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---------- VT pray nar (Ta Rig mm a TARE Rt lb 0 Spr tgp roti lh rl OW og, att p= 4 A ---------- Ne a ---------- i -------------------- uy NTI. TA i 45 Cr a A lM it. iis gmat Si A wes "Scugog"s Community Newspaper of Choice" Question of the Week... Would you pay a tax increase to get drunk drivers off the roads? John Wittenbols Yes | would. We need more R.I.D.E. checks and more cops out there. Vivian Reynolds Sure, without a doubt | would. Peter Brown | would as long as | knew it would all go towards policing and public education. Theresa Ingram Definitely. The situa- tion now is pathetic. Suzanne Norman Definitely. There have been too many deaths lately. Letter to the Editor Make health number one priority To the Editor: This spring, Walkerton's contaminated water has refo- cused our attention on the importance of clean water. As we were all busy looking for solutions and asking ques- tions about what should be done, red and white signs appeared on front lawns across the province, reminding us that we were once again bathing the urban landscape with pesticides. We are contradicting ourselves when on one hand we say we want clean water and with the other we are pouring these paisons onto our lawns and gardens. Earlier this spring concerns about pesticide use were raised in a report unveiled by the House of Commons Environment committee. The committee is calling for urgent action to reduce or phase out pesticides because of their potential threat to human health. The report rec- ommended the creation of a new pest-control act that would prohibit the registration and reregistration of pes- ticides intended for cosmetic use on lawns and gardens. Health Minister Allan Rock has testified before the com- mittee and indicated that he is prepared to bring in new legislation. Just as the tobacco industry denied the dangerous health effects of their product we can see the large chemical companies doing the same thing. We must make health our number one priority and give some thought to the logic of pouring these poisons into our soil, water and air. Jay Thibert Port Perry Everybody's mergin' with somebody else, | But nobody's mergin' with me Everybody's buyin' up some- body else, Nooobody"s buyin' poor me All | want is a mogul with some bucks To buy me, and sell me, And take me out to lunch Yes, Everybody's mergin' with somebody else, But noooobody's mergin' with meee... - The Everybody's Mergin' But Me Blues (With apologies to Hank Williams) ...Ah, yes. Another day, another media takeover. This time it's Conrad Black as the acquisition, rather than the acquirer, and even though the deal between Hollinger and Canwest Global creates even more intense media ownership (which, as we know, paves the way for monied megalomaniacs to influence politics, commerce and the outcome of Saturday's lottery numbers, not to mention imple- ment the complete elimination of free speech), there's something kind of sweet in that. So Israel Asper is our new Media Baron, and | guess, if you're going to have to have a Media Baron, it may as well be him. You've got to like a guy named Izzy. They're like Daves, and Martys. You know, you hear the name, even for the first time, and think, "Gee. What a likeable guy." But | digress. Again. Page Seven GOT THEM MERGIN' BLUES by Jeff Mitchell | don't want to climb on the Support Your Local Independent Paper Bandwagon (although we do appreciate your support!), but | can't help but end up distressed, each time | think of it, over the increasing concentration of media ownership that is occurring. : Quick: How many independent daily newspapers in Canada? Nope. You're way high. Seven. The answer is seven. One of which is in Ontario, The Fort Frances Times. And: How many independent weeklies in your part of Durham Region? You're lookin' at it. There is the Weekly Times, in Orono. And Bill Swan's new Durham Times, on the 'net. But as the song goes, "As year follows year, their numbers grow fewer"... So, the only conclusion to which we can come, | suppose, is that eventually everything - newspapers, television stations, automobiles, cell phones, crunchy peanut butter - will be under the control of one company. The Corp. will be our version of the company store. It will be the only venture of any sort, the only economic indicator, the only employer. | At least there will no longer be any need for tele- vision ads. Instead, there will be uninterrupted infomercials for products manufactured and dis- tributed by The Corp., which of course will be... everything. Kind of tidy that way, don't you think? Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten LET THE SUMMER GAMES BEGIN If you haven't already heard, later this week, the Ontario Summer Games come to Durham Region, . L and more importantly, some events will be taking place right here in Scugog Township. And while the Ontario Summer Games seem to have taken a backseat to all the media hype surrounding the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, to the athletes competing, the event is just as big and important. But before | get into just what's happening in Scugog, here's a few facts that show the magnitude of these games. - There will be close to 3,000 athletes competing in more than 30 different sports. - It will cost more than $1 million to stage the Ontario Summer Games. - A small army of almost 1000 volunteers, from across Durham Region, have been trained and are ready to make sure the Games go off without a hitch. - The Games, which are held every other year, pro- vide a venue for provincial level athletes up to 22 years of age to compete. So what is Scugog's role in the games as they begin to unfold this week. Scugog Township will be host to the following events: rowing, canoeing, lawn bowling and beach volleyball. The Scugog events take place as follows: Friday, August 11 » Canoeing on Lake Scugog from 9 am. - 3 pm. » Lawn Bowling at the Port Perry Lawn Bowling Club » Women's Rugby at Port Perry High School » Beach Volleyball at Scugog Community Centre from 9 am to 4:30 pm. Saturday, August 12 » Lawn Bowling, Port Perry Lawn Bowling Club » Women's Rugby at Port Perry High School » Beach Volleyball at Scugog Community Centre Sunday, August 13 » Rowing on Lake Scugog from 10 am to 4 pm. » Beach Volleyball at Scugog Community Centre * Rowing on Lake Scugog from 10 am to 4 pm. Keep your eye out for programs and listings which are available in any of the participating communities. This is a great opportunity to see some of Ontario's ris- ing stars in amateur sports. For a full listing of all the events, times and locations see page 4 of this issue of The Star. ON THE WEB Over the past few months, the Port Perry Star's web page has been under construction, as we've been try- ing to learn the relatively new process of marketing over the world wide web. - We're finally up and running, and we feel the new format is now comparable, and in most cases better, than many of the web pages provided by smaller com- munity newspapers across the country. I'd like to thank Sandy Cerovich, of Moon Graphics, Blackstock for his invaluable help over the past few weeks in setting up the new pages, and also to Jason Cottrell, who taught this old dog a few new tricks, by helping me understand the web lingo a little better. Couldn't have done it without the help of either of these knowledgeable men. Drop by our site at www.portperrystar.com.