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Beaver THE OAKVILLE Voted Ontario's Top Newspaper Four Years in a Row - 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com CELEBRATING 25 YEARS! Spring Home and Garden Pages 21-28 Between Kerr & Dorval YOUR FRIEND IN THE BUSINESS 175 Wyecroft Rd. Oakville 905.845.6653 www.lockwoodchrysler.com Aboutowne Realty Corp., Brokerage Independently owned and operated 905 - 338-9000 www.homesforsaleontario.com EXPERIENCE·EXPERTISE·INTEGRITY Renate Penkett Sales Representative 48 Pages $1.00 (plus GST) A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 52 No. 59 "USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES" FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2009 Grand slam event Region warms up to tax freeze By Tim Foran METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP One phone call can save a life Crime Stoppers speaker shares family tragedy with students By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF He could have said, `I told you so,' but refrained. Burlington Regional Councillor Jack Dennison's December prediction that the slowing economy meant the Region wouldn't have to hire as many employees as it planned to in this year's budget has proven true. On Wednesday, regional council approved its 2010 budget directions outlining the parameters needed to achieve a zero per cent property tax and water rate freeze. Among the approved recommendations was the decision to eliminate 53 of 76 full-time hires already approved in this year's budget but not yet filled. The savings are being put into a recession reserve that will help offset the need for an increase in taxes and water bills next year. Dennison had requested in December that half of those 76 employees not be budgeted for in the first place and the savings passed on to residents this year in the form of lower regional taxes and water bills. His motion was defeated. DEREK WOOLLAM/SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER See Halton page 8 BIG HIT: Tyler Adams, of St John's School, makes his way to first base at Rogers Centre as the Halton Catholic District School Board teamed up with the Toronto Blue Jays to host a baseball skills tournament for approximately 140 elementary special education students from across the region. For more pictures of this event, visit Photo Slideshows in the Features section of oakvillebeaver.com. He might still be alive if someone had just had the courage to pick up the phone and call Crime Stoppers. As it was, no one did and Terry McLean, 21, was beaten to death for the couple hundred dollars he had in his Vancouver home. The tragic story brought an immediate silence to a previously boisterous audience of around 400 Grade 9 and 10 St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School students who had gathered in their school's gymnasium to listen to a presentation about Crime Stoppers of Halton. In the early part of the presentation, Halton Crime Stoppers Coordinator Gary Gold explained to the students that Crime Stoppers is an anonymous service that allows callers to provide the police with information without having to deal with the repercussions of testifying in court or facing the person arrested. Gold also noted people who call may be eligible for a cash reward, the delivery of which does not require the caller to reveal their identity. "Murder is not a word that was in the vocabulary of my family. There was no real trouble in our family, so this phone call was like an alien had arrived at our door." Crime Stoppers board member Gary McLean describing the impact of the murder of his nephew, Terry McLean With anonymity and the possibility of a reward providing incentives to call Crime Stoppers, Gold noted, a willingness to act when you see something wrong is another key ingredient. The importance of this last component was driven home when Gold turned the presentation over to Gary McLean, an Oakville realtor, member of the Halton Crime Stoppers board of directors and uncle of Terry McLean. The story Gary told began with a phone call from his brother on Super Bowl Sunday Feb.1, 2004. "I figured he was calling because my team was getting clubbed, it was not a good game See Crime page 10 Oakville's largest selection of Natural Limestone and Hardwood · Custom Quality Workmanship 35 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN TILE INSTALLATION LARGEST SELECTION OF WOOD FLOORING OVER 500 SAMPLES ON DISPLAY GRANITE COUNTERTOPS BUY DIRECT FROM THE IMPORTER LARGE SELECTION OF NATURAL LIMESTONE & PORCELAIN TILE Monday to Friday 7:30am-6:00pm · Saturday 7:30am-5:00pm · Closed Sunday 243 SPEERS ROAD, OAKVILLE · 905.338.1288