Councillors Meet the Prime Minister by Lindsey Cole This Is How They Would Describe Their Visit Community and Jim Flaherty, Minister of Gray
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$1.00 www.oshawaexpress.ca “Well Written, Well Read” Vol 4 No 19 Wednesday, March 4, 2009 Mayor blindsided... Councillors meet the Prime Minister By Lindsey Cole This is how they would describe their visit community and Jim Flaherty, minister of Gray. “I’m not a hard person to communicate The Oshawa Express to Ottawa last week where they were able to finance to name a few. with. I hope that they come back with a tangi- strengthen their relationship with Oshawa MP But for Mayor John Gray it was a slight, as ble result for the future.” For Oshawa city councillors Tito-Dante Dr. Colin Carrie as well as discuss important he had no idea the councillors were even head- According to MP Carrie this is exactly what Marimpietri, John Neal and John Henry it was issues to the city, including the harbourfront, ing to Ottawa. He says it was a breach of pro- happened. a chance to develop valuable relationships the environment and the university. tocol and reminds him of days long past when “It was great. We promised some record with some of the heavy hitters on Parliament The councillors were able to sit and talk council was disorganized and councillors were infrastructure spending,” he says, adding Hill, including the Prime Minister Stephen with Tony Clement, minister of industry, John going around one another to get things done. Harper himself. Baird, minister of transport, infrastructure and “It came as a big surprise,” says Mayor See CARRIE page 5 First murder of 2009... Homicide PolicePolice sinksink drugdrug ringring By Katie Strachan The Oshawa Express in Oshawa Hook, line and sink ‘em. A murder in Oshawa is the first homicide An Oshawa fishing supply store was of 2009 in Durham Region. involved in a major drug trafficking ring, A 40-year-old Oshawa man is being which lead Durham Police to a massive seizure charged with second-degree murder after of drugs, vehicles, weapons and cash valuing police found his common-law wife dead in more than $1 million, police say. their home in the Stephenson Road and “I’m extremely proud of our men and Annapolis Avenue area. women that have made out streets safer,” says Sherry Martin’s body was found with Police Chief Mike Ewles. obvious signs of trauma, according to police, After a 15-month inves- on Tues. Feb. 24 just before 10 p.m. tigation, undercover offi- Investigators believe the 52-year-old’s cers managed to dismantle death was a domestic-related homicide. a street-level drug opera- Police were originally called to the home tion, which was taking for a disturbance call, but when they went place out of Rock & Reel inside they found Martin’s body and arrested Outdoors Store on King her common-law husband who was still Street in Oshawa, Ewles inside the home. explains. Chief Mike Ewles Police are still investigating the incident. Police say the owners of the store sold marijuana, hashish and cocaine to undercover police on a number of THE ECONOMY different occasions during the investigation. “We believe these people were responsible for providing cocaine and other drugs on the Tourism in Durham streets of Durham Region,” says Inspector Tom Cameron, lead investigator on the investi- Is it gation dubbed project Dasher. Police seized a .380 calibre handgun, struggling? $465,638 in U.S cash, $18,715 in Canadian Part Two of a feature series cash, and large amounts of cocaine and mari- Page 8 juana with a street value of more than $145,000. “A lot of hardwork and effort has gone into taking these drugs off our streets,” boasts Ewles. Police also seized six stolen luxury vehi- Oshawa Generals NEXT GAMES Photo by Lindsey Cole / The Oshawa Express cles, including a Porsche Cayenne, a Range • Wed., March 5 in Barrie vs the Colts A member of the Durham Regional Tactical Unit, whose name could not be used, stands guard over the Rover, a BMW X5 and a Cadillac CTS. • Thurs., March 6 in Oshawa vs the Bulls $1 million worth of cocaine, marijuana, luxury vehicles and cash seized by police after a lengthy inves- See FISHING Page 6 tigation. GM tallies more losses General Motors Corporation ual adjustments, increased incen- revealed its fourth quarter results tives and foreign exchange. and it looks like a $9.6 billion loss “2008 was an extremely diffi- for the one-time leading automak- cult year for the U.S. and global er. auto markets, especially the sec- The results were released on ond half,” Chairman and CEO Thursday in Detroit, and also Rick Wagoner said in the release. highlighted a net “These conditions loss of $30.9 billion created a very in 2008. “2008 was an challenging envi- The cause of the extremely difficult ronment for GM massive shortfall is and other a result of the glob- year...” automakers, and al economic crisis, led us to take fur- as well as a dramat- -Rick Wagner ther aggressive ic deterioration in and difficult market conditions, Chairman and CEO measures to a press release stat- General Motors restructure our ed. business.” While the numbers appear dis- He also said 2009 probably mal, it is an improvement over the won’t be any better. 