Industrial I growth up 428 per cent As of August 31, the value of industrial building permits issued by the Town of Whit- by had jumped by 428 per cent over the same period the year before. According to Mayor Bob Attersley, indus- trial permits were worth $11.3 million, ex- cluding the new Liquor Control Board of On- tario warehousé. At the end of August, 1981, the town had issued $2.6 million in industrial building per- mits. During the first eight months of 1982, over one million square feet of industrial space has been added to Whitby's tax rolls, the mayor said. Also showing a solid growth rate are institu- tional building permits which are showing a 1,400 per cent increase. At the end of August, 1981, $247,000 in per- mits had beer issued. As ofthe end of August, 1982, these permits were worth $3.4 million. "And this figure does not even represent-an additional $2,207,800 being added for Septem- ber due to the expansion to Sunnycrest Nur- sing Home," Attersley said. Commercial growth has shown a respec- table 122 per cent increase over August, 1981 figures of $774,000 to August, 1982 of $941,500. As of August 31, agriculture development was up to $1.2 million, up from last year's $917,200. Vol. 12, No. 38 Wednesday, September 22, 1982 20 Pages Drumm has challenger An election campaign will also be.fought in the east ward this year as Dennis Fox has.an- nounced he will try to unseat incumbent Councillor Joe Drumm. The 33-year-old Kirby Crescent resident believes that east ward residents are not get- tiig value for their tax money; that council has not been responding to their needs;- that there are not enough finished parks, recrea- tional. facilities,.schools or libraries; and, "the taxpayers of the east ward are not being properly represented." Fox graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1975 and is currently employed by the Toronto Board of Educ7ation as a teaching specialist in the field of special education. Brown wants re-election Whitby Trustee Ian Brown has'announced he intends to seek re-election to the Durham Board of Education this November 8. "I'm enjoying the job, I'm doing a good job and I feel I'm contributing to the functioning of the school system," Brown said in making his announcement last week. Despite the fact that he has only been on the board for two years, the incumbent believes he has made some real accomplishments. "I fought for the earlier than planned Otter Creek school; for a larger than planned Otter Creek school; for the establishment of a French immersion program in Whitby;sand, the development of a discipline policy," Brown says. However, there are some new policy initia- tives he would like to seek taken over the next three-year term. "I would like to see some efforts made to reduce the amount of money over ceiling in the secondary panel," Brown said. Currently, the provincial government regulations only permit the board to spend $2,300 per high school student. Of this, 52 per cent is provincial money, however, the board is currently paying between $40 to $50 more than the government allows. This difference is totally borne by the local taxpayer. Brown also points out that in 1972, the pro- vincial government accounted for 62 per cent of the board's budget. In 1982, that share dropped to 52 per cent. This has produced, he said, "a greater bur- den on the taxpayer." Brown said he would also .like to see im- provements made in the areas of special edu- cation and the board's generally "excellent" academic programs. - Free Press Staff Photo Blair Howell's "Endless Mile" Blair Howell brought his Endless Mile to Whitby last Thursday morning, and the amazing thing is, hardly anybody noticed. Howell, 31, has been confined to the wheelchair in which he is photographed here for 10 years and currently trying to raise $5 million for the Canadian Paraplegic Association and the Easter Seal Foundation. He left British Columbia on his 3,000 mile trek across Canada on April 21 and hopes to make it to Newfoundland sometime in late October or early November. Howell, a radio talk show host and news broadcaster for CJBQ-Radio in Belleville, pushes himself for eight to ten hours a day, covering between 30 to 50 miles. "It's a great way to stay in shape," he says. The day-to-day expenses of his trip are paid for by the con- tributions received from people in the Belleville/Picton area where he lives with his wife and two children. He saw them last weekend for the first time in five months. Howell's inspiration for his Endless Mile came from Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope. "Terry Fox....he started it," he says, "When Terry died, the momentum for the disabled died with him." In a way, Howell sees his cross-country trek as a fight for the rights of the disabled. "Disabled people have the same wants and desires as other people," he says, "They've got the ability, that's what I'm doing, proving they've got the ability." Although he never met Fox, Howell said he had a warm reception when he arrived in his hometown in British Colum- bia. Im not a wheelchair athlete," Howell says adding lie still smokes and drinks. "I'm just somebody who wnats to prove we're capable of doing something." Behind the determination to make it to Newfoundland, it is not hard to detect a little anger at society in general. "Im getting tired of people looking back at disabled people as second class citizens," he says adding that he did not get into broadcasting until after he was paralyzed. Anyone wishing to make a contribution to the Endless Mile can do so at any branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. Another big plus of his trip Howell says is seeing this coun- try from coast to coast. "It's a great way to see Canada," he says, "you sure don't miss much at seven miles per hour." With that, Blair Howell and his Endless-Mile left Whitby in an attempt to pick up where Terry Fox left off. S/S,