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Vol. 125 No. 16 PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 1991 Lawyers acting for Scugog Township are in court today (March 12) in an effort to stop the storage of thousands of used vehicle tiresin a barn on Scugog Island. The lawyers will be asking the Ontario Court General Divi- sion for two things: an interim injunction to immediately stop any further storage of tires on the property; and a mandatory order to remove the tires that are already in storage. The injunction and the or- der to remove the tires is being sought against Gordon Elson who is- leasing a property on Concession 10, Scugog Island. The property is owned by a Toronto company, and the own- ers have been co-operating fully To wnship seeks injunction against Island tire storage with the Township in an effort to get the tires removed. There could be as many as 50,000 old tires stored in a wooden barn on the premises. Township officials and poli- ticians fear they could be a seri- ous environmental threat in the "eventofa fire. In mid-January of this year, the Ministry of the Envi- ronment told Mr. Elson that a storage site with more than 5,000 tires must have a certifi- cate of approval. Meanwhile, Scugog Town- ship has also launched legal ac- tion against Mr. Elford on a charge of contravening the local zoning by-law. That action has been®put over to May 8 for trial. Bain and Stanton still missing Search resumes for girls The search for Elizabeth Bain and Julie Stanton has re- sumed in Scugog Township. After taking several weeks off during December and Janu- ary, searchers picked up the task of probing the fields, woods, old quarries and the shoreline of Lake Scugog, hop- ing to turn up some clue to the disappearance of Liz Bain and Julie Stanton. Bain disappeared last June 19 from Scarborough, while Ju- lie Stanton, 14, disappeared last April when she was seen getting into a car near her home in Pickering. Cupboards empty at Food Bank The cupboards are bare, and the baskets are empty as Oper- ation Scugog gears up for its an- nual Spring Food Drive. Residents are asked to drop off non-perishable food items at local grocery stores Valumart, and I.G.A. Donations will also be accept- ed on March 28, 29, and 30 at the Port Perry Fire Hall. All donations must be in by then to ensure families a holi- day dinner for Easter. bo: a Last November 19, Metro Toronto Police charged 25-year old Rob Baltovich of Scarbo- rough with the murder of Bain. Members of the families and friends of both missing girls have combined forces and re- sources in the search. Late last fall, the search for Liz Bain centred on the Lake Scugog area. Searchers, including dive teams, spent several weekends combing the Scugog shoreline, probing old quarries and wells and tramping over fields and wooded areas in the Township; tono avail. Last week, Ricardo (Rick) Bain issued a statement that the search for the missing girls has started again. And he issued an urgent appeal for local Township resi- dents to take partinthesearch. "We need volunteers to search woods, bush, the lake- shore, ditches, abandoned wells, ponds and so on, concen- trating on isolated areas that are accessible by car," he said. And he stressed that the key to succes may be the partici- pation of local people who are familiar with the country. Searchers meet each Satur- day and Sunday at the Port Perry Fire Hall at 10:00 AM. Mr. Bain and members of his family took an active role in the searches last fall. He said that because of rea- sons of evidence and up-coming trial dates, the need to find Ju- lie and Liz now is stronger than ever. ' ~, 7 ~ All-Ontario Finalists The Port Perry Midget A team members were in a jubilant mood last Friday evening af- ter they swept aside Midland to earn a berth in the all-Ontario finals. But the Midget As are not the only team on their way to the all-Ontario finals. The Midget B squad and the Ban- tam B team have also qualified, thanks to semi-final victories last week. (See the sports pages this week for details) - 4.5 per cent increase in February Welfare caseload leveling off Durham's welfare caseload continues to rise, but not at the alarming rate of increase marked at the beginning of the year. The recently released Febru- ary statistics show an increase of 4.5 per cent over the previous month's figures. Although the number of cas- es are still on the rise, regional officials were relieved not to have another month like Janu- ary when the caseloads in- creased a horrific 13.8 per cent. "This is the first indication that the situation is leveling off," health and social service committee vice chairman Tom Edwards told council. The number of persons who rely on general welfare assis- tance rose 5.6 per cent in Febru- ary to almost 16,600 Durham Region residents. The region paid out almost $5.25 million in welfare costs in February -- a six per cent in- crease over the previous month. Welfare expenditures are up almost 88 per cent over the same time frame last year. The welfare crisis has put a tremendous strain on regional coffers. "It's already causing extreme pressure on the tax base," Ar- jun Krishnan, manager of ad- ministrative services, told the Port Perry Star. "It's tough to budget for something like that," he said, adding that the figures contin- ue to rise and the region does not know when it will stop. Because of this predicament, Durham Regional Council has decided to delay its budget -- a budget the council had hoped to Turn to Page 2 Herrema wants road toll Durham Region Chairman Gary Herrema wants a road toll set up on Highway 407 to help alleviate the costs of several programs, such as welfare and retraining. Although Mr. Herrema said the idea isnot new -- he brought it up over a year ago -- the idea resurfaced recently. The reason: The federal gov- ernment's recent budget which drastically cut transfer pay- ments to the provinces and the regions. "We are not getting the dol- lars that we used to (from the federal government), Mr. Her- rema told the Port Perry Star Monday morning. "The property taxpayers are paying the shot," he said. The tax increase to the prop- erty owners has risen so much Turn to Page 3