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<! WATERLOO CHRONICLE The Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group, a division of Southâ€" ern Ontario Community Newspapers Inc., a division of Southam Publicaâ€" tions, a CanWest Company. The views of our columnists are their * own and do not necessarily represent those ‘ of the newspaper. h 886â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 editorial@waterloochronicle.ca sales@waterloochronicle.ca composing@waterloochronicle.ca Uncayne Weidendorf Germy Mattice Group Sales Director | Retail Sales Manager, Ext. 230 _ Ken Bosveld Deborah Crandall Auochlzl:u}lhhcr Editor, Ext. 215 Andrea Bailey Bob Vrbanac Reporter, Ext. 227. Sports Editor, Ext. 229 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 1P2 Associate Publisher: Regional Classified Classified Manager Sales, 623â€"6617 The Waterloo Chronicle welcomes letters to the Editor. They should be signed withname, address and phone number and will be verified for accuracy. No unsigned letters will be published. Submissions may be edited for length, so please be brief Copyright in letters and other mateâ€" rials submitted to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the publisher and its licensces may freely reproâ€" duce them in print, electronic or other forms. Our mailing address is 75 King St. S ., Suite 201, Waterloo N2J 1P2, our eâ€"mail address is editorial@waterloochronicle.ca. and our fax number is 886â€"9383 Deb Duffield Karen Dwyer Circulation Circulation Manager, Ext. 225 Assistant International Standard Serial Number Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number 40059478 Ken Bosveld 905â€"523â€"5800, Ext. 239 Norma Cyca Melissa Hounslow Advertising Advertising Sales, Ext. 223 Sales, Ext. 222 Letters Policy Ixnin Bartol Audited circulatiog 26,056 ISSN 0832â€"3410 Laurie Ridgway 'I‘m widening of this crucial artery from the existing twoaâ€"lane "nightmare" into a fourâ€"lane roadway is most welcome, and long overdue. Due to the explosive growth of Waterloo over the past decade, its citizenry has had to endure daily traffic congestion along the Columâ€" bia Street corridor frgm Phillip Street in the west to King Street in the east, which at times approached gridlock. Along with the corresponding gnz.p'th in traffic congesâ€" tion motorists have become increasingly frustrated along this busy corridor. Incidence of "roadâ€"rage" has escalated, along with a rising toll in traffic accid::rl& â€" Therefore the widening of Columbia Street can‘t hapâ€" pen soon enough. Indeed, this project is long overdue and should have been started years ago. While such a widening is essential and wellâ€"intentioned, it has not been intelligently thought out. Notably, Waterloo North Hydro has an existing infrastructure of high tension lines that run alongside the north side of Columbia Street from the University of Waterloo to King Street. What this person finds incomprehensible is why then Waterloo would want to relocate the high tension lines to the south side of Columbia Street. While it is acknowledged that some trees will have to be removed to accommodate the actual widening of Columbia Street, to actually reâ€"locité the high tension lines to the south side as sanctioned by the "able" politiâ€" cians in Waterloo would in all likelihood not only cost the taxpayers more in re=construction costs, but will also esult in the cutting down of numerous stately, mature oak, maple, and coniferous trees that would otherwise be left untouched if the high tension lines remained in place where they are at present â€" on the north side of Columbia Street. * The building at 106 Columbia St. is much closer to, Columbia Street than al} of the other buildings along its entire length. Therefgfifis the only building that is "qut of alignment" with all of the éther buildings along the entire length of Columbia Street. To adequately facilitate the widening of Columbia Street and incorporate the existing high tension lines on the northâ€"side, this is the only bailding that would have to be demolished along the existing cortidor. The City of Waterloo held two pubâ€" lic meetings regarding the widening of Columbia Street. However, theâ€"public was net informed of Waterloo‘s plans to move the high tension lines to the south side of Columbia Street. The impression left with the residents was that the existing hydro infrastructure on the north side would remain there. The residents need to underâ€" stand that Waterloo is reâ€"locating the high tension lines to the south side of Columbia Street along its entire lerigth from about Phillip Street all the way to King Street. All this has come about because the city changed its mind on purchasing this particular property. It would seem that the sole reason behind this action is Waterloo‘s refusal to acquire a certain property, specifiâ€" cally a student housing structure on the corner of Columbid Street and Albert Street â€" 106 Columbia St. Waterloo has been dishonest by its failure to inform the public of its change in plans with regards to the high tension lines. As taxpayers, the residehts along the Columbia Street corridor have the right to know of these changes and have a right to voice an opinion on this matter. Waterloo must obtain a consensus from the affected residents before embarking on this change in plan. That is the democratic principle. To embark on this relocation without public knowljedge, and without pubâ€" lic input, is not acceptable. At a time when the RIM Park fiasco is still fresh in all of our minds, it seems incomprehensible