$1.00 www.oshawaexpress.ca Well Written, Well Read Vol 4 No 15 Wednesday, Feb 4 2009 SPORTS Pgs 16 City asks Making it Volunteers human rights By Cynthia McQueen feds, clean up to the hall The Oshawa Express of fame Billy Steele is fighting back harbour front after he was given the boot from the General Motors Centre for Price tag for infrastructure in talking to a celebrity. Steele, who was reassigned to Oshawa $300 million the outside of the building for his volunteer position at Rogers By Cynthia McQueen Television, is looking for The Oshawa Express $100,000 in compensation. “I’m getting a lot of support,” Before the release of the said Steele as he handed out January 27 budget, Oshawa information sheets about his MP Colin Carrie said he had human rights complaint to not received any requests for Oshawa Generals fans at a recent infrastructure money from game at the GM Centre. the city of Oshawa. One elderly fan who wished “He’s out of touch,” said to remain nameless said, “I’m a Deputy Mayor Nester K9 Unit: season ticket holder. If they Pidwerbecki in response to don’t reinstate this kid, I won’t learning Carrie had no Colin Carrie Titan makes buy tickets. It’s ridiculous.” knowledge of Oshawa’s He was one of many fans like requirements for various proj- an arrest Josh Dolstra who said, “I will ects. not purchase another Oshawa City council sent out specific and itemized Generals ticket until this is dealt requests to various government officials, with in a proper way.” including transport and infrastructure minister Until a few weeks ago, Steele John Baird and Bill Hughes, a deputy infra- was also one of Rogers top vol- structure minister in the Stephen Harper gov- unteer camera people at the GM ernment. Centre. The city requested money from Ottawa to After he approached Don help pay for harbourfront clean-up and other Cherry while working at the Top jobs. The list of infrastructure projects comes Prospects Game earlier this with a price tag of $300 million. month, “it was decided (between Photo by Cynthia McQueen/The Oshawa Express However, Oshawa MP Carrie said: “We got Global Spectrum and Rogers) that (a list of jobs that need funding) the day that he should be reassigned Billy Steele received a lot of support from Oshawa Generals fans while he handed out fly- of the budget. We got an entire folio from the See Page 11 from working in the building,” ers about his human rights complaint for workplace discrimination at the GM Centre on city. And there’s some substantial asks.” the weekend. See SIGN Page 8 Council was surprised to hear Carrie’s comments before the release of the budget. “He should know the areas of improve- ment. You don’t need someone to call you to Egg farmers and humane society tell you how to do your job,” said Oshawa councillor Brian Nicholson. By Katie Strachan Liaison of the Durham Planning Speaking of what he called an innovative The Oshawa Express and wholesome approach to Oshawa Generals Committee, the HSI is concerned that farmers are keeping egg-laying hens a new federal budget, NEXT GAMES Durham Region in battery cages. Mayor John Gray listed • Friday, Feb. 6 in egg farmers are in the A battery cage, according to the the harbourfront as the Kingston VS The hot seat with the Canadian Coalition for Farm number one concern, fol- Frontenacs Humane Society Animals, is a 16 by 18-inch cage that lowed by a research and • Saturday, Feb. 7 in International (HSI). houses 4 to 6 hens, which prevents development park near the Ottawa VS the 67’s Although there them from displaying natural behav- university that would create and have been no direct iours. 12,000 jobs. • Sunday, Feb. 8 VS complaints against Hubert Schillings, owner of On the city’s list was farmers of Durham Mayor John Sudbury Wolves at White Feather Farms in Oshawa, Gray also money to help pay for the GMC region, according to Nancy Rutherford, See BATTERY Page 7 See SPENDING Page 3 Off-duty officer solves robbery Thanks to an off-duty police offi- None of the employees were injured cer’s quick thinking, a robber armed in the robbery. with a syringe is in police custody. The 31 year-old Ajax man is charged A man walked into a Tim Horton’s with the Tues. Jan. 27 robbery. location on Simcoe Street South and Durham Regional Police Service managed to rob several employees of would like to remind the general public cash after he threatened to stab them to cooperate with suspects during vio- with the syringe he was holding. lent criminal activity to avoid any per- The police officer watched as the sonal