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p4 weekender may 2 1987 weekender liberal largess is ironic on thursday the ontario liberal government put smiles on the faces of school board trustees in york region by announcing more than 88 million in spending on new schools in the region no doubt the schools are badly needed overcrowding is endemic in places like markham which are growing rapidly but there is more here than meets the eye the liberal largess an obvious prelude to a provincial election is made possible because the pre vious progressive conservative administration held money tight during the previous decade and the upturn in the ontario economy which has brought about a government surplus is not the result of current government poli cies things were already on the upturn when the liberals took power two years ago and theyre now reaping the windfall if the liberals win the next pro vincial election they can thank good management and stringent policies of the tories who went be fore them what an ironic twist of fate don bernard real editors just dont watch leafs at first i thought id been had the victim of a masterful con by stouffville tribuneweekender editor jim thomas after all jim is reputed for the effectiveness with which he is able to keep his ear to the ground but i muttered to myself how on earth could he have known when he called me last monday morning that id been up all hours sunday night at an old neighbor hood reunion and that i just might not have enough wits about me to say no to an assignment for that evening it wasnt until an hour and two or three cups of coffee later that i began to feel the sting there was no way a sports junk ie like jim thomas was going to head out to ballantrae on a rainy night to watch a ratepayers group plan a strategy when he could trick me into doing it he would then be free to stay home and watch the boys of april the maple leafs on television so i drove to the community centre and went sulkingly about from where i live buce staj2lxj the business of listening to the ratepayers berate the town plan but my mind wasnt there it was in jim thomas living room where i could clearly envi sion him sitting there feet up on the ottoman downing checsies and root beer as he watched the leafs chase the holy grail that is the division championship driving back to the tribune office to file my story i tuned in the game on my car radio 21 for detroit well into the third period as i made the swing around musselmans lake the leafs tied it up i almost drove into the water i again thoughtof jim getting to actually see this goal scored while i had to be content listening to a crazed announcer trip all over his words in excitement i pulled up in front of the trib office and walked in to my sur prise there was jim thomas sit ting at his desk working on a story it turns out jim lives at the office every monday night well into the wee hours hockey game or not yes the game was crackling away on an old radio in an adjoin ing room competing with the short wave set that keeps jim in formed of the whereabouts of the town fire department looks like overtime he said eyes still fixed upon his work yeah i replied trying to hide my feelings of guilt for hav ing thought all those terrible things about this dedicated news paperman we both went about our tasks and i reflected upon the strange nature of the newspaper business the radio continued to carry the strained playbyplay of what had become a game of games here was a night i wouldnt soon forget i thought as i tried to apply my mind to my work eyes on my scribbled notes ears on the blaring radio want a coffee jim asked im going to get one sure i answered reg ular and it was while he was gone that mike allison stuffed the puck ever so barely into the detroit goal making dramatic winners of the leafs and causing the radio to distort due to the thunderous re sponse of the fans thirty seconds later jim came back through the office door cof fee in hand you just missed it i blurted excitedly what happened he asked in most eager anticipation its over they won no- he exclaimed in disbe lief i felt even guiltier now not only was poor jim not watching the game in the comfort of his own living room he had even missed the euphoric rush that overcomes a fan the moment his team snatches a playoff game in over time i finished my story said good night to jim and headed out into the midnight air as i left an elvis presley classic filled the same airwaves that minutes be fore had carried all the excite ment jim had missed the playbyplay boys had gone home to bed i was going home to bed but for jim thomasit was just another monday night conomist sun the tribune weekender bruce annan publisher 9 heritage rd markham l3p1m3 2942200 4959440 6402100 6492292 published every saturday by mclroland printing publishing and distributing at 9 heritage rd mar kham ontario l3p 1m3 tel 2942200 second class mail registration number 1247 the markham economist and sun published every wednesday and saturday at 9 heritage rd markham is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press ajaxpickenng news advertiser aurora banner brampton guardian budington post etobicoke advertiserguardian georgetown independent milton champion mississauga news newmarket era oakvillc beaver oshawawhitby this week richmond hillthor- nhillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror stouffville tribune topic newsmagazine willowdale mir ror metroland printing publishing and distributing is a division of harlequin enterprises ltd national sales representative metroland corporate sales 4931300 don bernard jim thomas editors editorial department news editorjo ann stevenson reporters paula crowcll steve houston chris shanahan alan shacklcton paul pivato sports editorfrank king photographysjoerd witteveen bill lanning patricia pappas advertising manage advertising department retail advertising managercharles canning retail- tcrri bernhardt lorno hillicr 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