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g r y 3 ij fi i o stouffville suntribune u thursday may 6 2004 opinion publisher ian pr0udf00t telephone 9056402612 fax 9056408778 email jmasonyrngcom website wwwyorkregioncom editorial licence restrictions improve road safety its welcome news the mcguinty liberals are proposing to tighten rules of the road when it comes to ontarios young inexperienced drivers and for a government haunted by a litany of shameful broken promises- this is one move for which it should be laud ed the province announced tuesday it wants to pass legislation prohibiting new teenage drivers 19 years old and younger from having more than one youth passenger during the first six months of graduating to a g2 licence teens obtain a g2 licence after one year of having an entrylevel drivers per mit a graduated licensing system that has been in place for the past decade no one could argue these restrictions except young drivers are positive steps to ensuring our roads are safer this latest crackdown may be an inconvenience for responsible young drivers but in this case we need to keep the best interests of all citizens in mind the changes will certainly be good news for york regional police who are serving a growing population and deal- ing with hundreds of new young drivers each year any steps taken to make youths safer behind the wheel are great staffsgt tom carrique said of this weeks announcement in brk region police have a two- pronged situation to deal with when it comes to young drivers inexperience and drag racing during may and september 2003 police laid 31 12hour driving suspensions during seven differ ent days targeting g2 or inexperienced drivers police checked 5325 vehicles associated in one way or another with street racing either dealing with car modifications or vehicles found in an area where street racing was taking place staffsgl carrique said york officers will be out next month to kick start this years street racing elimina tion campaign transportation minister harinder takhar said monday nearly 1000 children and young people are killed or seriously hurt each year in ontario due in large part to the fact they werent properly restrained in cars however many car seat manufactur ers offer complicated restraint systems that make it difficult and sometimes nearly impossible to properly install child seats if this effort is to have real impact car manufacturers should incorporate childrens safety in vehicle designs mak ing builtin seats available in all new cars it shouldnt be an afterthought i will never drink water f again j letters to the editor disease preventable with screening re colon cancer screening better than alternative may 1 congratulations on your frontpage cover age of this important issue and congratula tions to markham stouffville hospital on the opening of its long awaited endoscopy suite the article was informative but unfortu nately not completely accurate colon cancer is the third most common cancer behind breast and prostate but the second leading cause of cancerrelated death after lung cancer colon cancer is the leading cause of non- tobaccorelated cancer death recent data suggests one in 17 canadians will develop col orectal cancer this disease is preventable with proper screening and the detection of polyps that are benign and present long before cancer occurs they are easy to remove and can be detected by screening we encourage people to discuss this with their physicians guidelines suggest screening should begin at age 50 for average risk individuals and even earlier for those at higher risk we support your efforts to educate the pub lic about this issue colon cancer screening is important to eradicating this potentially lethal disease driainmurray dr patrick pendergast intestinal health institute the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and addressthe stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 34 civic ave po box 154 stouffville l4a 7z5 email jmasonymgcom council didnt listen to residents re park for snakes scares residents april 24 an advertised public meeting on the proposal was arranged for april 14 but no attention was paid to the majority views expressed attendees werent told there is also a need to attend a council meeting to repeat the views expressed at the public meeting apparently council does not read public meeting reports council didnt read out any petitions presented at the council meeting opposed to the proposal before voting on the issue is this to discourage last minute input or does council guess what the sur vey shows in our opinion councillors werent made knowledgeable on the issues ahead of council meetings too much knowledge may make for a rational decision do not compromisethis shows new residents they may have a valid point of view note councillors voted to renaturalize ballantrae park without a snake hibemaculum on park property for the record we new residents are here to stay helen and alan thompson whitchurchstouffville suntribune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville ontario l4a 7z5 phone 90s6402612 fax9056408778 classified 180o7433353 distribution 9052948244 website wwwydrfcregioncom email jmasonymgcom member ontario community newspapers association canadian community newspapers association ontario press coundl editor in chief debora kelly editor jim mason reporters joan ransberryhannelorevolpe retail sales manager steve kane sales representative susan berry production manager pam nichols office manager vivian okeil business manager robert lazurko advertising director retail sales flyers nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gordpaolucd managing director real estate mikerogerson director of production johnfuthey distribution manager barry black sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews general manager york region printing bob dean director marketing promotions debraweller shows manager stacey allen classified manager ann campbell off the top with jim mason breast cancer walk hits home with teammate karen hunt knows the agony of walk ing 60 kilometres through the sweaty streets of toronto on a late summer weekend and she wants to do it again only this time its personal the 43yearold stouffville mother of three is in training for the weekend to end breast cancer sept 10 to 12 shes not alone four months before the troops head out the event is fully booked with 5000 walkers there are others from whitchurchstouffville including entire teams and individuals the marathon of all power walks sends net proceeds to breast cancer research at princess margaret hospital in toronto an international leader in the fight against the killer disease karen was in the first walk that raised more than 12 million last year she heard a commercial on the radio and signed up no experience with breast cancer just a willingness to help that changed last month when a teammate from last year was diagnosed with breast cancer after surgery the toronto woman was given the medical ok shes planning to do the walk again too you never know karen said now we will have a survivor walking with us it will hard to top last year emotions were high enthusiasm excitement sadness proudness tired ness but never once did anyone ques tion why we were doing this she said we ended the first day with a show er great meal and then dancing to a live band you would think after walmngall day we would want to lie down and rest but when you have such a large group of people who are so pumped and excited the energy around you is unbelievable the naysayers have asked how she could walk the distance and raise the 2000 entry fee you do not really think about how far it is when you are walking because you know the cause is very good she said the money is coming in again thanks to individuals companies and fundraisers karen is hosting a day in the alleys at the stouffville bowling centre saturday from 12 to 6 pm adults bowl for a mini mum donation of 10 they can be accompanied free of charge by a child a silent auction and raffle will also be held it is a great way to have fun spend time with your family and contribute to a great cause that will help saves lives karen said jim mason is editor of the sun- tribune