The Windsor Star from Windsor, Ontario, Canada • 3

LOCAL Thursday, June 24, 2004 A3 oclal seme head Duamniedl But Ronna Warsh will only be on loan pending reassessment of the department GORD HENDERSON STAR COLUMNIST OPINION Gord's gold best that we do it together, so I'm excited at the prospect of developing new partnerships," said Warsh. Skorobohacz said that once the 12 months are up, "we will decide at that point whether or not we need a general manager to oversee the department or whether another organizational model is more appropriate. "If we do need a GM, we will conduct another full search process, but this time the vision and structure will already be in place and the person hired will simply have to execute the model we've agreed on." Warsh will be responsible for social services delivery and social housing. Operation of Huron Lodge and long-term care facilities in the city has been pulled out of the portfolio because the managers in those various areas al situation resolved and begin reorganizing and stabilizing the department." Warsh's primary objectives include bringing stability and establishing a vision for the department, reviewing the organizational structure, strengthening existing partnerships and developing new ones as well as building effective teams and a system of best practices. Warsh also sees her role as "providing direction and stability to a department that has seen a certain amount of reorganization and being responsive and consultative with staff." "There's an obvious fit here given what we do at both the city and province," said Warsh.

"There's lots to be done for vulnerable people in this community and it's By Dave Hall star municipal affairs reporter After trying for almost two years to recruit a general manager ol social services, the City of Windsor has reached a secondment agreement with the province and appointed Ronna Warsh, a 23-year social services veteran, to the post for 12 months. Warsh, who is currently community programs manager for the southwest region for the Ministry of Community and Social Services and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, will start her new job Aug. 23. City manager John Skorobohacz said that "we have been out to the mar-ketplace twice and not been able to bring a candidate forward so rather than try again, we needed to get this iff. SEIZED: Windsor police Staff Sgt.

Danny Woods of the drug enforcement and grow equipment following a series of raids on residential homes and Street value OT tne amgS IS $0.0 million. Cops make record ready report to a board of management. Skorobohacz said such a secondment is not typical but "there are a few examples of such situations with employees moving in either direction. "Once it's over, Ronna will take back to the province a more complete understanding of the challenges and service delivery issues facing municipalities," said Skorobohacz. At the end of 12 months, the arrangement can be extended for another six months, but Skorobohacz said he didn't expect that would be necessary.

Warsh will fill a position vacated 19 months ago when Dana Howe left the city after more than 30 years on the job. The salary range for the position is between $117,000 and $123,000 and it will be paid by the city. Overload caused failure: Expert By Lindsay Satterthwaite star staff reporter A tragic chain of events leading to the collapse of the platform suspended from the Ambassador Bridge may have been caused by an inoperable mechanical component, a coroner's inquest heard Wednesday One of tirfors four ratchet-like devices that moves the platform horizontally was filled with black sand, making movement impossible until it was emptied after the accident, testified Marcel Djivre, a mechanical engineer and metallurgist who inspected and tested platform components. Djivre said the sand was material typical to sandblasting. The inquest has been told that the bridge is sandblasted daily during repainting.

With one tirfor not functioning, undue stress was put on the other three tirfors, he said. "If it was not working properly, then the tendency would be to lift up the platform, and it would tgaJtate it," said Djivre, who also testified at the inquest into a similar accident on the Garden City-Skyway kiWit. Catharines in 1995. The wire cables suspending the platform "fractured due to overload conditions," he said. Djivre confirmed the stress on the wire cables would cause stress in the northeast corner of the platform, which has been focused on as a problem area throughout the inquest.

Crew workers were repairing the trolley supporting the platform in the northeast corner because the wheels were veering off the track, a number of workers have testified. Moments before the pins were put in place on Nov. 14, 2000, the entire structure collapsed and fell 15 storeys into the river. Four workers dangled from safety belts for more than VA hours. Jamie Barker, the lone fatality, was one of three who fell into the water.

His body was recovered five months later. "It could have been one of the contributing factors," Djivre said of the inoperable component. "I'm not sure I could say it was the sole factor, but certainly a contributor." "It's the first clear indication of what we've got that may have been the initiating cause of all of this," coroner's counsel Robert Ash said outside the courtroom. "Not just one thing caused this. It's a combination of factors the jury will be hearing that caused this collapse." The eighth of nine workers also testified Wednesday.

Roger Martin, a bridge painter with Manz-Harrison Muir was responsible for repairing the broken trolley that day. "I lost a few seconds," he said, trying to recall his actions. He was sure he was definitely tied on to a safety line. "That's what saved me, because I was hanging for a few seconds." The shock absorber on Barker's harness, which releases when pressure is applied, was never deployed, Gary Jones, the health and safety inspector for the Ministry of Labour said during his testimony. "Everything is intact," said Jones, adding either pressure was never applied, the line was cut, or it was not hooked on to a safety line.

