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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-07-09, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Lori Patterson & Amanda Bergsma The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years CCNA Member Member of the Ontario Press Council The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $36.00/year ($34.29 + $1.71 G.S.T.) in Canada; $160.00/year in U.S.A. and $205/year in other foreign countries. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Mon. 2 p.m. - Brussels; Mon. 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca July 12, 1962 “Hoodlums with a strange urge for destructfulness [sic]” were being blamed for repeated acts of vandalism aimed at the work of the Brussels Horticultural Society. Twice, The Brussels Post reported, flower boxes placed by the Society, had been thrown from their places and down onto the river bank. After being replaced, the boxes were again taken from their places, but this time smashed and ruined. “It is regrettable that we have in our community those who have so little respect for the property of others,” The Post wrote. “We hope they get the punishment they deserve.” A large group was in attendance for the 102nd anniversary of St. John’s Anglican Church in Brussels. Rev. H.L. Jennings was in charge of the morning service on the mile- marker day. July 11, 1990 Lightning was being blamed for a barn fire in Walton on the previous Sunday night. Blyth Fire Chief Paul Josling said he was almost positive that a violent lightning storm that night was to blame for a fire at the barn of Ken Shortreed at RR3, Walton. Shortreed said that approximately 5,000 bales of hay were destroyed as a result of the fire. He said that the barn had just been filled with hay the previous week. Despite the new Huronview building being ready to accept new tenants, the bulk of Huron County government offices, it was decided, would stay in Goderich and not move to the new location. July 11, 2001 In the first year of concerns regarding ambulance response times increasing as a result of amalgamation, the first three months of figures had made their way to Huron County Council and it seemed that it was taking ambulances longer to get to patients in the northern part of the county. With a stated response time goal of 15 minutes for calls in Wingham, consultant Jon Hambides said many calls were recorded with longer response times. Hambides said the response times were not the fault of the paramedics though, saying that they were doing the best they could with what they had been given. While North Huron Council had been encouraged by the idea of building a skate park in Blyth, the group hit a new snag when Clerk- Administrator John Stewart told of worries over increased liability as a result of the park. He couldn’t provide council with a dollar figure, he said, because liability would be different for each municipality, but that it should be a concern going forward. July 10, 2014 The community of Bluevale was in the midst of preparing for its 160th anniversary and organizers were planning a homecoming to celebrate. Brian Schlosser and Don Henry were busy planning for the landmark event, that they hoped would be one of the biggest parties the community had ever seen. Blyth artist Kelly Stevenson was in the final stages of preparing for her first professional art exhibit, called Who Heals You, which was set to open at the Blyth Festival Art Gallery on July 17. Stevenson said that she was aware that the art she produces isn’t what is normally featured at the Blyth Festival Art Gallery, so she was pleasantly surprised to find out that she had been chosen. “I think that we need to focus on humans as a whole,” Stevenson said of her upcoming exhibit. “We separate ourselves and people are treated as others as a way of defining them and ourselves.” Peter Smith, Project 14/19 Project Manager, said that Fare on 4, an ambitious plan to feed 1,419 people on Blyth’s main street, was gaining momentum and that ticket sales were going well. While many people called Smith and the rest of the event organizers crazy, Smith remained convinced that the group could pull the event off. “They can’t believe the audacity of us thinking we can get 1,419 people on to main street,” Smith said. “They are asking us if we are out of our minds, but it does have legs. I think it’s going to be fun and a lot of people are going to be surprised.” The Sloman School Car was preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2014, marking an important year for one of the most unique heritage sites in all of Ontario. Central Huron Council honoured Will and Claire Fleming, two young cyclists from Londesborough, with the municipality’s first-ever Youth in Motion award. The pair biked across the country raising money for JumpStart, a charity aimed at helping disadvantaged youth play sports, even if they don’t have the monetary means to do so. The Flemings hoped to raise over $7,600 for the charity, but would raise over $40,000 by the time the ride was done. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright The start of something big This month sees the start of something new, and hopefully big, when the former Blyth Public School hosts the first programs of the new Canadian Centre for Rural Creativity (CCRC). Starting with a two-week course on Fashion and Textile Arts, headed by long-time Blyth Festival designer and costume creator Jennifer Triemstra-Johnston, the CCRC hopes to build on community strengths to open new opportunities. This first program will bring in guest experts to tutor participants in the course. It’s just the first in many eye-opening events in which the centre hopes to make the former school a focus of national rural economic creativity. It’s a huge challenge, but it could be an important leap for rural communities in general and Huron County in particular. — KR Something’s happening here Even scientists who support the climate change theory will tell you that we won’t know the climate has changed until we look back in hindsight, but one thing’s certain in the summer of 2015: something strange is happening. Weather only becomes “climate” in the long term, so the unusual weather the northern hemisphere is experiencing is not proof of a changing climate, but it is concerning. Here in southern Ontario the temperature has often been below normal for any given day for the second year in a row. While there were hints of a possible drought in May, in June several deluges swelled rivers and left crops under water. There’s been a trough in the jet stream for two years now that has funneled cool, wet weather into southern Ontario. That same jetstream has moved north in western Canada creating days, both recently and last winter, when it was considerably warmer in Yellowknife in the North West Territories than it was in Toronto. Meanwhile heat and drought have made northern areas of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan tinder-dry and hundreds of wildfires are consumering valuable forest and driving people from their homes. In the southern Prairies, farmers are worried whether their crops will get enough rain to grow. And as if that wasn’t strange enough, it’s so hot in Europe that parts of Germany are experiencing their hottest temperatures since record- keeping began in the 1880s. Climate change? Who knows, but something certainly is happening and so far it’s not good news. –KR The people have spoken What could be more democratic than polling citizens for their opinion on important decisions? In two different referenda last week, however, citizens showed their short-term frustrations may get in the way of their own long-term best interests. The most infamous referendum was Sunday’s vote in which citizens of Greece sent a resounding “no” to a deal that would have extended loans to the Greek government. They were angry with more than five years of soaring unemployment and a collapsing economy because of austerity measures demanded by international financial agencies such as the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. But while Greeks said they were voting no to more concessions, they said they weren’t voting against continuing to use the Euro as their currency – though that may end up being the final result. If Greece has to start its own currency, the chaos for Greeks could be even worse than they’ve experienced to date. Closer to home last week, Vancouver-area voters turned down a proposal for a 0.5 per cent increase in the sales tax to fund expanded public transit. Traffic chaos in the Vancouver area is already so bad that most observers say there’s no choice but to expand the public transit system to get people off the roads. To do so, local politicians must find other ways to raise the tax money needed. Despite the referendum results, the money has to come from the taxpayers somehow. Here’s hoping the voters in both these referenda prove wise in the long run because the cost of their making a mistake is serious. –KR & Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Letters that are not signed will not be printed. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise.