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Ice princesses The Mustangs women’s hockey team ended the year on a high note Sunday. >> pg. 7
thegazette We’ll be right back since 1906
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canada’s only Daily Student Newspaper • founded 1906
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Volume 106, Issue 52
Shuttle service shut down by Greyhound Lily Robinson Gazette Staff When Western start-up London Rocket formulated their business plan to transport university students at lower costs than those offered by companies such as Via Rail Canada and Greyhound Canada, they likely envisioned a more profitable outcome. Greyhound Canada confirmed London Rocket was presented with a cease and desist notice yesterday, bringing their services to a grinding halt. Those who had intended on boarding London Rocket’s yellow school bus during exam time now find the road home effectively blocked. Method of transportation is an important consideration at this time of year, as students plan their trip home for the holidays. In addition to times of departure and
estimated times of arrival, cost is a deciding factor for many. The London Rocket team believed they had struck upon an opportunity to provide students with an alternative route to their destination that would alleviate monetary concerns. “Our mission and our values are that we want to provide lowcost transportation for students. There’s Via and there’s Greyhound, which are pretty good, but by running with school buses we thought we could save students a little more money and help them get back and forth more easily,” Darren Cole, a consultant on the London Rocket project, explained. In fact, the idea presented such potential that an additional competitor announced their inception only two days ago. Purple Express, owned and run by Western students Jonathan Li and Jeff He, aims >> see shutdown pg.3
Andrei Calinescu Gazette
Jack’s gets handed a week-long timeout Megan Devlin Gazette Staff
Andrei Calinescu Gazette
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Students may have seen the yellow notice on the front door of Jack’s informing patrons of its suspended liquor license—or the meme circulating around Facebook. The bar’s liquor license was suspended at 11 a.m. on December 3, and will remain that way for seven days until 2 a.m. on December 10, when the suspension lifts. The notice cites the reason for the suspension as “sell/serve to intoxicated person, LLA SEC 29.” Lisa Murray, a spokesperson for the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario—the organization that imposed the suspension—revealed more about the incident at Jack’s. “On March 17, 2009, a patron was intoxicated on the premises and had been served liquor,” Murray said. On top of the seven-day sus-
pension, Jack’s has also received a $3,500 monetary penalty. According to Murray, bureaucratic delay is the reason the suspension is only being served now for an infraction that occurred in 2009. However, according to Murray, the three-year delay for the bar’s suspension is unusually long. Murray also explained how the AGCO operates on a case-by-case basis. “If there’s an infraction notice written by an inspector going into the premises, then the inspector writes a report and it goes through the chain of command. If there’s sufficient evidence to make a strong enough case, then there’s a group of people at the AGCO who looks at the case and makes a determination whether, under the circumstances, there should be an administrative sanction, and if so, what that should be,” Murray explained. “They look at the nature and
seriousness of the infraction, and the compliance history of the establishment. It’s not like the criminal code where if you do a certain thing, you get six months in jail. It’s a bit more flexible,” Murray said. However, she said the organization strives to give similar penalties for similar infractions across the province. “It could be a warning letter, it could be a monetary penalty, it could be a suspension, it could be a revocation, in the most extreme cases of repeat offence,” Murray said. Murray also emphasized that once an establishment has received a sanction they have the right to a hearing with counsel and witnesses, much like a regular court case. The establishment also has a three-month window in which it must serve the suspension. Jack’s was unavailable for comment.
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