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A 4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, February 16, 1988 Editorial Comments Little Comfort Ontario Solicitor-general Joan Smith was right on last week when she demanded that the federal government come up with some answers on the policies which deal with halfway houses for prisoners and parolees. Specifically, she (and a lot of other people) want to know why potentially violent prisoners are allowed into halfway houses in cities and towns. Last Thursday, a 29 year old rapist and burgler simply walked away from a halfway house in Toronto's Parkdale Region. Herbert Ray Smith was described by police as "violent, mentally unstable and sexually aggressive towards women." . First convicted in 1980 for attempted rape he was sentenced to 72 years in the slammer. Released five years later on mandatory supervision, he was soon convicted for breaking and entering and had an additional six months tacked on his original sentence. When he walked away from the halfway house last week, he had less than 30 days to serve before he would be once more out on man- datory supervision. No wonder people who live in the area of these halfway houses are nervous. No wonder they want some answers and little wonder that provincial politicians are demanding some answers as well. This latest case is grimly punctuated by the fact that just three weeks earlier a convicted killer walked away from another halfway house in Toronto and has since been charged with the brutal stabb- ing of a 25-year old woman. There certainly is merit in the philosophy behind the halfway house system which is designed to ease prisoners back into the mainstream of society after serving time in jail. That's no doubt bet- ter than simply dumping them out the front door of Kingston Pen with a few bucks and a one-way bus ticket in their pocket. But should violent offenders be released to halfway houses in cities or towns? Why are they allowed to pretty well come and go as they please so long as they are back by 9:00 PM curfew? And what about this practise of mandatory supervision whereby anyone serv- ing time is released early so long as he or she has not been a troublemaker behind bars? When police describe Herbert Ray Smith as being "violent, mentally unstable and sexually aggressive towards women' one wonders if he should ever get his freedom. It's high time somebody got control of a system which allows dangerous and violent criminals to take up residence in a halfway house with a lot of freedom to come and go, wander around the neighbourhood and hike down to the corner store for a package of cigarettes. Those who don't break, those who behave like reasonable and sensible human beings need some protection from this kind of thing. It's not good enough to say that these are only isolated instances that happen very rarely. It sure isn't much comfort for decent people to know that violent, dangerous, sexually aggressive and/or mentally unstable offenders are walking the streets somewhere. Port P 'STA Port Perry STAR 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO Phone 985-7383 P.0.Box90 LOB 1NO J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Community Newspaper Association. Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd, Port Perry, Ontario. J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by the Post : Office Department, Ottawa, and for cash CATHY OLLIFFE payment of postage in cash. News & Features . Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 » & Goa . Subscription Rate: In Canada $20.00 per year. Dp: » ar ® Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50° nll ns ASO : ef N pt VE wspapgrs CONS © COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver- . tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. / » Wow ya Line #47, \Y Ds lacep BY AN OL'NMAG = p. y HUNDREDS OF yaks aD' rnd " YEAK, THEY HAD 70 BRING WA GREEK 70oRCH JO GET ER GON." NT UG an 14 CALGARY 3) STAMPEDE En J / Chatterbox by Cathy Olliffe THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE . So what IS the best thing about Scugog Township? : A couple of weeks ago I asked that question in this space. In fact, I asked a lot of questions, in the hopes I'd be overwhelmed with bags of let- ters in reply. Well, I didn't exactly see any bags, but I am pretty content with the response to my imprormp- tu survey. Sixteen people gumptioned up a few minutes and filled out the survey, and while that's not enough to extrapolate any real findings, it's enough to have some