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

Page 8, Witby'Fme Prose . Wedne. céfa tribe21 1 94 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residentsl MEMBER OF: ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER ANEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X 26,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Inc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario L1N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Out of town: 1-800-668-0322 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint 'with minimum 20% recycted content using vegetable based inks. 0 All written material, Illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright law. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit line to he whitby Free Press. To the editor... *o the d.tr. Board. support needed To the edItor: The Sept. 12 meeting of the planning and development committee of the Town of Whitby has come and gone. This is where our elected hired and appointed officials continue to chart the course of Whitby's future. This was the time when special interest groups, developers and, yes, even the average citizen could help write some of that map. t was interesting to hear many residents speak. Of 26 deputations, nine deàlt with the Lynde Marsh wetlands and the "doorstep" development being planned there by the Rose Corporation. There were also four written submissions to the committee, so now we're at nine out of 30. That's about 30 per cent. There are 67,000 people living in Whitby. Thirty per cent of 67,000 equals 20,100. Theoretically, 20,100 people aren't To the editor: I have lived for 22 years in the area of the Gagnon Sports store where the murder of one of our residents took place last week. A few years earlier, four blocks from Gagnon's, another senseless murder took place. At Knob Hill, a Brinks guard employee was shot point blank. I have signed many petitions, written many letters to the editor, and drove to Ottawa this year trying to talk to our politicians, delivering more than 300 letters. I also spoke at forums run by MPs to state my point about bringing back capital punishment for premeditated murder. The majority of Canadians want it. In 10 years I have received a letter from a Prime Minister and his justice minister. I have received letters from MPs and Justice Minister Allan Rocke, thanking me for my concern, and giving me more lip service. I regularly receive material, from my MP's office particularly thrilled with the current development idea for Lynde Marsh. Phew, that's a lot of folks. Hey, that's a lot of votes. Here's something else to chew on. This is also the group of Town officials who apparently went to great lengths to make sure that two small blue spruce trees and one small maple tree were transplanted from the future site of the seniors' centre parking lot. Make changes to the Lynde Marsh wetlands development. Please the 30 per cent. It can be so easy to be a hero. On Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. at the municipal building there is another special meeting. This is when the council may consider the adoption of the recommended Off icial Plan. People of Whitby, be interested, be involved, go there and make a difference. Eric P. Zylstra Save Lynde Marsh because I have been identified as having a concern regarding the justice system and the Young Offenders Act. All this stuff they send is to pacify my mind with their agenda on crime. I am fed up with them giving me the runaround and not being upfront. When are they going to begin to listen to the majority and the victims of crime, who have their lives disrupted with long costly court cases and useless appeals? Our governing politicians have to stand up to self-serving lawyers in government at the top of our justice system, and demand more accountability. There will be more killings in the future, þecause there is no deterrent for these cowardly crimes. We need more crime control, including capital punishment. A few have taken the law in their own hands ... not by choice ... but because of their frustration with the system. Herman Van der Veen Oshawa To the editor: Re: Save Our Whitby General Hospital Rally The overwhelming number of people present at the SOGH meeting shows why the Durham Region District Health Council should reconsider its proposai to recommend to the Ontario Ministry of Health the replacement of existing acute care services with rehabilitative services. After all, it's the residents of Whitby who initially planned and built Whitby General Hospital, as well as enthusiastically took part in the fund-raising, and dealt patiently with the Ontario government in obtaining its approval and support for the construction of this hospital. Without the support and wishes of the people in our community, there would be no hospital here today. Instead of improving as well as expanding the services in our hospital, why are we going backwards? That was pointed out Take back the night To the editor: The Oshawa Durham Rape Crisis Centre invites women and Children to join together on Sept. 22 in peaceful protest of the violent crimes committed against us, by taking part in Durham Region's second annual 'Take Back the Night' walk. We have organized the event to safely welcome women to bring their children to the walk and festivities. The events begin at Oshawa City Hall with a steel drum band, free refreshments, face painting and balloons for kids from 6 p.m. until the opening ceremonies commencing at 7 p.m. The walk concludes at Oshawa Memorial Park where festivities continue with a live band and free refreshments. The 'Take Back The Night' walk is the one opportunuity of the year for women and children united to walk the streets by themselves, for themselves. Men are welcome to attend the opening ceremonies and after-walk festivities to show support of the women and children in the Durham community. For further information or to become involved call (905) 724-2241. 'Take Back The Night' Committee by one of the speakers, Dr. K. Hobbs, who was one of the proponents in the planning and designing of our hospital more than 25 years ago. He also stated that a lot of thought was put into the location, accessibility, spaciousness of land for parking and helicopter landing, as well as input for the future building expansion from its present three storeys to an ultimate height of 11 storeys. That concept should not be changed, he said. Instead, it should be expanded to meet the growing needs in our community, where it is estimated that within 20 years, the population will double in size to more than 140,000. The lack of presentation from the Whitby General Hospital board of directors indicates they favour converting the present medical services to rehabilitative. The board should have at least sent a To the editor: Re: The sale of firearms and ammunition in a Wal-Mart store in Whitby. t is in style these days toattack anything to do with firearms. Gun collectors, target shooters, hunters and now even stores that decide to carry firearms-related items as part of their sporting goods line, are under full attack. There is a certain sense of paranoia here. Canada already has some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the world. The incidence of legal gun owners using their firearms in a crime is To the editor: On Sunday, Sept. 18 the people of Whitby once again gathered to support the 14th annual Terry Fox Run. Our community has hosted three runs to raise money for cancer research and each time we have had great results. This year's run was no exception. About 250 participants enjoyed the beautiful weather as they ran, walked, biked and roller bladed the 10-kilometre route. It was heartening to see the number of young people who came out to support Terry's dream of finding a cure for cancer. We are very proud that more member to the rally to explain why the hospital is or is not in favour of this proposed change. The general public would certainly want to know: why the present services have to be cut or replaced; the occupancy rate of hospital beds; whether, the emergency service is meeting demands; adverse effects of the social contract and cutbacks; other reasons why the hospital is not functioning as well as it should. The board should show some support for the SOGH group. After all, isn't it the local community which keeps the hospital in operation? By ignoring the people's wishes or without sympathizing wth them, how does the board expect the population to eagerly support the present hospital fund-raising drive? Lewis F. Chow Whitby negligible. The fact is current laws are not being enforced by the courts, and our justice system . does not provide the necessary deterrence to reduce criminal behaviour. I feel that "effective" gun controi, regarding safe storage and handling of firearms, is already in place in our laws. We need to realize that no matter what laws we pass, no criminal is going to go to a police station to get a permit to own a gun. We need to attack the crime problem. It's a matter of crime control, not more gun control. Tom Anderson Whitby than $12,000 was pledged and donated for the run, the most ever in Whitby. The organizing committee would like . to thank those companies who donated food, balloons, tables and drinks to make this year's run go so smoothly. We would especially like to thank the participants who gathered pledges, completed the route and ensured that our community would make a difference in the battle against cancer. We look forward to seeing you all again next year. Marilyn McTeague-Peck Whitby co-ordinator Terry Fox Run Make changes Control crime No deterrent A great run