2007 results, which showed a These results come after two $43.4 billion loss. huge announcements were in late However, in North America February by both the American alone there was a reported loss of and Canadian companies, which $14.1 billion and is in part asked for billions in bailout cash because of declines in U.S. indus- from their respective govern- try volume, leased vehicle resid- ments. Music teacher arrested An Oshawa music teacher has Further investigation revealed been arrested and charged with that between Jan. 2005 and Sept. sexual offences. 2008 the teacher allegedly Three young girls allege the touched two more victims inap- teacher, who taught private music propriately. They were between lessons, committed sexual 14 and 16 years old. offences against them. The 41-year-old man was the In January 2009, Police private music teacher to all three launched an investigation into the of the victims and taught lessons allegations. out of his Oshawa home. Police learned that during the He has been charged with month of August 2008, the three counts of sexual assault, accused committed sexual sexual interference and two offences against a 15-year-old counts of sexual exploitation. girl. Investigators have learned that The offence allegedly took the man has taught music lessons place inside his home where he with other students throughout taught music. Durham Region. Spouse forcibly confined A 25-year-old Ajax man is call police. facing a number of charges after Police arrested the man with- he allegedly confined his com- out incident and charged him mon-law partner in an Oshawa with assault, forcible confine- home for three days. ment, uttering threats, sexual The victim claims she was assault and two counts of breach held captive in the home where of probation. she was repeatedly assaulted. The incident occurred from She managed to escape and February 22 to 24. Carjacking in Oshawa Two men were assaulted dur- firearm. ing a car jacking in an Oshawa Both of the victims were parking lot. sprayed with a solution, which The men were sitting in their police believe is a bear repellant. parked truck near Wilson Road Their truck was stolen but South when their car was delib- neither victim was physically erately struck by the suspect’s injured. vehicle. The suspects are still at large Once the men got out of the and the victims’ truck has yet to parked car to investigate the col- be recovered. lision they were both attacked The incident happened on by two men - one was armed Feb. 25 at 10:50 p.m. with a weapon believed to be a Coach arrested for sexual offence A 44-year-old coach is facing The victim was not physical- sexual exploitation charges after ly injured. he allegedly committed inappro- Her and her family reported priate sexual offences involving the incident to police in one of his female players. February. The victim, whose age is Investigators are wishing to being withheld, claims that ensure there are no further vic- between Jan. 7 and Jan. 26, her tims in this investigation. male hockey coach used his Anyone with information on this Check us out on the web authority and position to entrust matter is asked to contact the Visit www.oshawaexpress.ca for all the latest news stories the victim and engaged in sexu- Criminal Investigation Bureau al activity, which was inappro- at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 2790. priate. Page 2 MARCH 4 2009 City Hall construction on hold as costs escalate By Lindsey Cole office may be put up while the chamber is was going, where it had already been spent, and lot more information. I think we’re going to The Oshawa Express being constructed. a list of what cuts could be made to save some need to see that shopping list,” she told council. Although actual construction costs amount money along the way. “This is just not enough information. We’ve got When it comes to building an iconic, brand to about $1.3 million, other costs that cannot be “This project has almost doubled since we to get a better handle on this.” new, state-of-the-art council chamber, council- negotiated and were not a part of the discussion started out,” she said, adding there needs to be lors seem to be all for it, but not for the hefty included increasing the size of the third level more clarity.