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'6 = PORT PERRY'STAR -- Tesday; Api 17 1989 The, Pout Perey Slav 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO PHONE 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50¢ EDITORIAL Publisher - J, Petér Hvidsten Editor - John B, McClelland News/Features - Cathy Olliffe Billi News: Reporter - Rob Streich Darlene Hlozan BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager - Gayle Staple Accounting - Judy Ashb Pat Webster, Lisa y * Department - Anna Gouldburn ) (0 Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Linda Ruhl her The Port Perry Star is authorized as second Catan Come re Post Office Department, Ottawa, for Gash payment of postage. PRODUCTION ADVERTISING uri Nowspapes Assriocn is § Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Annabell Harrison Advertiaing Co-ordinator - Valerie Ellis Ontario Community Newspaper Association Subscription Rate: In Canada $20.00 per year Trudy Empringham Adverising Sales Retrosehialives PUI Sia) Yossi oy un Hutchings Port Perry Star Co. Ltd. Port Perry, Ontario Editorial Comment DO NOTHING There is-a tempest in a tea-pot brewing over what to do with the famous Chalk Lake Spring, the one that cross- es Durham Road 23, and is a source of drinking water for un-told hundreds who come from near and far. The spring, as just about everyone knows has its source in Uxbridge Township on the west side of Durham Road 23, is piped under the Regional Road and it is on the Scugog side where people fill their jugs and contain- ers with the fresh drinking water. The problem is both simple and complex. First, the spring is so popular that a very serious traffic hazard is being created as people stop their cars on both sides of. the very busy Regional Road. There is virtually no off- road parking in the area, and what usually happens is that once a person has collected his water and returns to his car, he promptly makes a U-turn in the middie of the road to return home or wherever. On any afternoon on any weekend, there is a major traffic hazard at the spring. : Durham Region jumped into the act a few months ago with the suggestion of building a proper parking lot so that people could stop their cars, collect their water and get on their way with more safety. The cost of the parking lot (including expropriation of private property and extending the out-fall pipe) was. esti- mated at about $140,000. That's a lot of money to spend on a parking lot in the middie of nowhere. Then the Region's legal department and the Health Unit threw-up some caution flags to the parking lot idea. The Health Unit notes that the spring could be subject to contamination at any time. Then what if somebody be- came seriously ill. If the Region took on the responsibility of building a parking lot, it would thus assume some legal responsibility for the quality of the water. That's a prob- lem. Last week, the mayors of Uxbridge and Scugog Township suggested the spring should be capped once and for all. No water, no parking problem. That may be the quickest and cheapest solution, but the spring is so ular and there are quite a number of people who need it for drinking water (those with bad wells, etc.) that any move to permanently cap it is going to set off a hue and . cry in several council chambers. Having said all this, possibly the best solution is to do nothing, or as little as possible. Forget the idea of a park- ing lot, forget the idea of capping it. Put some reduced speed signs along the highway in that area, put up a sign saying "use this water at own risk" and let people continue to collect their water there, if they so desire. The people who stop there know the risks. Let them assume some responsibility for getting'in and out safely. This could very well be an example of a situation where governments should leave well enough alone and ~ stop trying to be a baby-sitter for everything that happens to come along. : It is precisely. this "big brother" do all things for all people kind of an attitude on the part of ALL levels of gov- emment that has pushed this country into the debt-ridden state it's in now. The Chalk Lake spring situation is serious. But spend- ing $140,000 is not the anwer, and capping it is not either. Put some safety signs up and let people make their own decisions, just this once. SOMEDAY HISTORY BOOKS WILL RECORD THIS AS DRIVING THE LAST SPIKE! UNLES4, SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE i'd --- ANOTHER TORY GOVERNMENT PUTS A SPIKE IN VIA RAIL ! A Td N N NN \ \ gy: 3 NN Ni Q Ne RM a Chatterbox by CATHY OLLIFFE THE LOWEST OF THE LOW Aunt Mary was just stomping the other night. Mad as a hatter, she was. And | guess | can't blame her. After all, she had discovered the lowest of the low, and she' found him (her? it?) living right in her own neighbourhood. The lowest of the low first struck her quiet Markham street at Christmas: As they do eve- ry year, Aunt Mary and Uncle Howard deco- fa the outside of their home with Christmas S. Only to discover that some idiot had stolen mo of their light bulbs in the dead of one night. Well, Aunt Mary thought that was low, but she could forgive a bunch of light bulbs. She figured, hey, maybe the person was desper- ately poor and needed the bulbs. And it was Christmas time, after all, so she forgave and forgot and simply replaced the stolen bulbs. In February, Aunt Ma kougn a couple of large suet balls for the local Jirds to enjoy. She hung them up using heavy duty wire, to make sure the neighbourhood squirrels wouldn't wrench the suet balls out of the tree. They were very secure suet balls. | mean, we're talking the Fort Knox of suet balls here. The only security they were missing was' a burglar alarm system. : Maybe she should have wired in an alarm. Maybe she should have hired round the clock guards to watch the suet balls. Maybe she should have insured the suet balls with Lloyds' of London. At any rate, one fine spring moming last week, Aunt Mary discovered the suet balls were missing. Gone without a trace. "Stealing the bulbs was low," she said to me, hands planted firmly on hips, "but taking Suet balls was really low. The lowest of the w." | asked myself, why on earth would anyone want to steal suet balls? At least light bulbs are useful. But what are suet balls going to be used for? Is the thief going to fry them up in a pan and serve them with s? Will he use them as slimey bowling balls? Maybe he'll Pass them off as earrings and give them to is girlfriend. Meanwhile, all those cute little birdies in Aunt Mary's neighbourhood are without suet balls. This could be a real crisis. They could starve. After all, birds don't live on worms and bugs alone. And all this, coincidentally, is hap- pening just before National Wildlife Week. So Aunt Mary is justifiably a about the theft of her sue A y ngry And she is asking herself, What's Next? Her bird bath? Her pink flamingoes? Her patio lanterns? Her dog? Why beople steal anything is beyond me. Especially anything as - inconsequential as Christmas lights or suet balls. But is ject it, cH 06s on Saw Hour 0 every day. sometimes are hf Bo as well as teed of The police are working round the clock re- sponding to break, enter. and theft calls. And yet the chances of nailing these idiots are slim. Which is why, I'm proud to announce Dur- ham Regional Police arrested and charged a Blackstock man in connection with a theft at -Causeway Esso on Highway 7A March 19, The 25 year old was arrested last week and was charged with break, enter and theft. A car and $100 cash was stolen in the break-in. We can laugh about suet balls. But that small theft is just indicative of a greater lem in our society. It seems nothing that is not nailed down is safe from the greedy fingers of brainless, selfish, boneheaded thieves. God, I'd love to get my hands on a few. RA RE RS a Si PERRIS LL SS i