The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

"A Family Tradition for 128 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, April 12,1994 - 3a It had to happen sooner or later. You cannot live in rural and small town Canada without eventually being stained by the splash of big city crime. The sad fact is that the small town of Port Colborne just had its very first, its very own gunman/hos- tage-taking/standoff. How small is Port Colborne, Ontario? Well it's so small that the gunman couldn't find a victim so he took himself hostage! This is good for family, friends and neighbors; this is bad for your average home alone gunman. You see, and I believe the experts will back me up on this one, in a pro- longed process of negotiation, a gun- man without a hostage has very lim- ited bargaining power. When a gunman comes out hold- ing the gun to his own head and yells: "Cash and a car or I'm gonna pop this guy!" the emergency task force team is trained to stand down and let the problem pretty much take care of itself. And, after two or three or four days, a gunman without a hostage has really no one to trade for coffee by William Thomas AND THAT'S WHY | LOVE SMALL TOWN LIVING and sandwiches. The way I see it, a hostage-taker without a hostage is like a drive-by shooter on an exercise bike. The incident in Port Colborne began when the roof of the gunman's apartment began leaking and he fired off several shots. I know what you're thinking -- a lot of guys would have just called a plumber. Well let's not be too hasty here. How many times have you banged on the top of the television set before finally phon- ing the repairman. That's how these human tragedies happen. One day you're flicking your finger at the "12:00" that's been flashing on your VCR since you bought it, and the next day you're dropping torpedoes down the toilet. Anyway the police were sum- moned and the gunman settled in for the siege with a 30/30 rifle, a shot- gun, a club, a hunting knife, a machete and a bow with arrows. Basically he was better armed than the Canadian forces we had in Bosnia but not quite as well protect- ed as a tour-bus driver in Miami. During the 31-hour standoff that Freebee, followed, the police tried to call the gunman to negotiate an end to it all, but as luck would have it, the guy did not have a phone. This was a real shock to residents out here in Wainfleet who already have call waiting. At some point the police sent their Remote Mobile Investigative Unit into the gunman's apartment and he shot the hell out of the robot. This was a big mistake. I'm no expert in this area, but couldn't Freebee have become the hostage he never had? Think about it -- not only is that thing very expensive to replace, if it's as smart as the cops claim it is -- the robot could have dri- ven the gunman's getaway car. Anyway, the good news is that Freebee is not dead. He's listed in fair condition in the Intensive Care Unit at Atlas Steels. At precisely 4:06 p.m. on the second day of the standoff, the Niagara Regional Police Emergency Task Force Unit said enough is enough and began their "teargas campaign." They lobbed over a dozen teargas canisters at the windows of the gunman's apartment. Unfortunately all of them missed the window and bounced off the side of the building. Twelve misses in a row? That's not a "teargas campaign," that's Kim Campbell's campaign! When the police finally did get one into the apartment, the gunman picked it up and threw it back out the window. It was fortunate that all the neighbors who had been evacuated didn't run back up the stairs and into the gunman's apartment -- at this point, the only place in the neighbor- hood with clean air. 1 counted 18 softball size pock- marks on the side of the buildin where the teargas canisters bounce off. One such dent was two feet off the ground. The gunman's apartment was on the second floor. Either the police assumed he had a midget accomplice or they just gotta straighten out the barrel of that tear- gas gun. Anyway the gunman gave himself up. I don't know if it was the teargas or the fear of losing his damage deposit. Personally, I think he just couldnt stand the brutal beating the vinyl siding was taking. And that's why I love small town living. Because even in the throes of a real live hostage taking standoff, neither the criminal nor the cops pose a threat to public safety. Signed copies of William Thomas' book "Malcolm and Me" can be mailed direct to you by sending $22 to Malcolm and Me, P.O. Box 130, Port Colborne, Ontario. L3K 5V8. Please include how you would like to have the book inscribed. Youths available for only $15 Scugog area residents are invited to a Composter Sale Day being held in Port Perry at Port Perry Feeds on Saturday, April 23 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. : Composter Sale Days gives the public an opportunity to purchase a composter from the Region for only $15. The composters have been subsidized by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy, and are made available through the Region of Durham's Waste Reduction Programs. Regional staff will be on site all day offering free infor- mation and presenting composting workshops to all inter- ested residents. The free information and workshops are available to all, no purchase necessary. Residents currently composting are encouraged to drop by with any questions they may have, or to purchase a second composter. Join over 27,000 residents of Durham who are already composting, and help reach a goal of 50 per cent waste diversion by the year 2000. Composter Sale Day takes place at Port Perry Feeds, 40 Vanedward Drive, Port Perry. Corporation of the Township of Scugog WATERSHED STUDY RELATING TO ~~.) DEVELOPMENT OF LANDS BETWEEN _%" PORT PERRY AND PRINCE ALBERT NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING Members of the Public are invited to attend a Meeting to be held at the Township Municipal Offices situated at Perry and North Streets in Port Perry on Wednesday, April 20th, 1994 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The purpose of the Meeting is to advise the Public of proposed development within the Watershed drained by the intermittent stream known as Watercourse "A", and to solicit comments on the stormwater management methods recommended to safeguard the environment within the drainage basin and also in adjacent properties. The Map shows the location of the Watershed and Watercourse "A" shooting pellets Two youths were picked up outside Port Perry High School last Thursday, after a teacher called police to say the two were discharging a pellet gun from a" vehicle. According to police the youths were discharging the gun dur- ing the lunch hour at the school. Police seized a .22 calibre pel- let pistol. The two youths were questioned and released, pend- ing furtherinvestigation. TTY RI Ve POET ad GOLDEN GATE CHINESE BUFFET Fully Licensed by LLBO CORSE I 1 U6 I I IN BA | PORT PERRY +s pbs LI IY a ~% VILLAGE OF ALL YOU CAN EAT 80 ITEM Spring Yard Cleanups e Grass Cutting ¢ Rototilling * Lawn Rolling » Aerating/Dethatching e Fertilizing » Driveway Sealing e Odd Jobs Residential/Commercial Free Estimates Contracts Available "Seniors Discount" CHINESE BUFFET FREE Birthday Cake for Birthday Parties Kids 9 and under 1/2 price! DINNER BUFFET 7 days a week SCUGOG [ od Ww 2 2 Q 2 ® 2 varieties of shrimp, mussels & crab meat LUNCH (Mon. to Fri) - $5.95 (Sat/Sun. & Hol) - $6.95 DINNER (everyday) - $9.95 ONLY 2 LOCATIONS - OSHAWA - 5 POINTS MALL 285 Taunton Rd. E., Oshawa (5 Points Mall beside Zellers) Whitby - South of 4 comers 434-6600 (DURHAM REGIONAL ROAD 2) For your complete yard care service by SCOTT PROPERTY SERVICES (905) 985-2535 (905) 435-3098 The Township of Scugog urges residents and other interested parties to attend. For more information, please contact: Ronn MacDonald, Road Superintendent Township of Scugog 181 Perry Street, P.O. Box 780 Port Perry, Ontario LOL 1A7 Telephone No. (905) 985-7346 Peter Middaugh, P. Eng. Totten Sims Hubicki Associates Consulting Engineers 1530 Markham Road, Suite 408 Scarborough, Ontario M1B 3G4 Telephone No. (416) 298-9570 For reservations or delvery call