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

ECS Vol. 134 No. 03 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1999 COPY 75¢ oes sc asm 28 Pages By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star Port Perry's Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) office will be shut down early next year as the province reinvents its system of information services for the agri-food sector. Local OMAFRA offices across the province -- for years centres of informa- tion, as well as meeting spots for various commodity groups -- will be closed over the next six months and replaced with 13 resource centres, agriculture minister Ernie Hardeman announced last week. The Port Perry office, located on Vanedward Dr. south of town, will close in the new year. The new area resource centre will be located in Lindsay. The minister said that by reducing the costs associated with maintaining bricks, mortar and staff in area offices across Ontario, the province will be better able to focus on new technology, research, and delivery of information to farmers. "We want to keep farmers farming," said the minister. "Ministry clients will find the ministry more flexible and responsive, and better able to address new challenges in a timely manner." Over the next six months, the min- istry will: 2 Replace its field offices with 13 Please turn to page 16 drinking, driving By Chris Hall : Port Perry Star The Durham Region Health Department has teamed up with six . M&M Meat Shops stores in the region in an effort to urge revelers "not to drink and drive during the hol- iday season. bi £4 "We're just asking that you think ahead, and that if your plans include alcohol, that you just be responsible," Judy Elliott, a public health nurse with the department, said last week. .. As part of the campaign the health _ department will have Millennium | Party Packages available at area Agriculture office to be close CHRISTMAS JAZZ: Visitors to The Genuine Article were greeted with the sweet sounds of jazz Sunday (Dec. 5) afternoon as the Bruce Gorrie Trio -- includ- JEFF MITCHELL /PORT PERRY STAR ing, from left, Bruce Gorrie, Rob Bulger, and Doug Matthews -- played festive tunes while shoppers milled about the Queen St. store. Police bugged by new system By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star The Durham Regional Police Service is taking steps to clear up technical glitches which have dogged its new, $11-million communication system. Some software bugs and hardware-related problems have hampered the ClearNet digital communication system, adopt- ed by the Durham force last month. It replaces the force's old analogue system with hands-free communication devices that allow officers more freedom of movement, and provides the force with more coverage for the sprawling Durham Region. One problem is that the hands-free mikes in cruisers haven't been working, said Staff-Sgt. Al Mack in a recent inter- view. "They just aren't working well," he said of the mikes, designed to clip onto sun visors in the cruisers. "One of the biggest concerns was audio quality." Since discovering the problem soon after implementation of the system, officers have gone back to using hand-held mikes. But Sgt. Mack hopes to have the hands-free sets back in oper- Please turn to page 18 Wood & Gas Professional Installations Available TOWNE FIREPLACE CENTRE 1-800-563-6032 3666