HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2014-11-19, Page 1010 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, November 19, 2014
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NOMINATE SOMEONE TODAY!
Nominations are now being accepted for the
Ontario Junior Citizen
of the Year Awards
The strength of our community lies in solid citizens.
If you know a young person, aged 6 to 17, who is involved in worthwhile
community service; a special person who is contributing while living with a
limitation; a youth who has performed an act of heroism; or a 'good kid'
who shows a commitment to making life better for others, doing more
than is normally expected of someone their age — help us recognize their
contribution — nominate them today!
Nominations will be accepted until November 30
Contact this newspaper or the Ontario Community Newspapers Association
atww.ocna.org/juniorcitizen or 905.639.8720 ext. 221
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ONTARIO JUNIOR CITIZEN
OF THE YEAR AWARDS
County council discusses
employment deficiencies
Dave Flaherty
QMI Agency
The county's director of
planning and develop-
ment says there is more
to the numbers in a
recently released report
on employment in Huron
and surrounding
counties.
According to the
report, released by The
Four County Labour
Market Planning Board,
Huron County lost more
than 600 businesses in
the last year.
At the Nov. 12 county
committee of the whole
meeting, discussion on
the topic began with
Central Huron Mayor Jim
Ginn stating he was con-
cerned about the
numbers.
"We need to get a han-
dle on why so many busi-
nesses are leaving. I think
it reflects poorly on this
council," Ginn said.
However, Scott Tousaw
told councillors that staff
was a bit surprised by the
figures.
He said that about two-
thirds of the 617 busi-
nesses reported to have
closed didn't have any
employees, adding they
may have businesses
ideas that were registered
but never got off the
ground.
Daryl Ball, agricultural
and rural economic
development advisor for
the Ontario Ministry of
Food and Agriculture,
who serves Huron and
Perth counties, said Perth
saw a significant increase
in its number of busi-
nesses over the past 12
months.
He said the increases
in employment in Huron
County have been in the
service industries such as
food and drink and retail,
while losses have been in
crop production and spe-
cialty trades.
Ball said employees
like working in the
county but want more
opportunities for skills
training while employers
said they need more
skilled employees.
Goderich Deputy
Mayor John Grace said
there is a "consistent
message from all the
industry groups (within
Huron County) that they
are struggling with
growth and expansion."
"There is a very serious
deficiency in skilled
workers," Grace said.
"Employers are having a
hard time retaining
employees who come
from other areas of the
province."
MVCA looking for weather buffs to
help track local precipitation patterns
Special to the Expositor
Are you interested in
the local weather pat-
terns, such as rain, snow
and hail?
If so, the Maitland Val-
ley Conservation Author-
ity (MVCA) wants you.
The MVCA is looking
for volunteers to join the
community collaborative
Rain, Hail and Snow net-
work (CoCoRaHS). The
network is a non-profit
organization of volun-
teers who measure and
map precipitation.
The network is an
effort to track rainfall var-
iability that isn't always
detected by radar.
According to media
release, in recent years,
MVCA staff has noted an
increase in short-term
intense rainstorms.
In some cases, the
storms occur over a small
geographic area and
MVCA flood forecasting
gauging stations are not
able to record the event.
MVCA officials said
they want to improve
their flood forecasting
capabilities and under-
standing of how rain and
snow melt moves across
the watershed. Gathering
precipitation data
through CoCoRaHS will
assist with this.
CoCoRaHS volunteers
take daily measurements
of rain, hail and snow in
their backyards between
6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
The information is
then entered on the CoC-
oRaHS website where it is
made available to anyone
interested in daily rainfall
totals.
"It only takes a few
minutes and volunteers
will be participating in
real, hands-on science.
Families and individuals
of all ages are welcome to
participate," the media
release stated.
The CoCoRaHS web-
site provides easy on-line
training for volunteers.
A limited number of
professional rain gauges
are available free from
the MVCA for CoCO-
RaHS volunteers.
Visit cocorahs.org to
register as a volunteer
and then contact the
MVCA to receive a rain
gauge.
For more information
visit www.cocorahs.org/
Canada or contact Jeff
Winzenried, MVCA
watershed resources tech-
nician at jwinzenried@
muca.on.ca or call
519-335-3557.
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