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Volume 125 Number 02 PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1990 56 Pages Copy 60¢ Scugog Township has be- come the focal point of an inten- sive search for the body of Eliza- beth Bain. More than 100 searchers spent Saturday and Sunday combing the woods, swamps and fields around the lake, while a team of 18 divers worked in the murky waters of Scugog and in numerous small ponds in the Township. The search for the 23-year old Scarborough woman who was last seen alive June 19 is concentrating on the Scugog area because of what organizers say is "new and important infor- mation." Search co-ordinator Dave Madder said Sunday the pre- cise nature of the new informa- tion can't be made public, but "we are moving in this direction (Scugog) because of the info we have received." And a Metro Toronto Police detective is quoted in a newspa- per report Friday as saying the searchers are on the right track to concentrate their efforts on the sandy areas of the shores of Lake Scugog. Despite the intense efforts over the weekend, which includ- ed tracking dogs, and a use of a privately owned helicopter, searchers failed to come up with any substantial clues as to where the remains of Elizabeth Bain might be. Her parents, Rick and Juli- ta Bain were among those who took part in the search over the weekend. The 52" inch student was last seen late in the afternoon of June 19 at Scarborough College campus. Her two-door silver Toyota Tercel was found the next day near Old Kingston Road. On November 19, Metro Po- lice charged 25-year old Rob Baltovitch with first degree The number of welfare cas- es in Scugog Township has jumped sharply over the last year, according to a report from Durham Region's Social Service Department. The Scugog Township in- crease from October 1989 to Oc- tober this year was 29 per cent, according to the report, the fourth highest per cent increase of the eight municipalities in the Region. Although the actual num- ber of welfare cases in Scugog murder. He has been denied bail. There were just over 100 searchers, including the divers at work in the Township on Sat- urday. A search HQ was set up in the basement of the United Church in Port Perry with radio communications between the HQ and the search teams. Divers worked in the shal- low waters at Honey's Beach, along the causeway and along the shoreline at Caesarea, Wil- liams Point and Scugog Point. One search team Saturday found a rifle barrel and bag of clothing near Highway 7A. And in a field near Prince Albert, a tracking dog un- ~ Search continues in Scugog § for Elizabeth Bain's body | covered a pink blanket under the ground. Durham Police were called and a dead dog was discovered under the blanket. While the search is concen- trating on finding the remains of Liz Bain, they are also look- ing for a 14-year old Pickering girl, Julie Stanton, who has been missing since Easter Mon- day when she was seen getting into an older model car near her home. Her father, John Stanton, was among the searchers in Scugog Township over the weekend. Because of what the orga- nizers call the new information Turn to Page 9 Township council wants GO decision reconsidered Scugog Township council wants the NDP government to re-consider its recent decision not to provide GO Train service through this area. Councillors threw their unanimous support behind a resolution Monday afternoon drafted by Ward 2 rep Marilyn Pearce. The resolution is in re- sponse to the November 26 pro- vincial announcement that Scu- gog, Victoria County and Peterborough would be getting bus service rather than a GO Train on the rail line between Toronto and Peterborough. That bus/rail link an- nouncement has been soundly criticized by the Toronto/ Peterborough Passenger Asso- ciation. What the province wants to do is subsidize private bus lines remains relatively low, the per cent increase is a reflection of tough economic times. In October, 1989, there were 130 welfare cases in Scu- gog. In one year, that number soared to 168 cases. While it is of concern to Re- gional officials, Scugeg's wel- fare role increase is small com- pared to Oshawa where the numbers increased 100 per cent in the same 12 month period. Pickering had a 61 per cent increase over the same year, to expand service for commut- ers from Peterborough and Port Perry to Oshawa and the GO Train station in Whitby. Speaking on the resolution, councillor Pearce said the an- nouncement is a "broken prom- ise from the (NDP) govern- ment." During the last provincial election campaign, NDP leader Bob Rae pledged to provide GO Train service to Peterborough with Scugog Township commut- ers served with stops at Burke- ton and Myrtle. The resolution adopted by Scugog council Monday after- noon questions whether the proposed bus/rail link will work for commuters. Councillor Pearce said ef- forts by bus companies in the past to provide commuters with Turn to Page 5 and Newcastle was at 34 per cent. Brock Township had the lowest increase from October to October at seven per cent. Ux- bridge had a 12 per cent hike and both Ajax and Whitby saw their cases increase by 14 per cent. The combined increase in welfare cases across Durham jumped 63 per cent. In actual terms, there were 7,016 cases this October, com- pared with 4,292 in the same With two colleagues holding a safety line, diver Dan Spence probes the murky waters of a pond near Honey's Beach Saturday morning. They were part of an intensive search for the body of Elizabeth Bain. Search organizers have new Information which leads them to believe her body was dumped in Scugog Township. (see story for details) Welfare cases up sharply in Scugog Township month a year ago. Just over 11,440 people in Durham were receiving welfare benefits of some kind in Octo- ber, or 3.6 per cent of the total population. Durham's welfare budget this year is set at $36.3 million. As of the end of September, $30.8 million (or 85 per cent) of the that budget had been used up. Durham has already added more than $900,000 to its wel- fare budget in the form of a spe- cial levy. But the Region's finance department warns that if the current trends continue through to the end of this year, Durham's share of the welfare budget will still fall short by $175,000. And the department recom- mends this shortfall come from the general budget. Durham's share of direct welfare payments is 20 per cent. The provincial government pays the remainder. vo.