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p 4 weekdfer saturday mx 998 st saturday may 2 1998 vol 14 no 18 the tribune is a member of the ontario press council the tribune comment opinions 905 6402100 fax- 905 6405477 email thetribistarca editorial a million prayers for little courtney a community is in mourning today the death of an eightyearold girl in stouffville has touched the hearts of a nation and people around the world when the dog which is now under quarantine at the keswick animal shelter awaiting destruction mauled little courtney trempe while the girl was playing with friends a hundred lives were shattered those of her family and friends school chums neighbours the family which owned the dog and the many peo ple who knew and adored this bright and innocent child will be forever altered but there can be no blame something went wrong in the mind of the animal when it made the decision to attack but it was no ones fault it was a tragic horrific action with devastating con sequences and impossible to predict anyone who has or cares for children and anyone who keeps pets knows the interaction between the two is usually wonderful and a miracle of interspecies relations we must keep in mind that only on the rarest of occasions does this relationship take a tragic turn sadly that rare occasion has occurred the community friends and family of courtney must now begin the process of healing her funeral today will mark the start of that long and painful journey one can offer so little solace at such a tragedy but perhaps some measure can be taken from the knowledge that millions of prayers are being said today for a little girl and her family cell phones get earful from arthur so im sitting on a woodslatted bench in the middle of a park on a fine spring day lobbing breadcrumbs from a brown paper bag at a flock of free- loading pigeons and watching out of the corner of my eye popcorn clouds scud their way across the blue sky when suddenly from the jack fraser- clad businessman on the next bench i hear b bbbbbbbbbbbbbbr- r rr rrr r rpppppppppppppp its his cellular telephone the guy fishes around in his inside jacket pocket extracts a piece of plastic sticks itnext to his ear and for the next 10 minutes i listen to this clown telling some sales rep how they have to get twenty units of number four grade frammajammits to their warehouse before tuesday cell phones im sorry i had to be on the planet for the spawning of cell phones i recall distinctly how pleasant life was without them now theyre everywhere remember when dining in a restau rant riding in your car and certainly sitting in a park was considered personal time relief from the worka day world the cell phone has changed all that now we can take our work with us wherever we go whoopee whats doubly ironic is nine times out of 10 whatever business were using our cell phones to take care of isnt really all that crucial a recent study of 1800 cell phone users in europe revealed that the number one recipient of all cell phone calls were spouses wives calling husbands husbands calling wives which reminds me of my brief flir tation with cell phones yes i too was once smitten i bought a cell phone because i felt it would be nice to stay in touch with the rest of the world when i was on the road and the tv ads made it very clear how easy and convenient the cell phone basic black bullmastiffs bred to be vicious reader says dear editor when that dear little girl died in stouffville after a vicious attack by a bullmastiff it made me cry ive got something to say to those silly people who say its not the dogs fault its the way the owner bring them up who are they kidding attack dogs attack strangers even if the strangers are children these vicious dogs should not be bred theyve proven again and again letters they kill and attack humans my heart goes out to the little girls parents gladys m childerson markham rs i am a dog lover ive had eight in my lifetime arthur black was the ads didnt mention that you had to remember to charge the damnded thing every day and to lug it around with you everywhere you went because cell phone thieves were mak ing a specialty of breaking into vehi cles in which owners had left their cell phones nor did the ads mention the fact that cell phones tend to go off at the most inopportune times such as during romantic inter ludes or when youre in a washroom cublicle but your cell phone is in the pocket of your jacket which is hang ing on a clothes hook outside the cubicle but i learned to handle the petty headaches that came with cell phone usage because well because the cell phone was just so darned useful i remember driving home one night from work with my shiny new cell phone on the seat beside me and i was thinking now this is exactly why i purchased this piece of cutting edge technology so that i could phone up my sweet patootie from the com fort of my car to let her know im on my way i punched in my home number it rang said sweet patootie picked it up hi honey i trilled im finished work im on my way home a puz zled silencecame down the line fol lowed by a familiar but sarcastic voice saying oh goody you mean just like last night i sold my cell phone through a newspaper ad two days later that was four years ago i havent needed or wanted a cell phone since friends reached goal dear editor on april 25 friends of mussclmans lake held a community cleanup approximately 100 people including children showed up and were assigned to different locations around the communi ty the objective was to pick up any garbage and debris left from the years past we reached our goal at the end of the day there was a pile of approximately 200 garbage bags plus a separate pile of drums auto parts glass tires and wood the community looks great and the road sides are clean we would like to thank all the residents who came out to help it was wonderful to see so many people show interest in their community many other residents sent their regrets at not being able to attend saturdays cleanup we would also like to thank the busi nesses in mussclmans lake and stouf fville who donated goods and services to the friends of musselmans lake spring cleanup tim hortons iga ida a p weston produce sunnys one stop variety magnum copier miller waste systems regional municipality of york and town of whitchurchstouffville a special thanks goes to cedar beach trail er park for the use of their loader parking lot and employees we appreciate your support and help mike watson chair caroline laflcur cochair friends of ml stouffville tribune weekender a metroland community newspaper ian proudfoot publisher andrew mair editorinchief tracy kibble editor debra weller director of advertising mike rogerson retail advertising manager stacey allen classified manager barry goodyear director of distribution vivian oneil business manager pamela nichols operations manager about us ne5vs 9056402100 retail gajtes 905 6402100 classifieds l8007433353 bismfehtion 9056402100 905 6405477 email 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