The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

. pec. mm et faa a) RE at a sa aE Last I TTT Ee a - PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, October 31,-1989 -- 7 JIMMY AND ZSA ZSA Two of the more notorious court cases in quite a while wound up last week. I'm talking about Zsa Zsa and Jimmy, as in Gabor and Bakker. Bakker was finally exposed for what he is: a fraud, and the 45-year prison sentence plus $500,000 fine is just about right. Zsa Zsa got off with a lesser fine, three days in the slammer and 120 hours of community service afer being found guilty of slapping a California traf- fic cop. As far as I'm concerned, Bakker got what he deserves. But there are some very serious implica- tions in the tap on the wrist handed down to Ms. Gabor, actress, who has been married a morally up-lifting eight times. What are Joung people to assume from this?That it is OK to haul off and belt a traffic cop if you don't mind a fine and a couple of comfortable days in jail. Heck, let's slap the teacher around, or maybe the Scout leader, or the baseball coach. Or perhaps they are to assume there is one set of rules for the rich and famous and another for the rest of us. After all, had it been me or you up on trial for biffing a cop in the mouth, would we get off so easily? Not bloody likely. And Zsa Zsa was able to serve her paltry sen- tence in a private room at a hospital complete with colour television, for which she forked over $100 per day. Some message. Jimmy and Zsa Zsa deserve each other. May- be they should have both got ten years, in the Viewpoin by John B. McClelland same cell. FLYING THE SKIES Now | know why the federal cabinet jumped all over VIA Rail, slashed the subsidy and effectively reduced the nation's rail service to 50 per cent of what it was. Cabinet members never have to take a train. They just hop a plane and fly the wide blue yonder. And the nice part about it (for them) is that they don't have to show any receipts. Auditor general Kenneth Dye revealed that federal Cabinet ministers are not required to dis- close details of their travel expenses, even though the tab is being paid by guess who. If | had a free ticket like that, do you think I'd be too worried about a few passenger trains on the ground. At 35,000 feet, who cares. Nice country we have here. DEADLY GAME Scugog Hydro manager Terry Adderley was more than upset one morning last week to discover that a hydro pole had been partialy cut, and a sup- port guy wire fully cut with a hack saw. ~ Somebody is playing a very dangerous game, he told the Star. About 150 homes in Port Perry and the hospi- tal were without hydro for an hour last Wednesday night because of this act of vandalism. That's bad enough. What's worse is that at the top of the pole some 4100 volts of juice are flowing through the wires. If the pole had toppled over, there could have been some very serious problems, even loss of life. He said it's unlikely that whoever cut into the pole was aware of the potential danger. This was no harmless prank. If that pole, which is directly in front of PPHS, had toppled onto a school bus bring- ing down the live wires with 4100 volts dancing around.... well, you can imagine the final result. A CONFESSION | have a confession to make. | don't under- stand what Meech Lake is REALLY all about. I'm not alone. In fact, over 60 per cent of Canadians don't understand Meech Lake and the Accord. Perhaps as editor of a newspaper, | more than other citizens, should understand Meech Lake. | can honestly say my lack of understanding is not from lack of trying. | have read numerous articles and opinion pieces on Meech Lake. Why, just last week, | listened to three very astute Canadians on the Gzowski Radio Show discussing Meech. But even the words of Stephen Lewis, Dalton Camp and Eric Kierans, failed to penetrate this large blank spot in my mind when it comes to Meech Lake. Everything | read or hear about Meech goes in but doesn't register. | vaguely know that the Mulron- ey Tories are for it, as are Bourassa and Peterson (strange bedfellows those three) Manitoba and New Brunswick are opposed, Newfoundland has serious mis-givings. Likewise everyone in the Yukon and NWT. . | am remotely aware that Meech, if ratified in its present form, will confer special status to Que- bec within Confederation, though | was always un- Turn to pagei10 Remember When? 