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"Scugog"s Community Newspaper of Choice" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, July 31, 2001 - 7 of the fall? Question Week... What should council have on its agenda this Archie Ewing Jr. There are too many cab companies. Council needs to look at that. John Yates Roads have to be a concem. They have been in bad shape for 35 years. Brian McClurg Everything is wrong. Roads, garbage, taxes, where do you start. Heather Gibson Heavy truck traffic on Queen St. There is simply no need for it and it's a safety issue. Mary-Ellen Johansen The taxes. We seniors are not going to be able to keep up soon. I LETTERS Thanks for supporting CIBC charity barbecue To the Editor: The CIBC Run For The Cure For Breast Cancer Charity Barbecue was once again a success. If you were there I'm sure you enjoyed it; if you missed it, join us next time for lots of laughs. Our efforts paid off with the generous help from Ingrid who was kind enough to bring the bar- becue and share hersecret dog flipping technique, and Larry Corrigan, our local councillor, for show- ing us all how he can sing, dance and also flip dogs without missing a beat. Special thanks to Reid's, IGA, Parties Extreme, Energy 94.9, Kelly, our branch photog- rapher and Port Perry Star for being on call for a photo shoot. Our branch goal for CIBC Run For The Cure is $3,000 so we will keep you posted with upcoming "fun"drais- ing efforts so stay turned. We are still inviting chil- dren 10 and under to enter our CIBC Run For The Cure Poster Contest. Best poster will win a family day pass to Northwood Buffalo and Exotic Animal Ranch in Seagrave. Thanks to you all. Janet Howsam CIBC Run Co-ordinator You can e-mail the editor: editorial @portperrystar.com Things that I've noticed in pass- ~ annoyed, amused, or given pause for thought. - Here's the greatest lead for a news story I've read in a long, long time. It comes from a Canadian Press wire story that appeared in a Barrie newspaper: "Police are investigating the himself off as singer Janet Jackson's production manager." Does that sing, or what? : And here's an example of a redundant headline, from the same paper: "Really ugly lobsters".: Meanwhile, | have had it up to here with fundamentalist loonies who espouse and defend the practice of beating their children with sticks. They declare that God told them, via the Bible, they must not raise their hands against their children, touch. Therefore, | reckon, a club of some sort must be employed. And the parent must calmly explain the trans- gression that has resulted in the.corporal punish- ment, reinforcing the fact that the whooping is an act of love and concern: "Now, Billy, | want you to know that although | am very, very disappointed in you for you behaviour; | love you. And God loves you." Then you beat the bejeezus out of the child with a stick. He gets the message, presumably. THE CURMUDGEON'S CORNER -Aword to these folks: | am very, very disappointed v ing as of late, which have . in your approach to child-rearing. Now, let me whip theft of a monkey by a man who tried to pass' for a parent's hand is meant to provide a loving. on Jeff Mitchell you 'with a piece of wood, Sound fair? "Such literal interpretations of Biblical passages would also require' us to stone adulterers (that'd make getting through the supermarket check-out line on Sunday morning a lot quicker!), pluck out our eyes after looking at racy pictures, and crucify thieves. Which would make things interesting, but not all that civilized. Civilized. How: civilized are we? Let's see: : 'Murders are way up, smog makes the air bum even the healthiest person's lungs, the water's undrink- able, half the world wants to kill the other half, and Celine Dion's baby being baptized is front page news. Yep. We're as civilized as we're gonna get. It's all downhill from here, folks. Anybody doing a Rip Vah Winkle now will wake in 20 years to find the planet. run by apes. Evil, violent gorillas, given to sloppy, dangerous thinking and foolish vanity, willing to suppress what they consider lesser beings and exploit the environment for their advancement... wait. Um, that sounds like us. Boy, am | embarrassed. At any rate, we can rest easy, knowing our col- lective fate is in the hands of people like Jean Chretien, Vladimir Putin, and George W. Bush. Oh, | am sorry. - I'll leave you with this: No matter how grim it may seem now, in six months it will be January. Have a nice day. The Council Table By Chris Hall IT'S ABOUT BALANCE In the past few weeks Scugog Township got up to the till twice and found, to their amazement, that they didn't have enough cash to cover their purchase. At first glance, the municipality thought it had socked away enough cash to cover the cost of a new outdoor pool to replace the former Birdseye swim- ming hole which was razed a few years ago, due to high repair costs. Plans were drafted up, the idea was endorsed by Scugog council, and the ball was in motion. The municipality had set aside $320,000 for the new pool - which included a ramp for seniors and the disabled, a splash area for youngsters and an elaborate deck - and was all set to go. However, things screeched to a halt recently after the Stouffville company hired to develop the pool sent the township a bill for more than $360,000, about $40,000 more than Scugog had budgeted. Uh-oh. Things were smoothed over, however, when local councillors agreed to chip in the extra funds needed out of the township's Community Enhancement Fund, which is made up of the municipality's share of the revenues from the local casino's slot machine revenues. The next problem rolled around just last week, after four bids were reviewed upon the tender closing for the construction of a skateboard park. The munici- pality had been under the impression that their $35,000 would get them an adequate facility which local youth could enjoy. Upon opening the bid envelopes, however, the township was in for a surprise. According to four companies - including two from across Durham Region and two others from the Toronto area - the skateboard park would cost any- where between $75,000 and $89,000 to build. Uh-oh. So far, no back-up plan has been made to find the needed cash. Parks and Recreation director Jay Todd has suggested that he will talk to the contractors to try and get the price lowered, but that he may have to consider downsizing the project. There are no extra funds available for the skate- board park, he said. The township has no money for the kids who have shown the initiative to raise close to $15,000 on their own for the facility and who have waited close to three years, and still counting, for a place to enjoy their activity. If the new outdoor pool is to be used as a temporary facility until a new indoor pool can be built at the Scugog Arena site in the years to come, wouldn't it make more sense to take that extra $40,000 given to the pool and use it to help out the skateboard group? Plans for the new pool are great, and on paper it looks like it's going to be a fabulous facility for local residents ard visitors. But if it's going to be replaced in 10 years or so, wouldn't that extra money be better used for local skateboarding enthusiasts, who still have no where to call their own? In doing so, the township could get two projects off their books and make almost everyone happy. Councillors made a pledge back in January when they were making an application for grant funds that they wouldn't dip into the casino funds for anything other than the second ice pad, Cartwright Fields, and the Scugog Shores Millennium project. If they're going to break their rules already, they should do so in a man- ner that benefits the majority.