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inside opinion 6 arts 18 sports 20 classified 21 2 tlie separate sdiool board considers adding a fourth religion course to the curriculum arts culture calendar event hotel a comedy in cantonese when tonight through sunday where markham theatre 3057469 f jtfoe contents of ve your fridge might be horrifying but beware the health hazards serving whitchurchstouffville since 1888 50 cents including gst 24 pages thursday jan 27 2000 to reach us 905 6402100 complaints ongay mayor withdraws support for signs by patrick casey staff writer two days after endorsing a new billboard campaign that promotes the acceptance of gays and lesbians markham mayor don cousens abruptly removed the welcome mat yesterday morning on monday cousens threw his support behind a cpntrover sial advertising campaign in markham by tine york region chapter of parents families and friends of lesbians and gays pflag an international orga nization that provides support and education on gay issues but after viewing the roadside billboard on warden avenue that reads someone you know and love is gay anid iistenihg to complaints from upset residents cousens said pflags message is too aggressive and called the sign inappropriate according to cousens a father was forced to answer ques tions from his 10yearold soh after the pair drove by the bill- aboard cousens questioned why the federal government would help sponsor pflags campaign when other specialinterest groups could also use the money a second poster its not a choice its ok to be gay will be installed jan 31 on woodbine avenue north of john street its not that im intolerant i see inappropriatf page 8 robert middaugh sparked internal probe of york region forge new chief led damning audit by kathleen griffin staff writer york region has a new police chief and hes the man who led the damning audit of the force in 1996 v in a surprise announcement yesterday police board chairperson margaret black announced robert middaugh 56 will start work here feb 28 four years ago middaugh led an audit which found york regional police was badly run and chronical ly underfunded his auditors also tipped off the ontario provincial police on 54 irregularities they felt warranted further investigation that culmi nated in five breach of trust charges against former chief bryan cousineau who received a sus pended sentence after he pleaded guilty to twocharges my objective always in policing has been to determine the real needs of the community as opposed to one size fits all middaugh said in an interview yes terday my strategy will be to never stop listening and work toward responding thats my definition of community policing black said kmpg consultants conducted a canadawide search and came up with a short list last week the board interviewedcandi- dates all day tuesday and the deci sion was made tuesday night we had a plan to move quickly and avoid speculation and thats what we did she said he seems more reserved he has experience see new page 3 staff photosjoerd witteveen touching up wanda martin hicks travels with her palette to make some lastminute touches as she hangs her art at the latcham gallery on main streether exhibit will continue to march 12 mo em v inte o d i l e the little dealership with a big 5336 highway 7 just bast of mccowan 2941440 toufree8008922209 wwwnorthpointechevoldscom v sgjsalehburs monthurs 9am 9 pm frk9am6pmm t service hours monthur 7 am 7 pm f fri 730 am 6fin l 8am1 pmm we at north pointe chev olds would like to wish the community a very happy new year i vejay sariesy service manager would like to invite you to our dealership to take advantage of our new gm special the winter special includes lube oil filter rotate tires general inspection total cost 9500 plus tax iivx