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The Oakville O a fo tffo f# \^pfcj&cn}S'*v»\. H O T E L iS * 'S U IT E S C rusaders com eclose Sports P h o n e V IP -1 0 0 0 A Metroland Publication Vol. 37 No. 131 WEDNESDAY, Fire inquest hears By Kim Amott SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER A coroner's jury investigating Oakville's worst-ever fire tragedy heard a tape of the panicked 9 1 1 call that sent police and firefighters to a home at 2007 Salvator Blvd. in August 1998. The coroner's inquest, which opened in Oakville yesterday, is looking into the circumstances surrounding a house fire that killed a mother, her two children and a visiting relative. At 4 a.m. on Aug. 16,1998, a 911 call was received by the Halton regional police and transferred to the Oakville fire department. In a frantic voice, a female caller shouts out her address. The dispatcher with the fire department asks, "What's the problem there, ma'am?" "It's a fire," the caller says. "In your house?' asks the dispatcher. The caller answers yes, then when asked whether everyone is out of the house, says no. "Where is the fire?' asks the dis patcher. "I don't know...Our alarm's just..." Following that, the call is cut off. The call prompted the dispatch of firefighters and police officers to the north Oakville home, where they eventu ally found Lynn Fedoruk, 44, her chil dren Adam, 15, and Amanda, 12, along with relative Bonnie Letchuk, 45, hud dled in a second-floor master bedroom. All four died from smoke inhalation following their rescue, the coroner's jury heard. Diane Harkins, the fire department dispatcher on duty the night of the fire, 911 call (See `Fire' page 2) ft -i XL called for a Code 2 response, the depart ment's highest priority action. John Medcof, a lawyer representing husband and father John Fedoruk, asked whether the fire department had a specif ic code to make it clear that a rescue was required. Harkins reiterated that the Code 2 response was the fire department's high est priority call. "But doesn't it necessarily mean there are people in danger because it's a Code 2 ? ' he asked. "No," Harkins admitted. Earlier in the day, the jury heard from Glenn Osborne, a neighbour who lived directly across the street from the Fedoruk residence. Osborne, a retired Oakville firefighter himself, told the jury he had dressed and crossed the street after seeing the fire vehicles on the scene. Osborne testified that he asked the platoon chief on the scene whether everyone was out of the house, and was told that firefighters didn't know. "I mentioned to Keith (Cassey): `If K err St. M arket M inistries help at g rassro o ts level By Nancy Alexander SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER It's Wednesday afternoon at the Kerr St. Market. The all-purpose meeting room is filled with conversation, laughter and large trays of baked goods donated by Tim Horton's. As men and women, some in wheelchairs, linger over cups of coffee, they offer light-heart ed suggestions and criticism to a woman carving out a jack-o-lantem. This is DIAS (Disabled Information and Services), one of a large number of community outreach programs run by Kerr St. Ministries. Whether playing host to an informal drop-in such as DIAS for physically and mentally dis abled adults, running summer day camps for underprivileged kids or helping needy families put food on the table, Kerr St. Ministries is fill ing a growing role within the community. As governments seek to cut back their contri bution in the area of social services, groups such as Kerr St. Ministries are increasingly stepping in to fill the gap. And that is exactly as it should be, according to Ron Shantz, pastoral director of Kerr St. Ministries. Shantz believes that we have come full circle. He says the role of helping the less fortunate was traditionally handled by churches before the government stepped in and took ownership. Now, the churches have it back. "I think it belongs to the churches," he told the Beaver. "It's more than a job. It's a benevo lent ministry." Kerr St. Ministries is essentially an umbrella organization which acts as a facilitator of (See `Program' page 2) Ron Shantz of The Kerr Street Market. Photo by Peter C. McCusker Grade 3 & 6 test results offer few suprises for Halton educators By Dennis Smith SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Halton school officials have mixed reactions to their Grade 3 and 6 provin cial test results, which were generally above average for both public and Catholic school students. Students at the two boards topped the provincial average in nearly all major assessment categories -- read ing, writing and mathematics. Results were issued to school boards last week for the tests, which were held last May. For the Halton D istrict School Board, the reaction was cautious when year-to-year comparisons for Grade 3 students were considered. "We were part o f a provincial trend where reading results were down and math was better," said superintendent Kit Rankin. "But this is not distinct, it's a provincial trend, so I'm not going to get too excited about this." She cited the inclusion of multiple choice questions and the use of new "In general, w e are pleased with the assessment results for our students and feel they pre sent a very positive snapshot of student achievement in our Grade 3 and 6 classrooms. " -Kit Rankin, superintendent, Halton District School Board math books (a single-book series now used