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6 economist suntribune thursday nov 181999 s stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 5 37 sandifdrd dr suite 306 stoufiville ont l4a 7x5 opinion telephone 905 6402100 fax 905 6405477 email newsroomstoufftribcom publisher ian proudfoot general manager alvin brouwer editor in chief brenda larson director of advertising debra welter deputy editor debora kelly classified manager ann campbell editor alshackleton retail sales manager stephen mathieu production director chert kay inside sales manager stacey allen distribution director barry goodyear business manager margaret fleming online publishing manager brian kirlik office manager vivian oneil editorial municipalities must ready their parachutes were being pushed off a cliff this is just about which tool well take will it be a para chute a rope a hammer markham deputy mayor frank scarpitti discussing amalgamation i think some people are acting like lem- mings running right off the cliff markham councillor bill odonnell theres much to be said for frank scarpittis take on the issue of amalgamation he along with many other politicians has accepted that amalgamation or restructuring of york regions municipalities is inall likeli- hood a done deal now its time to determine who will make those decisions and how the finished version will be adapted theres also something to be said for odonnells concern that people who are pressing the regions leaders to get going on restructuring may be rushing off for no good reason he believes as do many of his polit ical counterparts theres time to plan we dont think five years the deadline given by former municipal affairs minister steve gilchrist to our regions leaders is long at all especially when you consider the varied posi tions that exist in the region and theres still much to be discussed how will amalgamation affect the quality of life for residents throughout the region how cost effective is it to create one mega- city as opposed to three mediumsized cities if a resident calls the police for help or the fire department who will answer the call will the municipality whatever it is still pick up the garbage clear the streets of snow and offer a swimming program at the recre ation centre will our taxes go up or down or just stay the same so what must be done the region must move ahead with financial impact studies find out how much amalgamation will cost or save residents municipalities can move ahead to examining quality of life issues and holding public meetings all municipalities should be considering adding an amalgamation ques tion to the election ballot in november 2000 amalgamation is coming we believe york regions municipalities should have a para chute letters to the editor blame for sons shooting does not rest with police i do not feel shaheen kamadia should lay all of the blame on the york regional police for the death of her son faraz suleman i believe that her actions and her public outcry of police racism labelling them as killers were due to her possible feelings of guilt that she was partially responsible as she was the one who organized the sting that was supposed to arrest her son she probably feels that if she had not been the one to sug gest the arrest perhaps her son may not have been killed that night it is really strange that she expected the arrest to be executed successfully especially when she had already lost some sense of con trol over her son what made her think that it would be easy what else could the police officer have done after he was struck by the stolen jeep i understand her grief due to the loss of a son but it is clear that she should not lay all of the blame on the police its like starting a fire and blaming the fire department for not stop ping it quickly enough to save the house it appears clear to me that she is trying to use the police force as a scapegoat and i believe her actions are unacceptabla jason suen thornhill heading for hospice story was insensitive reyournov 13 article about the evergreen hospice my husband at the age of 52 is a client of the hospice on the day your reporter attend ed the program my husband was too ill to attend but looked forward to reading the arti cle we were shocked when we received the newspaper on saturday and found the article the heading you chose for the front page index box evergreen hospice support group helps clients facing death was one of the most insensitive pieces of journalism i have seen in a long time it so shocked my husband to see this in print that it has significantly affected his emotional health the hospice and the volunteers have come to mean a great deal to us in facing this traumatic experienceit is a happy place for my husband to go and i cannot express the gratitude we feel towards these wonderful people who have supported us through good times and bad we did not need such a blatant reminder of our circumstances the heading could have easily expressed the positive and much appreciated service the hospice offers anne hunter markham letters policy stoufiville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the newspaper reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for darity and space write letters to the editor 37 sandiford dr suite 306 stouffville ont l4a 7x5 email lettersstoufftribcom stouffville tribune servingthe community since 1888 h303 dde canadian circulations i audit board member ontario press council canadian publications mail product sales agreement 1403419 subscription rates by mail 1 year 6955 tuesdays only stoufiville tribune published every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd group of newspapers which includes the ajarpickering kews advertiser alliston heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east york mirror erin advocatecountry routes etobicoke guardian flamborough post georgetown independentacton free press kingstorithis vreek lindsay this week midlandperietanguishene mirror milton canadian champion milton shopping news mississauga news newmarket- aurora georgina erabanner northumberland news north york mirror oakville beaver oakville shopping news orillia today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week richmond hillthomhillvaughan liberal scarborough minor stouffville tribune todays seniors uxbridge tribune and city of york guardian phone 905 6402100 fax 905 6405477 classified 18007433353 distribution 9056402100 dave teetzel consequences ofviolence often forgotten what a dark bitter irony on the day a recovering jonathan wamback attend ed a fundraising hockey tournament in newmarket another teenage boy was attacked and kicked repeatedly in the head by another gang in another park for dmitri matti baranovski there will be no recovery the 15yearold died monday reportedly killed over a pack of cigarettes by as many as 10 masked youths in north yorks g ross lord park last week it was a 15yearrold stabbed by a gang of more than 15 peo ple at don mills and finch in thornhill a 19year old was charged with robbing and threatening kids at thornhill secondary school and a robbery at thornlea led to another fight if all the media coverage surrounding the brutal attack on jonathan wamback in a newmarket park last june did noth ing else you would hope it would teach everyone that violence has serious con sequences despite what you may have seen in movies or on tv a person who is beaten and kicked repeatedly doesnt always just get up and fight back sometimes there is permanent brain injury sometimes the victim dies in my position i hear all the horror stories but i also talk vto a lotof teenagers who are intelligent wellman nered and call me about fundraising events they have organized for worthy causes and the man accused of a road rage beating at a busy richmond hill intersection is 66 years old its not about age the wamback family and their friends are campaigning to change the young offenders act theres no question that legislation is seriously flawed at least in its initial form and im au for any changes that will rehabilitate offenders or at least get them off the streets but i dont believe tougher laws will deter these punks if legal consequences were an effec tive deterrent then those american states that have the death penalty should have the lowest violent crime rates in the world they dont its common to put the blame for teenage violence on movies television video games or rap music all of these have been known to glorify violence j3ut once the media watchdogs have sanitized every movie tv show game cd and novel theyll have to deal with the fact that kids will still see plenty of violence on the 6 oclock news obviously parents have a huge responsibility but the reality is all of us have beonthe lookout for trouble this problem is too large and too complicated to lend itself to easy answers and cookiecutter solutions but concern from all community members isa good first step rvi x-s- r l3232mwwxjejuxaiwtitikxt