The record, 28 décembre 2000, jeudi 28 décembre 2000

THE HHBHHbhhm The voice of the Eastern Townships since 1897 65 cents Thursday, December 28, 2000 v."¦**, STEPHEN MCDOUGALL/SPEC1AL Shoppers in South Durham are finally able to do some comparison shopping and from a wider variety of products, And shoppers in more small Eastern Townships communities may be enjoying the same benefit soon.South Durham store signals Provigo expansion in rural areas Prisoner found dead in his cell A47-year-old prisoner at Sherbrooke’s Talbot prison was found dead in his cell early Tuesday morning.The major crimes unit of the Quebec Police Force is investigating the death.Police were releasing few details yesterday, but said that at this point there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, which indicates the man probably committed suicide.Crime r*ate continues to drop in Quebec But violent offences and drug trafficking on the rise By René Bruemmer The overall crime rate in Quebec dropped in 1999 for the seventh year in a row, with crimes against property seeing a continued decline but crimes against individuals rising slightly.As the annual harvest in the Townships shows, crimes related to the Please she Crime Page 5 By Stephen McDougall Special to The Record South Durham It has only 4,000 square feet of floor-space and eight full and part-time employees, but the new Axep Plus grocery store that opened up here recently could mean more to rural resi- dents than just a local convenience.For Axep’s parent company Provigo, it means expansion into smaller towns where residents have had to put up with little choice and high prices.“This is the third Axep Plus store we have set up in rural Quebec this year.We have more stores like this planned for 2001,” said Provigo spokeswoman Nathalie Roussel.“And the Eastern Townships is on our list of regions to consider." Presently, there are 187 Axep stores in Quebec, all of them franchises.Please see Store Page 3 FIRE - WATER - SMOKE DAMAGE RESTAURATION STEAMATIC service de nettoyage complet 24-HOUR EMEERGËNCY SERVICE SOWS CREETlHjft mm w Wf Sherbrooke & area Granby & area 565-4343 777-3234 « TH E i page 2 Thursday, December 28, 2000 'x L Those early Christmases were the best I may never see Christmas in New York.Oslo or Nunavik but I have seen Christmas in a lot of other places.The best of course were those with our young family living in Baie Comeau and Sept-Iles on the Quebec North Shore.I can see our starry-eyed, sleepy children entering the living room with gifts under the decorated tree.All five of them would obediently sit waiting for Santa Claus or Dad in his absence, to call out their names.I can see them excitedly unwrapping their presents (one for each) and craning their necks to see what their brothers or sisters received from Santa.Nowadays I take a back seat and watch our children enjoying Christmas with our grandchildren.No matter where I spend Christmas Eve these days, I find myself comparing it with those spent with our young children so many years ago.There is still a lot of joy but it’s so very commercial these days.The quantity and value of gifts is almost indecent.There may be three to five gifts per child.Pandemonium breaks lose during the unwrapping of toys.Besides the gifts to their children by each family there were gifts for grand-ma, grandpa, uncles, aunts, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.Thank heaven our clan has finally come to its senses and has limited spending to the purchase of one $10 gift which is chosen at random with a right to one exchange.It’s a lot of fun.Going to the shopping mall the week before Christmas is scary.The whole population of every corner of the Townships congregates there to make their Christmas purchases.That’s probably the reason they congregate a lot less in church.I hear friends tell me they have made several trips to the mall but still have a lot of gifts to buy yet.Another change is the attitude towards Santa Claus.The spirit of good old St.Nick is purged from our children at a younger age than in my days.I started to wonder about Santa Claus only after we had moved into a house that didn’t have a chimney.The quantity and poor facsimiles of the rotund, immaculately dressed, laughing and smiling Santa have caused frowns on the foreheads of some pretty young children.Movies have disguised thieves in Santa Claus outfits.Just recently I received email messages with jokes of bad taste that debase the jolly personage.It seems that the cancer eating away the fibers of our society since we pushed God aside has spread right into our Christmas.I am rarely negative in my columns but I must mention that we pay for our sins.That is as true today as that time when God was feared.Paying for sins today takes a different form.You do penance by standing in line to change your gifts on Boxing-day, by waiting for the credit card invoices to arrive in the mail, by fretting about over-spending and by looking forward to the T-4’s and T-5’s to fill in your income tax returns, praying for a refund.Now it is the time for our New Year’s resolutions?Let’s try to make some realistic resolves to improve our own lives and those of our families and neighbors.Maybe you can include some resolutions about next Christmas?To all my readers and fans: “I loved you in the 20th Century, I love you in the 21st Century and I shall love you for centuries to come.” Quote from William Cox in Flood Quarterly.Happy New Year and drive carefully! Our Man Thursday William Cox Keeping the magic alive If you’re a married man and are hoping to stay that way, I think it’s a good idea