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

Friend sentenced to 18 months Continued from pg. 1 Goodman said. Steffan suffered a broken arm. After the accident McLaughlin's blood alcohol level reading was 94 and 82 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood Goodman said. Impaired driving charges laid against McLaughlin following the accident were not pursued by the Crown Tuesday. Victim impact statements from De'Ath and Holton's family, many who wept quietly throughout the trial, were read in court by Goodman. "Words are inadequate to describe the emotional loss I feel over Adam's passing," said Holton's father MacDonald in his statement. "When a father outlives his son the natural order of life is broken." MacDonald also said he knows his son would have wanted them to show compassion to McLaughlin. Holton's girlfriend De'Ath agreed in her statement. "He would want Nick to carry on and live his life," she said. "I miss Adam every waking moment of my life," said Holton's mother Danielle Holton. McLaughlin's attorney Paul Stunt read excerpts from several letters of support from community members for his client. "Nickolas is beyond himself with remorse," said Steve MacDonald, a Halton Regional Police officer. Sheila and Bill Boyd said, "Nick is not a troubled youth or a troublemaker." They called the accident an "isolated incident." "If he could turn back the pages he would," said Mike and Dorri Bland. Stunt said that McLaughlin chose not to speak at the trial because he was too emotional. "This is an extremely serious matter," said Justice Takach, who added he accepted the joint sentence agreed upon by both the Crown and McLaughlin's attorney. "It's not necessarily a sentence I would have arrived at on my own," said Takach, stressing that if the accused had been an older adult or the circumstances were slightly different, there would be jail time. "Reading the letters made me think of my (21-year-old) daughter," said Takach. "I understand a parents love for his or her son or daughter." "I see far too many of these," said Takach, who added that could be an argument for imposing a more severe penalty. But he said, "this is not the case to do it." Christ's walk to Calvary re-enacted Rob Stubbs and Anne-Mary Charles (above) portrayed Apostle John and Mary in the seventh annual re-enactment of Christ's walk to Calvary held Good Friday in downtown Georgetown. The procession was organized by Maple Avenue Baptist Church and Georgetown Alliance Church and drew hundreds of spectators. The event ended with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, portrayed by Jack Harlow, at Maple Avenue Baptist Church. Photo by Sabrina Byrnes Blaze guts home The cause of a fire that resulted in extensive damage at a Trafalgar Rd., Stewarttown home Thursday night is still under investigation by Halton Hills Fire Protection and Prevention Services. Fire crews fought the blaze for several hours in high heat and thick, dense smoke conditions. No one was home at the time of the fire. No damage estimate was available. Photo by Ted Brown Newspaper up for two national awards Hot on the heels of being named Ontario's top community newspaper in its circulation class earlier this month, The Independent & Free Press was nominated for two national newspaper awards Monday. The Canadian Community Newspapers Association (CCNA) announced the finalists for its Better Newspapers Competition and The Independent & Free Press was nominated for Best Sports Photo and best Web Site Design in the circulation class 12,500 and over. Former IFP sports reporter Herb Garbutt was nominated for his sports photo of a Georgetown District High School swimmer. The same photo placed second in the Ontario Community Newspaper Association's awards earlier this month. The other two finalists are from British Columbia papers. In the Web Site Design category the other finalists are the Mississauga News and Ottawa East Weekly Journal. The winners will be announced at the CCNA convention in Quebec City May 27.