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Lawnmower Service .1 DO IT NOW! a g S a a tfe a iirr a i . ,m THE OAKVILLE BEAVE I! m Architecture's new I AAA-mazing Bantams drawing board I fall just short Business S ports NORTH A M E R I C A 'S MOST AWARDED COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 7" t X Mercedes Benz (lli.W . & D«r\-iil Dr. www.oakvillebeaver.com ·IS I ijji *s l IIS ( Iill IS c .s n Town starts budget talks next week Preliminary budget calls for 9.2% tax increase By Angela Blackburn O A K V It . lI BHAVF.R S'lAJ V Leaf tickets were really a hot item Man caught sitting in Halton Regional Police Detectives were not only lucky enough to catch the Toronto Maple Leafs in action at the Air Canada Centre, last Thursday, they also nabbed a suspect. The police attended the game to fol low up a lead into the theft of a pair of Leafs tickets during a break-in at Monaghans Sports Bar in Oakville on March 17. The tickets were among several items stolen during the break-in. When investigators attended last Thursday's game, they found two men silting in the seats related to the stolen tickets. Both were arrested, but only one man was charged in connection w >th the tickets. John Michael Lenik, 39. of Geneva Street in St. Catherines has been charged with possession of stolen prop erty under $5,000. stolen ticket seats Ward 4 Councillor Jody delegations should register Sanderson, the budget com by calling the Tov n Clerk at mittee chair, will kick things 905-845-^01. ext. 4235. The proposed 2(X)2 Town off with some opening remarks before Town staff of Oakville budget predicts a overview both the operating 9.2 % budget hike -- S80 and capital more on a $ 250,000 budgets. Delegations are After that, home. expected on topics The operat the public will have a say and ing budget ranging from algae delegations are control, pesticide use maintains cur rent service and expected on topics ranging (on Town land only) pays for some from algae con and the new cat by-law new initiatives trol. pesticide to local bus service, like the newly use (on Town o p e n e d creek erosion, trail Iroquois Ridge land only) and rehabilitation and the new cat by Community law, to local Centre and road conditions. library branch bus service, creek erosion and Oakville's and trail rehabilitation and new youth centre. Additional money also road conditions. Fhe committee will wrap has to be built in for play up its deliberations on ground structure inspections, Thursday. beefed up winter road main All budget committee tenance and bridge inspei meetings will be held at 7 tions -- Oakville opened p.m. in the another bridge last year, the Oakville/Trafalgar Rooms at Bronte Radial Bridge. the Oakville Town Hall Inflation, wage and bene located at 1225 Trafalgar Rd. fit increases are also covered. (See 'Budget' page A2) Everyone can attend and Thc Town of Oakville's public m eeting on the 2002 budget are set for next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Fire evacuates Merchants Gate apartment building Careless smoking is the preliminary cause of Saturday's 'hrce-alurm (ire which caused the evacuation o f a Merchants Gate apartment building. According to Deputy Fire Chief John deHooge, the call came in around 6:40 p.m. and crews were dispatched to the scene, where the blaze raging in a sixth floor unit was clearly visible from the outside. Firefighters established a staging area on the floor below then proceeded upstairs with their equipment and hooked up two attack lines to hose cab inets on the affected fltx)r. They then started water suppression of the flames and entered the apartment to search for any victims. Fortunately, the two occupants of the unit, who were home when the fire start ed. had fled to safety. Three people were treated by para medics - two for smoke inhalation, one for chest pains - but all three declined further treatment at medical facilities. No firefighters were injured. According to deHooge, the entire building was evacuated and Oakville Transit buses were brought in to tem porarily shelter the residents. Some neighbours adjacent to the building also took in people. The apartment in question was gut ted and its contents destroyed. There was also heavy smoke damage on the sixth floor and some smoke and water damage in other areas of the building. Initial damages are said to be between $150,000 and $200.(XX). Send your condolences to the Royal Family With Hags living at half-mast all over Oakville to pay trib ute to the Queen Mother, local residents are being invited to sign special books of condolence. Oakvillians are also being encouraged to include their personal reflections on the Queen Mother. Arrangements will be made by the Town to have the condolence book sent to the Royal Family. The books will be available for signing until April 12 in the front foyer of Town Hall. 1225 Trafalgar Road Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. and the following Oakville Public Library locations: · Central Library, 120 Navy St.. Monday to Thursday 9:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.: Sunday from 1 p m . - 5:(X) p.m. · Glen Abbey Library, 1415 Third Line; Woodside Library. 1274 Rebecca St.; Iroquois Ridge Library. 1051 Glenashton Dr.; White Oak* Library. 1070 McCraney St. E.. Monday to Thursday from 9:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday from I p.m. - 5 p.m. An on-line condolence book is also available to tho^e with Internet access at www.royal.gov.uk/output/pagel035.asp. Oakville Reaver READY TO DIG IN: Five-year-old Connor Furneaux listens to the dedication before participat ing in a sod turning ceremony at Trafalgar Presbyterian Church on Easter Sunday. Ground was broken by the congregation - members Mere asked to bring their own shovels - to launch con struction of a I.600-sq.-ft. extension and an K00-sq.-ft. renovation. The expansion will include a dedicated baby nursery, a music room and four nev classrooms for its Sunday School. The church is also used by a licensed daycare facility. The congregation has decided to forge ahead with this project despite being w ithout a minister since last September. Barrie Erskine · Oakville couple has royal tale of the Queen Mum Eileen, 60. have lived in Oakville for nearly a decade. Vittorio, who is of Italian descent, said his late grandfather Giuseppe Oakville's Catani family have fond Catani-Chiti was of aristocratic back memories of the Queen Mother, who ground and worked as a professor of holds a special place in their hearts, and sacred art. their family history. Catani-Chiti's work is evidenced at As is often reported, the Queen The Vatican and in churches across Mum's kindnevs inspired and helped Europe, said Catani. people around the world, and the Catani As the story goes, Giuseppe had a family members have their own tale villa in Florence, as did the Queen about how one good deed done for the < Queen Mother's family actually helped The envelope containing a thank you Mother's family letter from the Royal Family to Sam That family acquaintance led to their own family, too. Vittorio Catani, 62, and his wife Catani. Two of the stamps bear the Giuseppe's oldest son, Catani's uncle. likeness of Queen Elizabeth. By Angela Blackburn C > \KVIL1 J BEAVKH S T \ M : ironically known only as Professor A. Catani. who was himself a portrait artist, taking photographs of the Queen M other's family, the Strathmore family, having afternoon tea in the drawing room of Glamis Castle in Scotland (the castle in which the late Princess Margaret was bom). One of the photos taken in 1908 was made into a portrait and showed a very young Queen Mother, then Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, in the fore ground of a family scene, building a house of cards with her younger broth(See 'Catani' page A3) INSIDE Editorials....................A6 Focus......................... Cl Artscene..................... C8 Sports......................... D1 Classified..................... B3 Business...................... 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