The Sault Star from Sault St. Marie, Ontario, Canada • 1

OVER 20 LOW-CARB TBREADS QuiziiosSub Spring St 949-1500 FRIDAY APRIL 23 2004 SAULT STE MARIE CANADA $117 PLUS GST Cap on class sizes may stop teacher layoff: ADSB Public board could hire new teachers to meet provincial goals Turco says By MICHAEL PURVIS The Sault Star A provincial cap on class sizes means teacher layoffs planned for the fall might not happen says the Algoma District School director of education Declining enrolment has board officials estimating up to five teachers will be laid off but Mario Turco said that if a provincial class-size cap is implemented for September it could mean the public board actually has to hire teachers if this cap comes into place those five would probably be kept and by she said Somme said the Catholic declining enrolment means 13 classrooms will be closed in September but because of retirements and leaves of absence two to six teachers will likely be hired this year announcement changed that she said need the The premier has also said more funding is in store for the public education system in his first budget scheduled to come down May 18 there are extra monies put them into the classroom if we said Somme alent teaching staff Board officials have said they believe the majority of the cuts will be covered by retirements need to get the details to see if talking about a cap on individual classes or a cap on the primary division or a cap as an average across the Turco said The average class size for public schools is already in the range of 20-21 for kindergarten to Grade 3 so an average of 20 be out of line said Turco maybe we may have to hire a few more he said Premier Dalton McGuinty announced Thursday that the education plan will limit class sizes for kindergarten to Grade 3 to 20 students by the end of his mandate McGuinty said work on establishing the cap will begin in the fall Preliminary enrolment projections released this month showed the ADSB will likely enroll 644 fewer students in the fall meaning 238 fewer full-time equiv Cap on class sizes centrepiece of McGuinty education plan A3 believe that smaller class sizes are going to be beneficial to student he said Dr Cecile Somme director of education for the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board said she is about the plan for education but not yet clear how the class size cap will affect the local Catholic board have to see if be impacted ASI seeks to improve quality in '04: report HELPING HANDS RJ FROST SAULT STAR RETA GUAY HELPS clean up a park in Sault Ste Marie on Thursday morning along with the rest of her Grade 8 class from East View public school The students were taking part in Earth Day activities LOOKING AHEAD Steel Inc strategic priort-ifs for 2004 as outlined in the 03 Witiual report: Improve the reliability and con-istency of product quality and I Pursue continued financial provements through the Margin improvement Plan by lowering sts and optimizing productmarket mix Maintain tight control over working capital and capital spending Continue grade development program to provide stronger lighter and more formable products Reinforce successful leadership practices to improve accountability and effectiveness whilq maintaining an action-oriented cultur focused on ri Investigate strategic rtjinWRs By DAN BELLEROSE The Sault Star The future success of Algoma Steel Inc depends on its ability to keep the organization focused and on course the message to be delivered by Benjamin Duster chair of the ASI board of directors and Denis Turcotte ASI president and CEO at next annual shareholder meeting at Water Tower Inn last year has been predominantly focused on improving our commercial manufacturing and functional-area to increase returns say Duster and Turcotte in their message to shareholders in the 2003 annual report 2004 we will turn more of our time and attention to strategic opportunities as we continue to improve the business and explore alternative paths for reaching our longer-term At the same time Algoma must maintain focus on the key drivers of the business and hold the organization accountable for reaching annual priorities continues the message to be presented at the May 20 annual meeting Full value potential for shareholders will be achieved only by creating a culture that provides maximum opportunity for employees while ensuring that accountability for generating results across the company is paired with the authority to act continues the message we treat our employees fairly and provide them with the resources and opportunity to be successful they will drive results collective strength will be a function of our ability to remain highly focused nimble and Shareholders will learn that ASI turned a $9 million profit in 2003 its first full year since emerging from re structuring That's the first full-year profit in six years an end to $586 