Page 6, Why Fme Pros. Wednesday, Apili 26, 1995 ONTARIO COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ISSN#0844-398X Whbyshed evesbry en ýesyby6770Ona r ueou uloc.an Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario Li N 581 Phone: 668-611il Out of town: 1-800-668-0322 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurice Pither - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manage r Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% recycled content using vegetable based inks. CjAII wntten material, illustrations and advertising contalned herein le protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without'the express permission of the newspaper is prohibiled and is a violation of Canadian copyright aw. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit mie to the Whitby Free Press. Meayor misread letter To the edîtor: While it is nîce ta see the mayor respond (Free Press, April 19) ta My lbiter, ho seoms ta have mî msreaeiit. 'l did net complain about inadequate commemoration of the efforts of those who served, but about the lack of a civic celebration' for the 501h anniversary of V-E Day. The mayar's reply confirma there la ne civic celebration. lnstead of the, Town entertaining former members of the services, the veterans are doing the work. Atthough I was net prsonally ln the service dujring the war, my father, mother and brother servod in the Royal Air Force (my brother, a BattI of Britain pilat) and my sister served in the Women's Land Army. In 1940 we were hastily moved from R.A.F. Biggin Hill, and arrived in Sheffield, Yorkshire in time to b. bambed eut of aur home. I joined the Rayai Air Force in 1948 and was dejnobbed in 1950. How the mayor determined 1 was tea young ta b. involved eludés me, unless he mistaok my observations on 48- and 49-year-elds ta include myseff. Te point 1 was making was that if the war had cantinued, their parents wouldn't have been home ta conceive them. IR was a u ho mayor didn't contact me directly, he bad my name and I amn in the book 1 do net know what is intended ta b. embossed on this 'plaque,' but it dosa seem ta me ta b. a rather strange choice. I would have thought that a 'flame of hope' for the next 50 years, near or next ta the cenotaph, would have b.en more apprapriate. I associate plaques with things such as the dedication of buildings, someone famous having been born or lived in a bouse, or the site of a unique event. I hape this plaque will net b. installed on the inside of the library. When I spoke ta the mayor's office, why did the individual I spoké ta net know about these events taking place and tell me? I may nover have written the bItter. Unlss events* taking place ln counicîl chambers, and open ta 1he public, are publicîzea well in advance, no one is likely ta participate unles invited. 1 check the papers out regularly but mY diary already includes events up ta September. Hf notification of local events is only released the week before they happen, this probabty accounts ort e often perceived poor attendance. I commend the mayor for initiating a program af remembrance by incorparating names of the fallen as street names flagged with a poppy. Maybe this fact should b. an the literature abot t-Whitby, available in the information office. I have only livod in Whitby for just overa yoar, but 1 believe these kinds of positive images are warth noting. Rt helps taoffnset the sight of the garbage lying around the streets. Brlan HoIt Whltby Fash ion fundraiser To the oditor: I would ta thank The Fr. Press for coverage ef aur rment fundraising fashion show ai Trafalgar Castie Schaol. The response was somnewhat disappointing thia year compared ta lasi. Hawever, the evenn still proved te b. a success thanka ta your help, that of the local merchants and business people who sold tickets and donated door prizes, and ail the Auxiliary members who worked s0 dlgently b.hind the scenes sellinq tickets, bakîng goodies, preparing food trays, serving and cleaning Up. The staff at Trafagar were once again most helpful with preparation and parking, and 2 Young Chaps handled the sound system. 1 would also ta thank aur modela Moira Fenner, Diane Prescott, Gloria Tuck, Susan Wabb, Amanda Wilcox and Elizabeth Woodbury. Joan Harvey Evont co-ordînator and public relations co-ordînator Whltby Gsiural Hosptal Auxillary so th edor. Highway, flot truck, M-afety To the odItor: "Vote for us, we will get 'the bandit truck drivers off aur highways." But 1 have ta ask you, Premier Bob and Transport Minister Mike Farnan, haw are you gaing ta do this? By decreasing the number cf inspectera fram 335 in 1990, down ta 235 now? .Will yau mislead the people by making them balieve you are taking immediate action Iby biring 50 new inspectors, when in fact that plan was in place long before the recent rash of government inflicted carnage on aur highways? Or will you escalate the situation even further by impasing stiffer fines, and draining mare money out cf the trucking industry? 