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 16, 1944 Ex-students of the high school will be interested to know that a moving picture projector has been purchased for the purpose of showing educational films to the students. Part of the cost has been borne by the Student's Council. Many changes have taken place in Seagrave in the last few years. Allan Crosier has purchased the Jos. Holdershaw property. Mr. Mervin DeNure attended the Soccer match in Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, last Saturday evening. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 18, 1954 bd Grant MacDonald of Port Perry is chairman of the Mass Survey Committee of the Ontario County Tuberculosis Associa- tion which hopes to X-Ray all citizens over 12 years of age, ear- ly in the new year. Keith VanCamp of Nestleton, was the winningest contestant in the inter-county livestock judging competition held at the Royal Winter Fair. The former "Quintes" of younger days, enjoyed last Wednes- day when Mrs. Howard Jeffrey, Mrs. Art Brown, Mrs. Les Beacock and Mrs. Laverne Devitt of Oshawa were with Mrs. G. Plaunt, of Reaboro. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 19. 1959 Mr. Bert Weeden and his companions, had a lucky escape from fire while on a hunting trip in the Apsley area, when the shack they were sleeping in caught fire and burned to the ground. Mr. John Leask is the proud winner of the Lawara Trophy offered by Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Ball for Showmanship and Sport- smanship in boys and girls showing in the Holstein class. At the Rod and Gun Club banquet, Art Brock presented Sam Naples with the 'Biggest Bass"' Cup. Wm. Nesbitt disposed of 22 parcels at a Chinese auction. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 19, 1964 On Friday, November 13, 1964, Guide Barbara Webster of Port Perry received her Gold Cord, a symbol of the highest achievement in Guiding. Barbara is the thirteenth Guide in the period of fifteen years of Guiding in Port Perry to receive this coveted award. The new four-room Epsom School was officially opened by he provincial minister of health, Dr. M.B. Dymond on Thurs- ay evening, November 12, 1964. (Turn to page 8) Letters to the editor Rural Canadaisin a crisis To the Editor: Rural Canada is in crisis. Since 1945, successive Liberal and Con- servative governments have created a rural environment across the nation which has resulted in a significant drop in population. A new phrase has been coined to describe this phenomenon -- "rural desertifica- tion" and it can be applied to all rural regions of our country. Port's second to none To the Editor: When Zona and I visit other cities, for our own entertainment, we make a point of seeking out the local community theatre groups. From dramas to musicals and farce, do try to see them all. Some fine performances, some not so fine, but best of all, we enjoy the experience of comparision. In our view indeed we are proud to pro- claim it anywhere: the calibre of Port Perry's cultural activity takes second place to none. In Town Hall 1873, last night's Borelians performance of Miller's "Death of a Salesman' was a superb artistic achievement. It was quite apparent that everyone who took part in this production, actors and technicians alike, col- lectively pulled out the stops on this one. And, we the audience were overwhelmed by it all. Thank you. Congratulations! Leslie A Parkes, Port Perry, Ontario. As a result of successive governments' unwillingness to respond to this crisis, a major part of the infrastructure of rural Canada is on the verge of col- lapse. Small businesses are clos- ing their doors. Seniors are mov- ing to larger centres in order to guarantee. their access to re- quired services, while young families are hesitant to locate in rural centres for the same reason. Issues such as job creation, child care, medical facilities and others have become a serious concern for rural communities. New Democrats are concerned about the future of rural Canada. At our recent federal caucus retreat we established a commit- tee to look at all the issues facing rural Canada and to develop and bring forth proposals as to how to Smile For The Day best deal with this important aspect of our nationhood. The committee consists of New Democrat M.P.'s and spokespeo- ple from coast to coast. While each region has its own unique problems, the underlying theme is the same -- Canada needs viable, productive and pro- gressive rural communities in all regions of the country. The New Democratic Party is concerned about rural Canada. We are committed to insuring that all Canadians have the op- portunity to live and work in whatever region of the country they choose. This commitment is an ongoing priority for us. Yours sincerely, Ed Broadbent, NDP Leader, Ottawa, Ont. "Miss Niblock, is (that a personal call?"'