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Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, March 1, 2000 Orono Weekly Times Serving East Clarington and beyond since 1937 Subscriptions $23.36 + $1.64 G.S.T. = $25.00/year Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB 1M0 E-Mail Address: oronotimes@speedline.ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301 Publisher/Editor Marg Zwart Those kids just won't go away! Again, this week, councillors heard a presentation from a Newcastle resident who voiced her concern with the number of kids hanging around downtown, with, apparently nothing to do, and no place to do it. In thé three years that I have been aware of the situation situation in Newcastle, there has been no shortage of adults who have come forward, willing to help find a solution. Sally Ward, a Newcastle mom, raised some good ideas Monday, that included the kids right from the planning planning stages. Sally had to go home Monday and wait till her suggestions went through the proper channels, and an appropriate response formulated. A similar effort lay David Chisling two years ago, hit a road block, and evaporated into thin air. The only responses to date, in'handling the number of youths hanging out in Newcastle have been punitive ones. Councillor Mutton's suggestion to run them off with classical music, fortunately never got off the ground. The other, the implementation of the Village Constable, pilot project has had an impact on when and where the kids hang out. Is it so difficult to find some available space in Newcastle to run a youth program from? A model is in place in Bowmanville, and there is a core of concerned parents in the village willing to help. Typically, it's during an election year that community projects take on greater significance. Is the fact that most of these youths, may not be of voting age, be a deterrent to their cause? Letters to Editor February 21, 2000 Dear Ms. Zwart: I am writing this letter jin support of all those owner/operators, otherwise known as truck drivers, who are out there slowing down our highways in protest of the rising costs of diesel fuel. We all should realize that everything, from the car we drive in to the food we put on the table to the roof over our .heads, got there by truck. We should all stop and take a moment to think about exactly what it is those men and women are doing. They are standing up for something that they believe in. They are showing a little backbone, a little pride and integrity - rare commodities in this day and age. They are absorbing costs, out of their own pockets in an effort to help all of us who stand at the fuel pumps and curse the price of fuel. We all sit back and complain that it costs us ten dollars more to fill our tanks than it did at this time last year: Well!!! I Wonder how many people realize it is • costing those truck drivers up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS DOLLARS A WEEK MORE to fill their tanks today than it did at the start of THIS YEAR Or that many of them are exhausting their savings to keep going. Do people realize that those same people are not getting reimbursed for the fuel that théy are burning to protest, or that to drive those trucks bob-tail (without (without a trailer attached) they have to obtain their own, additional insurance, in some cases their jobs have been threatened, they still have to make their truck payments payments and that they are foregoing foregoing their paychecks to protest the exorbitant fuel prices? . Furthermore, my blood began to boil when I heard that drivers were being FINED and charged with criminal charges for driving too slow on the highway!!! Where the hell is that cop when the guy in the car in front of you (doing 60 km/h in the second lane of the 401) is too busy on his cell phone to push the accelerator. And where is he when those two women stop in rush hour traffic and roll down their windows to chat. And where is he when that car races up the shoulder at 90 miles an hour to get four car lengths ahead of you. In the end what does .it matter? At the rate things are going, it is just a matter of time before the roof falls in on top of them anyway. Let the banks take back their trucks! Unfortunately, for all of us, there is a little more depth to that than meets the eye. Losing their trucks is not only losing their livelihood but their pride as well. What are they going to do then? Some will get jobs driving for big companies that can better better absorb the costs. Some will find some other occupation occupation and the rest - I guess we'll all pay for them through welfare and other forms of government assistance. So it takes us 15-20 minutes minutes longer to get to work or to get home. So what? It is a temporary inconvenience for a very good cause! Truck driving is not an easy job. It takes a bit more than just sitting on your, fannie and getting paid for it. It is long, hard and sometimes gruelling gruelling hours. It is driving through the absolute worst' conditions anyone could imagine. It is being witness to some of the most devastating devastating accident scenes there are - and still being able to drive on. It's calling the ambulance and helping victims of wrecks. It is slowing other trucks down before they get to those wrecks. It is being able to make split-second decisions behind the wheel to avoid those wrecks. It is being able to keep it straight, even though it bends in the middle and it really can't stop on a dime. It is sacrificing watching their family grow so that they can hold their heads up and be proud that they are providing for them. So that their kids can go to college or university. So that they can see their dreams come true. Believe me, I know, truck drivers truly pay the price to make their dreams come true. They Work very hard for every dollar they earn. They are a friendly, humorous and helpful lot. It takes a very special breed to be a trucker. They have pride and integrity integrity and they are the backbone of society. Instead of cursing and extending the middle finger maybe it's high time that we showed a little support for the courage being displayed by those drivers. Besides, it doesn't take any more effort to smile and raise your thumb to let them know that you appreciate the goal that they are trying to achieve. For all the difference it makes, I support them and their cause. I hope that they succeed because truck drivers have been looked down upon for too long. I respect them for their pride and the courage they are displaying displaying by simply standing up for what they think is tight, even though they stand to lose so much. Thumbs up from me!!! I remain, Kim Jobe Newtonville DEMOCRACY IN ACTION? Jessica Markland "Just an ordinary man who knows exactly what he likes and does precisely what he wants" If that philosophy philosophy was good enough for Professor Higgins, it fits the Mayor of Richmond Hill like a glove. On Wednesday night, February 23, a crowd of about 1600 concerned citizens citizens packed the Ballroom at the Sheraton Parkway in Richmond Hill to express their concerns about preserving preserving the Oak Ridges Moraine from development. development. Council sat from about 7.30 until after midnight listening to the concerns of constituents and others .who were lined up at two microphones. I was there,, and was overwhelmed by the quality of the presentations presentations and the depth of feelings feelings expressed. Everyone from young students to (continued page 3)