CORINNE Branigan is
a pretty, 30-year-old
Toronto woman.

She’s an actress by trade
and siands all of five-foot-tive
and tips the scales at 3 solid
118 pounds. Not anyone's
idea ofa bruiser by any stretch
of the imagination.

Bat Corinne Branigan is

oised to become 2 nadonal
hero. Or, at least she should
be were it not for the criminal
charges of assault she is facing
wien she goes to court on
Aug 19.

In the midst of the swelter-
ing heat wave in Ontario last
week, Branigan was dresied
much like any orher person
trying to stay cool in a city
with a heat indes reaching into
the 40s, She wore a floral one-
picce bathing suit cavered up
with white shorts as she went
to pick up her laundry around
11 o'clock at aight. It’s cooler
doing laundry once the sun
goes down, she later
explained.

On the way there she was
barraged with catcalls and wolf
whistles which progressed to
foul: mouthed obscenities as
she ignored the pack of seven
Neanderthals hanging around
the schoo! yard across from
her apartment, Returning, 2
short while later with her taun-
dry, the verbal abuse started

malbox
Unsightly
and unsafe

Dear Editor:

Of the story on the front
page of the July 7 News enti-
tled “Box bylaw” and the
- accompanying colour photo, I
must say the only thing
“unsightly” is the woman
dressed as a clown! Let her
move to “the City of Victoria.”

. The story on page 5, enti-
ted “Police boat grounded”
clearly proves that, yes, we
need four more mounties
joyriding in a big speedboat,
“serving and protecting
boaters.” Guess they didn’t
feel that they: needed their
_ Boration devices, after ali they
are the police,

. Peter S. Wolanski
North Vancouver

3

“Navive JEWELLERY /
-Wepbpinc Rings”
441 West 3rd Street, North Vancouver

988-9215.

ines

Leo
Knig

crime and
punishment

again from the same group of
teenaged louts.

Branigan, who has endured
her share of verbal abuse and
sexual innuendo trom geneti-
cally disenfranchised bone-
heads over the years, had
enough, She walked over to
the group and firmly told
them to jeave her walk in
peace. According ta the news
reports on the incident, she

dinted our her apartment
building and said, “When you
see me walking down the
street you won't be yelling at
me. You won't be swearing at
me. You will leave me alone!”

‘The stand taken by this
woman merely secking respect
evidently enraged the pack of
punks. They al began seream-
ing at her and, according to
Branigan, one even picked up
a broken beer bottle. That was
it. The straw that broke the
proverbial camel's back,

She turned tv the one
nearest her, an 18-year-old he-
man, smacked him in the gob

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and kicked him in the stones.
Felled tike an old vak tree,
the finde wussy got np and ran
home and told his mommy.
Who called police. Who
charged Branigan with assault.
Now technically, what she
did was wrong, In general it
must be said we should not
approve of violence. Certainly,
regular readers will know I'm
no advocate of lawbresking.
But, who among us who has
ever witnessed or been the vie
tim of loutish behavior or
bulivboy antics, wouldn’t have
stood and cheered loudly
watching the 18-year-old
“rough guy” whimpering off
home cradling the family jew:
cle
Branigan, for her part, is
unrepentant. In an interview
with Toronto Sun coluninist
Michele Mandel, she said, "I
was enraged. Something had
to give afler so many years.”
“But you know how, in
school, when there were bul-
lies waiting for you on your
way home day after day and
your parents told you that you
have to fight back so they'll

stop? That's what [ have to do.

‘There's ony so much you can
take,” said the woman the
Toronto media have dubbed
the “Kicken Vixen.”

“I'm sick of walking
around hiding,” Branigan
declared. “I’m not going to

run away meekly any more.
P'm not going to take the long
way home any more. ’'m not
afraid of doing what | have to
do to walk alone in peace on
my own street.”

Branigan says she’s going
to fight the criminal charges all
the way. She refisses co be a
victim of thick-headed idiots. 1
suspect the Ontario justice sys-
fem is poing to wet a
metaphorical kick in its own
crotch trom the determined
damsel.

gud

While on the topic of
determined damsels, | hope
many of the dedicated sports
fans took the opportunity to
watch the U.S.A, women’s
team win the World Cu
against China on Saturday.

Without getting into a
debate about the merits of the
men's game versus the
women’s gante, it was truly a
pleasure to watch a well-
plaved, fast and skilled match
without seeing the tawdry and
boring showmanship which
has become so ingrained in
men’s soccer.

Not once on Saturday did
fans have to witness some self
engrossed cry baby rolling
around on the pitch looking
like he'd been shot only to
have the trainer give him a fit-
de rub with the “magic
sponge” to make him get to

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Wednesday, July 14, 1999 - North Shore News — 7

n the

his feet again.

Nor did we have to watch
some idiot running, as
possible away trom his te
mates after scoring a voal,
searching, for the TV cameras
in the stands to record his
moment of personal glory.

‘The Americans won the
game on penalty kicks follow-
ing double-overtime ina game
played in Pasadena in front of

street

91,000 screaming fans.
Despite the hot Southern
Calitornia sun and the length
of the time on the field, the
womcen from both teams
played hard, for their counties
and their teammates, not for
personal glory or a trucktul of
maney.

Tt was truly a thing of
beauty.

—knight@direct.ca

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