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a4 tribune september 4 1985 education tax unfair by reg mackay around 1850 when the demand for schools became an issue the question arose how are we going to pay for them since in those days there was no income tax the only solution was to assess such costs against property and its remained this way to this day education tax amounts to about twothirds ones property tax this means that on a tax bill of 900 education tax is in my opinion the logical place for this expense to be assessed is on income the previous provincial government recognized this to the extent of granting up to 500 for each senior citizen to subsidize his her property tax up to age 65 regardless of in come this cost is a burden to a great number of people i feel education costs should be assessed against income only in come tax may go up but property tax will come down thus distribut ing the cost among those most able to pay i hope the present government will undertake a study of the whole system with a view of making education costs more equitable j the timbers family home rural reflections r the itibune ontario ssss james thomas amocuww editor established 1888 bruce annan pat pappas jenni hutt publisher advertising manager distribution manager editorial dept chris shanahan kelly connelly display advertising dept lois wideman real estate classified advertising joan marshman distribution doreen deacon national sales representative metroland corporate sales 4931300 published every wednesday by meirotarxj printing publishing distributing at 54 main st stouffville ont tel 6402100 single copies 50 subscriptions si 700 per year in canada 4750 elsewhere member of carvadan community newspapers association ontario weekly newspaper association ontario press council and suburban newspaper of america second class mail registration number 0896 the stouffville tribune is one of the metroland group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press ajaxpickering news advertiser the aurora banner brampton guardian the burlington post the burlington weekend post the etobicoke advertiserguardian the georgetown independent the milton champion the misstssauga news the newmarket era the willowdate mirror oakville beaver oakvihe ver oshawawhitby this week oshawawhitby this weekend the richmond hill liberal thor- nhill liberal the scarborough mirror the markham economist and sun and woodbridge liberal metroland printing publishing and distributing is a division of harlequin enterprises ltd 6402100 6492292 editorial whos being protected residents in the stouffer street- thicketwood boulevard area of stouff ville and beyond are understandably upset over a judges decision to ban pub lication of evidence related to a case dat ing back to and get this december 1983 the judge feels that because of the sexual nature of the evidence it would be unwise to further publicize the facts we say this is wrong just as we say the courts handling of the case has been wrong the matters been allowed to drag on too long increasing public spe culation that a coverup is underway arid no wonder the charges includ ing that of contributing to juvenile delin quency were laid back in january 1984 nineteen months ago several adjourn ments have followed including the latest to march 4 1986 this means if the case goes ahead as proposed two years and two months will have elapsed since the crime allegedly occurred were not about to believe its taken the crown all this time to build a case we firmly believe the identity of the children should be protected indeed if this is possible in a town our size re gardless they shouldnt be subjected to further embarrassment and humilia tion but protection of the accused is another story while long since moved from the community their names are as fresh in the minds of people as if the charges had been laid yesterday residents here arent morbidly cu rious theyre anxiously concerned some moved from the city to quiet little stouffville to escape this sort of thing if it can happen once it can happen again also there may be another side to this story the accused are indeed innocent until proven guilty perhaps theyll be proven innocent the public has a right to know what the defence has to say as well as the crown we feel the publication ban should be lifted we believe however the names of the youthful witnesses should be pro tected the judges order should end there anything less is only grist for the rumor mill and thats bad we can do better the annual terry fox marathon of j hope in whitchurchstouffville and elsewhere across canada is sunday sept 15 while terry fox himself ignited a flame of enthusiasm here even to the holding of a candlelight service at the town square the sixmile marathon has not been well supported in dollars yes weve done well better than most communities our size but in numbers of participants the turnouts been poor we can do better terry fox was a hero to all ages parti cularly teens but teen participation in the walkrun has been strangely lack ing organizers are hopeful this will change an appeal is being made through the schools all schools in whitchurch- stouffville in an effort to encourage more young people to become involved herein we believe lies the secret if principals and staff teachers take up the torch were sure the students will fol low lets hope in previous years the don ander sons the jack watsons and the terri surmans have carried the load raising in excess of six thousand dollars wed rather see this figure collected by six hundred people rather than sixty in other words total community co operation weve done it before with other projects the terry fox marathon of hope is no less important discuss hospital