from kindergarten-Grade 8) as possible reasons for much-improved Grade 3 math scores. "I'm much more interested in com parisons of results over long periods of time," added Rankin. "I'm not going to overinterpret these results." Halton public students were above the provincial average in nearly all areas except Grade 6 math. "In general, we are pleased with the assessment results for our students and feel they present a very positive snap shot of student achievement in our Grade 3 and 6 classrooms," said Rankin. Blood do nor clinic set for Nov. 6th A blood donor clinic is being held at the Calvary Baptist Church on Mon. Nov. 6th. The clinic is from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Calvary Baptist Church is located at 1215 Lakeshore Road West. Healthy individuals age 17 to 7with proper identification are invited to attend the clinic, the Toronto Blood Centre, which serves the Oakville area, needs to collect at least 650 units of blood per day in order to meet the needs of patients in 61 hospitals in Central Ontario. A single blood donation can save as many as four different lives. Each com ponent can be given to a different person -- the red cells to someone undergoing surgery, the platelets to a person with leukemia, the plasma to a bum victim. today' s paper Editorials------------------------------------- ..A fi Focus-.......... .............. ..................B1 Business_____________________ ,B5 Update_______________________ B6 tm enam m enu______ ..._______ C ta e s ifie d --------------------,C S Homes & Gardens_____________ C8 Sports........................... D1 Automotive-- __________ D6 Special Supplem ents: for Hoot D e live ry: Business D e p o t, ftetion dSp orts Partial delivsy: While Rose. The Bay, Caslway, Union Energy. Line Caesars. Penningtons. City Patent. S to w s Direct, Taite Colins. Investors Group. Gordan Village Canadian Publications Mail Product Agreement #435-201 She noted the board focuses strong ly on literacy and numeracy in early grades, but the level of emphasis is not the same in Grades 4-6. Girls posted better results than boys in Halton public school results, a phe nomenon which also occurred across the province. Rankin said she'd be looking at this trend with provincial officials and see ing what strategies and resource mate rials can be implemented. Results will be examined and dis cussed with principals and staff, said the superintendent. "The information doesn't provide us with answers, but it helps us ask some good questions," said Rankin. More than 3,100 Grade 3 students and 2,900 Grade 6 students at Halton public schools took the tests. Halton's Catholic District School Board officials feel test results show their increased emphasis on language and mathematics is paying off. The board's Grade 3 and 6 students posted above-average results in provin cial assessments, including major improvements in math by Grade 3 stu dents. `T he board is very pleased our stu dents and teachers are continuing to achieve above the provincial results," said the board's director, Fred Sweeney. `T he results from this year's Grade 6 assessment will be used as a benchmark for staff to assess and eval uate strategies for student improve ment." This is the first year Grade 6 stu dents have taken the tests, which are administered by the Education Quality and Accountability Office. It's the third year of assessments for Grade 3 pupils. Sweeney cited improvements by Grade 3 students over the, 1998 results as particularly impressive. Grade 3 students reaching the high est levels (3 and 4) increased by more than 20% in math and 3% in language arts. (See `Results' page 2) Photo by Ron Kuzyk BUTTERFLY POWER: Bronte BIA president, Lee Bernard and landscape architect Marius de Bruyn check out the design o f the planned Bronte Butterfly Project during Friday's Black & W hite Ball fundraiser. Land adjacent to Bronte Harbour will be developed into a unique butterfly-shaped summer theme garden. Have your say on Town budget beginning with meeting tonight Anyone interested in influencing next year's Town of Oakville budget should take note of the following meet ing dates for the 2000 Budget Committee. The public is invited to participate on Nov. 3rd from 6 to 11 p.m.; Nov. 6th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Nov. 9th from 6 to 11 p.m.; Nov. 11th from 6 to 11 p.m. (if required); Nov. 13th from 9 a.m. to noon (if required). The committee chair is Ward 3 councillor Keith Bird, who says he will keep an eye on two guiding principles: to meet the expectations of citizens and to bring in a budget of less than the rate of inflation. Public involvement, there fore, is essential. Front and centre will be the process of implementing such "strategic direc tions" imposed by Council as the Master Fire Plan, the Iroquois Ridge Library, dredging and seawall replace ment, the Information Technology Plan, the Iroquois Ridge Recreation Centre and Town Hall's expansion. According to the Preliminary 2000 Budget, the impact of Council's strate gic directions total just over $ 1.2 mil lion, for a total forecasted tax levy change of 2.3%. Implementation o f the strategic directions alone would result in a tax rate increase of about 0.6% on the total residential tax bills and 0.4% of the total commercial/industrial tax bills, which also includes regional and education tax rates. For a home assessed at $250,000, this works out to an increase of about $21 in 2000. M 1 N V E S T M E N T