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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-07-19, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2012.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Acting Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny ScottAdvertising Sales: Ken Warwick & Lori Patterson The CitizenP.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 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; $115.00/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: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 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 22, 1987 A brief, but very violent, wind storm, accompanied by heavy rain tore through parts of Huron County on July 19. The storm killed livestock, uprooted trees and “scared the daylight” out of many people in several townships. While the London weather office of Transport Canada claimed that a tornado did not touch down in the area, several area residents reported seeing a jet black sky and grabbing their children and taking them to the basement for safety. Witnesses say the storm was over in a matter of minutes and once it was over, all that was left to do was survey the damage. Brussels Village Council decided it would choose its own replacement councillor at an upcoming meeting. The person chosen would replace Gordon Workman, who resigned from his position as councillor to step up to the position of reeve, following the sudden resignation of Hank TenPas. A one-and-a-half-year-old child from Ethel was undergoing a series of anti-rabies vaccine shots after being bitten by a rabid skunk one week earlier. The child was alone, playing in his backyard at the time of the attack. According to Scott Mooney, his wife looked out the couple’s window to see the animal “mauling” the young child in the back garden of the family home. His wife, he said, then ran out to the backyard, grabbed the skunk and threw it over a fence. The skunk was later shot by the hamlet’s hardware store owner, Doug Evans. Local municipalities, led by the Village of Blyth, would finally have a chance to voice their complaints over the repaving of Hwy. 4 to the top on Aug. 5 when Minister of Transport and Communications was scheduled to visit Blyth for a public meeting on the issue. July 20, 1994 Provincial Leader of the Opposition, Liberal Lyn McLeod was scheduled to come to Blyth on July 21 for a pre-election tour of Huron County. “This event is part of [McLeod’s] summer tour which helps the party develop campaign policies,” said Huron County Liberal Association member Joe Hogan. The meeting would take place at Blyth Lions Park. After some dissent among Blyth Village Council, the 1994 budget was passed with a mill rate increase of 0.89 per cent. “Though council agreed a zero per cent increase would be nice, I can live with less than one per cent,” said Reeve Dave Lee. Councillor Steven Sparling, however, was skeptical, saying that a zero per cent increase this year would likely mean a five per cent increase next year. “I’m always uncomfortable with a freeze for the sake of a freeze,” he said. McKillop Township Council was addressed by a Huron County Library delegation, informing them that circulation numbers at the Walton Library were low and that if they didn’t rise soon, the library would have to be closed. The library board plan recommended that libraries with a circulation between 3,000 and 4,000 be given three years to increase their circulation to at least 4,000 or be closed. The circulation at the Walton Library in 1993 was 1,348. July 19, 2007 Ron Walker from the Auburn area took top honours at the Huron County Art Show. His piece “Huron Harvest” received first prize in the show and would then become a part of the Huron County Art Bank. Belgrave’s Adam Crawford’s piece “Walking Bridge Over The Maitland” also received an honorable mention. The Ontario Cattle Feeder’s Association held its annual meeting and barbecue in Brussels and made a major announcement with over 800 people in attendance. The association announced that a deal had been signed with Loblaws, putting Ontario Corn Fed Beef brand into 120 Loblaws stores across Ontario. Karl and Penny Knelson took top honours for the residential class of the Brussels Homecoming Beautification contest, while Hank and Aggie TenPas won in the commercial class. Judges noted the Knelsons’ attention to detail, while praising the clean, tasteful and well- manicured look presented by the TenPas family. July 21, 2011 The Sifto Canada Corporation was fined $140,000 on July 5 in the Ontario Court of Justice in Sarnia as a result of the 2009 incident that claimed the life of Blyth’s Murray Nesbitt. The fine was a result of what the court found to be a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act at its Goderich salt mine. An Ontario Heritage Trust plaque was officially unveiled at Ball’s Bridge. The plaque tells the story of the bridge and its historical significance. McGavin Farm Equipment celebrated 75 years in the business with a party. The Brussels Tigers were set to hold their 40th annual fastball tournament over the weekend. 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 Turbine study badly needed The announcement last week that Health Canada plans to conduct a study of the health effects of large wind turbines is welcome news. While the provincial government has claimed, supported by peer- reviewed studies from elsewhere in the world, that the turbines are safe, we’ve heard mounting stories from people who live near the developments that their health has deteriorated, yet recovered if they moved away. Some of the large wind energy companies have actually bought the homes and land of people who say their health has been ruined by the turbines. Dr. Robert McMurtry, former Dean of Medicine, Western University, has called for a moratorium in wind development until research has been done. The health issue has become a political football in the hot issue of turbines. Lack of reliable research has left people unsure if they’ll be able to remain in their homes if a wind farm is constructed nearby. People worry if they’ll be able to sell their homes near turbines because of the fear about the possible health effects. Those who have suffered health effects from living near turbines have been subjected to accusations that it’s all in their heads – that they are subjected to the power of suggestion that the turbines they see nearby are making them sick. If it turns out that the turbines are responsible for health problems, these people have been victims of both the turbines and the insinuations of those who want to see turbine development continue. If the Health Canada study concludes that the turbines are safe, such is the paranoia that has been created by the stacked-deck nature of the Green Energy Act which give all the power to wind energy companies over local residents and even municipalities, that it will be hard to convince people to believe the facts. On the other hand, if the study concludes that the turbines are dangerous to the health of their neighbours, such has been the rapid growth of wind farms that vast areas of rural Ontario will have been made uninhabitable. The federal government should be applauded for tackling the issue and finding the facts once and for all (we hope). — KR Food for thought Thousands of Ontario farmers are suffering the feeling of helplessness, knowing there is nothing they can do as they watch their year’s income evaporate under the searing heat of one of the hottest summers on record. Unless rains arrive soon, farmers here will find themselves in the same boat as their counterparts across the central part of the U.S. who have already seen their crops ruined by what officials there say was the hottest June on record, with temperatures often over 40º C. The situation for Ontario farmers is all the more depressing knowing that if they got timely rains they could have good crops to take advantage of the high prices caused by drought-induced shortages in the U.S. Now crop farmers worry if they’ll be able to get a crop while livestock farmers worry about getting enough feed, and being able to afford the feed they must buy at high prices. This dependance on the weather is part of the reason people have wanted to distance themselves from farming over the past century. We’ve had the ability (in part because of the amazing productivity gains in farming) to live disconnected from the fickleness of nature. For 98 per cent of our population, food isn’t something you worry about planting, tending and harvesting, but something that’s always on the supermarket shelf when you want it. And yet if scientists are right, this life supposedly disconnected from nature, has created conditions that are making nature even more unpredictable. While an individual farmer is helpless to affect the weather, collectively humans have apparently changed the climate. If this year’s strange weather is a preview of what we can expect with climate change, we now see how vulnerable we are. Apples and other fruit have already been lost. Corn and soybeans hang in the balance. Our food system suddenly doesn’t seem so disconnected from nature. — 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.