site the building of a hospital is one thing the location of a hospital is another to some both arc equally important to arbitrarily switch sites months be fore starting construction has irritated many supporters there have even been threats of withholding donations and pledges undoubtedly the hospital board has looked into the matter carefully re gardless this is a people project a prop erty particularly a donated property should not be suddenly abandoned for the sake of convenience board members although obviously convinced the hwy 48 site is best have agreed to discuss the issue at a public meeting sept 15 in the markham coun cil chambers buttonville this is a wise decision our choice of sites is unchanged we fa vor the original property north of hwy 7 on the ninth line the public dicussion may convince us otherwise regardless people will be given an opportunity to have their say roaming around easy police pickings z by jim thomas about two months ago a stouffville resident wrote a letter to the editor this editor objecting to speed limita tions on the 9th concession of markham he objected to the factan area between 17th and 19th avenues is posted at 60 kilo meters per hour but increases to 70 kph from 17th avenue south the 60 kph zone is of course easy pickings for police if and when theyde- cide to stop playing at being batboys for the blue jays and do an honest days work form of protest the writer urged motorists to fire off a few epistles to mayor carole bell and company as a form of protest not that he really expected the complaints would do any good have you ever heard of speed limits being raised i havent re gardless there are times when even politicians recognize something as stu pid as a 60 kph speed zone in an area frequented only by errant raccoons and slowmoving groundhogs so what did i do nothing even though i probably travel that route more often than anyone for two reasons the ninth line is my old stamping grounds thats where i used to live its also less of a hazard i detest driving hwy 48 jnow i also detest the ninth linexwas stopped for speeding 93 kph the radar said wed aug 21 the first day of a twoweek vacation what a way to start a holiday congratulations i wish to take this opportunity to thank the tribune and your sis ter newspaper the economist and sun and the canadian tire stores of markham and stouffville for spon sorship of the markhamstouffville golf tournament while not a participant in the tournament itself i am a strong supporter of the hospital project the events 14000 contribution is an excellent form of community co operation i congratulate you all grant taylor millard street stouffville the cop caught me cold but i came very close to not stopping i thought his wave was only a gesture of good morn ing no such luck ruffled his feathers sure i protested song and dance held probably heard a thousand times before but he listened even agreed with me it should be 80 kph and not 60 he said out of thetondness ofnts heart he reduced my speed from 93 to 75 so j wouldnt lose any points but my reluctance to stop talking almost cost me a bundle when i in formed the officer i intended to take my protest to court and hed better be there it ruffled his feathers he threatened to change the speed reading back to 93 he claimed i was only want ing to embarrass him which was the farthest thing from my mind its the town of markham i want to embarrass not the constable hes only doing hifc job anyway he relented and the 75 kph figure stands residents have complained but why the 60 kph in an areas thats as rural as a wagon trail to the back fifty the officer explained that manj motorists take advantage of the roads open space and hit speeds up to 120 it seems there are extremes in both direc tions but i suspect homeowners have com plained nothing spurs politicians to ac tion quicker than ratepayer complaints especially in an election year the fact a few dozen drivers up in stouffville get nipped for dollars and points doesnt really matter verbal votes dont count but forgetting police and politics im on the side of safety even the safety of errant raccoons and groundhogs from now on ill be sticking- to the 60 kph speed limit even if it kills me praises softball program the whitchurchstouffville house league softball season concludes with a tournament this saturday its been a successful summer as indi cated by a letter from a satisfied pa rent beneficiaries she says arc boys and girls like sevenyearold jenny carpenter of churchill drive mussclmans lake a tball player with country stop restaurant bal- lantrae jim thomas dear editor with softball house league com petition now concluded except for the yearend tournament this satur day i wish to express my personal appreciation to team coaches man agers umpires and league officials for the excellent way the organiza tion was operated this season while i cannot speak for all teams the sportsmanship i witnes sed in every park this summer was most gratifying it would seem that fun has returned to softball in whitchurchstouffville rather than the winatallcost desire that sometimes creeps into competition the coaching was marvellous these men and women all volun teers came out to the games often without suppers night after night all season long i cant believe such dedication further there seems to be an im proved attitude on the part of spec tators no more namecallingor un complimentary remarks that often marred games in the past parents arc finally growing up and its rub bing off on their sons and daugh ters again to the above mentioned people my thanks youve made it a wonderful summer for our daugh ter a summer shell never forget she can hardly wait till next year sincerely cathy ircson rr 3 stouffville j