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Vol. 129 No. 05 "PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1994 Welfare stats In decline By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star Welfare statistics continue to decline as 1994 draws to a close, a report released last week indicates. Fhe number of people in the region on General Welfare Assistance (GWA) in November was down almost 11 per cent from the same period in 1993, says the report, sent to regional council's health and social ser- vices committee. There was also a slight decrease in the number of people relying on welfare to make ends meet from October to November. The number of people in the region receiving Family Benefits, meanwhile, is down about 1 per cent from November of 1993, the report says. The local numbers buck the provincial trend, which saw a slight increase in the number "of people-on welfare from October to November. Here's a breakdown of the figures reported to the commit- tee: 0 Total number of GWA cases in Durham for November 1994 was 10,390, representing 17,616 people. That's 56 fewer cases than in October, and 2,140 fewer people than were on welfare roles in November 1993, a 10.8 per cent decrease. 0 Family Benefits cases totalled 7,103 in November and October, representing 20,598 people, 13,495 of them children. In November 1993 there were 20,211 people receiving FBA assistance; that's a 2 per cent Turn to page 4 RR SA eh ro cooked old-fashioned gin Enjoying the fruits of their fa Kids had a great time Saturday afternoon at Scugog Shores Museum, where they enjoyed a tour and also rbread men in the kitchen. Bq rs are Jeffrey Via Cable subscribe By Cathy Olliffe Port Perry Star Local cable subscribers won't have to worry about large rate hikes -- at least, not for a At Scugog arena ment is required. admitted free. Holiday shinny scheduled There are plenty of opportunities to.take advantage of at the Scugog Arena over the Christmas Holidays. Shinny pick-up hockey will be running for youth and teenag- ers on Dec. 23 and Jan. 6 and 6, 1995. Senior shinny runs 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. for ages 13 to 18 years. Junior shinny runs 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for ages eight to 12 years. The cost of the program is $3.50 per person, with goalies ad- mitted free. Games will be organized and refereed. Full equip- On the above dates, public skating is also available in the af- ternoon from 1-3 p.m. The cost is $2 per person. As a special fea- ture, the arena will again be hosting a Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve skate from noon to 2 p.m. Everyone is welcome and Compton planning for future while. Compton Cable TV owner Ron Compton said rates in Scu- gog and Uxbridge will not go up as the result of reconstruction of a whole new fibre optic sys- Another factor having a bear- ing on rates is a recent CRTC ruling ordering cable compa- nies to carry seven new Canadi- an speciality channels: Wom- en's Television Network, Showcase, French news RDI, Bravo!, Discovery Channel, Life Network and the New Country Network. In Toronto, Rogers Cablesy- tems has announced a rate in- crease to pay for the new chan- nels. Some subscribers are upset because the new channels are added to the same package as other popular channels (in- cluding TSN and A&E). And if they want to say no to the new speciality channels, which in- crease the cost of the whole package, they also have to say no to all other channels in the package. Mr. Compton said his compa- ny has "deferred any decisions on the new channels" until after the re-building ofthe company. As for rate hikes, he said there are none in the works, mainly because the last local rate increase was a year ago September. Another reason, he said, is that the company has to go through such an expensive and complicated procedure in order for the CRTC to approve any rs won't face hikes for now rate increase. He said it costs his company $35,000 and count- less hours of work every time Compton Cable applies for an increase. "It's a nightmare," said Mr. Compton. Now he claims Compton's rates are "about average" in the industry. "You'll still see rates go up "slightly, to coverinflationary in- creases and future capital growth," he added. But he maintained it will not be sub- stantial, and not as a result of channels or the new system. Christmas Greeting Section Inside this issue of The Port Perry Star you will find a special section devoted to Christmas Greeting from local business peo- ple, as well as an assortment of short stories and letters written to Santa submitted from the children of Scugog's schools. We hope you take time to enjoy this Christmas special. a a, i ined Oshawa Centre is open Christmas Eve 'til 6pm. Re-Opening Dec. 27th at 8:30am. a bh cama fl aS il 7 I iT,