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Old Town Hall like ‘grand lady’ needing makeover Media tour highlights renovation progress BY CHRIS SIMON
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csimon@yrmg.com
STAFF PHOTO/MIKE BARRETT
Newmarket’s capital projects co-ordinator Meredith Goodwin chats with Newmarket-Aurora MPP Chris Ballard Monday during a sneak peek of the Old Town Hall building. During a tour, Newmarket staff highlighted construction progress and painted a picture of what the transformation will look like upon its completion.
PUBLIC SAFETY
BY CHRIS SIMON
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Survey finds ‘significant’ homeless population 109 volunteers spent one night counting number of homeless across region BY LISA QUEEN
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For more crime stories from across York Region, visit yorkregion.com.
as a white man who wore an off-white coloured hoodie and black gloves. The hood was up and a portion of the man’s face was covered. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222TIPS, leave a tip at 1800222tips. com or text a message to CRIMES (274637), starting with the word ‘YORK’.
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ith the wind chill making it feel about -10C, Cassandra Vink was relieved to hear the homeless man she met on the streets of Richmond Hill had a warm, if only makeshift, place to sleep. The Richmond Hill woman was one of 109 volunteers who spread out across York Region one night this month to count as many people in shelters and living outside as they could find. The “point in time” count, overseen by the United Way of Toronto and York Region, was the first time the initiative has been held in the
JUSTICE
Offender’s family will now appeal, as well fter four years worth of investigation, court and trial time, the Garrett Styles trial finally came to a conclusion in June with a first-degree murder conviction and then a sentence in November. Now, two months later, the Crown has decided to appeal the decision based on the belief the sentence was unreasonable and didn’t hold the youth involved to account. The offender, only identified as S.K., as he was a minor when he committed the offences, was not handed any custodial time, rather nine years of conditional-supervision. Justice Sosna allowed him to remain at his parents’ Newmarket home, ruling the Milton facility the Crown had suggested was not suited to care for his “significant” medical needs, considering he is a
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region. To make sure they didn’t bias the results by skipping anyone, the volunteers asked everyone they met whether they were homeless and then carried on with a more in-depth, 20-question survey with those who identified themselves as having no permanent home. Results of the survey are expected to be released in the spring and will
be used to improve services. Preliminary results indicate there are people who are homeless in communities across the region, Pedro Barata, the United Way’s vicepresident of communications and public affairs, said. “We certainly found people along the continuum of homelessness, from people who were sleeping on the streets, to people who were in temporary shelters, violence against women shelters, youth shelters and transitional housing,” he said. Barata volunteered at the field office at The Link in Sutton. The other field offices were at the See page A9.
SPORTS & BUSINESS
Crown to appeal Styles trial decision
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See page A10.
SOCIAL ISSUES
Suspect still sought in gas station robbery olice are still searching for a suspect in a robbery that took place at the PetroCanada gas station on Mulock Drive in Newmarket Monday. At about 5:45 a.m., the suspect entered the gas station, located in the Mulock and Cane Parkway area, and demanded cash and cigarettes from employees. They complied and the suspect fled on foot with a quantity of money. No one was injured in the incident. The suspect is described
n Botsford Street there sits an aging but grand lady in need of a makeover. Her name is Old Town Hall and on the outside she’s a splendid dame, with creamcoloured bricks and dark shingles and a bell tower that perches on top; it all takes you back to a different era. The building once housed council, a police station and a jail, before falling on hard times, as we sometimes do as we age, and it now requires a good deal of work. Just less than $10 million in work, I’m assured several times, during a tour of the building Monday afternoon. The town certainly is getting its money’s worth. On the inside the building has been gutted to the brickwork and there are construc-
tion workers installing lighting and putting together the theatre during the course of the tour. Once complete, the facility is intended to be a jewel in the crown of a revitalized Main Street, steps from Riverwalk Commons and the Newmarket Public Library, featuring meeting rooms, an elevator, an updated theatre and storage space. It will also be accessible and capable of hosting art exhibitions and residents will be able to pay tax bills and make other municipal inquiries at a main kiosk, town recreation and culture director Colin Service said. “We want this place to be our presence in the downtown,” he said, wearing a hard hat and leading the tour. “We really think of this building as the building to inspire
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quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair. The Styles family and some police remained unsatisfied with the sentence. After the verdict Garrett’s wife said the sentence was a “huge letdown”. “My children and I have been given a life sentence to have to live without Garrett,” Melissa Styles said in a statement released by York police. Police Chief Eric Jolliffe also released a statement. “Notwithstanding the physical condition of the accused,” the release read. “This sentence does not reflect the principles of accountability referenced in the Youth Criminal Justice Act.” The family of the offender has also now decided to appeal.
Lose
Putting best foot forward business’ goal BY JOHN CUDMORE
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jcudmore@yrmg.com
ith apologies to John Scott, you know you’re a bigtime player when the call comes for your first all-star game. SUPPLIED PHOTO While Scott, whose controverNewmarket based SummerSkates heading to the NHL All-Star Game sial inclusion in this weekend’s this weekend in Nashville, TN, with a special gift for players. NHL All-Star Game in Nashville, Tenn., has created a media talkDoak said his company has ing point in recent weeks, Myles entered a multi-year deal with the Doak will be outfitting the feet of NHLPA to do the name and numthe NHL’s elite stars assembled ber of any player in the league. ❑ For more on this endeavour, for a few days of glitter starting For fans, it is a chance to display visit their site at summerskates. Thursday. their favourite player on their feet, com Doak and his partner Kevin whether it’s a pair of Sidney CrosHennessey, both Newmarket resiby 87 sandals or a Leo Komarov 47 dents, are busily compiling Summodel. comprising a flat rubberized sole merSkates for each of the 44 play“I’m absolutely super, super and skate laces providing the ers competing in Sunday’s game attachment band. Each all-star’s at Bridgestone Arena. name and number will be dyed The SummerSkates concept is See page A2. into the laces in his team’s colours. simple — a flip-flop-style sandal
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