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onkv 7 wotswsrsy t t etinomtosunffiibune community thursday jan 27 2000 students launch antismoking crusade by lisa queen staff writer simon says dont smoke simon strelchik 17 and his fledgling group of york students called youth fighting tobacco are gearing up to convince councillors to adopt a regionwide smoking ban theyre hoping prohibiting lighting up in all public places will help convince a new generation not to adopt the unhealthy habit it smoking is a social status the whole school sees these rebel lious teens smoking said strelchik also a youth member of yorks nosmoking task force and cochairperson of the youth sub committee i dont have anything against teens rebelling but hurting your body and spending money for the rest of your life and dying early because half of smokers die early i felt compassion for these people i felt its their right to live a healthy life after being criticized for dis cussing the proposed ban behind closed doors for several months the regions nosmoking task force is now organizing public forums so residents and business owners can express their feelings the meetings will be held feb 15 in the newmarket council chambers feb 17 at the elgin barrow arena in richmond hill feb 22 in the whitchurch- stouffville council chambers and march 9 in the georgina council chambers the meetings run from 7 to 9 pm youth fighting tobacco is hop ing to turn the richmond hill meeting into a rally for young peo ple who support the ban we have some big surprises planned lets just leave it at that said strelchik a student at westmount collegiate institute in thornhill we plan on making this a major vehicle for youth acting against tobacco strelchik boasts that while youth fighting tobacco is just get ting off the ground its member ship of 10 is growing for more information about youth fighting tobacco call 905 6601886 stouffville tribune still just a call away the stouffville tribune offices are moving down the road toa new home starting monday morning res idents will be calling a new phone number to reach our editorial staff and advertising representa tives according to tribune publisher ian proudfoot the move is prompted by a desire to focus our budget on producing the best newspaper possible by merging offices with our sister paper to the south the markham economist sun the funds saved on overhead expenses will be reinvested into covering the news and communi ty events we are making a commit ment to being an active partici pant in whitchurchstouffville proudfoot said loyalty to our readers and advertisers will continue to be the tribunes highest priority said general manager alvin brouwer the stouffville tribune remains dedicated to covering the news and views of the people of whitchurchstouffville brouwer said and with the funds made available through the amalgama tion of our offices well be able to direct more money into covering more local events im excited about the oppor tunity to have more resources to produce a quality newspaper that reflects the people of this com munity editor julie caspersen said you can reach us at 2942200 and fax us at 2941538 email can be sent to newsroomeconsuncom with letters to the editor directed to letterseconsuncom our classified phone number remains unchanged at 1-800-743- 3353 as does our distribution number 2948244 our new address is 9 heritage rd markham on l3p 1m3 singing the praises of robbie burns photojim ross folk singer david leaske crooned a few ballads to commemorate the birth of robbie burns tuesday at the unionville arms the festivities included a piper a scottish menu and of course the haggis new top cop to fill contract broken by former chief from page 1 and presence he is a person who is strong but fair and hes dedicated middaugh signed a threeyear contract which is whats remaining on the contract of current chief julian fantino who takes over the toronto force march 1 middaugh has a long history in policing as well as experience in civil service in fact he was in the running to be york regions chief when fantino was hired he served as chief in hamilton wentworth between 1991 and 1998 and was deputy chief in halton for 11 years before that he began his police career with 13 years in peel region after four years as a firefight er in brampton i he is a graduate of humber college the university of western ontario business program and the fbi national academy and law enforcement executive development program hes currently the assistant deputy minister of the policing ser vices division in the ministry of the solicitor general and is responsible for the ontario police college and training across the province the robert middaugh vows compliance with criminal investigation standards central intelligence service ontario an organized crime data base and developing standards for all ontario forces and performing audits middaugh and his staff also authored the police adequacy standards manual due to be released early next month it sets out guidelines and standards for criminal investigations training in dealing with victims responding to the public and other aspects of policing it requires all ontario forces to comply by 2001 the york force will definitely be compliant by the end of this year middaugh said his boss solicitor general and markham mpp dave tsubouchi said he has mixed feelings about the appointment were losing him here but im also happy were getting someone in york region with his credentials and skills and background tsubouchi said he has a very strong communi ty liaison as well which is very important to york region he has a good police background hes been through the ranks and also has had responsibility in terms of the province and legislation the york regional police association was caught offguard by the announcement we didnt expect it this soon nobody was said vicepresident keith aubrey we havent really had a chance to get a feel for what the members think but well work with him correction in a cutline on page 1 in tuesdays edition we mistakenly referred to robbie burns as irish we apologize for the error ilrwtujeriors 4747 hwy 7 unionville east of kennedy 9054775524 winter sale onnow warm up to great savings storewide