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

stp trtetribunwsbay40vbe 5 afs huge cause of house fires from page 1 the hole behind our toilet said tungatt tungatt ran upstairs and got the landlord he came down and grabbed the tail said tungatt the rat was still alive he pulled it through the hole with the rat screaming he hammered the rat over the head with my toilet plunger and threw it in a bag still alive at first 1 was dis gusted and second 1 was fed up tungatt wondered if rats pose a health threat tungatt had good reason to wonder said murray wood a manager with pco services ltd pco the largest pest control company in canada when it comes to rats including those found in stouffville health aspects should not be over looked stressed wood not only are rats the most destructive pests known to man theyre a known source of numer ous diseases diseases carried by rodents have played an important part in shaping civilization throughout the centuries in earlier times rats were responsible for a plague that killed one third of the global pop- wood wasnt surprised that tun- gatts rats took a liking to qtips rats gnaw and burrow their way through life in fact economic losses linked to rats can be astro- s a i d wood while plagues linked to rats are still with us in hot climate coun tries in north america rat- caused disease includes the at- times fatal ratbite fever and sal monellosis food poisoning as well as rat ringworm and rat tape worm entrapment darlcnc curric coop employee shows off rat poison and traps for sale- at the coop to jennifer tungatt whose stouffville apartment was infiltrated by rats curric claims sales of rat riddance paraphernalia is up significantly this year by steve somerville nomical said wood burrowing causes structural damage by undermining foundations collapsing roads and railway tracks rats do an unbelievable amount of gnawing said wood they cut lead fiber and plastic pipes they rip fabric on furniture and clothing and rats have chewed hoofs and legs of live stock eaten eggs and the young of poultry gnawing on electrical wires can cause fire power shortages or tele phone interruptions fire is the number one fear rats are the cause of more fires than wc real ize said wood stouffville has an ongoing battle with rats rats traps are a popular item at the stouffville coop said manager steve pope yes wc sell a lot of rat traps we always have because of this years climate the rat population is up this year said wood since rats like to get inside for the winter and since there arc more of them stouffville residents are faced with an extra burden pope even takes measures to keep rats at bay at his edward street business because of the nature of the agriculture business the threat of rats always exists twice a year a pco technicians arrive and carry out measures to keep the rats out pco has a district office at markham rdfinch avenue in scarborough we do business in your area said wood as well as coops pco treats restaurants industry especially those with warehouses and plenty of homes when urban devel opment moves into rural area special features come with it rats are one of them said wood it doesnt surprise me that stouffville is bothered by rats he said tungatt and crozicr havent returned to their apartment while the landlord has plugged some holes the women arent convinced all is well were not comfortable with the thought of rats running around especially considering how fast they breed said tungatt if you find poop the size of jelly beans youve got rats warns a pest control specialist and if you find cloth paper and wires have been chewed you have both a disease and a fire threat stresses murray wood spokesman for pco ser vices inc who offers this advise to keep rats away get rid of all garbage especially food immedi ately store food goods in jars plug hole with steal wool and seal off all open ings to the outside since rats are almost blind and they cant control their bladders theyre not that hard to find especially if youre a rat specialist rats cant see you coming and they urinate nonstop pest control technicians using black lights to alumi- nate the urine track the rats to their nests 32 per cent of gr 3s are adequate readers from page 1 smith volunteer chair for the edu cation quality and accountability office but smith said she had faith that when the dust settles people will look at this seriously and work together to make some improve ments both york boards did fairly well she said last week since they fin ished slightly above provincial aver ages across ontario 39 per cent of participating students read at level 1 or at level 2 which is considered adequate fifty per cent read at the higher levels of achievement 3 and 4 in york region 32 per cent of public school third graders read at 1 or 2 and 55 per cent were ranked in the top two levels thirty six per cent of catholic students read at level 1 or 2 58 per cent ranked at level 3 or 4 the numbers dont add to 100 because some students more at the public board were exempted from the assessment period and some were missing for math the provincial scores were less impressive sixty per cent were scored as level 1 or 2 and only 29 per cent reached the upper levels in the region 51 per cent of public board pupils performed math at levels 1 or 2 and 39 were ranked as level 3 or 4 catholic third graders were in the bottom two levels 57 per cent of the time but 39 per cent were in level 3 or 4 about half the parents who responded to an eqao survey said they were not involved in their chil- drens education and there were probably more who just didnt admit it smith said parents need to know that children do better when parents are involved she said the scores in math should raise concern added smith who noted the eqao survey found that few teachers had university training in math 3000 set to work for welfare mikeadler staff reporter york regions workfare program has already met its very ambitious target for client volunteers says the regions social services commissioner and on thursday the region is set to choose an agency that will start plac ing some of those welfare recipients into jobs kicking off the next stages of the program if council approves that then wc can motor we can move commis sioner joann simmons said yesterday staff arc recommending that a con sortium led by cost1 which has an office in markham get a threeyear contract to place welfare clients in vol unteer positions and paying jobs the group which also includes gcorgina job skills and a private com pany the first interactive computer college has said it will open six access sites in the region for the pro grams clients some of whom could also try starting a business of their own between oct 1 and the middle of this month almost 3000 welfare recipients entered the program by signing a participation agreement the region set 3000 participants as a target for the end of this year and con sidered that number very ambitious simmons said meeting it so soon suggests people want help and they want to be inde pendent and they want to get work she concluded under workfare employable welfare recipients who arent placed in a job or volunteer position will be given job- seeking training or similar activities vaughan regional councillor joyce frustaglio a supporter of the program said shes encouraged by the number of people who signed up i think its absolutely awesome said frustaglio a member of the regions social services committee it opens doors for them that would other wise be closed houston ford mercury bill houston ford mercury sales ltd 1 1 769 highway 48 stouffville 640 454 1 used car clea taurus contour windstar ranger sable mystique villager explorer and many more to choose from 2 year leases low low low prices see dealer for details our customers are the fogus of everything we do w mercury bloomington stouffville rd major mackenzie z