The Citizen, 2012-01-26, Page 13THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012. PAGE 13. Joint economic developmentcommittee being considered
The Pink Gang
Wearing suits that look fit for Valentine’s Day a handful of
students at Blyth Public School sequestered a small area
and started gathering ice and snow from all over the
playground. What were they building? No one would tell.
Shown being secretive are, from left: Emma Raynard, Sara
Kerr, Jaden Shortreed, Joy Pizzati and Griffie Bromley.
(Denny Scott photo)
Full tilt
Hundreds of people were waiting indoors on the cruise ship
with life jackets on waiting for their salvation in the form of
a life boat or a life raft trying to keep their balance as the
ship was tilted heavily to one side. (Photo submitted)
North Huron and Morris-
Turnberry Councils met Monday
night to discuss programs and
services of mutual importance,
strengthen their working
relationship, and identify
opportunities to partner on
different economic development
initiatives.
Both councils agreed to give
consideration to establishing a joint
Economic Development Committee
to market the entire area and work
together to aggressively pursue
development and investment leads.
This committee will be comprised of
elected officials and residents from
both municipalities. Both councils
want to enhance their website
presence, develop an inventory of
available commercial, industrial and
residential land, develop strategies
to retain and encourage expansion of
existing businesses and explore the
possibilities of creating additional
land available for development.
There was a consensus on the
importance of both municipalities
working together to capitalize
on the residential and commercial
development potential of the Willis
property and further development
along Highway 86.
North Huron and Morris-
Turnberry already work closely
together on many programs and
services with agreements in place
for fire, water and sewer services
and building services. Both
municipalities also work
cooperatively in the areas of road
construction, the airport, recreation,
daycare, cemeteries, and land use
Couple says rescue
could have been better
Continued from page 12
which was the cruise line’s plan.
“I told them that it was [their]
negligence that caused the ship to
sink and now it’s [their]
responsibility to provide us with a
trip,” Alan said.
After running through four
different employees and turning
down a different cruise, Alan
secured a trip for the rest of the
week.
After Alan’s negotiations, the
company paid for the pair to travel
by train to Naples for several days,
then to Venice and back to Rome,
putting them up in four star hotels
along the way and giving them
spending money, before returning
them to the Hilton in Rome in time
for their Saturday flight.
Looking back on the trip, Laurie
said that she and Alan made some
friends for life through the
experience and they were able to
salvage some good times out of the
whole experience.
“We made some good friends. We
laughed a lot, we cried a lot,” she
said.
Laurie says there were so many
things that could have been done
differently on the cruise that could
have saved the lives of everyone on
the ship.
“It’s tough,” she said. “There were
so many things that should have
been done differently.
“There’s no reason why everyone
on that ship couldn’t have gotten off
safely.”
Laurie said that while the patrons
of the ship were being told that the
problem was simply electrical and
that everything was ok, there had
been a message to just the crew that
the ship was taking in water,
information she only found out when
safely on Giglio Island.
“There were so many bits of
information that could have changed
everything because they didn’t tell
us how bad it actually was.”
This all comes after Laurie said
those who boarded the boat that day
were never given a life boat drill, a
common practice generally
conducted before the ship leaves.
When asked what is next, Laurie
said that she was on the phone with
her credit card company earlier that
day to cancel the card she lost in the
wreckage of the ship, the same card
with which she booked the trip, only
to find out that the company had
already reimbursed the pair for the
trip.
After being reimbursed for the trip
and being sent on a paid vacation
through Italy, Laurie says that
despite all that she and Alan went
through, it’s hard to complain.
“It’s just very sad that a vacation
that’s supposed to be fun and
exciting where you’re supposed to
learn and see the world ended the
way it did for those 15 people,” she
said, “Very sad.”
The ship’s captain, Francesco
Schettino is currently under house
arrest near Naples as he is being
investigated by prosecutors for
suspected manslaughter, causing a
shipwreck and abandoning his vessel
while people were still aboard.
Reports, however, indicate that he is
still insistent that he was co-
ordinating rescue operations from a
life boat and then from the shore.
Since the incident, Laurie says the
family’s phone has been ringing
constantly with requests for
interviews from dozens of media
outlets. Jory has actually kept a
detailed list that includes a radio
station in Chicago, The Fifth Estate
on the CBC, People magazine,
Maclean’s magazine and many
more.
And while the couple may be in
high demand throughout North
America, it’s been in their home of
Huron County that they’ve been
feeling the love from those who have
read the news and heard their story.
“I was at the grocery store and a
woman I didn’t even know came up
to me, hugged me and told me she
was praying for me,” Laurie said of
her Monday night grocery shopping
trip. “I couldn’t believe it, but that’s
a small town for you I guess.”
Continued on page 15