1 dan't expect the general public ta kneW. everything about the industry, but I bave heard that after looking into it, some of you bave found that there are mare rules and regulations than yau ever believed there were. The truth is that in the past 10 or 15 years the gavernments have deregulated the industry ta the point where competitian bas driven the rates far b.low where they were 10 years ago. That, combined with several pay cuts, higher taxes, bigher fuel casta, higher insurance rades, taîl roads and bridges, fuel taxes, road taxes, heavy vehicle use taxes, U.S. customs fees, inflated equipment costa, higher parts and repair costa, the low Canadian dollar, higher meals and generai expenses on the road, have farced us ta eperate on nickels and dimnea bass money -mare safety, I doubt it. Vou av-e ta regulate the rates so -you have companies competing for contracta, based on the service thoy provide, not bow cheap -tb. job, can b. don., othevwise safety will b. and has been compromised. W., as truck drivers, hold the governiment responsible and demand they correct the deadly situaition~ they have creaied . 1 address *the, governmient: befoire yau spend f ive or 10 million dollars. of taxpayers' money for .mare bogus studies, why don't you ask someone wha travels 100,000 miles a year tbrough any type'of weather, acrosa any type of terrain. Ask someone who has the advantage of sitting- higher up, enabling him or ber ta see what is really going on out there.' Sometimes you have ta look al the complete picture ta really understand highway rsafety. What really goes on out there is ve" scary and most sensible people know that. If the Ministry cf, Transportationý put 10 or 12 of these drivers in a room together, you would have $50 million worth of information. Why doesn't the government stant using it? 1 have a question for, in my opinion, the incompetent Minister of Transportation regarding the recent big crash an Highway 400, a hughway known for its whiteouts and black ice. Twenty-odd vebicles have piled up on the northbound side with no deaths. No one has died ... yet. The police are on the scene and the investigation is underway, yet the southbound lanes have net been salted. In an instant four people are dead, including. a baby; strapped in a car seat. Aire you' hearing me, Mr. Faman -- a baby? My question is, with the high tech weather forecasting equipment and the priar knowledge of the conditions that exist on that highway, how could something 1k that h n? I Cali this incompetence on eh part of Mr. Famnans ministry. To the familles-and friends of those recently killed by flying wheels, yu are angry and you are fighting =ak and you have every- right ta do so. However, we are angry, toa. We "are not 'killers. Truck drivers and their familles also use the highway. Beliove me, wo care. Vour fight for highway safety should not b. against us. W. should jain together and force thegovornmont ta honestly solve highway problems. ta so escalating the situation. 'Runaway Lumber Truck' on Hwy. 400; 'Truck kilis man on Hwy. 401,'à when, in fact, the man jumped in front of the truck; or my personai favourite, 'Truoker kilîs three going wrang way an Hwy. 401,' when, In fact, the truck in question was a haf-ton pickup. Enough said.. 1 cal on the next government (because the present one'will not b. here), ta deal with this problem of highway safety -, not truck safety, as the media says, or as the present government wishes ta, exploit.in their upcoming election cam pagn - but highway safety involvin-g al vehicles using the highways. Safety occurs through botter driver education in bath cars and trucks, more courtesy towards yur fellow man and a very serious Iok at the trucking industry ta see iH there is enough mroney there ta maintain the levels of safety that is rq uired of us. The number of deaths on aur highways bas skyrocketed, yet the solutions are simple. BlnLtI Whltby To the oditor: Along witb many* Whitby residents et ail ages, I have been watching wtb great interest and concern the continuing Lynde Marsh saga. I knew that your paper has printed commenta such as this many times over the reent past but I must say thatI1 am dismayed ai th. process that bas allowed approval of a development the size et a amail tawn ta b. located directly adjacent ta Lynde Marsh. People who live in the Whitby area should b. very uncomfortable with the process over the last few years that bas allowed appraval cf this development. Equally asteunding ta me is the fat that politicians who were in office during the last few years are voted back into office, despite theïr involvement in tbe Lynde Marsb proj ect. In nothing else, the Lynde Marsh development should serve as a wakeup cail ta al et us ta b. aware of threats te aour environmeflt in a timely manner and before ail we have ta look ad in this area are strip. mails and walI-to-wal dont shapsb e. do Whltby The only Newspaper owned and operated b Whitby residents for Whitby resîdents! MEMBER 0F: CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEW$PAPER Ac';flfllATION Uncomfortable process