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

pe Ee ESSERE ES a ail pia iL SE lt Ss Sia Rae WEST SME. NYEERETYE Nees hn 6- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 28, 1995 \ "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" \ -- D> PORT PERRY STAR "0 | ED ITORIAL a Editorial Comment A% \s al YYZ N And The Winner Is... The method was a little unconventional, but Scugog Township has appointed a new Regional Councillor. Monday, after listening to 11 candidates advise why they would be best suited for the job, councillors voted in favor of elect- ing "one of their own." Unfortunately the balloting ended in a tie with Marilyn Pearce and Ken Gadsden both receiving three votes. The tie was broken when Mrs. Pearce"s name was selected from a box containing the two names on equal size pieces of paper. There is little doubt, after Mrs. Pearce learns the workings of regional council, she will be a vocal and effective represen- tative for the residents of Scugog. She has often, at the local level, shown she is not afraid to tackle tough issues and does not hesitate to fight for what she believes to be in the best interest of the residents of this township. While this feisty attitude is not always well received by those sitting at the end of the table making a deputation, and indeed at times with her own colleagues, she almost always comes well prepared to _ battle her position. Is Marilyn Pearce a good choice to assume the large responsibilities of regional councillor? There are some who will disagree with the decision, but when consideration is given to her track record, her seniority on Scugog council and her ability to get things done.... we think council has made a good choice. Among the group of 11 candidates, there are no doubt others who would do a cred- ible job, given the opportunity, but sending someone to the region with no previous council experience, or someone who has been out of touch with the issues for three or more years, would not be in the best interest of the residents of Scugog. From the outset there were only two logi- cal choices for council to consider - Marilyn Pearce or Ken Gadsden. Obviously those sitting on council felt the same way. They have been sitting on council for three or more years each and are privy to current and future issues fac- ing the township... and that's important. Losing by a draw must be disappointing to Mr. Gadsden, who do doubt would have been an effective representative at the regional as well, but there should be little concern about the ability of Mrs. Pearce. She'll handle the job just fine... and is probably the logical choice. = -- UPPATE, ThE ON- | THINKABLE HAS HAPY] IN His STATEMENT TO 7 SCANDAL {IAS ROCKED THE REGIONAL WORKS DEPT. {A MoM yiDEO Ws IMAICATED REGIONAL NORKRS IN A SHOCKING BXPOSE OF ..- LITTERING. , . (Gov HePus)) AS QUOTED AS SAYING" I's GefrinG-So YOU CAN'T W A) YOUR Nose ANYMoRE Wittour BeiNa TAeED!™ PoL\CE ONE WORKER hal Po resident Bill Keen (no 's picture shows a truck and roa f this photo is unknown and wa all r t Bill W deceased). Rallwa r that last week's photo of Queen St. by fter 1923 because CN didn't start making rail cars un ~ LETTER OF THE WEEK Sexual orientation debate continues to rage To the Editor: The sexual orientation/AIDS debate has raged from many angles in local edi- torial letters and features lately. Ian Mahaffy's touching and tragic story fea- tured in the Star brings the personal di- mension of the issue into sharper focus. Some of the larger societal issues, how- ever, still invite comment. For those interested, I recommend an NFB documentary called "AIDS in Afri- ca," available at the Port Perry public li- brary. Itidentifies the reason behind the rapid spread of the African (heterosexu- al) and North American (largely male homosexual) AIDS epidemics: young ur- ban males with multiple sex partners. In rural Africa, social structures chan- nel young men and women into stable marriages, so AIDS is still quite rare there. However, many young males quickly become promiscuous once they move to the cities, away from any moral guidance. Young urban women are driv- en by poverty into prostitution and de- pendence on more affluent males, who can easily 'collect' many female sex part- ners. The cost of condoms is prohjbitive to many Africans, while most women want the respect that motherhood brings in Africa, even at the cost of an AIDS-infected baby. Where roads have penetrated the African bush, HIV- positive truck drivers leave a legacy of AIDS. The situation in North America is par- allel. Let's face it, many young males, Turn to page 8 by J. Peter Hvidsten WARN KIDS OF SPRING FLOODS Spring officially arrived lastweek and with itcame warming temperatures and something often called "spring thaw." It's this thaw, or melting of snow and ice, which is awaited eagerly at this time of the year that also can cause considerable damage, flooding and sometimes pre- ventable tragedy. The rapid thawing of snow andice, along with spring showers often causes major flooding with little warning as creeks swell, flooding roads and basements causing thousands of dollars of damage. But even worse than loss of possessions and destruction of property due to flooding would be the loss of life. It's important as parents we warn our children about the dangers of playing around lakes, ponds or fast flowing rivers over the next few weeks. No one wants to read about the tragic drowning of ayoungster. It justisn't necessary! ICE LEAVING LAKE SCUGOG Speaking of spring... for the past couple of weeks we've been keeping an eye out to record the date the ice officially leaves the Lake Scugog. The Starrecords go back to 1872 and determining the official date is a respon- sibility | was given years ago and have been recording for more than 25 years. | was recently asked how we determine the date the ice has left the lake. Quite simply, Iwas taught the "ice is out" when you stand on the government pier at the end of Queen St., and look north. Ifnoiceis visible as far as the eye can see... theice is considered officially out! While this might seem reasonable, on more than one occasion we have been tricked into thinking the ice is out, only to discover the wind has driven a huge sheet back down the lake the following morning. Other years the lake has been open for a few days, only to be glazed over again when a cold snap hits the area. Atany rate as of Monday afternoon there was little more than ablack skim of ice left 'in the south bay of the lake, and it looks like it could be gone by Tuesday morning. Check the Weekend Star and we'll let you know the official date for this year.