Friday, March 29, 2019 7Brooklin Town Crier Brooklin Bafflers: by Liz Lowe Crossword Across 1 Type of vat used on laundry day. (7) 5 Feline dinner. (3,4) 9 Insect stage (5) 10 A vast plain in Tanzania to the west of the Great Rift Valley (9) 11 Sharp turn (3) 12 Strong string (5) 13 Attack suddenly and without warning (5) 14 In a state of mental numbness (5) 16 Adapt (9) 19 A commercial compound, used in the treatment of arthritis. (9) 20 The excrement of sea birds; usedas fertilizer (5) 22 Of large size for its weight (5) 24 Assumed name (5) 26 Sticky stuff (3) 27 Destroy the peace or tranquility of(9) 29 Japanese-American (5) 30 "That's ___" (4,3) 31 Football stat (7) Down 1 To make a sound, as an object passing swiftly through the air. (7) 2 Someone indifferent to the busy world (9) 3 Rainbow ___ (5) 4 A form of torture in which the soles of the feet are beaten with whips or cudgels (9) 5 Cut or slice into pieces (5) 6 A silvery malleable metallic element that resists corrosion (3) 7 A dagger mark. In old manuscripts or editions of the classics, it marks suspected passages or readings (5) 8 Very light rain (7) 13 Flashy, ostentatious jewellery (5) 15 Consider as a god or godlike (5) 17 The science of matter (9) 18 Absence of the sense of pain without loss of consciousness (9) 19 Taxi drivers. (7) 21 Any compound, usually explosive, formed by the addition of ozone to the double or triple bond of an organic compound. (7) 23 Numbers game (5) 24 Full of activity (5) 25 Whale finder (5) 28 Confederate soldier. (3) Deputy Mayor - Rhonda Mulcahy Thanks for Nothing, LPAT I know what you're thinking. What the heck is LPAT? Welcome to the world of government acronyms. LPAT stands for Land Planning Appeal Tribune, the replacement name for the former OMB (Ontario Municipal Board) Hearings. And, as it turns out for Brooklinites, a new name for the same ol', same ol'. For years, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) had lobbied to have the OMB's review pro- cess changed. Municipalities felt that decision-making was being taken away from them in favour of a high tier government with little knowledge of the area. So, with the idea being there would be a greater ability for a municipality to weigh in on local developments, LPAT was created. Last Monday, council received notice from the Town's legal team that we had lost the appeal by Brooklin Meadows (the land owner) for the zoning change for the northeast corner of Carnwith and Baldwin (directly across from Brooklin High). It seems the Tribunal felt the Town and the dozens of residents who attended the hearing didn't know as much as it did about the area. The Tribunal stated that future commercial development in the surrounding area would suffice. (We will be waiting a while for some of those sites to come on line. For instance, the cement factory next to the school isn't going anywhere anytime soon to make way for commercial development) This is NOT a case of NIMBYism. The residents who bought properties backing onto the site did so knowing that the zoning was designated special commercial and fully expected to see commercial on that site. In fact, they sat through five days of an appeal to fight FOR commercial on the site. Instead it appears we will see yet more townhomes built on an infill site that was designated for anything but. This has nothing to do townhomes. They just should not be on that site. I am, however, against having townhomes higher than two storeys because, simply put, they are not compatible with seniors wanting to downsize and having to manage multiple flights of stairs. I suppose the market is driving the developer to insist on building this style of housing as opposed to something actually useful for our community. That corner is part of what I consider our downtown with one entryway, if you will, from the north. Two of the other corners are already residential. Frankly, we could have done much better on this site than more of the same. In its myopic, ignorant decision, LPAT concluded it knew more than any of us about our own community and more than our previous council which unanimously agreed to launch the appeal. So, LPAT, once again, thanks - for nothing. BHS Students To Join Province-Wide Walkout If you happen to be in the vicinity of Brooklin High on the afternoon of Thursday, April 4, expect to see dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of students gathered in front of the school with placards and signs. They'll be protesting Premier Doug Ford's education cuts. The province-wide walkout will take place from 1:15 to 2:15 that day, which coincides with the last class of the day at BHS. Megan Johnson, 15, a grade 10 student, will be among those protesting. She's been motivated by how the cuts will affect a friend's autistic sister as well as what it will do to the school's thriving arts programs. "Without proper funding," she says, "a lot of students who rely on the arts programs may suffer." As the walkout gains social media attention and momentum, what's started out as a few dozen students has already blossomed into over 100 with the prospective of a great many more. While teachers, such as Johnson's, aren't specifically permitted to voice opinions, they also aren't permitted to "punish" students for participating in the event, according to Johnson. Citing both the Education Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, she says the students have every right to protest so long as it's peaceful, absent of derogatory signage, and on school grounds. Her own parents have been completely supportive of her participation. "Generally, most people at school feel they should protest in some way," she adds. "There aren't many I've seen who don't agree. "We want our voices to be heard. After all, in 10 years, we'll be the ones who will need to clean up the mess." And, in less than half that time, students like Johnson will also be eligible to vote.