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i < News/3 New library open to the public Sports/14 Canada looking for revenge at Worlds CLARINGTON'S AWARD-WINNING NEWSPAPER SINCE 1854 IN BRIEF Tuesday: The Bowmanville Toastmasters invites the community community to a free workshop on 'Tips and Tools for Effective Meetings'. The event will be held Tuesday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m„ at the Seventh Day Adventist Adventist Church, Hvvy. 2 and Lambs Road. Guest speaker will be Jim Lochrie, a teacher of parliamentary law. Mr. Lochrie will be giving lips on how to avoid discord and bring discussions in meetings to successful successful conclusions. For more information or to reserve your seat, call 905-623-5266 (call before May 15). May 24: Big Brothers and Sisters of Clarington invite the community to a yard sale this month. The yard sale will be held May 24 at the Big Brothers Brothers and Sisters House, 23 Scu- gog St., Clarington. Tables for the yard sale can be purchased for $10. Donations of items for the sale are welcome. Items can be dropped off at thé house any lime between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. through to May 23. For more information call 905- 623-6646. June 5: The community is invited to a dinner and silent auction in support of Bethesda House women and children's shelter Thursday, June 5. The event will feature the music of Frank Stapleton. It begins at 6 p.m. at the Clarington Beech Centre, 26 Beech z\ve., Bowmanville. Bowmanville. Tickets arc $50 per person with a $20 tax receipt. Businesses and corporations arc invited to purchase tables, of eight. The business name will be featured on the table to indicate their support. To purchase purchase tickets or for more information information call 905-623-6045, ext. 206. INDEX Editorial Page 4 Classified 9 Sports 13 GIVE US A CALL Genera]! 905-579-4400 Distribution 905-579-4407 General FAX 905-579-2238 Newsroom FAX 905-579-1809 durhami'egioii.com ONT AO ID'S DRIVE CLEAN • SERVICE • PARTS • NEW & USED SALES & LEASING EXTENDED SERVICE HOURS MON., TUES., THURS., FR1. 7:30 - 6:00 WED.- 7:30-9:00 SAT.-9:00-1:00 ACCREDITED TEST & REPAIR FACILITY •An nllivlal murk uf I In- I'rminvv of Oithnlo iisvd unilvr llcvmv. Whitby - Oshawa H o n 1110 DUNDAS. ST. E. WHITBY, LOCAL (V05) 666-1772 homda www.homln1.com He said he didn't do it Queen's Park video Durham MPP John O'Toole was taught on film 'Hipping the bird' during debate in tiic legislature Monday. After first denying lie made the rude gesture, Mr. O'Toole now says he's sorry for the action. Here's what you had to say Charles Cattran 'He made a gross error in the heat of public debate. Our prime ministers have done worse over the years.' Valerie Withcridge 'I think it was disgusting. disgusting. He should have told the truth right off the bat.' Candace Dcavitt 'For somebody that is supposed to be a role model, it's rather inappropriate behaviour.' Mike Brear 'Everyone does things in the heat of the moment. It gives people something to talk about. We all need a laugh now and then.' Now MPP John O'Toole says he's sorry for rude gesture in legislature BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer DURHAM - John O'Toole says he didn't know what a reporter reporter meant when he asked him if he'd "flipped" an NDP MPP "the bird" during debate in the legislature Monday. Durham's MPP was caught on camera Monday afternoon, making an obscene hand gesture gesture at NDP House Leader Peter Kormos. Then, when surrounded surrounded by media outside the chamber, chamber, he denied he had done it, only to apologize minutes later in the legislature, when it became became clear his gesticulation and accompanying grimace had been caught on the legislative broadcast service videotape. The gesture came as Mr. O'Toole O'Toole was making his argument in a debate about whether his party was in contempt of the legislature by delivering its Mardi 27 budget outside the house, at an auto-parts plant in Brampton. He says Mr. Kormos had interrupted him during the response he spent a great deal of time preparing, and that's what led to his reaction. "I was very engaged and when they're heckling you, it's very hard to stay focussed on your remarks," says Mr. O'Toole. O'Toole. When he left the house for a break, Mr. O'Toole says he was scrummed by the Queen's Park media, and was caught off-guard when a reporter reporter asked if he had "flipped the bird" at Mr. Kormos. "1 expected expected to be scrummed on my response." His initial response was a denial, though Mr. O'Toole says it's because he was unsure what he was being asked. "The fact is, I didn't