fun with. First off, I'm sure a few of you sat around together and answered the questions. Some of the answers are so close that even the spelling mistakes are the same. Maybe you cheated, or maybe you're just so mentally in-tune that you: should be on the Newlywed Game (with some of the bozos you see on that show, even I could win myself a new dining room set). Secondly, it's refreshing to see that many of you have a good, if not somewhat disgusting, sense of humour. Your answers may not have been clean, but this column is. SO IF YOU EXPECT TO SEE YOUR INANE BIT OF TRIPE IN THIS COLUMN, FORGET IT. But on to the results. BEST HAMBURGER: The cutest answer was, 'My Mom's, but no orders please."' The most common answer was some place called the Wind- mill. Is there a restaurant called the Windmill in Scugog? If so, I've never heard of it. It's not in the phone book. Is the Windmill a secret hamburger club that you have to be a member of or something? Or have all five respondents mixed up the name with the Watermill Restaurant? Other replies includ- ed Bayshore (two votes), Baba's, Westshore in the summer, Crandell's, Big Mac, Harvey's (I didn't know there was a McDonald's or Harvey's in Scugog, did you?), Conway Place, the Dairy Bar, and an answer that says, "Don't eat them." BEST PLACE TO GET YOUR CAR FIXED: Anderson's Chev-Old's tied for most answers along with Flieler's Petro-Can. Runners-up includ- ed Larry Taylor's Petro-Can, Harry's Repair, Texaco (?), and the cryptic "nowhere." Obviously that person drives a Lada. BEST TEACHER: I thought I'd get more replies on this one, but here's the list I did receive- -Mrs. Hamilton (two votes), Jean Holtby, Ken Smart, Pat Smith, Pam Fis, and my favourite answer, "Life." BEST POLITICIAN: If Mayor Jerry Taylor decided to run in this year's election, he's bound to win----according to this poll! 'Jerome Taylor" received a whopping six votes, more than any other politician mentioned. Yvonne Christie, Howard Hall, Deb Tredwey, and someone nam- ed Clarence Malcolm were also voted for (who is DE Clarence Malcolm?). I suspect Lawrence Malcolm should also be on this list. BEST DOCTOR: WOW! Everyone replied to this answer, but it was Dr. John Stewart who won the hearts of those who replied, with an amazing nine votes! Also mentioned were Drs. Puckrin, Hammett, Millar and Price. BEST POLICEMAN: Someone wrote, "The one who smiles when you make a mistake." Good answer, but we needed names here. Fact is, I didn't get a lot of names, still, the policeman with the most votes was Detective Carl Fitzgerald. Runner-up was Neil Bradley. A John with no last name, along with M. Closs were also mentioned. - BEST LAWYER: New kid on the block, criminal lawyer Bryan Davies, won this category with six votes, but he was followed closely by/his own partner, Mike Fowler. Harris, Fletcher was also mentioned, but I'm not sure if the two voters were pulling for Harris, or Fletcher. (Harris is not Fletcher's first name, get it?) BEST NEWSPAPER: It was unaminous-the Port Perry Star even beat out the National En- quirer. Someone wrote, 'Port Perry Star isn't too bad. Cat likes it too." BEST FISHING HOLE: Fishermen, take . note. The most mentioned fishing hole is in (drum roll, please) the Honey's Beach Channel! Runners-up include King's Bay, Lake Scugog (!), Nonquon (the river, not the travel agency), Scugog Point (in the water, I hope), the causeway (Gee, I dunno, there's a lot of traffic), and 300 yards off Six Mile Island estate. Someone else wrote, "Secret.'"' Usually, the best fishing holes are. BEST MARINA: Somebody thought there were no marinas in Scugog. Can you believe it? There's bazillions, but the one mentioned most was West Shore Marine. Also mentioned was John Mackey and Goreski's. BEST SNOWMOBILE: Geez, there sure must be a lot of Yamaha fans out there. Seven voted for Yamaha and a few were specific with the Yamaha Phaser. Other favourite brands were Arctic Cat and Bombardier. BEST INSURANCE COMPANY: The most mentioned company here was Don Forder with nine votes! Runners-up included Ray Fralic and Emmerson's. BEST RESTAURANT: There sure are a lot to choose from (one writer said, "Too darn many to try out"), but Conway Place had the highest number of votes with Emiel's Place, the Feed Bin, Crandell's, the Dairy Bar and the mysterious Windmill also mentioned. So, in fact, was McDonald's but heck, I don't ever recall seeing any golden arches north of the ridges, do you? BEST STORE: Lots of answers on this one, but Canadian Tire pulled the most support with (Turn to page 8)