DECORATIVE METAL BAILUSTERS Interior or Exterior 10 Yr. Warranty aw a.7t against corrosion 11171 jita Exrmpkg 2 $17.00 EX010W $21.50 lit CIA Pi i od pity those poor, misguided cnnlc irlin think tha pnllntmr'c fll. ture will be decided Monday and we can all get on with enjoying a summer free of motormouth politicians and jarring political messages. Reality, barring a last-minute shift of seismic proportions, is that we'll wake up Tuesday in Lower Slobbovia, a country hamstrung by an ineffectual minority government and a crippled Parliament where either a gang of separatists or a band of spendthrifts will hold the country by the gonads. In other words, this has been a trial run.

A dress rehearsal, if you prefer. The real McCoy begins Tuesday morning and we can look forward, lucky stiffs that we are, to having politicians jabbering in our ears for the next year, running up to the 2005 election. But test run or not, there's a democratic duty to perform and we might as well face up to it. I'll comment Saturday on the federal race but for now I'd like to offer my choices (which some equate with the kiss of death) for the three Windsor area ridings. WINDSOR WEST: No qualms here.

New Democrat Brian Horseshoes iirnj 4 V. nnno lUVAbU UUU 111. otUl 111 Ulb 6MJti byelection when local Liberals, lurious over Jean Chretien's cruel dismissal of their beloved Herb Gray, sat home and left Liberal candidate Richard Pollock twisting in the wind. Masse's victory was greeted with guffaws in some quarters. After all, he'd been a dud as a city councillor, so surely he would fall on his keester as an MP.

No such luck. This was the Peter Principle working in reverse. Masse vastly exceeded expectations and quickly developed into an able, hard- working representative who has stayed on top of riding issues. He's earned another term, one in which he could wield real influence if the NDP props up a minority govern-. ment.

WCSDSlidgiwl drugproSSto: i has everything going for bint at least on paper. Bit ence again he's a viqtiay of rotten liming. Last time local Liberals wanted to spank Jean Chretien. This time Canadians want to spank the Paul Martin Liberals for the scandals on Chretien's watch and for the budget mugging by Liberal Premier Dalton "Pants on Fire" McGuinry. As for Conservative candidate dan Katz, there's a reason why his party chose to run an unknown greenhorn.

He's cannon fodder. Shrewd Tory supporters will think strategic and vote for Masse to keep Windsor West out of Liberal clutches. WINDSOR-TECUMSEH: This is com toss country Joe Comartin, the NDP incumbent, is bright, hard-working and has tons of integrity. He stood tall when he took party leader Jack Layton to task for his bizarre indict ment of Martin for homeless deaths in Toronto. Comartin is a credible repre sentative.

The question is whether Liberal challenger Rick Limoges, who flubbed his first term in Ottawa, deserves another shot at demonstrating he could be an effective MP. His big advantage is that he's tight with Martin, so much so that he wound up in the Chretien dog house, and could wield influence if the Liberals form a government. Comartin and Limoges have fought two nail biters and this could be anoth er thriller. Conservative Rick Fuschi? A squandered vote. As in Windsor West, smart Conservatives will hold their noses and vote NDP.

But I would go with Limoges, just to cover the odds and ensure Windsor isn't left without government representation. ESSEX: 1 feel sorry for Liberal MP Susan Whelan. I really do. In a matter of months she's gone from globe-trotting cabinet minister to one of the Chretien pariahs dismissed by Martin. And now she's in grave dan ger of being booted out by her constituents.

I see their logic. If Martin didn't want her, why should they? Clearly her future influ ence would be limited. It would bean act of kindness if the electorate pushes her into trying her hand at something new before her lucrative parliamen tary pension kicks in. The NDP doesn't have a prayer here so Whelan's logical successor is Con- servat ive Jeff Watson, an autoworker and two-time Canadian Alliance candidate who's the most articulate and least unnerving of the area's Conserv-at ive spear carriers. He's hardly Mr Excitement But at least he would give this area a voice if Stephen Harper becomes prime minister.

It's called covering all your bases. CHindersonra thestar.canuxst.com BIGLCHY BUD BUSTS March 24: $560,000 Nov. 12, 2003: $1.1 million, four homes Nov. 8, 2003: $3 million from 8 homes over 8 days Oct. 30, 2002: $1 million April 18, 2002: $1.6 million April 30, 1999: $1 million inches to three feet and police said a single plant could net growers as much as $1,000.