know what lie meant by flipping the bird," he maintains, adding he had "never been scrummed before" before" and lacked the media training to feel comfortable in the situation. When the videotape of proceedings proceedings was reviewed, and Mr. O'Toole was confronted on his behaviour, he apologized in the house, lie says. The incident was "unfortu nate and embarrassing," says Garry Minnie, Durham Riding's Riding's Liberal candidate in the upcoming, though yet uncalled, uncalled, provincial election. "I think that sometime in the future there will be an election, and the people of Ontario and the people of Durham will have their chance to express their views," says Mr. Minnie. Durham's NDP candidate, Teresa Williams, says she feels the incident reflects the Progressive Progressive Conservative government's government's tenure in office. See MPP page 5 Blackstock caged children case in court Parents accused of confining, beating boys BY STEPHEN SHAW Staff Writer OSIIAWA - A court has started hearing details of the disturbing case of a Blackstock couple accused of locking their abused and malnourished sons in makeshift cages in their rural home in north Durham Region. The 43-year-old woman and her 52-year-old husband are jointly charged with two counts of assault, assault causing causing bodily harm, aggravated assault, forcible confinement and failing to provide the necessaries necessaries of life to the hoys - adopted sons - now aged 16 and 17. The wife also faces additional additional charges of "administering "administering noxious things," forcible confinement and assault with a weapon (a shoehorn), the last two charges involving the alleged alleged abuse of her five-year- old granddaughter. A preliminary hearing is being held in front of Judge Donald Halikowski, of the Ontario Ontario Court of Justice, who will decide whether the Crown has produced sufficient evidence to commit the couple to stand trial. The case made national headlines in June 2001 after the parents were arrested by Durham Regional Police, following following a visit by officers and the Durham Children's Aid Society Society to the family's home in Scugog Township. Police at the time said they found enclosed baby cribs - "makeshift cages" - used to confine the hoys for long periods periods since they were young. The teens were allegedly malnourished and subjected to years of physical and emotional emotional abuse and degradation, including including being forced to wear diapers. Court documents say the of- See CASE page 5 Czech out who plays lacrosse BY BRAD KELLY Staff Writer BOWMANVILLE - There were more than just body checks and stick checks in Bowmanville Monday night. The Czech Republic national national men's lacrosse team was in town to play an exhibition game against the Clarington Green Gaels, serving as a prelude prelude to the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships that begin in Oslmwa Thursday. And while soccer and hockey hockey are at the top of the ladder in the country's sports hierarchy, hierarchy, the Czechs exhibited a skill level that will at the very least make them competitive with the likes of Scotland and Australia al the Worlds. Ad mittedly, they have a way to go to reach the level of Canada, the United States and Iroquois Nation as evidenced by the 8-8 draw with the Junior B Green Gaels. "We hope to win at least one game," said player Petr Bek, an English teacher at a school in his native land. "We would like to win two and play for fourth place. That would he very nice. "Our main purpose of why wc are here is to show there is box lacrosse played in Europe." Europe." The sport has been played in the Czech Republic for about 12 years, said Milan Topol, national team manager, who bravely answered ques tions in the best English he could. He added there arc about 150 lacrosse players in the Czech Republic, far below numbers in soccer and hockey. By participating in the first- ever worlds, Topol hopes the exposure will help grow the sport in his homeland. One of the difficulties facing facing the Czech team at the Worlds, noted Bek, is the fact that many of the players are new to the sport. "Your players who are 20 have been playing since they were six or seven or younger," lie observed. "I started playing when 1 was 20, so my skills are kind of limited, but the entlui- Sco CZECHS page 5 A.J. GR0EN/ Statesman photo The Czech Republic geared up for the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships hy playing (lie Clarington Green Gaels to an 8-8 tie Monday at (lie Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex. 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