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The Citizen, 2010-10-07, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2010.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 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 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com October 6, 1948 Donald Thompson, a West Wawanosh farmer, lost his barn to a fire on Oct. 1. The barn was destroyed due to a severe electrical storm, which struck the Dungannon/ St. Augustine area. All of Thompson’s hay and grain crops for the season were destroyed, in addition to several pigs and a brand new cream separator. The fire began as the result of a bolt of lightning that struck at 4:45 p.m. that day. Auburn’s Bill Craig Jr. won the championship and silver cup of the Huron Secondary School athletics, which was held in Goderich. Belgrave’s William Black was surprised to find a ruffled hen under the hood of his truck after some strange sounds were coming from what seemed like the inside of the vehicle. Upon further investigation, the ruffled hen was discovered and eventually brought back to the farm. Blyth Public School achieved its highest attendance total in years with 100 people enrolled at the school. In the early days of the school year, 99 students had been attending classes, however, one more student was enrolled bringing the total to 100 students. It was said to be a “sizeable” increase from the 83 students who were enrolled at the school the previous year. The office of The Blyth Standard had experienced its own problems with recent power outages, resulting in extra hours having to be worked all around to get the Oct. 6 issue of the newspaper printed in time. An article on the front page said that “the moment the power is cut, our electrically-heated metal pot on the linotype begins to freeze. A two- hour cut-off means over three hours for us. It takes the metal pot an hour to melt, ready for use, once the power comes back on.” The article went on to say that the staff had to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night in order to print the paper in time for Thursday morning. The entire village had been faced with compulsory cut-offs by the Blyth Hydro Commission due to power consumption limits. October 10, 1968 A Letter to the Editor on the front page of The Brussels Post said that with the recent sale of the local Rexall Drugstore, it was the first time in over 100 years that the property in Brussels had passed out of the hand of a druggist. The property had been owned in the mid-1800s by C. Dutton and had stayed in the hands of a druggist for over 100 years since. Over 1,100 cattle were auctioned off after only three and a half hours at the Stocker and Feeder Sale at the Brussels Livestock Sale Yard. Lloyd Wheeler of Grey had the Grand Champion lot, while Roger Hood of Paisley had the Reserve Grand Champion lot. The Canada Safety Council estimated that between 65 and 75 people would die throughout the country as a result of traffic accidents over the course of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. October 10, 1990 Several Brussels area farms were damaged as a result of a tornado that had touched down earlier in the month. Rita Deitner of RR1, Ethel, came home to find that a line of clothes she had hung to dry outside had been strewn throughout her yard. Some were found in nearby tree limbs that had fallen from trees as a result of the storm and other articles had vanished for good. Huron County’s Paul Klopp had been named one of two assistants to the Minister of Agriculture and Food, while St. Helens-area farmer Tony McQuail had been named a new executive assistant to the Minister of Agriculture. Grey Township Council authorized the purchase of a new tanker truck for the Grey Fire Department. The quotation for the truck was in the amount of $32,962 and was awarded to Weber Fabricating Limited in St. Jacobs. October 9, 2008 North Huron Township Council took a step towards an amalgamated fire department when it withdrew from the Wingham and Area Fire Board on Oct. 6. In order to move forward in amalgamating the fire departments, the township would have to give at least one year’s notice, which it eventually gave. Warden John Bezaire set two dates to officially consider the coming year’s budget. While the discussion hadn’t “officially” begun, the council’s meeting came just one day after the announcement that Goderich’s Volvo plant would be closing in 2010. Huron County Councillor Deb Shewfelt said that given the news of the pending closure, council should consider a shift to a zero per cent tax increase for the coming year. Bezaire agreed, saying that he was not in favour of a five per cent increase to the tax levy to begin discussion. Shewfelt said the proposal would be possible due to the amount of money that Huron County gets from the province that was simply just “tucked away.” Huron East Mayor Joe Seili disagreed, however, saying that no increase was unrealistic. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Get mad, not stupid From the snowballing strength of the Tea Party movement to the unexpected lead of candidate Rob Ford in the Toronto mayoralty campaign, there are indications that North American voters are mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore. Being mad, however, doesn’t mean you have to be stupid. Just about anybody who has been around Toronto city hall is horrified at the prospect that Ford could be mayor. Commentators have warned voters not to make the mistake of voting for a councillor who has a spotty record, who was arrested in Florida for driving under the influence but conveniently forgot the event and who was arrested for assaulting his wife (the charges were later dropped). The more these people wrote and spoke, the wider Ford’s lead in opinion polls became. In the U.S., the Tea Party movement has campaigned to win the Republican nomination in next month’s congressional elections for people it favours. In some cases these candidates have respectable qualifications but in some they’re wing-nuts. But the quality of the candidate doesn’t seem to matter. People are mad at government and want to kick the people who are in, out. They think government is interfering in their lives too much and their taxes are too high. They’re attracted to the idea that there’s massive waste and they can get what they want from government and still get lower taxes. Many people have contradictory feelings toward government. We want government to prevent our neighbours from doing things we don’t like (after complaints, Toronto just passed a bylaw to prevent people from parking too many cars in their driveway) but we don’t like government telling us what to do (including that same bylaw, if people have cars). We want lower taxes, but we also want government to correct the troubles and unfairness of the world. Within a few minutes in newscasts early this week various medical groups called for government to provide free medical coverage for in vitro fertilization treatments, vitamin D tests, and inoculation to prevent shingles. In the U.S. the Tea Party rebellion seems to have been touched off by the federal government’s bailouts of large financial institutions. Arguably, since it probably saved the U.S. and the world from plunging into a 1930s-scale depression, this action may prove the value of government, but many people are just mad that they are paying the consequences for the foolishness of the rich. They can’t see that their pain might have been greater if the government hadn’t rescued these companies – or that to prevent this financial meltdown might have taken greater government interference in the free market system. For too many people these anti-government movements are the lazy person’s way out. They don’t take time to know much about government but they know what they like (people who promise to lower taxes and end “waste”) and they know what they don’t like (governments that tell them they can’t have what they want). By all means kick the incumbents out, if you want to, but take the time to find out if the people you’re putting in offer a realistic alternative. — KR Appointments not all bad The quality of the individuals who have served as Governor General of Canada shows that appointing people to a post is not all bad. Generally in our democracy, people don’t like the idea of people being appointed to a public office rather than elected. There is little respect for the Senate, for instance, because Senators are seen as political hacks rewarded for their service to the governing party. But appointment of former University of Waterloo President David Johnston to become the 28th Governor General of Canada brings a man of sterling reputation to government. There was sadness at the end of the term of the vivacious Michaëlle Jean who made most Canadians proud and before her, Adrienne Clarkson brought grace and class to the office. None of these people would likely have run for office. Only because of their appointment do we have these fine people representing us. — 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.