's offer was fair and would keep Oshawa Transit employees the third-highest paid in the province. "Giving them COLA and a wage increase increase amounts to double-dipping and we can't afford that," he said. "To pay for what they want we would have to have either a fare increase increase or a tax increase and the people don't want that...it's not fair to the taxpayers taxpayers in the city or our riders." Oshawa councillors and transit man- . agement met Tuesday afternoon to develop develop a bargaining strategy for the days to come. /j, STRAIGHT FROM T.O. - * "RODNEY'S OYSTER" BAR THURS., MARCH 13 V> 6 PM-11 PM 600 Grandview, Oshawa 905-436*1476 St's iHaplc .Syrup @imc ill Clarke Museum 7086 Old Kirby School Road Discover the art of maple syrup making at the museum > Interactive displays • History of sugaring off • Indoor and outdoor activities for the family ■ Croup tours available Maple Syrup products available at The Museum Shop March 5-9, 2003 11:00 AM-4:00 1»M For more Information call 905-983-9243 A Place fo Find God's Plan for You. Craffs v Songs i Snacks Z^x>'/za Gomes S Bible Slones WÏV foy v .I pi nee; Tlw Snlvntlon Army ii Community Church 75 Llborly St.S. Bownunvllhi. WPHMI " • ■ ' Tel, 505 623 3761 or 905 597 1750 yVVÿïp Pfioju Monday Mar. loth • \ ' I W"///' Friday Mur. 1<lth ' % v 4 TllliQi0i'l5 n.m. • 12 noon public transit would be taken to and from school in yellow buses. The plans were brought into play when drivers walked off the job Monday afternoon. afternoon. The Kawartha Pine Ridge, Peterborough Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic and Durham Catholic district school boards all had plans in place while students with the Durham District School Boards had to make their own arrangements to get to and from school. None of the boards reported any attendance problems as a result of the strike, and those with contingency plans said everything went off without a hitch. "Yesterday, as soon as we were no tified, we went into action immediately," immediately," said Katie Johnson, DCDSB's transportation supervisor, Tuesday. "Things seemed to go very well." Almost 1,400 Durham Catholic board students, along with about 160 Clarington Catholic and 25 Clarington public school students, are using the yellow buses under the contingency plans. The contingencies will mean additional additional expenses for the board. "We will maintain the plan till the strike's over," says Joe Hubbard, KPR's superintendent of administrative administrative services. "At this point, it is an additional additional expense, but as to how much it would be, we can't say at this time." Accident under investigation ACCIDENT from page 1 "Our lifts arc inspected annually, and were given a clean bill of health," says Ms. Schaffer. The lift will remain closed until the investigation is complete, though other lifts at the hill are still running, she says. How long the investigation will take is currently unknown, says TSSA spokesman Tom Zach. "Historically, it can take a very short period of time, or it can drag on," he says, noting a very thorough investigation must take place. The TSSA does have authority to determine penalties, should any fault be assessed. But it's far too early to guess at any outcome, says Mr. Zach. "There's no definitive cause that; we've come across. "We do know that the counterweight counterweight failed, but why that happened, happened, we don't know," he says. The accident is "unexplainable," says Ms. Schaffer. "In 66 years, we've had nothing like this," she says. (0 lu o o co -t co CN to in o o> lhour 30% OFF Babysteps Membership 6lWW.lHR.CA PHOTOFINISHING m. $6.98 24 Exp in 1 hour 12 Exp. S 4.98 24 Exp. $ 6.98 36 Exp. $11.98 Not valid with any oilier otter C-41 process colour or B& IV BABY STEPS MEMBERS 45% off custom frames purchased with print ! 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They want to be sure that information about you and other eligible voters living at your address appears correctly on both provincial and federal voters lists. This means that whenever an election is called, you will promptly receive information about when and where to vote. We would appreciate your assistance. If you are not at home when they come by, they will leave a notice on your door with a telephone number you can call to arrange to have this information collected at another time. Election* C.wi.mU REVISING AGENT AGENT RÉVISEUR- V YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THE REVISING AGENTS BY THEIR IDENTIFICATION BADGES. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact ELECTIONS ONTARIO toll free at 1-86G-771-B315 OR info@electionsaiitarlo.oii.ca OR TTY 1-888-292-2312 ELECTIONS ONTARIO and ELECTIONS CANADA arc the non-partisan agencies responsible for administering provincial and federal elections, by-elections and referenda. MARCH BREAK SALE