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v School buses sent home early Worst winter storm = of season hits area Just when it looked like spring might be around the corner, Old Man 'Winter roared through Scugog Township on Monday dumping several inches of fresh snow and causing havoc for motorists. For just the second time this winter, the storm forced schools to send bus students home early on Monday and several offices and businesses in Port Perry allowed staff to leave at noon, especially those who live in the rural areas. While the storm made driving conditions near- ly impossible on many roads throughout the _Township, both the Whit- by OPP and Durham Police said early Mon- day afternoon there had been no serious traffic accidents due to the weather. "Most people seem to be staying off the roads, and that's what we are advising," said Staff Sgt. Doug Aird of Durham"s 26 Division office in Sunderland. A spokesperson with the OPP office in Whitby said all available officers were on duty, but the ma- jor problems were on Highway 401 in the Oshawa and Pickering area where there were reports of multi-vehicle pile-ups. However, the spokesperson said there were no reports as of ear- ly Monday afternoon of any fatalities. " Brian's There were whiteouts, drifting snow, and when the snow turned to freez- ing rain about 2:30 Mon- day afternoon, the already hazardous driv- ing conditions turned 'worse. Monday was not a good day to go looking for a tow truck as towing com- panies were kept busy much of the day. "Our two trucks have been on the go steady all morning, and we are still a couple of hours behind in the calls," said Dorothy Fulford of Towing in Manchester. Similar statements were made by a spokesperson for Ray's Towing in Port Perry who said about a dozen calls had been received in a two hour period from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. However, this was not the busiest day of the winter for the people with tow trucks. That freezing rain and ice storm in January caused just as much aggrava- tion for motorists. At the Township municipal office, staff was allowed to go home shortly after the noon hour, and both the Royal Bank and Bank of Com- merce remained open for business, but allowed staff who live outside . Port Perry to leave about 2:00 P.M. It was a busy day for the Township Works Department. Superinten- (Turn to page 8) Tl Last Sunday was just a perfect day to en- joy Lake Scugog. The lake was covered with a sheet of smooth ice, the results of rains and Can't Wait For Spring Above, Gerald Jackson of Port Perry sails his ice-boat across the smooth surface of the lake. It is the third season Mr. Jackson has used the ice-boat, which he built on his own. melting snow over the past two weeks. Restaurant owners - ae Teenagers from Port Perry High School were happy fo lend Doug Moore a hand when the car he was driving got stuck at the corner of Queen and Ella Streets. See story for more on the worst storm of the winter season. Vol. 119 No. 14 Tuesday, March 5, 1985 32 pages ready for lock-out Scugog suds lovers can figure on enjoying their favourite brew at local licensed establishments for the next few weeks, but if the lock-out by On- tario breweries con- tinues much longer than that, beer will be a pret- ty scarce commodity. All restaurants and tavern owners surveyed by the Star last week said they were prepared for the lock-out with as much extra stock as they could muster. Most ad- mitted they weren't concerned--unless the lock-out continues over a long period of time. Windcrest Farms owner Ron Deeth was the only proprietor to say he was prepared for a lock- out lasting longer than a month, and claims to have enough beer to last two or three months. Mr. Deeth says his Man- chester restaurant sells more liquor than beer, however, and isn't wor- ried at all about the lock-out. Even Crandell's River- boat owner Dan McLar- non isn't really worried about the lock-out, despite the high volume of beer he normally sells each week. "We're fine, we've stocked up," he said. "'I don't anticipate the strike will go on that long but if worse comes to worse I think people will drink something else. | don't believe they would walk out the door just because there's no beer." At Emiel's Place, owner Emiel Kroonenberg says he has (Turn to page 2) Farm severance motion defeated Durham Region coun- cil has soundly defeated a resolution which would have guaranteed one severance to any owner of farm property. The resolution, which went before council last week, was from Oshawa councillors Doug Wilson and Ed Kolodzie. However, it went down to defeat 28-1 with the lone vote in support com- ing from councillor Wilson. The proposed resolu- tion called for the gran- ting of one severance from all farm assessed properties, providing the severed parcel and re- tained parcel both ex- ceed one acre and have at least 75 feet frontage on road. The owner of the severed lot would sign a waiver that Durham Region would not be liable for any en- vironmental or water damage as a result of the severance. Several councillors, in- cluding Lawrence Malcolm of Scugog spoke against the motion, but Newcastle Mayor Grant Rickard, who has exten- sive farm holdings said approval would lead to the disappearance of more good farm land. Brock Township coun- cillor Don Hadden, also a farmer, and is chairman of the Region's planning committee said land severance regulations in the Region are less restictive now than in other jurisdictions. The current regula- tions today allow a bona fide farmer who has own- ed his land for at least ten years to sever one retirement lot, up to one acre in size. age A - I ---- AIRE pile