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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-05-16, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2013.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith RoulstonAssociate Publisher & Director of Sales: Ron Drillen Acting Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny ScottAdvertising Sales: Lori Patterson The CitizenP.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; $130.00/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 May 11, 1961 Kenneth Knight was ordained as a minister at Knox Presbyterian Church, Cranbrook. Others partaking in the service were Rev. David J. Lane, Rev. J.E. Taylor who preached the sermon, and Rev. W.A. Williams who gave the exhortation. Williams was minister at Cranbrook and Ethel when Kenneth was baptized. Mrs. Frank Thompson was the soloist. On May 18 and 19, “Battle in Outer Space” and “The Enemy General”starring Van Johnston was on the silver screen at the Llashmar Drive-In Theatre in Listowel. On May 23-26 “The Apartment”with Jack Lemmon, Shirley Maclaine, and Fred MacMurray was scheduled to play. May 18, 1988 All levels of government were represented at the formal opening of the new $1.2 million obstetrics wing at the Clinton Public Hospital. Huron-Bruce MP Murray Cardiff, Huron MP and Minister of Agriculture Jack Riddell and Huron County Warden and Reeve of Tuckersmith Township Robert Bell were all in attendance to bring congratulations from their respective administrations. The community made the new wing possible, raising over half a million dollars to beat the government’s contributed $400,000. The new facility includes a state- of-the-art obstetrical unit, four new medical-surgical patient rooms, and a new patients’ lounge. Students of the East Wawanosh Public School were sent into the halls for protection after a funnel cloud was sighted near the public school. Shortly after the cloud was spotted, the students were called back indoors and instructed to stay in the halls for better protection. Ken Scott, the school’s principal, said that it was harder to get the senior students to get back inside as they wanted to watch the funnel cloud. The cloud touched down about a mile from the school near a bush. Scott said that he could see the cloud pulling in a whole area of about 80 feet wide. Dust and debris were thrown into the air, the cloud only touching down momentarily before going back into the clouds. May 18, 2006 The Blyth Lions Park pavilion was vandalized between May 9 and 11. Tables were broken, overturned and arranged into a ramp over the south side of the pavilion. Kindling was made from the broken pieces and it appeared that an attempt was made to start a fire. Vandalism was not new at the park. Last year the awnings had to be removed after they were cut with a jack-knife. The Blyth Lions Club used money raised during community activities to maintain the park. Habitat for Humanity Huron County (HFHHC) had been working to secure the necessary funds to build two more houses in Wingham and Hensall. As a fundraiser, the HFHHC was planning a walkathon. Walk for Hope was scheduled for June 10 in Goderich. Organizers hoped to raise as much as $15,000 through the event. The Blyth Festival Singers held their annual cabaret and dinner, entitled The Magic of Musicals, which would include sentimental, humourous and passionate music of Broadway. Lesley Andrew of Stratford served as the event’s special guest soloist. May 17, 2012 In an attempt to help the youth Me to We event, held in Blyth every year, North Huron Councillor Bernie Bailey made a motion to waive whatever costs they could to assist the annual event. Kathy Douglas, the Huron-Perth Presbytery Youth Minister, explained that for the first time in the event’s history, the cost of holding the event, $1,191.88, was larger than the amount it brought in, $450. Despite already receiving a discounted price on the Blyth Memorial Hall for the event, council decided to waive as much of the fee as possible. The event is believe not to have been as well attended as thought due to cancellations and because it was held at the beginning of the Easter weekend. The holiday weekend was not Douglas’ first choice but she said there was a mix up and they had no choice but to hold the event on the long weekend. Before agreeing to waive the $391.88 Memorial Hall rental fee, Reeve Neil Vincent wanted to know if local people were involved. It was explained that many of the performers for the event were, in fact, from Blyth. From May 7-11, it was St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School’s Catholic Education Week. The week started with busker and sticker day on May 7, based on the 2012 theme “Walking in the Light of Christ”. A special Mass was held. On Wednesday, the school held a “Hands Up!” day to emphasize the school’s theme in 2011-12. On May 8, the students and staff joined in the “stuff that bus” campaign when they collected 1,000 non-perishable food items to be donated to local food banks to support the community. 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 Would election solve anything? Nobody likes elections except the politicians who have something to gain by winning and the media which gets a horse race to cover. It’s not a surprise, therefore, that polls show the majority of Ontario voters don’t want an election right now. Those polls are cause for thought for Andrea Horwath and her NDP colleagues as they decide whether or not to support the budget brought forward by the minority Liberal government. The budget has been hugely shaped by demands the NDP made in return for its support so if Horwath decides to vote against it, she will be voting against its own budget. The NDP support for the minority Liberal government of new Premier Kathleen Wynne, is necessary of course because the Progressive Conservatives under Tim Hudak have said since the beginning – since the last election, actually – that they won’t support the budget no matter what. They’ll only be satisfied with an election. Despite the public distaste for an election, sometimes it’s needed. The opposition parties think they have an issue that will turn the public against the current government, with the scandal over the ballooning cost of cancelling two gas-fired power plants in the last election. Both the NDP and PCs had promised to cancel the plants first but it was the Liberals who actually, cynically, cancelled the plants in order to hold seats they seemed likely to lose to the opposition otherwise. As the government which cancelled the plants, the Liberals are left explaining the costs. The opposition parties don’t have to explain how they’d have carried out their plans to scrap the plants any more economically. If the budget is defeated and an election called, voters will be upset at the $95 million cost at first, but they’ll soon put their anger aside and get on with the issues. The question is, will the election result in another minority? Voters in our area are ready to turn the Liberals out but voters in many urban areas aren’t as angry as voters here, are less than enamoured by either Hudak or Horwath and are impressed with Wynne, even if uncomfortable with the long-term Liberal government. We could spend $95 million to get right back to where we are now – another fractious minority government. –KR Keep tragedies in perspective Two high-profile kidnapping cases recently may give people an impression that the world is a more dangerous place than it is. The tragic kidnapping and murder last week of Tim Bosma, a young Ancaster man with ties to Huron County, after he took two men out to test drive a truck he had for sale and never returned, brings home the uncertainty of even the most mundane activity. Meanwhile, news of three Cleveland women who were kidnapped and held captive for years seems to show that you’re not even safe in your own neighbourhood. But the publicity over the events can be deceiving. Steven Pinker, a Montreal native and Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, points out that there is less violence in the world than at any time in history. Despite the death and destruction in places like Syria, there are fewer wars now than ever before. On the domestic front, statistics show the amount of violent crime is declining. The reason there’s a perception that crime is a problem, he points out, is that publicity, particularly in this world of 24-hour news channels and news delivered on mobile devices, gives undue emphasis to relatively rare events. The news media covers the novel, the unusual, so rare events like three women held as sex slaves for years or a man who goes missing while showing his truck to strangers, gets attention. The day two people set off bombs at the Boston Marathon, there were many people killed in Iraq and Afghanistan by terrorist bombs. These events, though much more deadly than the Boston incident, weren’t unusual enough to push the Boston news aside. The world is still far from a perfect place and we must continue to try to make it better. We shouldn’t allow these events to give us the miscon- ception that things are worse than they are and lead us to adopt expensive law and order measures when things are already getting better. –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.