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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-10-10, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Acting Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny ScottAdvertising Sales: Lori Patterson & Sue Brindley 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 October 12, 1961 A pole barn and shed containing 25 tons of hay, belonging to James Turnbull was destroyed by fire. Two days later an implement shed on the farm of George Smith containing a tractor and a chicken house burned. Smith’s wife was severely burned when she attempted to put out the blaze. The East Huron Agricultural Society was celebrating its 100th anniversary after being founded in 1861. Melville Presbyterian Church was set to hold its anniversary service on Oct. 15. The guest speaker would be Rev. W.H.T. Fulton B.A. of Centennial and West Rouge in Toronto. The Brussels United Church was also planning for its anniversary service, bringing in Rev. Charles Lewis B.A., B.D. to speak on Oct. 22. A fowl supper announced by the United Church Women’s Association had to be cancelled due to unforseen circumstances. The dinner was scheduled to take place Oct. 17. October 12, 1988 West Wawanosh farmer Tony McQuail was acclaimed as the federal candidate of the NDP’s local chapter. McQuail had been running against Norma Peterson of Kincardine for the seat, but was instead acclaimed when Peterson, a municipal councillor, decided that she still felt she had more to accomplish in municipal politics. McQuail, a sitting member of the Huron County Board of Education, now found himself as the NDP’s candidate looking ahead to the Nov. 21 federal election. Brussels Reeve J. Gordon Workman announced that he would seek a return to the reeve’s office in the upcoming Nov. 14 municipal election. Workman had been a councillor since 1979, but was appointed to the position of reeve when Hank Ten Pas resigned in July of 1987. Workman said that his main motivation behind running for the position once again was to see the establishment of more industry in Brussels and its surrounding communities. Country Garden Flowers, a new business in Brussels, officially opened its doors on the village’s main street. Proprietor Gladys Ellsmore had previously run the business out of her home, but decided that a storefront in Brussels was better suited to her business’s needs. Over 1,000 people made the trip to Belgrave for the annual Belgrave Fowl Supper. The Londesborough Diamonds completed a successful season by winning the Tri-County Midget Girls “A” Championship. The team defeated Winthrop to take the title. October 12, 2006 Huron County Council was poised to consider the future of Ball’s Bridge at the Oct. 17 committee of the whole meeting. Councillors were concerned, with the municipal election coming up, about spending too much money at the end of their terms, which led to the lengthy, and ongoing, debate over what to do with the heritage bridge. The Citizen welcomed a new reporter, Shawn Loughlin. A graduate of Etobicoke’s Humber College, Loughlin moved to Huron County from Pickering, a suburb of Toronto. Lincoln Dinning, father of fallen Canadian soldier Matt Dinning, spoke to students at Blyth Public School about the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq and the importance of “Freedom” Fridays, which had just recently been introduced. Students were invited to wear red clothes on Friday to both honour their troops overseas and celebrate their freedom. Johnny Forrest, an original cast member of the CBC’s Jubilee show, was scheduled to make a stop on his recent tour in Blyth. Forrest was in his 11th year of touring Memories of the Islanders. October 11, 2012 Westfield-area native Mark Nonkes was the subject of an exhibit at the Goderich Co-op Gallery as his photographs were on display there throughout October. The pictures on display, Nonkes said, were taken all over the world, from as close as Huron County and from as far away as Namibia, where Nonkes worked for a number of years. The Blyth Witches Walk was celebrating its 10 anniversary as a community event and taking over the Blyth Greenway Trail and making it dark and spooky for one night every year. The controversial Blyth business retention and expansion report was presented to the public three different times. Some business owners felt that there was too much red tape involved in starting a new business in Blyth, the report said. Others, however, disagreed with the statement, saying that report was skewed. A majority of lower tier councils voted in favour of reducing the amount of Huron County councillors from 16 down to 15, a debate that had been ongoing at the county level for months. 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 Paying the price for power Opposition to Ontario Power Generation’s proposed deep geological repository for low-level nuclear waste at continuing hearings into the project, combined with a recent poll that showed 74 per cent of Ontarians favour having their power come from nuclear facilities, shows just how contradictory consumers are toward energy. While the fact that the Ipsos-Reid poll showing overwhelming support for the nuclear option was commissioned by Bruce Power might temper the results, there’s no doubt that generation of power from nuclear plants is as popular as it has ever been in Ontario, given the opposition to the alternatives. Huge portions of the rural population are up in arms about industrial-scale wind turbine developments while gas- fired plants near Toronto were so unpopular the government paid a huge amount of your money to move them. Other people complain the high prices paid for solar energy will drive up electrical costs. Given all this, nuclear looks pretty good – except when the nuclear industry wants to do something with its waste. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s review panel investigating the deep geological repository that would bury contaminated clothing and other low-level radiation waste 680 metres below the surface has brought out all sorts of opposition including Michigan politicians who say the facility should be illegal under laws protecting the Great Lakes. This waste, which has been accumulating for 40 years, has to go somewhere. If the debate is so strong over this low-level waste, what are we going to do with the highly radioactive spent fuel from 40 years of nuclear power generation? As citizens and consumers, we want the impossible. We want cheap electricity with no side effects whether it be the pollution of coal, the noise of windmills, the dislocation of gas plants or the waste of nuclear. We must realize there’s a price to pay for all forms of electrical gener- ation and we must take responsibility for side effects it causes. –KR Newspapers still do the job This is National Newspaper Week and, conveniently, it coincides with the 28th anniversary of the date in 1985 when dozens of local residents stepped up to invest in The Citizen. Those investors were so concerned about the need for a local newspaper that they were willing to risk their own money to make it happen. Few have regretted their investment as they have the only locally-controlled newspaper in this region. Many would probably make the same decision today because they still think a newspaper is essential to their community. Others, including our governments, seem to have written off newspapers. Recently Ontario’s community newspaper publishers met with politicians in Queen’s Park to discuss issues involving the industry, including the fact that advertising by the Ontario government in community newspapers dropped from $5 million in 2010 to $1 million in 2012. Meanwhile, the government last year spent $12 million in online advertising, much of it with U.S.-based companies like Google. If this advertising was effective it would be understandable, but often it’s not. One example is the decision of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission (AGCO) to stop publishing notices of liquor applications in community newspapers and instead, post the notices only on its own website. The AGCO has stated they believe the change will enhance the public’s opportunity to comment on liquor licences applications by establishments in their neighbourhood. As Anne Lannan, executive director of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association, pointed out, this defies all logic. While research shows 80 per cent of Ontarians read a community newspaper regularly, how many people are likely to check the AGCO website regularly to find out if a local restaurant or bar wants a liquor licence? The internet has many strengths, but newspapers, especially at the community level, still have a strong role to play. Governments still need to use newspapers if they really want to communicate, rather than just go through the motions to make it seem like they’re communicating. –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.