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O a k v il l e Rugby tryout Sports ww B b a ie r s For the finest in CUSTOM UPHOLSTERING call Baier s. Makers of fine upholstered furniture. Christinas Magic Focus 48 Pages 2 3 3 3Wyoroft Rood, Unit 7 OY7 ')/O l (between B n«c& Th«J Une) O L I'flO l AMetroland Publication Vol. 37No. 152 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21,1999 75 Cents (plus C57> P olice plan w ould e a se traffic gridlock1 A c t io n s o n ly a s t o p -g a p m e a s u r e u n til ro a d c h a n g e s m a d e By Sandra Omand SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Photo by Peter C. McCusker READY FOR SANTA: Nisa Sial, 4, had an opportunity to tell Santa Claus what she wanted for Christmas but along with other youngsters, Nisa will have to wait until the morning to see what the jolly gent brought. The photo was taken at the Oakville YMCA childcare facility at Oakville Trafalgar High School. To get some idea of what the children think about the season, see page C3. oad closures like the November incident that closed the Queen Elizabeth Way for 20 hours are here to stay, but a plan to help alleviate their neg ative effects is in the works. Superintendent Paul Cormier told the Halton Regional Police Services Board Thursday his office has been developing a plan ______________ to help relieve grid- "/ / & ay 1 00 frequently that SSs J ? A S" S lock and ease traf. . , finalized, Algar told fic tie-ups. Still, he a r e lO S tn ff t h e s e the Police Services cautions, nothing h i q h w a y s a n d i t i s a s a f e t y Board intenm stePs have been * taken will eliminate them . r n j . that include setting completely i s s u e ' o r a " o u r residents, up a traffic man "You will have Halton Regional Police Chief, agement centre, gridlock, that is Ean Algar _______________ staffed by the just the way it is, Public Safety Unit it's as simple as that, but we want to try to ease it," said Supervisor to oversee any emergency situations. Cormier. Also in place is a combined strate The plan, known officially as the Halton Planning and Public Works gic response with OPP, Halton Police, Department Road Closure Plan, will be the fire department, ambulance, public and the Ministry of reviewed Jan. 11, 2000, and is expect works ed to be finalized by the end of that Transportation of Ontario to deal with unexpected road closures like the one month. "It is all too frequently that we are that occurred Nov. 22nd. The reason that collision - which losing these highways and it is a safe ty issue for all our residents," said killed the driver of the truck - took so Chief Ean Algar, who noted the QEW long to clear, according to Ontario Provincial Police Staff Sergeant Bob was lost twice last week. from the Burlington A police report notes that traffic Weekes accidents at either Kerr Street or Bronte Detachment (the OPP managed the Road will always cause significant dis- R ruption to commuters and local resi dents because of the limited crossings and arterial roads at these points. "The bridges (at Bronte and Kerr) are our Achilles heel," said Algar. "They are the very worst things we can lose." The Road Closure Plan recom mends, therefore, that if the bridges are lost due to a traffic accident, the situa tion be managed as a community emer gency. _____________ In the meantime, (See `Strategies' page A3) Te e n s s o u g h t in Halton Regional Police are look ing for three teenagers who held up a lone 49-year-old convenience store clerk at knife-point, Saturday. Police report three teens wearing black ski masks walked into the AGain Convenience Store, 509 Lakeshore Road. W,, at 5:30 p.m. and pulled a seven-inch knife with a serrated blade on the sales clerk. They forced the clerk to open the cash register and grabbed an undis closed amount of money and ciga rettes before fleeing. The three suspects were last seen driving eastbound on Lakeshore Road in a car reported stolen earlier from Mississauga. The three are described as male, white and between 16-18 years old. All were wearing black jackets and black ski masks. The getaway car was a brown, four-door 1994 Dodge Spirit, bear ing the Ontario licence plate ADFW 500. The stolen car has not yet been recovered. s to re ro b b e ry Anyone with information on this robbery is asked to call the Oakville Staff Sergeant on duty, 825-4777, ext 2210 or Crime Stoppers at 825-8477. * Pair faces drug * trafficking charges IN S ID E todays paper rrlitnriilr tu r to n a is .......................... A C Two local residents face drug trafficking charges after police stopped and searched a vehicle in north Oakville, Friday. As the result of a Halton Police Drug Bureau surveillance, police stopped a car at the intersection of Marlborough Court and Trafalgar Road at 7:45 p.m. Friday. A search of the vehicle turned up an ounce of cocaine packaged- in individual street sale quantities. Police also seized drug parapherna lia and $700 in Canadian funds. Joao Nunes, 22, of M orden Road, and Dennis Gafanha, 23, of Slater Crescent were both charged with trafficking in a controlled sub stance and possession for the pur pose of trafficking. Fam ily c h e a ts d e a th in w eekend b laze By Rod Jerred OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Bruce and Marjorie Hazelton are counting their blessings this Christmas. Their house has been gutted and destroyed by fire, most of their belongings are ashes, their Christmas tree and decorations are gone and their pet cat Tiptoe is dead. "WeTe living hour by hour," said Marjorie Hazelton, Monday. But they're alive, and so are two of their children and three grandchil dren, who were with them in the base ment when a fire broke out in the main floor of their Montclair townhouse early Saturday night. Despite their lose, they realize how lucky they were. "We could have all died," said Bruce Hazelton, a retired Sheridan College business instructor, on Monday outside the gutted townhouse which had been his home for the past eight years. On Saturday, the Hazeltons had enjoyed an early Christmas family dinner with their daughter Sandra Matwey and her husband, Dan, their three grandchildren, Tim. 7, Amber 5, and Shea-Lynne, 1, and their dog, Buster, who were visiting from Guelph. They were joined by another daughter, Patricia. (See 'Fire' page A2) Worship services The worship page that usually appears in the Friday issue of the Oakville Beaver appears today on page A4. The listings include information on Christmas services for area churches. Focus........ ................ ..........B1 U p d a te ___________________________ B 4 Entertainment.............. B u s in e s s .._________________ B5 B6 L a st M in u te I d e a s ................................C1 ^ ssrfied H o m e s & G a r d e n s..............................C 8 S p o r ts ........._________________ _____D 1 A u to m o tiv e ___________________ ......D 6 Publication changes The Oakville Beaver will be pub lishing a combined Friday and Weekend paper on Dec. 24th. The regular publication schedule will resume with the Wed. Dec. 29th issue. Because of the Christmas and Boxing Day holidays, the editorial and advertising departments of the Beaver will be closed on Fri. Dec. 24th and Mon. Dec. 27th. Soetifil Suoaiensents- P artial delivery: C heerios, Exit R ealty, The B rick, C IU SG uardian Canadian Publications Mail Product Agreement #435-201 Photo by Barrie Erskine Oakville firefighter readies to enter home engulfed in smoke. FINE OUTERWEAR SINCE 1815 1 P eterWatson i I N V E S T M E N T S 2« Wf.iikeshoiv Rd. E. Oakville i N h M - WCa of lr..f.<J».«r 8 4 5 -2 0 3 1 RETIREMENT PLANNING SPECIALISTS F re e C o n s u l t a t io n 8 4 2 -2 1 0 0 P e te r C W atson M .R A ., C F J L RJFJ>,,