> West Niagara Ag Society celebrates ground breaking/ Pg. 7 > Rex Ge holds out hope hydro will step up Pg.5 > Residents wait for day in court Pg. 11 > Jordan OMB cost town $174K Pg. 19 Thursday, April 9, 2015 Vol. 3 Issue 49
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Arson suspected in multiple fires
NRP: similar pattern in at least 10 fires in three weeks
By Katherine Grant NewsNow It has been a crazy month, says West Lincoln Fire Chief Dennis Fisher. Fire call after fire call has had the local fire service out at all hours. There have now been about 10 suspicious fires in less than a month in West Lincoln and just over the border in Hamilton, said Fisher. On Sunday night the first call came in just after 11 p.m. “That was for a shed fire on South Chippawa Road which turned out to be minor,” said the chief. “The second call was just a few minutes later and a couple kilometres down the road.” This fire, a large barn also on South Chippawa Road, kept 28 firefighters out until about 7:45 a.m. the next day. Six trucks attended the scene and were supported by tankers from Haldimand and Hamilton. Niagara Regional Police Service is conducting a joint investigation with Hamilton Police Service and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office into these fires and several other barn that took place March 14 and 15. “The fires are certainly similar in nature. There are patterns and there is a concern about what is going on in these areas,” said Phil Gavin, NRP’s media relations officer. A media release from Hamilton Police Service says the fires are being treated as “related” and are asking the community to report any information they may have on a pick-up truck spotted in the area of some of the fires in March. Hamilton police are identifying the Hamilton and West Lincoln fires as “a crime spree of arsons”, according to the release.
See ARSON, Page 3
Circ: 25,733
Loving the hats! The Rose brothers, (L-R) Ryder, Hudson and Noah enjoyed a successful Easter Egg hunt in Smithville on Friday. The boys were among hundreds of west-end children particpating in egg hunts held throughout the weekend. For more photos see Page 10 Grant-Photo
Tax relief for Grimsby ratepayers By Mike Williscraft NewsNow The time to pay the piper has come and gone for Grimsby taxpayers. The result: a five per cent tax decrease this year.
At last week’s committee of the whole session, Finance Commitee Chair, Ald. Carolyn Mullins said a two per cent reduction on the Town portion may be possible with a lit-
tle juggling. When the dust settled, the reduction ballooned to 5.04 per cent. “When most other municipalities are looking at increases
some significant, we were able to present a budget with decreases! This budget is a very responsible one, Town services will be increasing as See TAXES, Page 2