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kate has had it see page 4 vol 105 no 12 a metroland community newspaper wednesday march 24 1993 24 pages 50 cents si1111p held the first weekend of spring for more on the event see page crime two charged after rash of robberies tracy kibble staff reporter york regional police charged two men sunday for a rash of armed robberies including one in whitchurchstouffville of convenience and video stores across the region police arrest- sos disappointed mayor mayor fran sainsbury declared disappointment last week in the towns largest and most outspoken ratepayers group the mayor told a full council chambers last tuesday night that the save our stoufiville sos group failed to show up in newmarket thurs march 11 where the executive promised to approach the 20member council regarding taxes and other eco nomic matters the mayor said the groups failure to show and express concerns at the regional level proves they are not as dedicated to their cause as they lead people to believe sainsbury council members several staff bosses and the sos executive met three weeks ago in attempts to iron out some concerns discuss local fiscal issues and debate spending poli cies within the town the informal meeting was organized after months of discontent on both sides regarding economic issues such as the proposed fire truck expenditure sos members stressed last november during its first public plea that they would not be prepared to pay a municipal tax hike in 1993 and claimed that they would also take their case to the public school board and all levels of government sos did meet with the school board in january but failed to meet with york region politicians last week sainsbury said i was really disappointed that no one showed i couldnt believe it sainsbury said ed an 18yearold bradford man and a 19yearold man of no fixed address with seven robberies including the march 16 holdup of the local bj vari ety convenience store main st stoufiville police investiga tions showed the suspects were responsbilefor seven armed robberies which occurred dur ing late february and march during these robberies one suspect would enter the store and point a replica 9 mm hand gun at the clerk while the other would operate the get away vehicle the robber would flee the store on foot after tak ing cash and would meet up with his accomplice a short dis tance away police reports show the 19yearold is charged with seven counts of robbery five counts of possession of an offensive weapon and four counts of use of a firearm the 18yearold getaway car driver is charged with six counts of robbery the duo is also charged with robberies in thornhill richmond hill and aurora man charged after crash a 45yearold markham man is charged with impaired driving after two cars collided on hwy 48 last saturday at about 750 pm a 21yearold stoufiville woman was taken to markham- stouffville hospital with major injuries sat march 20 at about 830 pm after being extracted from her vehicle with the jaws of life by whitchurchstouffville firefighters according to opp reports a markham man was driving southbound on hwy 48 when his car gradually swerved into the northbound traffic lanes as he approached the dickson hill road at 19th ave hitting the stoufiville womans car the victim remains in hospital in sta ble condition the markham driver received minor injuries no one else was hurt police said emergency crews and police re routed traffic for more than one hour while the road was cleaned up more police not answer to crime tatone tracy kibble staff reporter hiring more police officers to parole york regions streets wont lower crime statistics especially in whitchurchstouffville local officials decided last week instead yorks police force needs to look at its own inefficiencies and think of innovative ways to restruc ture said ward 3 councillor nick tatone tatone was referring to a request from the york regional police association which is seeking the towns support in its bid to hire more uniform officers the force wants 30 more officers and five new cruis ers next year a 3 million cost and one they say is nec essary because of population increases and the provinces plans to transfer roads responsiblity with york the association claims a surge in population over the past few years has left the force lagging in officers which creates a dangerous situation that could put the police officer and the citizen at great risk this is a health and safety issue a letter from association presi dent paul bailey states but tatone said the police force should reorganize its own organization and start sharing boundaries with other forces to save money im sure there are some inef ficiencies within the force like there are with any orga nization tatone said tatone suggested police spend less time writing reports for such petty crimes as bicycle thefts and spend more time becoming a team like the firefighters i dont think hiring more officers will end all of their problems he added the association says the ratio of police officers to pop ulation is 1768 a 10 per cent degradation that puts at risk the comfort and security of the citizens please see page 3