Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 8, 2009, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page b2 b 2 Winnipeg free press thursday january 8, 2009 City Winnipeg repress. Com after Winter storms deep Snow drifts can make driving hazardous and inconvenient. If you do get stuck Here Are some tips to help get your vehicle out safely. Be prepared keep a shovel Handy in your trunk to Clear Snow along with helpful traction aids such As tire chains traction pads old carpeting or Wood Sand or cat litter. Assess the situation get out of the car and have a look at where the Snow is holding you Back. Its Likely blocking the tires but it May also be clogged against the Chassis. Then decide if moving Forward or backwards is the most effective route. Clear the path dig out a path in front of and behind the obstructed tires. If the patches right under your tires Are Slippery put Down some traction material to give the tires some grip on the ground. If your Chassis is blocked by Snow remove it As Best As you can. Gain momentum to drive out straighten your wheel. Gently accelerate either Forward or in reverse whichever gives you the first bit of traction and momentum. Dont spin your tires. Go As far As you can then hit the brakes so you wont slip Back and then shift Back in the other direction. This Forward and backward motion should eventually free your vehicle. Push safely with help if you cant get your vehicle Clear after a few tries ask for help. One or two people pushing will make it easier to drive out. Take extra care that you can see and communicate with your helpers. Ask them to not stand directly behind the powered wheels As they can be hit by thrown gravel or other materials. Deep Snow getting out safely driving tips wow. Mph. My. Ca for More information Check out our website and watch the 60 second Driver on ctr. Winters worst can be managed with preparation consideration and patience. T he doer government vowed wednesday to take direct control of the rates payday lenders can charge. Finance minister Greg Selinger made the move a Day after a judge gave the Green Light to a payday loan company to argue in court it was treated unfairly when the provinces Public utilities Board set rates last april. Selinger said rather than wait for the matter to be settled in court new legislation will give the government the Power to set rates rather than the pub. I dont think theress any doubt the government has the right to protect Consumers Selinger said. The government clearly has the jurisdiction to make these decisions. He said the province will bring in legislation this Spring to give government the authority to set lending rates a move that Means the court Challenge by the Edmonton based Cash store financial services against the pub has become meaningless. Its kind of moot he said. Were just going to change the process. Cash store spokesman Michael Thompson said he a snot impressed by the Rule change. Clearly the government expects to lose on our Appeal he said. Now they will circumvent their own process and will put a lot of operations out of business. Selinger was unapologetic. We have the right to change the Law to make sure the rate is set by government he said. We think its much More difficult to say a government cant make these decisions. He also said the province had to act quickly to avoid Cash stores Challenge possibly ending up in the supreme court of Canada dragging out the process for up to three years. The province clamped Down on payday loan companies following a 2004 police investigation that uncovered one payday Lender charging its customers effective annual interest rates As High As 20,000 per cent on Small Short term Loans. The Legal rate is 60 per cent interest under the criminal code. The province decided to have the pub regulate what Money lenders can charge and last april after about three weeks of hearings the pub capped the maximum Cost of credit at 17 per cent for Loans up to $ 500, 15 per cent for $ 501 to $ 1,000 and six per cent for Loans Between $ 1,000 and $ 1,500. The Cash store said those rates were too Low and would drive legitimate payday lenders out of business. More people use the Cash store and other payday lenders for Quick Loans when they cant get Loans or lines of credit from Banks and credit unions. The Cash store took the pub to court and won a decision allowing the company to argue its Case in front of a three judge panel at the Manitoba court of Appeal. Thompson said the Cash store will wait to see what happens next but he did not Rule out taking the province to court. In the meantime the province is bringing in non rate related measures to protect Consumers from High interest rates and hidden costs. The measures include the right to cancel a loan within 48 hours and a prohibition on lenders taking Security such As a vehicle. Thompson said the Cash store already follows these rules. We have no Issue with them he said. We comply already. Other provinces and some u. S. States Are also moving to regulate the Industry which until now has operated with Little control. Bruce. Owen free press. My. Ca payday lending Laws pledged Consumers need Protection Selinger by Bruce Owen a Winnipeg Man who drove a stolen car into oncoming traffic and killed a Young woman says he go to jail. Stephen keep 39, is seeking a conditional sentence which would allow him to remain free in the Community. The Crown has asked for four years in prison. Court of Queens Bench Justice John Scurfield heard arguments on wednesday and reserved his decision until Jan. 16. Keep was convicted late last year of dangerous driving causing death three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and Possession of stolen goods following the May 2005 tragedy on the outskirts of Winnipeg. Jennifer Swain 24, died of massive trauma after the car she was a passenger in was hit by keeps vehicle on Highway 9. Three other occupants suffered serious injuries. Keep was also hospitalized. Keep pleaded not guilty claiming his actions that Day did not represent a marked departure from the Normal Standard of care required by motorists. Defence lawyer Barry Sinder presented several Legal precedents such As people running Stop signs or failing to make a Sharp turn where