to do everything you can to maintain your value in your wife’s eyes.You should treat yourself the same way you would look after a car you plan to keep for a long time.Wash and wax as often as you can.Change the oil once a month.No quick starts or stops, and keep the mileage down.That’ll take care of your physical appearance, but to get to the heart and mind of a woman, you need to have a little mystique working for you.Instead of having an affair, just pretend you are.Have women call you at home and then hang up when your wife answers.Throw a tube of passion pink lipstick into your glove compartment.Speak French in your sleep.Life is an auction, and nothing increases the value of an item more than the fear that someone else is bidding.And when your wife finds out that you’re actually not cheating on her, she’ll have a huge victory celebration, and you’ll be the guest of honor.Rest up.An extraordinary man I was watching one of those biography shows on television this week, and they called this particular guy an “extraordinary man.” I was intimidated.But on the other hand, my wife says being a man isn’t a particularly high calling.So being an “extraordinary” one might be even worse.Break the word down - “extra,” which means superfluous, waste, one too many (I’ve been there) and “ordinary,” which means common, average, nothing special.When you put them together, you get “extraordinary," which must mean being completely average in a totally superfluous way.So I’ve decided I am extraordinary too.And so are most of my friends.I’m just amazed that somebody like us became the subject of a television show.Step away from the leaf blower Attention ladies: Men are drawn to machines like moths to a flame.Especial- ly if the machine is broken.However, when you have a broken machine, the last thing you need is a guy interfering who has no idea what he’s doing.It’s fine if he’s your husband or your neighbor, because you know they’re idiots and you can keep them away.But with strangers, you just don’t know.So here are signs to watch for that indicate this guy has no idea what he’s doing: • He stares at the machine for more than 10 minutes without moving or speaking.• He tells you to shut the machine off.• He finds a control and turns it a little and waits.Then turns it a lot and waits.Then turns it back to its original position.• He burns himself on something and pretends it never happened.• He sprays the entire machine and surrounding area with oil.• He hides his toolbox.• As soon as another man arrives on the scene, he backs away just far enough that he evolves from being a participant to an observer.Guilty by association I saw an article about an aging actress in a movie magazine, and it included some pictures of her in her personal life with her husband.He isn’t a show biz guy.He made his money in shoe stores or something.And that may be what created the problem.Because he’s not an entertainer, he doesn’t really care what he looks like.At the very least, it’s OK for him to look old.In contrast, she’s had more corrective surgery than Joe Namath’s knees.So when you see them together, you think, why would a young, good-looking woman like her be with an old dog like him?And how can her son possibly be older than she is?I guess for cosmetic surgery to work properly, everybody in your family has to agree to have it done.All it takes is one wrinkled younger sister, and your cover is blown.North of Forty Red Green Weather Today: Intermittent light snow.High near minus 10.Winds northwesterly 20 to 40 km/h.Blowing snow locally.Friday: Mostly cloudy and a few flurries.Low near minus 16.High near minus 9.Probability of precipitation 60 percent.Saturday: Cloudy with a few flurries.Low near minus 14.High near minus 8.Probability of precipitation 60 percent.Ben by Daniel Shelton YOU VMNT ' what was WEU.UMM.YOU HAVEN'T PONE THAT A IN YEARS.WHAT WAS THAT FOR?SOMETHING, PONT Y0U?0RY0UNEEP TO PE FORGIVEN FOR SOMETHING YOU PIP, RIGHT?THAT FOR?WHAT PQ YOU MEAN? Thursday, December 28, 2000 page 3 / «C* © 2000 by NE A, Inc www.comics.com Herman y 12-28 O Jim Unger/dist by United Media, 2000 n charging you a dollar for whatever it is you’ve got in your mouth.” Record Alley Oop WHY DON'T YOU RELAX AND LET THE POOR BOY CATCH HIS BREATH.' HE MUST BE EXHAUSTED.' OH, LET HIM SLEEP.' TOMORROW YOU CAN TAXE HIM FISHING AND I'LL BET HE’LL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT ITj I OUST WANTED T’HEAR ABOUT HIS TRIP/ Arlo & Jams Y'MEAN HE'S \ OF COURSE.' GONNA STAY ) HAVEN'T GOT HERE ^ THE HEART TONIGHT?J TO MOVE HIM.DO YOU- T'MORROW I'LL BE TOO EXHAUSTED TO LISTEN TO im HvnirTW The Born Loser l*> THAT AU- YOÜ'KE weARlKJÛ?.YOÜI&GOlUûlDfRBfcK.V____TOP6ATH1 DOtfTBfc&UY.'IWOU'T p^zeroDeAm* i.FfcE£Z&MYfc&Afc 6MPy OFF MAY&E- For Better or For Worse LGOT K "cd eomee:7 it wokjcs fabulously1 I WHAT DID YOU GET FOC CKE.IST/AKS, CKiCF 7 GCC, CHIELF, WOULDN'T it e-eetsieK just TO THROW TRCfA OUT?MOM, IF you RE HERE, WHO'S LOOKING AFTER VTHE STOREY .______«v_r— IN CHARGE TOCVAy I Grizwells wm wm yoU&EENAlL tAcmm ¦ ANP WE'VE HlREP A NEW GIRL, SO | COOLP spenp time with you! : COURSE, I’LL 60 IN THIS AFTERNOON FOR A WHILE- H-2g I BROUGHT SOME WORK ) HOMEANP I'LL PROBABU/I CHECK STOCK "TOMORROW J MORNING.MOM, I THOUGHT you | WERE WING H0LIPAY !! APRIL, WHEN you RUN A STORE, THIS IS A HOLIDAl/lj I MEAH,WUo'$âoWHA 5EE Wc 5UIKIHS IK THE ymit cf THE 5T1HWK6 r.iMEvt i mMiv L vmwmw 1A PUMP iww* —l To i wemm OF 1\IE Wop?mwvts.© Soup to Nuts i-f t+ isn't the ; stuck on 3 CLyb" III show You doofuses i& do if ri&hf.Ya Gotta drY off 'i&wr longue first and voiLa?/TPnFlo I-Hnn’t what') (r pL^nnedth-