The seizure's estimated street value of $5.5 million is based on a price of $20 per gram. The sheer volume of marijuana prompted McNorton to speculate the buds weren't just for local consumers but would have been "transported to various areas throughout North America." Police stopped short of suggesting the seven suspects were part of a larger organized crime ring but stressed sophisticated criminal networks are heavily involved in the production and distribution of marijuana. "This is an organized crime problem and this is right across the province and Windsor is not untouched by that," said police Chief Glenn Stan-nard. "I'm sure there's an awful lot more homes out there in our community that are susceptible to what we see here." The homes owned and rented by the suspects are scattered across the city, from Peter and Felix Streets in the west end to Mercer Street downtown to office checks over seized marijuana apartments Tuesday. Total estimated Star photo: Nick Brancaccio pot haul Maple Leaf and Acorn crescents in the city's southeast.

houses that are random and they're in all different types of neighbourhoods," said McNorton. "There's really no rhyme or reason why they chose a particular home other than it may have been available." Six houses supported full-fledged marijuana growing operations and three had cash, growing equipment or drug paraphernalia. Cash, joints and paraphernalia were seized from two units in an apartment complex in the 3400 block of Peter Street Stannard, who attended the media show-and-tell Wednesday, called for additional funding to combat drugs, particularly dangerous grow operations in residential areas. "This is an issue that we need to address not only from a criminal point of view but from a health and safety aspect in our community," he said. "It's a dangerous situation.

We have hydro bypasses, we have high levels of chemicals in homes, high levels of heat, they're tremendously susceptible to fires." Houses supporting marijuana grow operations are commonly booby-trapped to prevent theft and police raids but no security setups were discovered during the raids conducted Tuesday morning and evening. Facing drug charges are Sinh Kim Ho, 28, Anh Sy Hoang, 56, Dung Thi Dinh, 48, Nhung Trang Nguyen, 25, Van Bua Nguyen, 51, all of Windsor, and Trung Kien Ha, 32, and Dung Sau Ho, 30, both from Toronto. SIU spokeswoman Kaia Werbus said the agency hoped to notify the victim's next of kin today and then release the name. She wouldn't disclose details about the man's detention as that formed part of their investigation. Werbus wouldn't speculate on the length of the investigation.

The last person to die in a Windsor police jail cell was Brenda Moss, 53, of Detroit, who died of acute heart failure on Feb. 7, 1999. Police were cleared of wrongdoing in her death by the SIU. By Donald McAkthur star staff reporter Windsor police seized an estimated $5.5 million in marijuana and shut down six sophisticated growing opera tions Tuesday after swooping down on eleven homes in what is believed to be the city's biggest one-day dope bust. The record haul represents more than half of the $8-million worth of grass seized last year from 37 grow operations.

Police also seized more than $10,000 in cash Tuesday and about $100,000 worth of growing equipment enough lights, transformers, timers and drug paraphernalia to fill an 80-foot truck. Seven people four women and three men were arrested and face charges of production of marijuana, possession for the purpose of trafficking and theft of hydro. Five of the suspects are from Windsor and two are from Toronto. "All of the people and all the homes are interconnected and some of them are related," said Windsor police Staff Sgt. Ed McNorton.

"It was a very sophisticated operation in the fact that it was well organized by a group of individuals here locally in the city and, of course, some outside the city." Cops said more arrests and additional seizures are possible. The high-quality marijuana with rich green buds and a potent scent spilled out of big black garbage bags at police headquarters Wednesday. The seized plants ranged from eight Probe under Ontario's Special Investigations Unit is remaining tight-lipped about the death of a prisoner in police custody Tuesday, refusing to reveal his name or when or why he was arrested. The 36-year-old man was "discovered in medical distress" during a cell check about 4:40 p.m. in a cell at the Windsor police downtown headquarters, said the civilian cop watchdog.

He was rushed by ambulance to Ho-tel-Dieu Grace Hospital where he was pronounced dead about 5:41 p.m. way into police cell death An autopsy was performed in London Wednesday but the results were not released. The SIU, which investigates incidents involving police and civilians resulting in serious injury, death or sexual assault, has six investigators, including three forensic identification technicians, assigned to the case. The agency has identified two Windsor police officers as "subject" officers and four Windsor police officers as "witness" officers. WINDSOR BUILDING CENTRE P1 1 1365 Tecumseh Rd.

E. (at Banwell) 979-5250 merest 1 PRESSURE TREATED LUMBER QJh 1 1 SetertDccWnn 77L Museologist honoured Council has honoured museologist Alan Douglas with the 2003 Heritage Community Recognition Program Award for contributions to the conservation of cultural heritage. Douglas has been active in the local heritage community and served as a member of the Windsor Heritage Committee when it was formed in 1975. Douglas was also a founding member of the Ontario Museum Association, designed and taught local history courses at the University of Windsor and currently serves on the Essex County Historical Society's museum development subcommittee. He is also the author of a number of local heritage rv Jjniir tin sib VS.

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