that Waterloo‘s politicians would forego this demolition and attempt to relocate the high tension lines to the south side just to avoid purchasing this building. At the very least, the relocation of the existing high tension lines would degrade the esthetic value of the community. To unnecessarily eliminate numerous stands of stately, mature trees flies in the face of the conâ€" cept of creating a community that is green and environâ€" mentally friendly, especially at a time of continuing degradation of our environment due to the increase in the insidious greenâ€"house effect on our climate. To the politicians of Waterloo, I offer this challenge â€" I am sure that even members of Waterloo North Hydro are shaking their heads in disbelief at this "made in Waterloo" concept of the need to reiocate the high tension lines. . Widening Columbia Street bIAOGN VIEWPOINT anada has got a plus and a minus in a ‘ new global water condition index. It‘s ight up there (No. 2, that is) in water resources, and it‘s 19th from the bottom of 147 nations in the efficient use of watér. It seems that we waste water in nearly every damp way we can. For example, I went to the Grand River during a recent thaw and I heard the fish coughing. _ * /s Around the Park: The RIM Pack inquiryâ€" must be nea is final stanzas, and, if you‘re of a mind, you hazard a guess of what Mr. Justice Sills is likely to rule. 5 â€" _ Brian Caldwell has added a lot to our underâ€" standing with his article in The Record on Torm Stockie, Waterloo‘s chief administrative officer. Stockie apparently didn‘t coâ€"operate on the piece, but you got an idea of how he and why he wopnd up where he did. Say, 1 had one fleetâ€" ing contact with Stockie during the assembly of land for the park. + + j A chap (I suppose you‘d call him a wouldâ€"be tipster) called about the prices for some of the land and broadly implied there must be some hankyâ€"panky somewhere. I called Stockie, and he explained cordially and crisply that the prices were in lire with what land was bringing on the area. Any || ifi questions? His knowledge of the park‘s land acquisitions has me comparâ€" ing it with his relative nonâ€"involveâ€" ment with the financing, as it was explained later on. . Ah well, it may all be explained in the sweet bye and bye. Along, of course, with the Kyoto accord, the PM‘s deals with the golf course, Gearge Dubyah‘s rise to wealth, and the decline of the Toronto Raptors. â€" Pot Luck: it looks as if the Chretien government intends to nearâ€"decriminalize the customer use of pot, and that alone shows how far we‘ve come in its acceptance Way back when I was a university student and spareâ€"time reporter for The Record, the Kitchener Aud booked Tommy Dorsey and his bigâ€"time archestra. And would you believe it, the local genâ€" darmerie nabbed a couple of band members with marijuana. It wasn‘t that much, but it was marijuana and for that they ultimately paid a It was the first time pot had raised its fuzzy head in this community. We had read about marijuana and heard about marijuana, but the Dorsey episode was the first it had come up The year brought the same sorrows and joys 'IheDorse,vstorywasmgmdedbymdasas IT NEVER FAILGS.... JUST AFTER CHRIST MAS IS ALWAYS OUR BUGIEST TIME OF YEAR! SANDY BAIRD big stuff, but now the simple possession of pot is scarcely ever recorded in the local papers. And so no one seems troubled by its absence. > That‘s not to say that the nearâ€"decriminalâ€" ization is a good move. It all depends on how it‘s accepted. The fines for smoking will be negâ€" ligible, and the real penalties will be reserved for the people who deal in pot. And smoking abuse has become interâ€"genâ€" erational, When police broke into a local house théy found an old man inhaling prunes. _‘ Say, by the way, a new, more powerful pot is makirg its debut. The stuff doesn‘t relax you at all. But it makes you happyto be feeling tense. Shopping Jam: Waterloo Region retailers may find it hakd to admit, but shoppers think that the Christmas rush was the real businessâ€"isâ€"excellent thing. s Incidentally, the Christmas urge to splurge wouldn‘t have been so bad, the shoppers said, if it had come at a time when stores weren‘t so crowded. + And The Days Pass: Well, that‘s another year on the hook, and as much as we‘d hoped for only whoopâ€"teeâ€"doo happiness during the year, it was about the same mix as all years are. The year brought the same esmm |sudden sorrows and the same VER | unexpected joys that all years @&AS| | bring. The same medley of quick MWMR jaughter and agonizing tears, of ‘ tranquil days and ones shot through with problems. And God fulfils himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. But I‘m confident that Mr. Tennyson never envisioned space rockets, television, jet planes, heart transplants or the telephone call that gets you just at suppertime to offer a burial plot. But I can do no less than offer you a Welsh toast that‘s older than all of us: May the best day you have ever had be the worst day you have left to come. Happy New Year! ' Now when nations are joined in some unpleasant discussions, you can bet that every threat, Y * chuckle or hiccup will be zcomed D across the oceans to bedazzle the populace on an allâ€"news TV show. flt Alf Tennyson, a fairly good er in his time, took note of time‘s passing in The Idylls of the King. He wrote: The old order changeth, yielding place to And if it seems that we‘ve had a surplus of sad tidings it‘s probable that more dismal things aren‘t happening. It‘s just that our comâ€" munications are so much better.