See See Hyundai dai of Oof akville lle for for complete detde ails. THE SMART RESOLUTIONS ARE THE EASY ONES TO KEEP. 4 ) 0 1 4 . " 3 5 t 4 " 7 & 4 . " 3 5 t % 3 * 7 & 4 . " 3 5 2011 A CCENT L 3 DR M ANUAL BEST-SELLING SUB-COMPACT IN CANADA NEW SELLING PRICE WHICHCH MEANS YOU PAY $ $11,530 Delivery, Destination & Fees& Included. Plus HSTGL Sport model shown www.dentistoakville.com 905-842-6030 32 Pages $1.00 (plus tax)A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 49 No. 6 USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2011 SNA NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR 2010 Valentines for vets Page 5ONTARIOS TOP NEWSPAPER - 2005-2008 MICHELLE SIU / OAKVILLE BEAVER STILL THE CATS MEOW: Evelyn Clark, who turned 100 years old last Sunday, relaxes in her room with her cat, Elvis, and daughter, Shirley Foley, following a birthday party at the Vistamere Retirement Residence on Tuesday. Happy 100th birthday By Ken Peters METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP Halton politicians want to know why policing costs continue to soar in Canadas safest region. Halton crime down, but policing costs still climbing For the third year in row, Halton ranked as the safest regional municipal- ity in Canada according to Macleans magazines 2010 ranking of our most dangerous cities. In 2009, crime plunged nearly 11 per cent in Halton. Detectives had just one murder to probe and two attempted murders. That hasnt stopped Haltons thin blue line from seeking a 2011 budget of $116.4 million an increase of $7.6 million or 6.9 per cent over the previous year. The most significant driver of the proposed increases in the budget, which includes the hiring of 13 uniform officers, is the $2.4 million related to contract and benefit costs. The news isnt about to get any better for Halton taxpayers. A Halton finance and administration commit- tee report Thursday reveals regional police wage and benefit increas- es will keep annual budg- et increases in the six per cent range for the next few years. Halton police have received more than a nine per cent increase in salaries over the past three years including a 3.1 per cent raise on Jan. 1 of this year. They will be in line for another raise Jan. 1, 2012. Absolutely, I have concerns over it, said Halton Hills Councillor Jane Fogal, chairman of the administration and finance committee. There will be questions asked. See Wage page 3 Four Oakville residents are among nine people facing a variety of charges after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) GTA Drug Section executed search warrants against an alleged cocaine trafficking organization, Tuesday. Through the project dubbed Osleeve, the police investigation began in September of 2010 targeting an organi- zation that police allege was trafficking large amounts of cocaine and other con- trolled substances in the GTA. The Canada Border Services Agency and the York Regional Police Service also participated in the investigation, which concluded with the execution of two search warrants at a business and a resi- dence in the GTA. During the course of the investigation police seized about 10 kg of cocaine, 4.8 kg of ephedrine, 3 kg of marijuana, 1.5 kg of methamphetamine, 5 grams of heroin, See Four page 11 www. oakvillebeaver .com