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Maurice rmmnu Published every Wednesday Editor By 677209 Ontario Imc. Phone: 668-6111 Doug Andei son Publisher.' ~ww VOUCE 0F THE COUNTY TOWN The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated'by Whitby residents for Whitby residents Petr iifler AdvertiSlfg Manage# AearaSimon Production Manageér Len Cullen's newest expansion plan would flot only seek to preserve and showcase Whitby buildings but. will 'further boost' the attrac- tiveness and add ye t another dimension to the popular Whitby tourist spo >t, perhaps the biggest In Durham Region. The proposed "Prettiest Street in Ontario' and retail, "Main Street" V expand upon t heLynde House restorat io.n project aleady bai ngcarried out at Cul len ýGardens and .Miniature Village, while emýulatingI, to some degree, the efforts previously shown by some merchants in the downtown.area', ,most re cently and, by.notably Pres.ervation, aids t ourism W illiam L ittle. i a n " s Îe t The private development ian"swe"t how ol d buildings can be saved, used and en- joyed-, says Mr. Cullen, without tax dollars. And the a'nticipated increasle', in visitors to the»torist spot -suggests, that studies yhave shown ýit .will. .work. We would hope that the plan will enco-urage other developers and residents area to restore, not raze, to further build on the!Intiatives. already. taken bysome in the Whitby downtown'area, to present a commercial area ;of somne charact.er that would become as "ýpedestrian-oriented" as Ou lien Gardens intends to be. A tourist location has- aneye tothe adva n- tages of preservation of' the past. May',the samne attitude continue,,with more coope rat ive**fervor, in Whitby s downtown. Healthcoun.cil and hospital are responsible for bedeus TIo the edit or: I amtlie first to admit that. on oc- casion, the ýpartythtIrepresent :ias failed-' the&cë1itzns ôf' this'7- ::povice. Politicai parties are not iflible, nor are we' as in- dividuals. Certainly, the same .can be said for our institutions. On the other hand, criticism which has no basis in fact demands a response. Regrettably, in his letter publish- ed in The Free Press on Jan. 20, Mr. Sawdon bas chosen* to re-write 'istory, a malady which, is Ïbecoming commonplace. among Liberals and their supporters. Approvai and flinancial assistan- cefor, the Whîtby. General. Hopita1 .was obtainied fomte»Tr, governiment of John Robartfs.,Fo the outset, it was designated a ter- tiary facility and thus, growth potential was limited for a number of years. During the "Tory" government ôf Bill Davis.. the second flnnr of the hospital.,was opened as, a cbronic care ward.'; Apparently,.. Mr. Sawdon is unaware that.it is the responsibility of both the hospital and the District Health Council to request approval Boardi polic.y misread To the editor: Further to- your editorial of Jan. 27, re French immersion busing, it would- appear that'you have misread or misunderstood the board's.transportation polîcy- (a copy of which I've enclosed). 'You suggest in your comments that the poiicy should remain as it is. If it did, you can sée (by the second line in the policy) that no transportation wouid be provided for students living in Whitby, since it is an "urban or built-up area" and "public transportation is available. " The -reference -to' distance (1.6km) applies to rural areas only. That is why I, and other trustees, are caling for a re-examination of the entire poiicy, perhaps with a view to establishing a maximum walking distance for ail students, beyond which transportation might be provided. I hope this bas belped shed some light on this complex issue. Ian Brown Whitby trustee -from the government for additional beds, be they active care. or chronic care.- Based upon statements contaiped in his letter, Mr. Sawdon is also unaware that this is the first time that the Whitby General Hospital care beds. No o ther government, has been asked to pass judgment on this request. 'Whitby General is in dire need of active care beds. The decision to deny this request rests solely with Mr. Peterson, Mrs. Caplan, and the Perhaps it'stime that Liberal recognized that government wilrbe held accountable for its decisions. Itis the ' priceo< leadership or the lack of same. Stephanie D. Bal Oshawa R esident wil pay the 90 cents To the editor: I1 contacted my councillor last ral to ask for some additionai primary sidewaik snowplow routes to be ap- proved for the safety of about 400 elderiy and disabled residents of Regency Place Apt., after I had heard an eiderly lady had slipped on Mary St. last winter, before it had been plowed and broke ber wrist. My simple request was to rnake Mary St. and Hickory St. from Mary to. Regency primary snowpiow routes (first to be piowed af ter snowf ail) instead. of secon- dary routes. When I contacted my councillor in late December to see if my suggestion had been accepted, he told -me the routes had been talked over and approved. But when I con- ,later, he toid me the Mary St. route' would be done but the'Hickory St. route would not because of the time and cost involved. Then, fromn facts 1 was able to receive fromn the public works dept., I was able to calculate the approximate cost and time that would be needed to' plow this sidewalk on Hickory St. for the safety of these people. It would not be much more than 90 cents and the approximate time would be f ive minutes. If that amnount of time cannot be spared for the safety of these elderly people maybe our public works dept. is grossly under- staffed. If the Town of Whitby can- not spare 90 cents for elderly people's safety I will giadly rèim- burse the amount to the Town primùary route. Yours truly, John Southern Whitby Appreciated To the editor: People Against Pornograpby would like to thank your paper for the excellent coverage of, oùr "Retailer of tbe montb" award to Peter Plarstina. We encourage other retailers to foliow suit for the ovèrali community good. Sincerely, S. Shetier Co-founder People Against Pornograpby C ostly for seniors, students- To the editor: On MondaY, Jan. 25 Town council voted 5-2 (Drumnm and Emm voting against) in favor of increasing the fares on the Whitby transit. They disregarded the 4.4 per cent in- flation rate by increasing tbe rates for aduits 7.7 per cent, students 22 per cent seniors 12.5 per cent, children 14 per cent. Monthly pass increases are adults 8.5 per cent, students 20 per cent, seniors 15.33* per cent, children 8.5 per cent. As you see, the seniors and. students are taking the full cost of running tbis system.' Instead of promoting the system to attract more people, they take the easy way out to cover their costs. What happens if these seniors and students were to boycott the system? I feel tbat is what councîl is asking for. This year, as- there is an election in November for a new counceil, we have the power to change this situation. Maybe these people have been on counicil too, too long. Tom Humphreys - Whitby LETTERS The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters to the Editor on any subjeet of concern to our readers. Letters should be brief and to the point - rarely more than 300 words. Ail letters must be aecompaiiied by the name, address and phone nuxnber of the writer; however, on request, your name may be withheld from publication if we agree that there is a valid reason. The paper reserves the right to rejeet or edit ail letters. Send to: TheEditor, WVhitby, Free Press, Box 206, Whitby, Ontario LiN 551 or drop through our maisiot at 131 Broek St. N. t~ ~jJ* e LA> I I PAGE lýý,eWHrM)(,-fREE 3û 1988 1 1 The Free Press Building 131 Brock Street Northý.. P'.O. Box 206. Whitby,. Ont.