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Vol. 120 No. 2 Tuesday, December 10, 1985 40 pages Council says no way to bid for re-count A request by defeated Public School Board candidate Bobbie Drew for a re-count in Scugog Township was turned down by Township council Monday afternoon. Mrs. Drew, from Port Perry, lost the November 12 election to Debbie Tredway by six votes. NEW MEMBERS AHSTS The decision not to re-count the Board of Education ballots was unanimous among the members of council who voted on the issue at Monday's first regular meeting for the new council. Also rejected at the same time was a request for a re-count in Ward 4 from defeated candidate Jim With one swift move, Carl Kroonenberg, famous high school wrestler, picks up his opponent and tosses him out of the ring (if you believe that, the Star has some great swampland in Florida). Sort of reminds us of the song, "He flies through the air with the greatest of ease..." See story for details. Marlow who lost that race to Neil McLaughlin, also by a six-vote margin. Appearing before the council Monday afternoon, Mrs. Drew presented a four-page brief outlin- ing the reasons why she thinks the council should order the re-count. Noting that the margin of dif- ference between her vote total and that of Mrs. Tredway's was .0737 (or about 7/100th of a vote out of more that 8,000 cast) Mrs. Drew said there could have been some in- advertent human error in counting ballots on election night November 12. And she also produced a state- ment from a person who acted as a scrutineer at one of the polling sta- tions which said 'the possibility for error in counting of ballots existed." The fact that five names on the school board ballot (two to be elected) added to the possibility for human error, although the scrutineer said he saw no deliberate attempt or obvious errors. Mrs. Drew also produced a sign- ed statement from a Township cou- ple who said they received public (Turn page page 9) By-laws not being enforced By-laws in Scugog Township are not being enforced because the Township lacks the necessary man- power to do the job Scugog administrator Karl Cud- die "old Township council bluntly Monday afternoon that "we just don't have the troops to do this" (by- law enforcement) He made the remarks during discussion at Monday's council meeting about an alleged by-law n- fraction in one of the hamlets in the municipality that nas apparently been on-going for several months and has been the subject of com- plaints from residents hving in that hamlet Mr Cuddie told councillors that the by-law enforcement and building inspector officer hired by the municipality late last fall has been kept busy on the building in- spection aspect of the job "He's been working overtime on the building inspections He just hasn't had the time to concentrate on by-law infractions, said Mr Cuddie Those comments prompted area councillor Harvey Graham to sug gest the time has come for the coun (Turn to page 2) a n 1 It may be the season for having a good time but think twice next time you step in your car after imbibing too many rum and egg nogs. Officers like Durham PC Frank Hammond will be on the road again this year with their ALERT machines, on the look-out for impaired drivers. See story for details on what could happen to you if you're caught drinking and driving. As of December 4 Tougher laws fordrunk drivers Tougher drinking and driving laws went into effect last week, just in time for the Christmas season. First time offenders found guilty of impaired driving, having a blood/alcohol reading of over 08, and refusing to give a breath sam- ple now face a minimum $300 fine and automatic loss of licence for three months Under the old laws. the minimum fine was $50 for a first offender. However, since the new law went into effect December 4, judges have been ignoring the minimum $300 fine and slapping average fines of $750 on those convicted for the first time A conviction for a second offense on these charges carries an automatic 14 days in the slammer: and anyone found guilty a third time will spend 90 days in jail and have the driver's licence suspended for a year These are the mimmum penalties that can be imposed. A judge can impose a fine of an unlimited amount, send mperson to jail for five years and suspend the driver's licence for three years. For more serious impaired driv- ing charges in which there is bodily harm or death, the penalties get even tougher An impaired driver that causes a death could go to jail for 14 years and have a ten year licence suspension If the charge is criminal negligence causing death, the max- imum penalty on conviction could be life in prison or a life long ban on driving. Further changes in the Code for driving while under suspension could mean a two year prison sentence and a three year licence suspension And failing to stop at an accident carries a maximum penal- ty of three years in jail and three years loss of licence Councillors get SADD invitation Members of Scugog Township council have been personally invited to attend a SA DD information meeting at Port Perry High School this Thursday evening (December 12) The invitation to council members was made Monday afternoon hy PPHS student council president Gerri MacDonald, and council ex ecutive members Heidi Spannbauer and Lynn Bradbury SADD stands for students against driving drunk. and the three students told Township councillors that a committee formed at PPHS now has over 100 members Over the past seven months, there have been five fatal accidents in the Township where alcohol may have been a factor, and this is the reason why the SA DD committee was formed, said Ms. MacDonald. Scugog Mayor Jerry Taylor said drinking and driving 1s an issue of serious concern to all people and he pledged Township support to the students in "any way possible He aslo suggested that members of council attend the meeting Thurs day evening at PPHS It gets under way at7 00 P M inthe gymnasium RE --_ a ---- ---- a --