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t stouffville sufitribune wrthmsddy nov 3 2005 toon tstouflville mmm o moioujjvme mmm f sunlfibune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouflville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director production interactive media john futhey advertising director distribution director marketingpartnerships retail flyer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management cord paolucci circulation barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko director debra weller york region printing general manager bob dean editorial more than cops needed to fight crime it was like a jinx no sooner had the good news come out murders were down the first half of 2005 than the death toll started rising within days murders in york region went from four to seven with three homicides since sunday two within one hour of each other murders of course are the headline grabbers and need to be kept in perspective most murders are not random acts of violence and the good news in the most recent spate of homicides is york regional police already have three sus pects in custody and a closer look at the statistics doesnt help the newest information here shows robberies jumped to 199 in the first half of 2005 compared to 185 during same period last year we shouldnt be surprised about the growing violence it has been said many times before by many york region police chiefs whats happening in toronto will eventually make its way north the question is are our police ready and probably more importantly since they hold the purse strings are our politicians ready york region residents already have the cheapest police force in the gta our percapita cost for policing is only 158 compared to 264 for toronto our police to population ratio is 816 offis cers for every resident compared to one cop for every 509 torontonians at this point york region is far behind toronto in the numbers game of policing if predictions hold true big city crimes such as gangrelated shootings in the street are inevitable york region needs to be as proactive as it can and not just react to the vio lence when it happens hiring more offi cers with the expertise to handle the extra workload violent crimes bring must be part of the game plan new york citys storied former mayor rudy giuliani told crimefighters in toronto monday that large urban areas need to be on the offensive part of that offence he said includes the use of sophisticated computer soft ware that can help predict what types of crimes will happen in certain areas by analysing statistical trends but there are other ways to get on top of crime before it hits the streets york region needs more cops but when it comes time to approve a police budget politicians need to remember it will take more than people power to avoid what plagues toronto today with a tube a toothpaste j letters to the editor dont judge high school students by their dress haircuts re smokers gauntlet degrades school column by jim tfiomas oct 13 im a little confused as to what exactly is bother ing mr thomas is it the fact there is a group of smokers at stouffville district secondary school if so why are you not complaining about the gauntlet that you must run at the imperial centre home of the municipal offices at least at sdss the smokers are not near the entrances how many times have you tried to get into the imperial centre only to find you must walk around to the front doors because of the haze of smoke caused by the adults at the side door or walked down main street passing workers and owners smoking on the sidewalk im sure this makes a great impression on visitors to our town or is your concern with the nonconformists what kind of society would we live in if everyone were the same just because they dress differently than you does not make them bad should we call in the police because they are different it was two cleancut normallooking teens overheard at the leisure centre advocating the abuse of gay students they didnt look weird but im glad they are not my children as a matter of fact two of my children were probably part of that group of which mr thomas didnt approve although they dont smoke they are what you would consider nonconformists their hair is sometimes green and one sports a mohawk haircut however they are good students the oldest will be going to university in the fall the younger will be going in two years are they misfits of course not they are highly the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the 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 jmasonyrngcom intelligent very nice children who express their individuality in their dress maybe you should try to get to know these peo ple they might actually teach you something such as tolerance where are the parents right here and proud of it valerie ashton stouffville town should do what it says i noticed the unsightly weeds of summer had been cut at some locations in stouffvile including blake street i wonder if anyone on council ever heard the saying bolting the door after the horse was stolen or are they too young this is how you look after weeds after they go to seed you cut them down not before first thing every spring an ad is placed on the town of whitchurchstouffville page in the sun- tribune telling homeowners to keep their weeds cut down or they could be fined as i see it this is do as i say not as i do i did notice the town went one step further and gathered up the weeds and grass thank you it looked so much better even in the lamplight dorothy wagg stouffville editorial editor jim mason jmason0yrngcom administration ofilce manager vivian oneil voneil0yrngcom events management shows manager bonnie rondeau brondeau0ymgcom production manager pam nichols pnichols0yrngcom advertising classified manager ann campbell aatmpbell0yrngcom retail manager staceyallen sallen0yrngcom managing director new business flyer sales dawna andrews dandrvivs0yrngcom managing director real estate mikerogerson mrogerson0yrngcom editorial 905513j717 fax 905513755 advertising 9055131717 classified 18007433353ftx 9058531765 distribution 9055131717 cxdun ortnto 1 cktuuoom lj p ana bomi meatier c suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhinvaughan citizen the economist sun markham the erabanner newmarketaurora stouffville suntribune gcorgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkiegioncom and york region printing off the top with jim mason a lot can change after 28 years of evolution what a difference 28 years makes west end subdivision plans rejected by board reads the head line on the front of the june 23 1977 stouffville tribune the paper was a gift from my wife charlene and friend pat welch purchased at a weekend auction sale in the lindsay- area burgh of little britain of all places whatever the cost of the back issue much of it is priceless and so timely the- thwarted subdivision would have gone in where homes are now being built on 100 acres south of canadian tire more than 2200 peo ple would have been housed in homes semis townhouses and apartments trouble was the land wasnt properly designated for housing in the towns official plan and stouffville politicians werent thrilled with the newfangled higher density approach to housing were not going to correct all the problems of humanity by cramming everybody on a 30foot lot said planning board chairperson eldred king who would become mayor of whitchurchstouffville and chair person of york region before retiring to stouffville councillor bill kamps told the landowners people were moving to stouffville for country atmosphere and your plan calls for moving a piece of toronto to stouffville when the torontonians scarberians and markhamites invaded whitchurchstouffville in 1977 they could buy a sidesplit in ballantrae for 89500 or a fivebed room number with inground pool at musselmans lake for 55900 thats according to an ad for now- defunct ballantrae realty ltd of course back then the minimum wage was only hovering around 2 an hour a photo of the stouffville country market then known as stouffville stockyards or stouffville sales barns shows the cars of bargain hunters filling parking lots well up the tenth line from the market livestock and household items likely including 28yearold newspa pers were auctioned off in weekly sales at the market and those 30foot lots theyre now the minimum in stouffville jim mason is editor of the sun- tribune