million in losses between 1998 and 2002 The report states the primary goals in 2003 were improving the company reputation in the marketplace increasing productivity reducing operating costs while moving toward being cashflow positive in the bottom of the steel cycle re-establishing credibility with the capital markets and initiating cultural change a dedicated effort on the part of employees across the company we were able to realize significant gains on all says the message More ASI A2 squad' puts Blind River rest-stop murders on front burner Reviewofl991 case renews hopes of mother of victim By FRANK DOBROVNIK The Sault Star M0E charges city for odour at Fifth Line landfill site nounced he was going to rob and kill the Lindsay couple Police believe the assailant used two guns a 20-calibre rifle and 20-gauge shotgun to kill Jackie 59 and wound Gordon She was killed instantly he was shot in the back as he tried to escape then left for dead Brian Major was returning from a trip to British Columbia and was about a half-hour from his Elliot Lake home Major 29 is believed to have stumbled onto the murder scene and was shot dead in his car The assailant left with several items including cash and credit cards Reordering the voluminous pieces of information that make up the file helps me as a case Lemieux said More A2 ago Lemieux is converting the McAllister-Major file to the case filing system which became standard following the handling of the Paul Bernardo slayings having done a brief review of the file because the case is (13) years old not in the shape it should be by Lemieux said from North Bay Thursday Police have one surviving witness and countless tips most recently generated from a 2002 rerun of an Unsolved Mysteries episode on the rest stop murders Shortly after 1 am McAllister and her husband Gordon were awakened by a knock on their camper parked at a rest stop along the Mississagi River When she opened the door a man who identified himself as a police officer an MOE investigator Mark Watkiss said that an investigation was launched after multiple complaints were received from nearby residents near the landfill site They said a strong odour in the landfill area led to material discomfort and adversely affected their lifestyle City solicitor Lorie Bottos said that the city will appear in provincial offences court May 26 Sault Star staff Sault Ste Marie has been charged with running a smelly dump The Ministry of Environment laid a single charge against the city Monday under the Environmental Protection Act It alleges a contaminant (an odour) was discharged into the air at the Fifth Line landfill site between Aug 7 and Nov 15 2003 A double murder near Blind River that has remained unsolved for 13 years is again under review renewing hope for investigators and the mother of one of the victims Det Insp Bob Lemieux is the third case manager in the June 28 1991 murders of Jackie McAllister and Brian Major since the Ontario Provincial Police Criminal Investigations Branch took over about 150 five years office intervened in contracts Guite says PM spokesman denies allegations by retired bureaucrat TV TIMES in today's Star TODAY Algoma B12 Comics Crossword B7 Births and Deaths BIO Entertainment B5-B6 Canada A6 Ontario All Classified B8-B11 Sports A8-A10 WEATHER Mainly sunny High 9 Low -3 Saturday mainly sunny High 8 Low 0 Weather details on 5 A2 The Sault Star Vol 93-No 33 Publications mail registration No 871 ing they never exerted their muscle to steer contracts toward specific firms But he struck a different tone when asked whether Martin ever intervened in contract decisions during his years a finance minister Martin personally no His office yes and on many Guite said were many contracts with a local company Earnscliffe And I had interference from a office the Finance Department which was Mr office at the None of the contracts in question were related to the sponsorship affair And documents produced by Guite which he claimed would back up his allegations added nothing to information already on the public record More A2 OTTAWA (CP) Paul office once tried to influence the awarding of federal research contracts to favour a firm linked to his Liberal leadership bid the man at the centre of the sponsorship scandal charged Thursday A spokesman for the prime minister angrily denied the explosive allegations by retired bureaucrat Chuck Guite the long-awaited star witness at a parliamentary inquiry into the affair Guite as expected denied any personal wrongdoing in the sponsorship program that he managed at the Public Works Department from 1997 to 1999 He also absolved former prime minister Jean Chretien and ex-public works minister Alfonso Gagliano say 23730 01801 OSPREY media group Inc wwwsaultstarcom CHARLES GUITE the official who ran the federal sponsorship program until 1999 appears before the public accounts committee on Thursday i.