Employment Rally Draws Hundreds

$1.00 www.oshawaexpress.ca “Well Written, Well Read” Vol 4 No 29 Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Woman Genosha murdered reno well in rooming underway By Katie Strachan house The Oshawa Express By Katie Strachan and Lindsey Cole Rick Summers, owner of the Genosha The Oshawa Express building, has been granted the good news he was hoping for all along. A violent confrontation The region’s finance and administration between two women in an committee approved the company’s request for Oshawa rooming house has left financial assistance under its Regional one woman dead and the other charged with first Revitalization Program (RRP). degree murder. The $9.6 million re-build is a project that Police were called to the house in the Gibb will turn the old Genosha Hotel into new stu- Road and Celina Street area around 10 p.m. for an dent-housing facility in downtown Oshawa. unknown trouble call. Although most councillors agreed the proj- The officers discovered the body of 61-year- See HOPE Page 9 old Audrey Napper inside the home, with obvious signs of trauma. Despite initial reports, Dave Selby, director of Councillors corporate communications for Durham Regional Police, could not confirm that the body had been in the home for some time. antics prompt A 53-year-old woman, an acquaintance to the victim, who lives in the home was arrested on the scene and charged with first-degree murder. voting system She appeared in court the next day and has been remanded to the Whitby Mental Health query Centre. She will be in court again on June 5. By Lindsey Cole “I’m sure we have been there before but I The Oshawa Express don’t know how frequently,” says Selby. Police have now confirmed that they had been Voting all across the city, or a ward system? called to the rooming house back on April 3 for a That is the question. The subject was brought up at a recent disturbance call between the two women. Photo by Lindsey Cole/ The Oshawa Express Neighbours who live in the area were left won- finance and administration committee meet- dering how something like this could happen. ing, after one resident noticed the politics on “I’m just shocked that this happened,” says Hope for Tori City Council was getting out of hand. John Leo Hayes. James Sprague addressed the committee “She (the victim) wouldn’t hurt anyone. It The effects of a missing Woodstock girl were felt among dozens who released balloons at a com- regarding the voting-at-large system that was makes you feel a little uncomfortable.” munity centre in Courtice. Tammy Korkush and her daughter Montana came to the gathering to decided upon for the upcoming September This is Durham Region’s fourth homicide of show their support for eight-year-old Victoria ‘Tori’ Stafford who has been missing for over a month. 2010 election. 2009. See story page 7 See MUNICIPAL Page 9 EmploymentEmployment rallyrally drawsdraws hundredshundreds By Lindsey Cole ment insurance and pension protection in a benefits. But now she’s worried. The layoff The Oshawa Express time of economic hardship. is lasting too long and the bills are starting to For Tammy Schoep it was a chance to tell pile up. Despite the rain and gloomy skies, hun- her story. “GM’s too big to fall, right?” she says she dreds gathered at Memorial Park in Oshawa Laid off from General Motors, Schoep is asked herself. “Now I’m barely getting by. recently to make their presence known. a single mom with three children. I’ve come to the realization that it’s not These people are not going to give up. She has a home, a mortgage and was going to be a short layoff. We need an EI They believe in fighting for timely employ- lucky to get a job with a decent wage and See THE MIDDLE Page 9 Driving service fights license fee By Lindsey Cole input to get feedback from all necessary stake- bility insurance,” he says, adding it would be However, others didn’t share the same dis- The Oshawa Express holders, before actually enforcing the bylaw. redundant for him to have to follow the bylaw dain for the bylaw. During the meeting, several business own- as he already complies with most of the recom- Mack Conway, of DD Express, has been in The bylaw came into effect May 1. ers and drivers told members how they felt mendations. Durham Region for more than eight years. It stipulates that any designated driving about the bylaw. “There have been no public safety con- “We support it mainly for the one rea- service in Oshawa must pay a $125 city licens- Glen Willchuk, on behalf of Keys To Us cerns. At no time does Keys To Us want the son...we have to prove there is $2 million in ing fee, be insured for $2 million in commer- Ltd., DD4U and Home Safe, told members city to licence and regulate driving services. liability insurance, for the safety of the cus- cial liability insurance and require each these services represent more than 70 per cent We are concerned...all your financial require- tomers we’re driving. It keeps everything employee have a criminal background check of the market place. Enforcing the bylaw could ments will have an impact on the viability of above board and honest. We have no problem and a valid ‘G’ licence. cause them to go out of business, as they sim- our services,” he says. with it,” he told members of the committee. While these requirements may not seem ply can’t afford the fees. He also adds 80 to 90 per cent of the driver Gail Mushinski, on behalf of all designated outlandish or out of the question, for many Keys To US was formed 13 years ago, base will be forced to leave because they don’t driving services, says the bylaw is asking too businesses in the city it could mean the begin- Willchuk says, after the couple who owns the make enough to support the city’s require- much. ning of the end. company lost their nephew in a drunk driving ments on top of their regular maintenance “We can’t afford $1,500 to $2,000 a year Such is the reason why members of the accident. costs. for insurance. This will result in a large void in finance and administration committee recom- Since then the business has boomed as “Never have I worked in a job that is as per- our city.” mended to council that the bylaw be suspend- many impaired drivers use the service to get sonally rewarding as this one. The City of The matter will be discussed at the next ed for the time being. They also suggested that themselves and their car home safely. Oshawa should be grateful our services even City Council meeting. a public meeting be advertised and held for “We carry adequate commercial general lia- exist.” Water bills sky-high for home dialysis patients By Katie Strachan nights a week, 52 weeks of the year, “Currently Ottawa provides a patient’s blood is circulated through The Oshawa Express for eight hours a day.” home dialysis grant program for a machine, which contains a dialyz- And that caused the Mash’s water consumption relief and we er (an artificial kidney). Linda Mash’s husband John has home water bill to skyrocket to would like the same for the Durham Patients are typically hooked up been receiving home hemo dialysis $1,028 in 2008. Region,” she explains. to the machine through a fistula in since December 2006. The reverse osmosis machine, Currently there are 28 patients in their arm. An artery and vein must This allows him to be at home which is needed for dialysis treat- Durham using home hemo dialysis be connected surgically in order to with family more often, remain ments, uses 348 litres of water each machines - seven of those are in do this. comfortable during treatments, per- hour. Oshawa, most between the ages of Mash refers to the needle as an form them when he chooses and John uses the machine for eight 18 and 80. instrument of torture. keeps him happy and healthy, she hours each night, however, by the Mash also had to endure an Another way is an internal graft. says. time it’s set up, ran its cycle and dis- eight-week thorough training pro- An artery is surgically connected to But it doesn’t come without a infected afterwards, John’s machine gram in order to properly hook-up, a vein with a short piece of special large price tag, which shows on the ‘Sophia’ has been running for 10 clean and maintain her husband’s tubing placed under the skin. The couple’s water bill. hours straight. machine. needles are then inserted into this “On average our water bills have That’s 3,480 litres of water a “Kidney disease can strike any- tubing. more than doubled because of the week. one at anytime,” she says. Lakeridge Health Oshawa deliv- water consumption during dialysis Mash came forward to the In fact, each and everyday in ers the supplies the family needs on treatment,” says Mash, who is also a region’s finance and administration Canada, 14 people learn their kid- a monthly basis free of charge, volunteer for the Lakeridge Health committee pleading with them to neys have failed and they will something Mash says helps signifi- Patient Services Committee. provide some relief for patients in require some form of dialysis.

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