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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-04-15, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Reporters: Shawn Loughlin, 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 norhuron@scsinternet.com 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 $34.00/year ($32.38 + $1.62 G.S.T.) in Canada; $105.00/year in U.S.A.and $175/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 PAP REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com April 21, 1948 April 26-30 was set aside by the Board of Health as Clean-Up Week. Citizens were asked to co-operate by having garbage and ashes cleaned up. The Blyth Village Board of Health had offered a truck for those who might need its services. The Board of Health thanked the community in advance, saying “we earnestly solicit your co-operation in helping to clean and beautify our town”. Several political parties were holding their nomination conventions, including the Huron Liberal Association, the Huron- Bruce Liberal Party and the Huron- Bruce Progressive-Conservative Party. The regular meeting of Blyth Village Council was moved by one hour in order to acknowledge the decision before the councillors on whether to observe daylight savings time or not. Council did, however, vote to observe daylight savings time, which would be effective as of April 24 at midnight. A brief, but severe, electrical storm disrupted hydro service to the village for several hours. The storm, which was accompanied by high winds, resulted in several limbs being blown off a tree near the hydro wires, which resulted in the disruption in service. The Irish-Scotch concert held at Memorial Hall brought a capacity audience to the hall, making over $250 in profit for the night, $50 over what was expected, resulting in a tidy sum that went towards the annual Fall Fair. April 25, 1968 The Grade 8 class from Brussels Public School devoted one of their days to washing and cleaning cars to raise money for a student exchange program co-ordinated with the West Indies, in addition to raising funds for the Canadian Red Cross. Citizens were encouraged by The Brussels Post to look past the wrong-doings of other young people and accept the good deeds of the students from Brussels. “Adults complain about our young people, judging all by the actions of a few irresponsible ones. They concentrate on their faults and failings and ignore the many fine qualities of the vast majority,” the newspaper wrote. “This is unfair. The majority of them are decent young people who show an interest and concern for others and the promise of being good Canadian citizens.” Manuel Shears spoke to the Brussels Lions Club about the Canadian Pension Plan. Shears outlined the basics of the newly- proposed plan and the rate of contribution. A warning had been issued to motorists who were frequently driving the wrong way on the one- way street by the Brussels Post Office. The warning reminded motorists that the street is a one-way street 24 hours per day and not just when Brussels Public School students were in class. April 11, 1990 Jodee Medd, a Grade 7 from Blyth had made her way through the necessary early rounds of the local science fairs and was on her way to the Canadian Science Fair in Windsor. Her project, which was first completed for Blyth Public School, examined the effects of a commercial fruit tree insecticide on yellow jacket wasps. She was inspired when she first saw a neighbour spraying a tree with malathion. After seeing that, Medd wondered if the spray would actually affect wasps, so she set out to do her own research. Brussels Public School students were in the midst of preparing for their May 2 concert, which was titled Music of the Decades. The Huron County Farmers debated the merit of the free trade agreement, which had already been in place for a year. The discussion took place at the Members of Parliament dinner of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture. April 12, 2000 Blyth Village Council heard some of the ongoing issues connected to the new bag tag waste disposal system. There were complaints that ranged from citizens believing that there had been an increase in burning garbage since bag tags had been introduced to people allegedly stealing bag tags from neighbours’ garbage after they had put their bags to the curb. Brussels Public School students Emily Cardiff, Rachel Elliott and Jessica Spink, along with their French teacher, Priska Menzi had just returned from a trip to France, through an exchange program that saw them spend 11 days there. The students stayed in Caen, France, which Menzi likened to the size of Kitchener or London. She also said it was a “picturesque setting". Women’s Day Out was held with one of the portions of the day being a fashion show in which wedding gowns were modeled. Wedding gowns of the Howson women were modelled including the gown of Lauretta Wellwood, from her wedding on Dec. 26, 1912. The day, which was presented by the Blyth United Church Women, also featured guest speakers, demonstrations and a luncheon. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Stand up for yourself! It has become clear that residents of northern Hullett ward of Central Huron, the village of Auburn and southeastern Wawanosh Ward of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh are going to have to stand up and make themselves heard if they don’t want to see their insurance rates soar, because their councillors don’t seem too concerned. Apparently Central Huron and Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh councils are too busy fighting North Huron council’s arbitrary dissolution of the old Blyth District Fire Area Board to care what the ramifications of their actions will be for individual homeowners. Certainly it’s understandable that these councils are ticked at North Huron’s decision to amalgamate the Blyth and Wingham departments into a North Huron department that answers only to North Huron council. It’s also perfectly understandable that they object to being billed a capital charge for future replacement of equipment for North Huron’s Wingham station when they only want service from the Blyth station. But these councils’ answers to this injustice is an injustice itself. In attempting to have all of Hullett covered by the Clinton Fire Department, Central Huron is placing homeowners in northern Hullett in a zone that will see them pay hundreds of dollars more a year in fire insurance costs. Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh is doing the same for people in Auburn and Wawanosh who are much closer to the Blyth station than to either the Clinton or Lucknow departments. For North Huron taxpayers, this is also going to be a costly mess because the budget for the new combined fire department is based on the premise Central Huron and Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh will be contributing. If they don’t, your taxes will go up. It’s time for the grownups to step forward here. It’s time for all the councils to sit down and discuss a mutual solution that puts homeowners first. That’s not going to happen, however, unless property owners object loudly enough to make councillors listen. (Don’t think the stories in this week’s Citizen or this editorial will speak for you because in these large amalgamated municipalities, the majority of your councillors don’t even read this paper which represents significant portions of their mandates.) So it’s up to homeowners and ratepayers to make councillors know they object to paying hundreds more in insurance costs in order to save a small amount on their tax bills. And if taxpayers can bring some common sense to bear on this issue, then we need to move on to set up a regular consultation process between neighbouring municipalities so we don’t have continued confrontations over shared services like recreation and cemeteries. — KR A welcome response The preferred option from Avon Maitland District School Board staff for the Huron East-North Perth Accommodation Review process may not be ideal for the Brussels area, but at least it shows the staff has been listening to the community. The original staff recommendation when the Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) was set up, was that both Brussels and Grey Central schools be closed. Anyone who expressed the hope that the ARC process would really make any change was regarded as a starry-eyed optimist. Hard work by committee members, including digging up errors in the board’s analysis of the Brussels school’s cost of operation, apparently helped bring about an altering of the staff position. There’s still a long way to go before the trustees make their final decision in June. Many arguments will be made on all sides. If nothing changes, the staff’s recommendation that the Grey Central school be closed will be a blow to the community. The school has so many things to offer including its unique environmental education centre that just can’t be replaced in an urban school. Still, the staff recommendation would leave one school in the Brussels area and even see Brussels Public School expanded. Who’d have thought that might come to pass when this all began? Maybe the ARC process wasn’t a waste of time after all. — 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.