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bate 6- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, August 23 1994 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" i ---- ---- FE Dr Port i TORIAL { 2d IDIEI ES TY WAVE Editorial Comment Fighting a pointless crime Members of Port Perry's Kinsmen Club are rightfully upset over incidents of van- dalism at their hall. The hall, which sits on Simcoe St. just north of the downtown core, has been hit twice in the past month by vandals, who have -- who knows why? -- smashed win- dows, then fled in the night. Hall users turn up in the morning to find shattered glass and gaping window frames, and wonder who is responsible. The club is forced to pay for damage each time it occurs. That's a steep bill for a volunteer organization whose mandate is community service and whose source of funding is the contributions made by lo- cals at the barbecues, car rallies and oth- er events the club has become known for here. Club president Larry Kendall was fum- ing after the first incident, several weeks ago. He declined comment on the latest spree, referring a reporter instead to hall committee members. : The club members are now consider ing wire mesh covering for the windows at the hall, used by local Scouts and oth- er groups. Hardly the kind of atmosphere one wants for a community hall; but it's a measure which, sadly, seems necessary. The response by most of us to such ac- tions is to ask why. And the answer is: No Reason. No Reason At All. Vandalism is pointless and stupid and infuriating. And there is a tendency to point at the area's young people, some of whom may or may not be responsible for the damage that has occurred. In assigning blame everyone must be vigilant about fairness; don't paint all young people with the same brush. Be- cause quite often the way to produce negative behavior is to let a kid know that's exactly what you expect of him. The way to solve the problem, and to make sure those responsible are fingered and the innocent are not smeared, is to | be vigilant in another way. Watch out for your neighbors. Keep an eye on the schools and halls on these | long summer nights. Don't ignore what | you hear going on. And when you are suspicious, call the | police. The only way to relay the message -- | that the community considers such be- |: havior unacceptable -- to those who are | perpetrating the crime is to catch them a. and give it to them straight. It's your community; take part in its fu- L ture, and security. 1 AY - py F RR1BIE p) [1 7 15 Wo on NG,4 PHOTO RADAR Tioker. HOW MucH DID THEY Nai Pr {Cs NOT TWAT -- THE PHOTO oF ME, You FoR? MW 8AD Sipe / / EE, en 190 yy §------ y . / | YX \ ~~ == -- (#7 » \ . =| . oo s | rr po ai BO TUT "MPP responds to article To the Editor: I am taking this opportunity to re- spond to the article that appeared in the rite Star recently, penned by Alan Silverstein, in the hope that it will re- lieve some anxiety amongst older folks who have completed a Power of Attor- ney. All of the information contained in this letter has been approved by Susan Himel the Acting Trustee, through the Attorney General's Ministry. After reading the article by Mr. Silver- stein one is left with the impression that the Substitute Decisions Act renders powers of attorney no longer effective and that the Public Guardian and Trus- tee will take over the financial manage- ment of all persons who become finan- cially incompetent. This is not correct. The Acting Trustee has explained to Mr. Silverstein in a recent telephone conversation, that under the current and new legislation, the Public Guardi- an Trustee will only become involved if an individual is assessed as incapable and no one else is willing or able to as- sume responsibility for the incapable person. A Power of Attorney prepared in advance of incapacity naming a substi- tute decision maker gives that trusted person the legal authority to make deci- sions on behalf of someone who has be- come mentally incapable. It would not be necessary or useful for anyone to trigger a capacity assessment if a Power of At- Turn to Page 7 Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten ASHES TO ASHES Getting away for a holiday last week gave me a chance to read the daily news- papers more thor- oughly than my nor- mal quick scan of the general news, business and sports sections. Front and centre in the news were reports on Woodstock '94, the election campaign in Quebec, the resignation of Evelyn Gigantes as housing minister, and the implementation of photo radar. With all these major stories taking place, there was one photograph and cutline buried in the back of the paper which caught both my attention and my imagination. | The photo was of fireworks bursting in the sky, which is not all that unusual, but the fact the shell contained the cremat- ed remains of a fireworks maker did add a little different glow to the fallout. Apparently the event took place in the night sky over Pennsylvania during the grande finale at a convention of fire- works technicians, and colleagues of the man constructed a shell which carried his remains aloft and scattered them into the midnight sky. This got me to thinking, how many oth- ers have asked that their remains be scattered in strange ways. | know I've heard of people wanting their remains scattered on rivers or lakes or on the ground of their birthplace, but just think of the other possibilities. For example, could this lead to a print- er asking his co-workers to mix his ash- es in printers ink and be used in the next edition of the local newspaper... a mason who asks that his ashes be mixed in mortar and used in the construction of a house, or an astronaut who wants his remains released in space." The possibilities are endless! BASEBALL STRIKE As | write this column, the baseball strike is in its 12th day and still in full swing.... fans are fuming.... hot dog ven- dors are sizzling... both players and owners have dug in and it looks like the season could be over. = Personally, | could care less! - Although | enjoy ball, | really haven't missed the closeups of players spewing black tobacco juice on the field and pull- ing at their jock straps... of pitchers standing on the mound for 30 seconds before deciding to throw the ball.... of batters stepping out of the box just as a pitcher decides to throw.... and of whin- ing millionaire baseball players who think they deserve more. Here we are almost into the last week of August with the CFL in full swing, hockey just around the corner and the NFL and NBA offering lots of profession- al alternatives. So who really cares if the baseball strike ends the season? If you want to see some entertaining ball, just drop by one of Scugog's many ball diamonds any night this week. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Port Perry Star encourages its readers to make use of the letters to the editor column to express their opinions and viewpoints on just about any subject, as we feel a lively letters | column will help make this a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that all letter writers sign their name and include a phone number for verification. Sorry, anonymous letter will not be published unless The Star believes it to be in the best interest of the public. We also reserve the right to edit letter with respect to their length, content or libelous comments.