The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6{-3/G5R 2004 Saab 93 Sport Sedan Winter is no reason for the Flying Dogs to stop cycling. Viewpoint You said it Arts Calendar 19 Classified Sixâ€"week Stop Smoking program starts Monday. .._, Saab of Kitchener Waterloo 663 Victoria St. N. 744â€"5811 WHAT‘S INSIDE WATERLOQ CHRONICLE $34,900 Starting from Page 20 Page 10 25 With old man winter‘s fury buffeting the region the day before, a lot of the students bused into Waterloo‘s only French Catholic school weren‘t sure if the weather would hold out for them as they decided to bring a little sunshine into the long dark days of January. Local school warms up the winter with summer party But that didn‘t stop the staff and students of Ecole Méreâ€"Elisâ€" abethâ€"Bruyére thinking they were in a much warmer place last Friday during their Summer in Winter luncheon. he palm trees were made Tou! of paper, and the cool sea breezes contained more than a hint of snow. Michelle Boileau {right), eight, danced to Latinâ€"themed music to beat the winter cold with her friend Victoâ€" ria Couture, eight, last Friday at Ecole Méreâ€"Elisabethâ€"Bruyére in Waterloo. The school held a Summer in Winter bash to beat the January blues brought on by a couple of weeks of snowy weather. * By Bos VRBANAC Chronicle Staff WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2004 + WATERLOO, ONTARIO Serving your community since 1856 "I not wearing the shorts that go with it because of the cold, but 1 still think it‘s really fun," said Couture. "I prefer the warm weather, and this is making me feel a little warmer." But French Polynesian music coupled with display of their teacher‘s limbo abilities was all it took to get them into the spirit of the day in the school‘s cozy gym. And there‘s something about wearing Hawaiian shirts and flowers in your hair that helps deflect the wind chill said stuâ€" dents like eightâ€"yearâ€"old Victoria Couture. The Grade 3 student was shaking a pair of maracas while dancing with friends in an outfit her grandmother brought back for her from the Bahamas. "It‘s cold outside but it‘s getâ€" ting warmer in here," said Michelle Boileau, eight, who had earlier joined the conga line with her friends Couture and Cumâ€" ming. "I like thinking about the summer. "It‘s cool," said Joelle Cumâ€" ming, eight, with no pun intendâ€" ed. "I love the dancing. "It‘s keeps me moving and active." The lunch, which included a selection of tropical fruits as well as pineapple on the pizza that was delivered in, also featured the students dancing to latinâ€" themed music in keeping with their teacher‘s earlier limbo competition. Continued on page 5 $1 INCLUDING GST BOR vRBANAC PROTC "There is no way at the moment under municipal legislation that the region can phase it in," said Connolâ€" ly. "So you could be hit with a miniâ€" mum 2.95 per cent increase because of reclassification even before your tax goes up for what the city or the region are doing." "That‘s going to be a helluva burâ€" den to people." Regional Coun. Mike Connolly said he was going to speak to local Liberal MPP John Milloy about getâ€" ting some relief for homeowners. while council is undertaking a camâ€" paign to make taxpayers better aware of where the changes are coming from. There is concern the homeownâ€" ers‘ ire will fall on local municipaliâ€" ties, even though they don‘t assess properties under the new provincial system and can do nothing about the shift in taxes from businesses to homeowners this year. It‘s the tax shift between those categories, brought in to bring more faimess to the system, that can lead to yearâ€"toâ€"year fluctuations. Where last year homeowners caught a bit of a break, this year the assessment means they will absorb a bigger part of the costs â€" while the other cateâ€" gories will get the tax break. The root of a problem was the current value assessment model brought in by the previous provinâ€" cial government. It reworked the former property tax system and boiled it down to four categories â€" residential, multiâ€"residential, comâ€" mercial and industrial. Regional council learned last week that the average home assessed at $183,000 will face a $53 tax increase this year before local councils have even had a chance to set their spending priorities. terloo regional council is Wcohng to the province to phase in a three per cent tax hit for the average homeowner. Region calls for phaseâ€"in of tax hike By Bos VrsaNAC Chronicle Staff Continued on page 2