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u h i iu t t o economist sunsuntribune saturday may 15 2004 suntnhune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot letters to the editor gun photograph disgusting re young gun photograph suntribune may 8 i have to tell you of my absolute disgust at the frontpage photo on last saturdays issue depicting a 14yearold boy receiving instruc tion in handgun use under the watchful eye of a range supervisor what on earth were you thinking with everything going on in the world with youth violence and gang violence you show a teenager learning proper use of a handgun there is no proper use of a handgun believe me in my seven years of working for ctv news- 1 have to say under no circum stances have i come across a situation where a teenager needed to know the proper use of a handgun what is the message here my two young children both of whom have been told that guns all guns are wrong and bad saw your newspaper and asked why the teen was able to use one with an adult around i told them it was because his parents were idiots any parent who believes his child needs to learn how to handle a pistol is a fool regard less of what justification he pulls out of his hat people like that are usually the first ones to testify at an inquest into the accidental shoot ing death of a child and say i have no idea how it could have happened he took a course having guns in the home any kind of weapon rifle or pistol is just stupid whether for sport or not we have a responsibility to our children and the youth of whitchurch- stouffville to keep weapons away from them not encourage their use i can only imagine the reaction this photo will get from his classmates now they all know he can handle a weapon and how many teenagers out there whose parents own weapons are now thinking if this kid can handle a weapon so can they i suggest an article on youths and violence to temper the bad example set by this photo denis langlois stouffville province forcing care cuts weve seen how many nursing homes in york region have been forced to make major renovations or rebuild because they no longer meet government standards now when we finally have decent facili ties we much be vigilant about maintaining them or history will repeat itself now the province is reconsidering annual increases in funding and wants to change the rules involving municipal and capital tax refunds for private care institutions because of these changes i found out the woodhaven longterm care facility in markham is losing housekeeping staff and having hours cut yet it still needs to maintain letters policy the stouffville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the tribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space utters to the editor the tribune 9 heritage rd markham on l3p1m3 email letterseconsuncom opinion oncenwe fronvjheto qflo vffffl feeling a certain level of cleanliness many people think as long as the nursing staff isnt affected cuts wont mean much to theirloved one but i thinkwe are going down a slippery slope if the province gets away with these changes what will come next lets fight to keep standards high in these facilities not only for those who currently reside there but for those yet to arrive sheila leger markham socialists behind improvements re socialism doesnt buildcharacter letter to the editor by bud oconnor may 8 normally one would ignore mr oconnors thoughts but just in case a reader may have thought his letter made sense heres a bit of clarity the international democratic socialist movement supports the right of all working people to form associations trade unions to protect and promote their interests and rights such associations just like law societies medical associations and other professional bodies are organized and run on democratic principles they are essential in modern life one should not forget the part democratic socialists played in history for instance 70 years ago in berlin the only democratically elected politicians to stand and oppose the act that made adolf hitler dictator were 94 brave socialists more recently a polish electrician and socialist led his union solidarity against soviet communism and won the nobel peace prize he was later honoured by the united states congress the third foreigner to be so feted an achievement not even awarded to a rightwinger like margaret thatcher federal and provincial liberal parties are not members of the international democratic socialist movement and never have been recent actions by liberal governments in quebec british columbia and ottawa demonstrate this they are not socialists as far as mr oconnors statement that the only soul that produces the 10 points of good character is a very close adherence to the bible this is utter nonsense what of those who lived before the book was written or who never heard or read it or who reject its fairy stories because they produce letters such as mr oconnors and finally as far as good character not nurtured in the pubic school system i taught for 40 years in the public system and never encountered anything like biblediumping pedophile priests or the abuses in ireland as shown in the movie the magdalene sisters or the charges of sexual molestation and exploitation being investigated in some of the most renowned of ontarios private schools james pb kelly markham edrror in chief advertising director debora kelly retail flyer sales business manager nicole fletcher robert lazurko advertising director director of classified real estate production events management john futhey gord paolucci explanation doesnt help re markham stouffville hospital adver tisement on parking situation april 29 no doubt everyone saw dr jim macleanls fullpage response to the publics concerns about the new parking system at markham stouffville hospital how could anyone miss it im curious to know how many parking tickets had to be purchased to pay for a full- colour spread like that i have yet to see any explanation or advice on how to use this parking system for decreased mobility seniors and the handi capped are they expected to somehow get themselves to the ticket machine return to their vehicles then make it to their appoint ments with ease perhaps they should arrive at the parking lot an hour early to allow themselves walking time and what happens to these people in the winter what i fear most as a result of this new sys tem is one day hearing some poor slow elderly person or someone who needs a couple of canes to walk has been hit in the parking lot while tottering from their vehicle if that happens ill be interested to see the size of the newspaper ad the hospital pur chases to explain itself sparker markham theatre would draw people whitchurchstouffvilles arts and culture committee is appearing before council tuesday at 7 pm to ask for funding to create a concept and feasibility plan for turning 19 civic ave in downtown stouffville the old town hall into an arts and entertainment centre this is the first step toward an facility that would include a theatre for live performances and movies the old town hall is empty our council recently put aside money to bring this build ing back to life before that can happen we must decide what that building will be as a growing community it is essential we continue to work to preserve our country close to the city way of life what better way than to create a town centre full of life a theatre will do this it will attract more businesses increase our commercial tax base and more importantly create a place where people can meet face to face in order for misfunding request to pass it is imperative council hear voices of support we have a new council most of whom have run on a platform of listening to the people now is the time for your voices to be heard come to the meeting call your councillors or send them emails our previous council has said one of die reasons the theatre idea has never gone for ward is that no one came pounding on its door now is the time to start pounding pammandich arts and culture committee member editorial editor jim mason nctusroomccaiisimcom advertising retail sales manager steve kane skaneymgcom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews dandrewsymgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellymgcom real estate manager mikerogerson mrogersonyntgcom production production manager pam nichols pnicholsymgcom distribution distribution manager barry black bblackymgcom administration office manager vivian oneil voneilymgcom york region events managing director debra welter dtvellcrymgcom shows manager staceyallen sallenymgcom york region printing general manager bob dean bdetinymgcom editorial 9052942200 fax 2941538 advertising 2942200 classified 1-800- 7433353 fax 84616 distribution 9052948244 euhblipe canadian ontario press circulations audit council board member suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the stouffville tribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and hstributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary oftbrstarcorporabon metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hal and thomhillvaughan citizen markham economist 4 sun starfrvsunthburegeorgma advocate york regton business times norm of the city yorfcregtoncorn and york regkxi printing yi ijjjj jjjjj iij j j jjjv- i j 4 jijuu j l t