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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1981-06-18, Page 4Page 4 Citizens News June 18, 1981 L. 1 "They asked if it can wait till morning the whole police force is out raiding some spa or something." IIn11111111111111111111111111111111111H111111111111111f1111111111fl1111Nn111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111H11111111C A▪ M Viewpoint Z.C.N.•MI0000MIWO O ▪ W AND nununnuHu�numHiium�unn�unmmnunnnnmmwHiiHHHHniui�unununui�innunnnnunuuiuuunninunnuuiuniiniuninnnnnnunmunnwnuir--. Penalties light for vandals Every nowand then there are acts of senseless vandalism in this area and while no attempt should be made to condone them they fortunately are not in the same class as those reported elsewhere. For instance, in the Metro Toronto area vandals are stepping up their destructive war on parks, schools, libraries, industry and private homes. Metro Police estimate the amount of wilful damage has risen from $2,271,148 in 1975 to $5,326,785 in 1980 — a nearly 135 percent increase in five years. The mayor of North York, Mel Lastman, says this is only the tip of the iceberg. His estimate for vandalism in Metro last year was at least $20 million. Police agree that many acts of vandalism are not reported. As examples of the acts being perpetrated: Vandals destroyed with a sledgehammer a com- puter, office equipment, and doors of a Scarborough artist supply firm, doing $85,000 damage. Rampaged through the cemetery of St. John's Norway Anglican Church, flattening more than 100 headstones and causing $5,000 damage to other parts of the property. In Hamilton, vandals went on a $75,000 wreck- ing spree in St. Patrick's Roman Catholic School. Paint and glue were poured on carpels, walls and upholstery were slashed, chemicals were sprayed about and plugged wash basins. Overflowing water damaged library books below. Metro police believe the rise in malicious damage is due partly to a lessening of respect for property, law and order. But some of the blame must also be placed on the leniency of the courts. Vandals have come to the conlcusion that even when they are apprehended the penalty won't be severe. And in how many cases are they required to make restitution for even a portion of the damage? (The Dutton Advance) Gov't leads the way on inflation Hospital workers, who can't legally strike, have some legitimate complaints about the niggardly spending habits of governments. Postal workers, who can strike, have no such complaint. Neither do office workers — who can strike. The 17,500 members of the Ontario Public Ser- vice Employees Union overwhelmingly approved a contract earlier this month that will provide one- year increases of 13.56 percent for clerical workers and 14.4 percent for office workers. This large group of Ontario's civil servants now will earn (or at least be paid) an average of about $305 a week. No wonder an OPSEW spokesman could say: "It's the best settlement we've had so far this year." And governments continue to lead the way — upward -- in the inflation battle. Grimsby Independent Published Each Wednesday Sy J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Member: Canadian W'eitly Newspapers Asseci*rion Marne Weekly Newspapers Association News Editor Rob Chester Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 Subscription Rates: S8.50 per year in advance in Canada S19.50 per year outside Canada Single copies 25e 0 • By ROB CHESTER My personal sense of history has taken a real beating .this week. It has come crashing down upon me that an era is truly over. We lived in a home in Petersburg for just over 15 years and though I was ten when we moved in, I guess you could say! grew up there. It's gone now. It hasn't been lost to flood or tornadoes, or even burnt to the ground — nothing so bland as that; it has been sold. It will perch there up on top of its own little hill and serve to taunt me with its existance. A home is much more than a house though and even that islooking a little ragged about the edges right now. My parents have moved into an apartment and will live there for a few years until my father decides to retire. They will then move north to the village of Clifford where they have bought an old store. Thus, what was until recently my home, is spread out over three places (including my own humble apartment — four places if you count my sister's move west! ) But the most disconcerting aspect of moving is the things you must throw out. Most of my childhood toys have long since pass- ed into oblivion and I'm working on the junk I collected in my teenage years. I seemed to have passed through more than my fair share of hobbies — and with each hobby I have acquired a collection of tools, devices and masses of literature. I also was collecting novels by a select handfull of science fiction writers — why I'm not exactly sure — and had amassed a frightfully large collec- tion. Most of the books and hobby magazines have been bundled off to a used book store. The small amount of cash received will no doubt be contributed toward a fund to sooth my heartbreak I think a tear went out with every book. I fancy myself a collector, but Mother claims our whole family is a bunch of pack rats. If anyone asks though, about the piles of old school notes, scribbles and ideas jotted on scraps of paper and carefully saved, about the bundle of old posters — including one of Fidel Castro from my high school rebel days — the joke book of elephant, grape and banana jokes, or even my collection of nickles, I calmly tell them I have a very strong sense of personal history. So perhaps I should correct myself: my sense of personal history has taken a real beating this week. This confirms a certain amount of arrogance on my part, and assumes after I'm gone that someone, somewhere, will actually care about all the junk I've preserved. As I get older and it is sometimes amazing how old you can feel at 25, my personal ambitions are mellowing somewhat, but I still get a deep sense of loss when I throw something out. With every old school note book pitched into the trash goes a small part of my life. A small part of my history is lost with each disposal. I've come to justify some of the cut-backs by assuring myself most of the time I'm disposing of, such as books, can be found later in life it I decide I really must have them in my personal possession. But, with three living spaces at my disposal, there is lots of storage spaces All those priceless items (which no doubt are junk to anyone else) I just can't live without,can be stored. It frightens me though. While moving a box at a time, space to transport my things was a premium. Much of the chaff and the real garbage I'd collected has been disposed of. In a few months, when I tire of wander- ing around an almost empty apartment — what will I start to collect then. Nature abhors a vacuum, and things expand to fill the space allotted. My current fears and Wounds are overshadowed by the fact that someday I'm go- ing to have to move it all again.