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Bus battle keeps on brewing Express route goes before regional council for final approval tonight aterloo Coun. Ian McLean Whas only one question he wants to pose to his regional counterparts tonight as they consider the routing of an express bus service through Waterloo. At what cost? "What‘s a neighbourhood worth?" asked McLean. "What‘s the price that regional council is putting on the quality of life and the safety of a neighbourhood? To save three to five minutes a trip for the new express bus services slatâ€" ed to run from Waterloo‘s Conestoga Mall to Cambridge, the Region of Waterloo‘s planning committee voted last week to approve a "shortcut" that would use Central and Albert Streets, instead of continuing along King Street. "In this case they say $80,000 is too much." The concern is that traffic and conâ€" gestion on King Street would prevent the buses from running every 15 minâ€" utes as planned, and would require an extra bus to make up the difference at the cost of $80,000 a year. But the impact could be much more significant on the MacGregor senior public school community already dealing with traffic and conâ€" gestion, and the safety issues that go along with getting kids safely to school. "Talk to anybody about the traffic issues near schools, it‘s a problem everywhere," said McLean. "More people are dropping their kids off at school, whether we like it or not." And adding an express bus barrelâ€" ing up the street 40 to 80 times a day will do nothing to solve the problems at MacGregor, he said. "I went out to the school today (Thursday} for 20 minutes and countâ€" ed cars, and there were 25 trips back WATERLOO CHRONICLE By Bos VRBANAC _ Chronicle Staff â€" Continued on page 4 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2005 + WATERLOO, ONTARIO Siobhan (right) and Aidan Gauvin are sharing Aidan‘s stroke survival story with others in honour of Febru ary Heart Month. Aidan, now 11, suffered a stroke almost four years ago. He has recovered remarkably well, and is now earning As and Bs in school. Local stroke survivors share stories to mark Heart Month ebruary is Heart Month, Fand stroke survivors in Waterloo region are workâ€" ing to share their stories with the community, to support victims and inform people of heart disâ€" ease. A stroke can affect people of all ages and walks of life, includâ€" ing a young boy, Aidan Gauvin, 11, who recovered from a serious fit of strokes and seizures to lead a normal life. His mother, Siobhan, said Aidan has very limited memory of the stroke, which happened in August 2001. "Aidan became very ill with For The Chronicle By Tim Mureny Serving your community since 1856 fluâ€"like symptoms to begin with," she said. Siobhan said Aidan had headaches and was very letharâ€" gic. â€" â€" __ "We went to the doctors and they passed it off just as the flu," she said. By midâ€"August, he was admitted to hospital as his conâ€" dition worsened, and after mulâ€" tiple tests in hospital, doctors realized the critical condition he was in. "HMe couldn‘t respond to anyâ€" body speaking to him," Siobhan said, describing Aidan as infantâ€" Aidan suffered through three seizures in a row, and was rushed to McMaster Hospital‘s intensive care unit. like with a vocabulary of three or four words. Aidan had suffered a stroke on the right and left side of his brain because of arterial blockâ€" age, which, Siobhan said, he still has to this day. "You‘ve heard this so many times, eh?" Siobhan joked with Aidan. He sighed and said yes. "I started rehabilitating him in the hospital... prompting him to talk and to squeeze (his hands)," she said. Aidan spent a month in hosâ€" pital, unable to walk for most of his stay. Many of his speech, writing and reading skills were damaged $1 INCLUDING GST Continued on page 8 Viewpoint Arts Calendar Hawks goalie Cindy Eadie sets OUA record. Business Bundle up and Save WHAT‘S INSIDE wooe n ut r o a d a n e ® SPORIS Ask for details Page 28 10 13