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They (the neighbours) phone the police all the time because the noise is too loud. There‘s broken glass â€" I have small children Nothing seems Ibelieve there is a problem in Waterloo parks. We live right behind Northlake Optimist Park and there‘s kids out there every day of the week, every day â€" drinking beer, smashing beer bottles Ihappen to live on Pinebrook Place in Waterloo which backs onto Pinebrook Park. And 1 would just like to leave the comment that for the last three years the park has been terrible â€" drugs, liquor and vandalism. Children on our street have been forbidden for the last few years to go to a public park such as Pinebrook Park as drug needles have been found there. It‘s really sad and it‘s sad that action is being taken only now. So hopefully we can get this park cleaned up so that other chilâ€" dren can enjoy the park the way it should be Getting frustrated ast week in the Waterloo l Chronicle, we asked readers if they felt safe in local parks in light of a recent swarming incident. We also asked what could be done about increased violence and vanâ€" dalism in our parks. Here‘s what some of you had to say: I‘m a female, and on nights durâ€" ing the summer I‘m afraid to be home alone after dark because of the hoopla that goes on in the park It‘s really sad that someone had to get seriously hurt before action is taken Bill the parents In reference to the vandalism in local parks, I believe the parents should be charged or given the bill for the damage their kids cause. Kanti Varsani It‘s really sad To the issue of safety in Waterloo parks You said it QUESTION WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ASPECT OF THE BUSKER CARNIVAL? (name withheld) CHRON] To have them beat on any citizen anywhere is not something we as a society should have to live with because of a Young Offenders Act or lack of power to make them regret their actions. And if the fine is still not paid after those two months, then it douâ€" bles again, but now it must be paid immediately and an automatic 90â€" day sentence regardless of their age Ibelieve there is an increase in vioâ€" lence. I am a local security officer who works nights and not for a lot of money either. What I have I work for, and 1 have these punks take or destroy my personal property. 1 say let everyone know, the entire population, through the media, that this nonsense will not be tolerated anymore. I would like permanent police records for all age groups and hefty fines that must be paid in a reasonable amount of time. For example, say $150 for tresâ€" passing, or $300 for vandalism, plus pay for the actual damages And if these are not paid in a reaâ€" sonable amount of time, like three months or so. then the fine doubles, and now they‘ve got two manths to pay them Do the crime, pay the fine to get done and I‘m getting frustratâ€" ed. will not be tolerated anymore." "I say let everyone know, the entire population, through the media, that this nonsense "The whole festival is very funny. The buskers are a bunch of lunatics!" "I really like when the buskers throw the fire around in a circle, and the juggling." Denise Philip COMMENT Don Waugh Kim Davis RESPOND One major improvement to Waterloo would be to reduce and eventually eliminate pesticide use because it will contribute to betâ€" ter air quality as well as water qualiâ€" ty and quality of life in our region and specifically in our neighborâ€" hoods. it will help pets, children, the elderly and people suffering from any asthmatic conditions or any other respiratory ailments. 1 think that is one of the biggest things Waterloo can do in this year Barbara Ozburn We could start right now by buyâ€" ing a couple of fuel cell buses for the transit fleet. And we should make a commitment to developing a windâ€" mill farm out by Waterloo North Hydro or any other suitable loca tion We should start using solar ener gy panels on public buildings and we should provide tax incentives for homeowners and businesses to use solar power in their buildings. This would improve the air quality in the region, which is something that many people have expressed a conâ€" cern about and it will also in the long run lower our costs In the July 26 issue of the Waterioo Chronicle, we asked readâ€" ers how they felt the city of Waterloo could be improved over the next couple of decades. Here‘s what some of you had to say: End pesticide use I’d like to see the whole region of Waterloo make a commitment to renewable energy And I don‘t think this is unreasonâ€" able. What is unreasonable is that these youths go out and do what they do, knowing that if caught, all they will get is a slap