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"Scugog"s Community Newspaper of Choice" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, February 22, 2000-7 Question of the Week... year. Do you think road maintenance crews are Debbie Lasky doing a good job this _ Yes, most of the year? time, better than last Dianne Bonnichi Edward Chatten | guess, but not as well as last year. little snow this year. Yes, but there is very Sue Howie Yes, | think so. Jo Lees Yes, | think it's excel- lent this year. | have no problem at all. Rising diese! prices; a 185) )| threat A GE Tr To the Editor: I would like to take the opportunity to inform you of the crisis that is plaguing the trucking industry in this province. As all products are transported by truck at one time or another, you will be forced to absorb the rising costs yet again at retail and wholesale levels -- groceries, clothing, leisure activities, and business needs. The farmer will not see an increase in his paycheque. Whether the government or you realize it these two industries are the back bone of this country. Being part owner of a small fleet of tractor trailers operating mainly in the province of Ontario, | have con- cerns and thoughts on the rising thoughts of fuel prices. Since January 1999 my fuel costs have risen an average of 45 to 50 per cent. The rates used to create income are decided upon, not by me but by the brokers who handle the loads. Always, we must work out a rate for the load and never have | been told that we are not charging enough, always it's too much whether it be $50 or $500. I have 11 employees not including my partner and myself, who rely on these rates for their paycheques on a regular basis. These people are the same as you. They also are coping with rising furnace oil prices and rising gas prices for their vehicles. Due to this, raises are being asked for and I can not give them because the gov- emment and the oil companies have taken them. In order for me to give raises to hard working individuals, meet my payment schedules and pay my bills the rates must go up or the fuel prices must come down. Janice Parrott RRS, Sunderland set LN RL Ty with such destructive force omed. = 'My. response? Run! Run for: your | life! hat it cannot be fath- But no. A nation sits, transfixed, watching cops in themselves in marriage to millionaires and dimwits en calling back home to friends in Palookaville when ow, they've tested their intellect to the limit and found , only used kleenex and bits of bik Tucson bust $40 hookers and women vying to sell nothing lot. how ments ever made are wih the installation of hater Si television antennae, ~~ | remember yéars ago, a slogan from, | think, the nN NAACP' 8 college fund: A mind is a terrible thing to waste. es A mind is a terrible thing to waste, Funny: it was a television commercial. Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE LAKE AS IT WARMS UP If the trend toward milder weath- er which started over this past *. weekend continues for the next few weeks, this could well go down as one of the shortest and warmest winters in recent memory. Until early February, this section of the country didn't have enough snow to cover the grass, and it's only been during the past few weeks that snow and winter- like temperatures hit the area. In fact, until about a week-and-a-half ago, there had been no need to pull the snowblower out of the garage. er. Soit's hard to believe that in one week, those hun- There just wasn't enough snow on the ground to both- dreds of fishing huts scattered all over the lake will have to be removed. This doesn't mean it's the end of the fishing season for those avid anglers, but the huts must be hauled back to shore before the ice begins to thaw. Time after time over the years, we've seen huts left frozen in the ice, or torched because they could not get them out. I'm told there are extremely stiff penalties for either offence, so it's far better they are taken off while the ice is still safe enough to travel on without fear of hitting an opening. Once the huts are off, the predictions of just when the ice will give up its grip on the lake begin. The Star has been recording the dates for well over a century, and we'll be there to announce the official date again late this spring. | In an effort to help Scugog Shores Museum with their fundraising, we've organized a contest to deter- mine the date the ice goes out. The entire proceeds from the 50/50 draw go to the local museum to further their important work, so we encourage your support by purchasing a ticket at our office, or from members of the museum board. Just for the record, the earliest the ice has ever gone out of the lake is March 11, 1983, and the latest April 29, 1965, a spread of almost eight weeks. So it's never too early to enter the contest. Wait too long and the ice might already be gone! THE WEB It's almost hard to imaginee life without the internet or e-mail, yet this technology is really only a few years old. It wasn't so many years ago, if anyone had said we will be sending and receiving information from all over the world by way of our home computer in split- seconds, you'd have thought they were nuts. But now our entire life revolves around the computer and especially the internet, and predictions of things to come in the not-so-distant future are mind boggling. How about placing grocery orders right from a com- puter screen on the front of your refrigerator, or hook- ing up to the internet over your cell-phone, which is mounted on your arm like a wrist watch. The internet has already made encyclopedias, the printed version that is, almost obsolete; players of the stock market can keep a constant eye on their invest- ments; you can do your banking over the internet; order a book; search out family history, order tickets for show; talk to relatives in far off lands; research your holiday plans or just enjoy "surfing the net." One can only speculate....what's next?