injury. robbery suspect fled the local coffee Anyone with information about this shop to a nearby building and proceed- investigation is asked to contact Det. ed to run after him, which resulted in Houston of the Major Crime Robbery the arrest of the Ajax man. Unit at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5360. Potential bomber arrested in Oshawa After a caretaker found what appeared to be a The Explosive Disposal Unit was dispatched and pipe bomb, police apprehended and arrested a 39- the area was cordoned off for about 90 minutes as year-old Oshawa man. EDU experts confirmed the device was safe. The man was also in possession of a toy rocket. The 39 year-old man is charged with possession Officers were called to the apartment complex without lawful use, mischief and breach of recogni- on Nonquon Road in Oshawa on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at zance (not to possess any explosive substance). approximately 4:30 p.m. after the caretaker found The DRPS urges citizen not to touch anything the pipe bomb in the maintenance room of the that looks like a handmade explosive device. Call building. the police immediately and evacuate the immediate The caretaker and another employee, who is an area. electrician, inspected the device and dismantled it Anyone with new information about this inves- before calling the police. tigation is asked to contact Oshawa Police Criminal Police arrived on the scene and removed the Investigations Bureau at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 2711. device to a safe area far away from the building. Frightening robbery in Oshawa Suspect one has a slim build, was wearing a black, Local army surplus leather jacket and white running shoes. The young man wears diamond earrings in both ears and two silver store robbed at chains with crosses around his neck. Suspect two was wearing a black hooded sweater, and wore a black facemask. gunpoint, loads stolen Suspect three was armed with a crowbar in his hand and had a black ski mask over his face. By Katie Strachan The man carrying a handgun has a medium build The Oshawa Express and was wearing a black facemask. Police are still looking for information on the rob- Jeff Shwartz has owned Hero’s Army Surplus, bery. If you can help in any way contact Detective Oshawa’s army supply store, for over 20 years and Horrocks at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5361. never imagined he’d be the victim of a robbery. “It’s a sign of the times,” says Shwartz. “It’s not a good omen.” Recently, two of his employees were handcuffed and held at gunpoint during a robbery when four masked men entered the surplus store. “They took our shoes off so that we couldn’t run after them,” says Keith, who was one of the employees working at the time of the robbery. The employee wished not to have his last name used. “There was glass everywhere, which would have stopped us from running in our socks too,” adds Keith. Armed with a handgun and a crowbar, the robbers were able to overpower the two employees working behind the counter at the Philip Murray Avenue store and handcuffed them to each other. The robbers took the employees’ wallets before raiding goods from the army store. The four men smashed glass display cases through- out the store and stole paintball supplies, knives and army gear of all kinds, according to Shwartz. “They made off with bags and bags of stuff,” adds Keith, who has worked at Hero’s for two years. “There’s been a lot of violent crime in Oshawa,” says Shwartz. This has been the first incident of its kind at Hero’s since its doors opened more than two decades ago. The damage to the store and the amount of property stolen has not yet been determined. As for the store, its doors were re-opened as soon as possible. “We rock and roll here,” says Shwartz. The suspects left the store as soon as they had gath- ered what they wanted. Police believe that they may have had a vehicle close by, as they disappeared quickly. Thankfully, neither employee was injured in the robbery. The employees, although shocked, were able to describe the robbers to police. Photo by Katie Strachan/ The Oshawa Express All of the suspects are black men aged 17 to 20 years old and were wearing dark clothing at the time of Keith, an employee at Hero’s Army Surplus store was one of the robbery. the employees working at the time of the robbery. He stands in front of the glass cabinets the robbers smashed. Page 2 FEB 4 2009 Spending your tax dollars The city in brief From CITY Page 1 shore up tourism in Oshawa.