on the wrist. Don‘t do the crime if you can‘t pay the fine should be our great city‘s slogan. Renew energy "Every part of it is fun for me â€" the shopâ€" ping, comedy, everyâ€" thing. The festival usually starts on my birthday and my friends and I try to attend each vear." "I‘ve only been to the festival once, but the jugglers with the fire are my favourite." Dave Gerwatowski Corinna Jackman Eleanor Grant Judy Luelo In a strange way, Black is testing the credibility of his most vocal opponents. Are they really concerned about the concenâ€" tration in media ownership or do they just dislike him and his rightâ€"wing politics? If so, they may be in for an unwelcome surâ€" prise from Asper. Black himself paints an ideological picture of Asper that is not altogether different from his own beliefs. "He is a St. Laurentâ€"Howe Liberal, as | am, despite the kidnap of that Party by unworthy successors. Not that politics is an important criterion in these discussions, but when he was leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party, izzy Asper advocated a flat tax and workfare. The National Post has no more appreciative reader than he. And he could not have been more supportive as we vicâ€" toriously endured an eightâ€"month journalists strike in Calgary." Through his recent acquisition of Shaw Cable‘s television station‘s, Asper already owns stations like Harmilton‘s CHCH {now known as ONtv) and several additional stations in British Columbia. Together with Baton Broadcasting/CTV, Global now controls a large number of TV stations. In other words, the media concentration issue has not gone away with Black‘s sale; it has merely expanded across boundaries to include the elec tronic media Because _ Black had earlier _____ ,7, _ ___ __ _ announced his intention to sell some _ Sudden retreat of his smaller Canadian media propâ€" fi.om the market erties, the announcement that virtuâ€" . . o ally everything had been sold (down is stunning in to the bare walls, as furniture retailers its magm'tude. like to say) wasn‘t as much of a surâ€" prise as it might have been. Still, after a decade in which he bought nearly every Canadian paper in sight, Black‘s sudden retreat from the market is stunning in its magnitude. With the exception of a half interest in The Post, all of Black‘s Canadian media properties have been sold to Israel (1zzy) Asper‘s CanWest Global television network "My associates and 1 have sold a large number of Canadian newspaper assets at a handsome gain and a full but certainly not excessive price, that reflected their financial progress under our ownership. This is not the sort of activity that would normally lead, as it has done, to an explosion of journalistic joy on the scale of VE Day, accompanied by an avalanche of denâ€" igration of a fervour and tawdriness that only a journalistic lynch mob can achieve. Our company has been disâ€" paraged as debtâ€"ridden, although its debt will now be eliminated and replaced with sizeable cash resources. My own net worth has substantially increased in the last week but I have been reviled by journeyman journalâ€" ists who divine that I may have been less wealthy than certain popular vocalists or show business impresarâ€" ios, as if this, if true, were a shaming failure and as if they were qualified judges." In recent years, any discussion of the problem of Canadian media concentration was bound to include Conrad Black‘s name. After all, Black owned every daily newspaper in Saskatchewan, PEI and Newfoundland and a high proportion of those in the rest of the country. He also owned a large numâ€" ber of community papers, including one of the two papers thatâ€" carties this column. This predominance was problematic for a number of reaâ€" sons. While Black lavished resources on high profile papers like the Ottawa Citizen and the Montreal Gazette, as well as the National Post, smaller papers were financially squeezed. Employee relations hit an allâ€"time low with the bitter strike at the Calgary Herald being just the worst example. Editors who didn‘t tow Black‘s ideological line were often pushed out in favour of those who wouldn‘t let journalistic integrity stand in the way of pleasing the boss. The National Post, in particular, looked more like the house organ of the Reform Party and the Canadian Alliance than a national newspaper. While Black is going away, he isn‘t going away quietly. Witness this excerpt from last weekend‘s typically puffedâ€"up editorial published in each of his daily pape‘s â€" Black days are finally over ... after a decade in which he bought nearly every Canadian paper in sight, Black‘s sudden retreat from the market is stunning in its magnitude. SCOTT PIATKOWSKI