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Jp A BEST AVAILABLE COPY Family of four has narrow brush with death A Whitby man and his three children had a narrow brush with death Sunday eve- ning when their car plunged into open water of Lake Scugog. Police say the four had been driving in a car on the ice just about half a mile from the northern tip of the Island when the incident took place about 6:00 PM. Police said that were it not for the efforts of several ice fish- ermen and snowmobilers who Volume 124 Number 12 came to their resuce, the inci- dent could have ended tragical- ly for Michael Ritchie, and his children, Ashley, 9, Jason, 13 and Tammy, 14. One of those who came to their rescue was Kim Connors of RR 2, Blackstock. He was fishing with his brother Ron and saw the car plunge through the ice. Kim Connors told the Star later, he was making his way on foot to where the car went down when a snowmobiler stopped and gave him aride to the area. It took them several min- utes and when they arrived at the spot, one of the children was up on the ice, and the others were floundering in the water. "I didn't think they were go- ing to make it, he said. "One (of the children) seemed to be start- ing to gounder." Using a rope they managed to haul the two children out of the frigid water, and as Kim was trying to haul Mr. Ritchie out, the ice gave way and he ended up in the water as well. Fortunately, they were able to get back up orto the ice. The members of the family were taken by ambulance to Port Perry Hospital for treatment of shock and hypothermia. After the car went through the ice, it sank to the bottom of the lake. "I really don't know how PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1990 CAR PLUNGES THROUGH SCUGOG ICE they managed to get out of the car," said Mr. Connors. Micheal Ritchie could not be reached for comment by the Star on Monday. Mr. Connors said that where the car went in, there ap- peared to be an open stretch of water some 300 yards wide. In all the confusion, Mr. Connors said he never did find out the name of the snowmobil- er who took part in the rescue. Copy 50¢ 56 Pages Assault charge laid | against Jr. C. player after onice incident ~~ Durham Police have laid charges of assault causing bodi- ly harm and possession of a dan- gerous weapon against a mem- ber of the Lakefield Chiefs Junior C hockey team. The charges stem from an on-ice incident Friday evening near the end of a playoff game in Uxbridge between the. Chiefs and Uxbridge Bruins. Regional Police say that with just over 30 seconds to play in the game a Lakefield player and an Uxbridge player were in- volved in a scuffle on the ice. When the scuffle was brok- en up by officials, one of the Bruin players was allegedly struck in the head area from be- hind with a hockey stick. The Uxbridge player, Ja- mie Showers, was knocked un- conscious, though his injuries turned out not to be serious, ac- cording to Police. The incident took place as Uxbridge was leading the game by a wide margin and Lakefield was on the brink of elimination from the playoff series. Charged is 20 year old Wil- liam Wasson, a resident of Pete- roborough. Three week strike appears to be over A three week strike by Catholic High School teachers in Durham Region appears to be over as a tentative contract was reached early in the morn- ing February 9. Details of the agreement Police charge snowmobiler A 28 year old man is facing three charges following a snow- mobile incident Sunday after- noon on Lake " Regional Police say the in- cident took place during the snowmobile drag races at Kent's Bay. A man was asked to leave the track area, and refused. ice.were called and laid of impaired driving, ex- ceed .08, and driving a snowmo- bile without a helmet against Benny Lawfin of Hoyle. would not be made public until ratified by the Separate Board and the teachers, but negotia- tors were recommending accep- tance. The teachers were to hold a ratification vote late Monday af- ternoon, and a special meeting of the Durham Separate Board was slated for Monday evening to let trustees vote on the agree- ment. If both side give the pact formal ratification as expected, Catholic high students in Dur- ham returned to class Tuesday for the first time since the strike began January 18. It was an acrimonious strike with the Separate Board taking out full page ads in news- papers to explain its position and especially why the Board would not put the issues to bind- ing arbitration. The settlement, which came at 5:30 in the morning, was reached with the assie- tance of a mediator. The Canadian Half Pints midget basketball team was In town last Friday evening to perform two shows at Port Perry High School. The Half Pints delighted the audience with many humor- ous tricks (above Ernle Greenwood of the Port Perry Litres takes a cream ple In the face) as well as displaying some excellent basketball play. Port Perry Kinsmen Club sponsored the evening and money raised from the event will be put back into the community for various projects. Kawartha Conservation Authority Grant shortfall could mean cut back on some programs The Kawartha Conserva- tion Authority (KCA) could be forced to cut back on some pro- grams this year because of bud- get constraints. KCA general manager Ian MacNab said last week the Au- thority had applied for $344,000 in provincial grants for this year, but received $331,000. "We were a little disap- pointed, but we'll try to do some- thing positive with the money wea have," he told the Star. Although the Authority has yet to set its final budget for this year, Mr. MacNab said it appears the shortfall will amount to some $13,000 (of a to- tal budget of about $620,000) He said KCA already is op- erating on a "bare bones" level, and last year two full time staff people were laid off indefinitely to free up extra money for capi- tal projects. ; om ting on the fact Provincial allocation this year is the lowest of 12 Au- thorities in Central Ontario, Mr. MacNab replied diplomati- cally "I don't know if there is a message in thatornot." Compared with the alloca- tion from Ministry of Natural Resources for other authorities, the KCA allocation of $331,000 is paltry. The Metro Toronto Region CA will receive $7 million this year; Grand River CA $6.7 mil- lion; Halton River CA $2 mil- lion; Niagara CA $993,000, Smaller authorities such as Ganaraska received $632,000, and Otonabee $673,000.