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i l crninomn OAKTOWN SHOPPING PLAZA 550 Kerr Street Open Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 844-0202 -- i__ *See Garcfei Centre for rn-store spectate UPPER OAKVILLE SHOPPING CENTRE Upper Middle at 3th Line l Open Sunday k 10 a.m .-5 p.m. 1 849-8473 A Sale price in effect S a t June 5 to Fri. June 11,1999. Photo by Peter J. Thompson CLOWNING AROUND: Recording artist and fiddler Natalie McMaster clowns around with Bubbles the Clown during the Tim Hortons Camp Day Fundraiser at the company's training centre Wyecroft Road on Wednesday. The event is held each year at Tom Hortons outlets across Canada to raise money for Tim Horton Children Foundation's camps for mon­ etarily underprivileged children. This year more than $2.6 million was raised across Canada to send more than 6,000 children to camp. Couple brings home slippery stowaway By Scott MacArthur SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Carry-on luggage usually consists of books, a Walkman and anything else to get you through a long flight home. But for Dionne Davis and her boyfriend Rob Reelis, what they found while unpacking at home after a trip to the Dominican Republic sent shivers down their spines. "Rob was unpacking his shorts and there was this thing that looked like a twig," said Davis. "Then all of a sudden, it started slithering around and Rob was yelling, 'snake, snake!' and of course I didn't believe him at first." But he wasn't kidding. The snake slithered out of the bag onto the floor and down the hall. The snake, over a foot long and greyish- brown in colour with black diamonds running down its back, proved to be a difficult catch for the couple. (S e e 'S n e a k y ' p a g e 2) 6 Investors i keen on Kerr Street By Howard MozeJ OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Kerr Street has certainly seen its share of ups and downs, but according to a new wave of optimistic investors, it won't be long until the area is as vibrant as Downtown Oakville. "We've got some good things happen­ ing on Kerr Street," said Ward 2 council­ lor Kathy Graham. Ruby Thomas-Cezette, who has owned the award-winning Ruby's Organic Vegan Vegetarian Restaurant in Mississauga for nine years, is expanding to the Kerr/Florence area where she is opening a second eatery in early July, a health food store, a children's clothing outlet and a Christian bookstore. 'W e're going to be so good in this place. I can feel it," she said. "I love what I'm doing and we're really going to make this place something." Her location is the Seasons Centre for grieving/traumatized children, a building that now has only a single vacancy remaining. For Thomas-Cezette, this spot is already the "hub" of the Kerr Street (S e e 'K e r r ' p a g e 3) INSIDE today's paper F^ocus............. ........................... ..13 Family Fare._______________ 15 Contest...................................... 17 Health.................... ................ 18 S p o rts________________ 19-21 Havel_________________ 2 3 -2 4 Business._________________ .25 Classified______________ 26-31 P artia l Delivery: Home 1 Covers, Sears Whole Home, Slvercreek, Sears, Rabba Fine Foods, L ittle Caesars Canadian Publications Mail Product Agreement #435-201 By Dennis Smith SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Now that school closures are on the shelf, public school trustees are wonder­ ing where to draw the line. The Halton District School Board agonized Wednesday about holding a system-wide school boundary review before finally seeking a staff report on the matter. Burlington trustee David Bird pro­ posed implementing the study by the 2001-2002 school year. "Boundary changes and modifica­ tions need to be examined. It's a short­ term cost for long-term savings," he said. "We need to look at the problem and come to a comfortable solution. It's going to take a lot of grief, but I think we need to take a long, hard look at it." Bird's proposal had two amend­ ments, including establishing a commit­ tee which would receive delegations. He also stipulated a review goal of deter­ mining the most cost-effective and effi­ cient use of school board facilities. The cost and efficiency amendment was prompted by education director Dusty Papke. 'T o do a study, there should be the intent to implement changes," he suggested. "The piece that's missing is a goal for the study." But both amendments were defeated on close votes and the boundary review proposal was shelved in favour of a staff report. Strongest opposition to the review came from trustees in growth areas. They lost a vote in April aimed at clos­ ing old schools to generate provincial funding for new ones. "I don't want to waste two more years of staff time just to reshuffle stu­ dents among schools," said Oakville trustee Peter Petrusich. "The issue is which schools need to be closed to build (S e e 'T ru s te e s ' p a g e 9 ) _ v w OAKV1LLE-CENTRE ASK ABOUT OUR GOLF PACKAGE (9 0 5 ) 8 4 2 *5 0 0 0 The Oakville Beaver Weekend (jLz* Prudential town C i'iitiY I t iu ln 338.6550 S PUN KRIS v u f l tit v AMetroland Publication Vol. 37 No. 67 Oakville's Award-Winning Community Newspaper 32 Pages SUNDAY, JUNE 6,1999 75 Cents Plus GST Public board eyes school boundary changes