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v 1 1 in civil and criminal courts l in york region local lawyers report attorney general charles- harnick the rriqudnscourt is so badly clogged announced friday the eagle istreet that 38 to 40 matters may be heard by courthouse in newfriarket will expand one judge compared to aboiit five or six in the spring to cases in a similar toronto court include a unified in addition the region has a growing family court number of divorceand family custody this means cases can be dealt with much more quickly its hot acceptable that people need tliese i services catharines will also- receive the new courts although harriicksaid he wants the new courts to be avails able province- wide the federal government has- ntappointed enough judges were ready to commit the resources for the rest of the province if somewhat less conflict in what is already a traumatic situation j i chief justice fbtrick lesage it oh st frank klees j forty per cent of residents will enjoy improved senice weeks receive harnick said currently family law cases are heard in general and provincial division courts and many families have to deal with both but since the federal government cases r v this offers a more timely and more handson response to those very emo tional verrcrmbal heeds that arise wheri there are crises with- families l said chief justice patrick lesager y r it will result insomewhatless con- the federal government will provide the should have tcfwait jflict in what is already a traumatic situ- judges he said it is not right to have six- seven or eight ation i ivi- twossystems it leads to uneven ser- just to unified family cdurtwasa pilot vices v a motion project in hamilton about 20 years ago unified family court also provides it then expanded to london -barrie- access to mediation as ahalternative to kingston and napahee in 1985 formal court proceedings york mackenzie mpp frank klees information sessions about other said approval for the new communities options to resolve disputes and the means 40 per cent of ontarios residents effects of separation are also geared to will have access to improved service lessen the emotional toll on children visitors suitcases byjoanransberry staff writer a thief stole a visitors suitcases con- staining the christrrias gifts for his fami- ly clothes a camera and photographs david wood formerlyof stouffyjlle spent nine hours on a bus travelling from his home near quebec city on sunday arriving in stouffville hours ahead of schedule wood decided to go to his parents church to surprise them at the sunoco station plaza on main street wood set his two pieces of lug gage down took a few steps forward and looked in a store window when s stepped back the luggage was gone- while his clothes and the gifts can be replaced wood is upset about the loss of the photographs wood left stouffville a year ago to study french the photographs were- taken during the course of the year including shots of the ice storm id brought thern with me because i was going to scan them on the comput er they mean nothingtoothersbut a great deal to me 7 anypnewitfrany information about the stolen suitcases are urged to call wood at 6403457 i i i i i i i day for goodbyes ballantrae public school said goodbye to two members of r their school last week in ptiotpat right chris on ari exchange visipfroirf australia site among her students during the ballantrae public school christmas concert- friday dec rxo meanwhile marg v crichton left is set to retire from her career in education at ballantrae staff photos sjoerdwitteveen ridaywill be adayof firsts r it 11 be the firsftime in thy entire life that i wont wake up oh christmas morning in durham region v f as of october i became a firsftime homeowner the purchase means this will be my first christmas living in z musselmahjslake even my christmas tree is a first its the first year a f have not had a real tree as ah adultrfny tree6f choice i has been a spruce j spruce treeswere scarce on our farm as a child wed trek to the woods chopdown a cedar place it on the toboggan and drag it home more often than hot id be in charge of the axe more often than not id forget it t go get the axe where you left it and then you can get j warm was theparehts order unlike 999 percent of j canadian children i hated getting the christmas tree when the artificial trees hit the marketin the late 60s j i was appalled not- only didthe manmade trees look fake they were tacky i vowed artificial trees would have j to come along way before one would grace my home as you well know artificial trees did come a long way j and yes they took a long time last year on dec 26 1 went to cullen gardens boxing day sale this too was a first there in the rriiddleof- the store was a grand looking christmas tree j i was shocked- to discover that this beautifultree was artificial marked at 50 per cent off the list price i bought it today it is nestled iiia corner in the livingroom of my u new house forgive my vanity but im proud to own one of the best looking trees around x in case you havent guessed im proud to live in- musselmans lake the hamlet has charmgood neigh bouring is easy for the most part everyones decent arid friendly even the dogs are polite r i have a wonderful view of the lake from my deck in the past fewmdriths ive grown quitefond of thejake in- fact i worry about it- musselmans lake could be a jewel hopefully resi dents and the friendspf musselmans lake contih- ue to monitor the lake the pbllution issue needs to be broughf tolfieattenr tion of the right people local mpp julia munro has writ- r tentotheministryof natural resources and- the ministry of the jinyironment concerning the lake lets hope she comes back- with good newsas well- our local government has responsibility tq make sure bodies of waters including musselmans lake are healthy j 1 sometime in the ministry of enyironmerit- will release results of water tests fcarriedout oh musselmans j lake this past summer t z if the water tests indicate that pollution is indeed a threatening issue thenlets fix it we need to work inr partnership wim me town and the province perhaps wetcouid declared healthy musselmans lake as one of the towns millennium projects on friday when i wakeinmyjittle house ill look out and wishthe lake a very merry christmas v j v k ps- ith ts merry christmas from my house to yours v i t 1