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6 - "WEEKEND STAR" | FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2001 | | | PUBLISHER, ...... J. Petar Hvidsten hf rp rr Momber BUSINESS OFFICE: Judy Ashby, ernst: on MacLe "TT TNT ih BF ' K ley, Janet Rankin, Lesley West MANAGING EDITOR. Jeff Mitchell Qocna ALY, EEKEND S JANRS Ein % CNA Sly Oijciey. Jane! Farin, \gsiey We OFFICE MANAGER... Gayle Stapley yr A You RN Newspaper ADVERTISING: Ginni Todd, Cindy Jobin, ADVERTISING MGR... Deb McEachern Member Ontario Community 2 eA ATC ely My Association Gail Morse, Sandra Spears, Linda Clarke, REPORTER................. Chris Hall Freelance : Heather McCrae, John B. McClelland, Rik Davie PHONE (905) 985-7383 FAX (905) 985-3708 E-MAIL: editorial @portperrystar.com advertising @ portperrystar.com Newspaper Assoc. . Be Janet Archer, Malcolm Lennox, Lisa Monk Published every Friday by the Port Perry Star Company Limited, 188 Mary Street - Port Perry, Ontario - L9L 1B7 Distributed free in the following communities: Port Perry - Uxbridge - Sunderland - Little Britain - RR Lindsay Janetville Oakwood - Manilla - Seagrave - Greenbank - Brooklin - Ashbum - Columbus - RR Oshawa Zephyr - Udora - Leaskdale - Sandford -. Caesarea - Blackstock - Raglan - Nestleton - Yelverton - Prince Albert | | | | i EDITORIAL POLICY: Opinions expressed by columnists, contributors and letter writers are not necessary those of The Port Perry Star. Letters must be signed and the telephone number (which wil not be published) included. Requests that a name be Withheld will be honoured only if there is a compeling reason to do so. Errors | will be corrected if brought to the editor's attention. We reserve the right to edit of refuse publication of any material submitted. ADVERTISING POLICY: The publisher is not liable for slight or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher is not able for other errors or omissions in 'connection with any advertisement in any subsequent issue of the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement. Al aims of error in publication must be made by Wednesday, noon, prior to the next week's publication, and, if not made, will not be considered. No claim will be allowed for more than one insertion. » ! } ) ! f Opi NION Proto OF THE WE A 'user-friendly' budget | The format being used to review the proposed budget for 2001 in Scugog Township has been dubbed "user-friendly" by the finance committee chair. And when Marilyn Pearce made the comment, she wasn't just referring to the councillors who are busy crunching numbers as users. She included you, too. There is an attempt being made during this year's budget process to clearly indicate the cost of items and initiatives, and to identify where the money would come from to pay for them. Township officials want ratepayers to know what's being paid for with reserve funds, or debentured money, and what will have an impact on the tax rate. It's up-front budgeting, and it's something the people of Scugog ought to be taking advantage of. : "It gives the taxpayer better insight as to where the funds for various projects come from, and lets them decide the ones they wish to support and the ones they want more information on," said Councillor Pearce. | In other words, the items and projects that are being consid- ered for municipal expenditures are being clearly spelled out, as are the sources of money to pay for them. One again we remind you of a basic truth about democracy: If you don't partic- ipate, you're missing an opportunity to help shape the community in which you live. a The budget document is available at the township offices. Have a look, and take the chance to comment on the direction you want the budget process to take. HOME TEAM BRACE YOURSELF - LOUISE | /SHE ALREADY HAS A GUINEA PRODUCTION MANAGER: Pamela Hickey Production Staff: Trudy Empringham, Daryle Wright, Arlene Cheel, Richard Drew EK oy RN 3 Amanda Togurl sent in this photo of son Sam, 3, communing with an orangutan at the Toronto Zoo. If you have an interesting picture we could use for Photo of the Week, please drop it by The Star office, or By Walt Radda give us a call at 985-7383. LETTERS HAS BOUGHT HERSELF ANOTHER PET! WHAT? BUT SHE ALREADY HAS SO MANY CRITTERS RUNNING AROUND IN HER ROOM! GOLDFISH, SALAMANDER, NMOALA... WHAT ELSE IS THERE? PIG, BUDGIE, SNAKE, DUCK, MATTER WITH DAD? "WHAT'S THEY T GUESS HE'S | A PETRIFIED! Skateboarders denied the right to To the Editor: Skateboarding is not a crime, but as far back as | can remember, skateboarders have been treated like criminals. Recently at my school, Cartwright High School, our principal enforced a "law" say- ing that we are not allowed to skateboard on the public road running in front of our school. This is due to safety concerns expressed by local residents and bus drivers. There was a small meeting held by our principal at school one day for students wishing to comment and suggest ideas to solve this problem. About 10 students showed up, half being non-skateboarders, and we explained that we have been skateboarding on this road for years and haven't had one accident. We respect the drivers of buses and we always remember to get off the road when they go by just as we do for regular drivers. Even though we are upset at the growing rules being thrust upon us by our new principal, this is more than whether or not voice their opinion on new rules we can skateboard here. It is the fact that we are not being treated as adults. The meeting proved futile as none of the students were invited to participate in the School Community Council meetings that were held, and our principal didn't communicate the council's opinions to us before publishing their decision in our school newsletter. Some solutions that we students decid- ed upon were to send home waivers for the parents of skateboarders to sign saying that the school cannot be held accountable if something happens to their teenagers. Or that we can only skateboard during lunch hour, and after all the buses have left at 2:45 p.m. when the traffic consists of no more than a few cars on a busy day. All we students asked for was a fair chance to voice our opinions to the council and the school board, and we were denied that. Jessica Diamond, Student E-mail: editorial@portperrystar.com