death resulted but a conviction a snot registered. The Crown argued there should be no doubt about keeps guilt considering he was driving in Ideal conditions on a straight stretch of Road. They also noted he had traces of Crystal meth in his system. Keep admits consuming the drug but experts were unable to determine the exact Quantity exactly when it was consumed and what if any role the substance played in the crash. Scurfield agreed with the crowns submission saying keep clearly failed in his duties As a responsible Driver. The 1992 Saturn that keep was driving had been reported stolen but keep denies involvement and a snot charged with theft. He claims to have no memory of the moments preceding the crash. Police believe he May have fallen asleep As a result of his drug use. Keep has convictions for impaired driving and driving while disqualified on his record. Wow. Mikeo crime. Com Driver in fatal crash makes pitch for conditional sentence by Mike Mcintyre Winni Eggers who paid parking tickets they received sunday night As a result of the first night of the Cit yes residential Street overnight parking ban will be reimbursed the City said wednesday. In a news release the City said people who have already paid their tickets should Contact the Cit yes parking authority at 986 2886 or e mail parking Winnipeg. Ca. They can also Stop by the Cit yes parking store at 495 Portage ave the release said. Mayor Sam Katz took the extraordinary step of cancelling tickets issued on the first night of the parking ban because he acknowledged the City did not give citizens ample warning of Snow Clearing operations. The Public works department web Page was not updated until monday morning. The City lifted the residential Street parking ban Early wednesday. While one ban was lifted another was announced As the City worked to Clear Snow from streets. A major snowfall parking ban was to go into effect at Midnight wednesday on main routes bus routes and collector streets. That ban which prohibited parking on any Snow route Between the hours of Midnight and 6 a. M., will allow plows to Widen curb lanes and remove ice ridges on the roads. Any vehicle in violation May be ticketed and towed. Sanding of streets to improve traction is ongoing and will continue around the clock while the blowing of sidewalks on residential streets will continue until completed. Winni Eggers can Call 775 Snow 775 7669 or go to the Cit yes Public works website to find out what parking bans Are in effect. Half of the Fleet of 20 trucks used to collect curbside recycling in Winnipeg had their Hydraulic systems freeze due to extremely cold temperatures in the last week causing delays in collection a senior City official said wednesday. We had a couple of problems with some trucks freezing up on Friday Jan. 2 and again on monday Jan. 5 said Darryl Drohomerski manager of solid waste services. Hydraulic parts on five trucks froze last week Drohomerski added and five different trucks had similar problems this week. The breakdowns combined with exceptionally Large amounts of recyclable materials in the Post Holiday period delayed collection for some areas of Winnipeg by up to two Days. Today we were All caught up on mondays work Drohomerski said wednesday evening. The City collected the largest haul Ever of recyclables on monday almost 280 tonnes. Drohomerski attributed the Large Load to increasing Public awareness about recycling but also to the fact neighbourhoods serviced monday had not had recycling collection since Christmas eve. On the eve of International snowmobile safety week funeral services Are being held saturday for a 25 year old Man who was Manitoba ass second snowmobiling fatality this Winter. Jesse Vandermaar died Friday evening when the snowmobile he was Riding on the Frozen la Salle River hit a Low lying tree on the Side of the Riverbank. He was thrown from the machine. On dec. 12, just before Midnight Dale Jackson 46, was travelling North in a ditch beside a Rural Road near st. Eustache with three friends when he hit an approach to a Field lost control of his snowmobile and was pronounced dead at the scene. At the time police said alcohol and Speed were believed to be factors. We feel horrible for the families said Duncan Stokes executive director of snowman inc. The non profit organization represents 50 provincial snowmobiling clubs that maintain and Groom More than 12,000 Kilometres of Manitoba ass trails. Its a horrible tragedy. Thatus All we can say. Stokes noted that neither Man was travelling on a designated Trail at the time of the collisions. Its our position that the designated Trail system is the safest place to ride said Stokes. The trails Are groomed maintained brushed and cleared on a routine basis and with vigilance. Vandermaar who was married this past summer was travelling alone on his snowmobile heading East on the la Salle River at about 8 p. When he lost control around a Bend ramp said. Emergency services personnel attended and transported him to the Grace general Hospital where the Oakville resident was pronounced dead. His funeral is saturday. Ramp said alcohol is not believed to have been a Factor in Vander Maars crash. In More than 70 per cent of snowmobiling fatalities however alcohol is involved according to snowman. Stokes said the non profit organization and the Canadian Council of snowmobiling organizations have teamed up with mothers against drunk driving for the third year in a Row for International snowmobile safety week Jan. 11 18. A number of activities will be announced later in the week he said. We promote Zero tolerance for drinking and driving on snowmobile trails. The same rules apply when you re operating any motor vehicle. Carol. Sanders free press. My. Ca City to refund ticket payments sober message for snowmobiles deep freeze puts recycling on ice by Carol Sanders Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg free press police presence a Squadron of Winnipeg police cruisers descend upon a House in the 400 Block of Manitoba Avenue wednesday afternoon after receiving a report that there were firearms in the Home. The Block was cordoned off to automobiles and pedestrians. Several people were taken into custody. A 02_ Jan 08 09. Ind b2 1/ 7/ 09 10 02 47 pm ;