inside lett 6 ransberry 7 events 22 classified 29 m volunteers gave hundreds of hours to wrutchurchstoiumle whitchur publfc l community calendar im g ff in the alleys event stoufville bia trickortreating fel j youre never when saturday from 12 noon b2bw too old or young to where stoufivule train station wmtfm w zmtibbtf take to the lanes museum this year serving whitchurchstouffville since 1888 50 gents including gst 44 pages thursday oct 24 2002 to reach us 905 6402612 looking for more foster families in york region 200 homes needed for abused neglected kids by lisa queen staff writer in desperate need of more than 200 foster homes for york regions abused and neglected children the childrens aid society has joined six other southern ontario child welfare agencies in a mass recruiting drive based on a model initiated by the hamilton childrens aid homes for kids is a joint project aimed at establishing a standard ized method of attracting train ing and supporting foster fami lies the program launched this week as part of national foster family week will also stop the controversial practice of raiding other communities for foster families because of the short sup ply according to york cas execu tive director marty mcnamara he said the need for foster families is skyrocketing in york as the regions population of 800000 increases by about 40000 new residents every year at the same time more chil dren are being taken into care mr mcnamara couldnt say whether that increase is a result of more children being mistreat ed or an increase in people reporting suspected abuse the whole thing driving this homes for kids initiative is the increasing numbers of children see more page 19 final touches on the home show staff photosjoerd witteveen stacey allen of the york region newspaper group receives advice from john sillaots host of home and garden tvs in the workshop and a hand from cathy chouinard of chouinard brothers roofing in markham finishing a bay window all will be at the markham home show this weekend at the markham fairgrounds show hours are friday from 1 1 am to 9 pm saturday 10 am to 7 pm and sunday from 10 am to 5 pm for more information go to markhamhomeshowcom by hydro rate hikes consumers deal with higher rates post deregulation by jeff mitchell staff writer murray brown is opting out of the grid the georgina farmer figures he has no choice but to seek alternative sources of elec tricity as hydro charges spiral upward in the newly deregulated market its not as if mr brown enjoyed inexpensive hydro rates before deregulation the open market has only added to his crippling energy costs the charges before deregulation were atrocious some of our bills were approaching 1000 a month said mr brown whose cash crop farm southeast of sutton consists of the family home several outbuildings and a woodworking shop since the hydro market was opened to competition may 1 consumers have been shocked by sharp hikes mr brown is no exception theres about a 50percent increase and what were looking at down the road will be substantial increases here he said thats not a very good prospect they do monthly billing now and our income doesnt come on a monthly basis by next spring mr brown hopes to be out fitted with a deiselpowered generator to light his home and run his farm he estimates the initial cost for equipment will be about 25000 after that he expects to spend 300 a month on fuel but with the uncertainty created by fluctu- see perfect page 3 steak cd0pb0usb fomoschp 149 main street unionville 9054800094 j ly far vtfi point safety- inspection most cm vehicles jftfc 31 tom waterman financial services 1ubedeiwkeujke term l yr 3 yr s yr gcsrrspswjhwrms ufewsurwcafjniesrrlfs vxmmm 96