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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-02-28, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2008.Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie GroppAdvertising, 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 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com Website www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years 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 $32.00/year ($30.48 + $1.52 G.S.T.) in Canada;$101.00/year in U.S.A.and $175.00/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 Feb. 28, 1962 A glimpse inside the schooling of a prince was examined in a short story about the Gordonstoun prep school in northern Scotland. Charles Windsor, the Prince of Wales, was to attend the school at the age of 13, which he had reached this year. In attending the school he would be following in the footsteps of his father who attended the same prep school. The pupils’ day began at 7 a.m. with a sprint and a cold shower, followed by a strictly ordered day of academic and physical activities. The dormitory was shared with 11 other boys, each assigned to his own iron bedstead. The school’s aim was to build character through strict schedules and rigid education routines. A trumpet-player of the Philharmonia Orchestra was attacked while trying to play an important performance at London’s Albert Hall. The conductor had placed trumpeter Elgar Howarth in the balcony among the audience in order to add effect to his haunting solo in Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, but this was unknown to the hall ushers. At the very first notes of Howarth’s solo, the usher was startled and grabbed him, forcing him to the ground as Howarth struggled to ring out the last few notes. “Next time”, joked Philharmonia conductor Kenneth Jones afterwards, “we shall have armed security guards around our trumpet player.” Feb. 25, 1981 The Blyth Figure Skating Club had a big success on their hands. Their skater circus-themed carnival, attracted a large turn-out. In addition to the 100 talented skaters, young and old, a special performance was skated by Christine Hough and Kevin Wheeler, both of Brussels, who were competitors in the Canadian Figure Skating Championship in Winnipeg. There were two local winners would progress to the Ontario level of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Remembrance Day writing contest. Lori Bromley and Rachel Battye both had compositions which went on to be entered in provincial level competition. Rachel, a grade 12 student at Clinton Secondary School, won for her poem, and Lori, a Grade 7 student at Hullett Central Public School, won for her essay about her great-grandfather. Murray Elston, 31, of Wingham won the nomination for the Huron- Bruce Liberals on the fourth ballot in an exciting contest in Lucknow. Mr. Elston, a lawyer originally of Morris Twp., would be replacing Liberal Murray Gaunt, who had announced he would not seek re- election. Feb. 28, 1990 A meeting was planned for Blyth village council and any interested residents to determine if rutabagas were to become Blyth’s new tourist draw. Discussions were to be held on the proposal of a Blyth Rutabaga Festival to celebrate its importance in the community. The idea was suggested during a search for an idea to base a village festival on. The event would include as many community groups as possible, and would hopefully bring awareness to the fact that rutabaga production provided a large amount of employment and business in the area. Winners of the Legion public speaking contest between Blyth and Hullett Central Public Schools were as follows: Jodee Medd of Blyth, first, intermediate; Jason Dalton, second, intermediate; Kimberly Richmond and Ryan Chamney, tied for third, intermediate; Shannon Scott, first, junior; Capucine Onn, second, junior; and Karen Trick, third. Jodee Medd would continue on to the Legion Zone level competition at the Clinton Legion. The Blyth Atoms received their WOAA championship trophy as they continued their pursuit of the All-Ontario crown. Members of the championship team were: Brad Anderson, Chris Stewart, Jason McDougall, Chris Bromley, Jason Rutledge, Wesley Wilson, Chad Haggitt, Frederick Datema, Ben Craig, Mike Salverda, Robbie Johnston, Greg Toll and Darryl Shannon. Coaches of the team were Ralph Datema, Wayne McDougall, and Terry Rutledge. March 1, 1995 A thief conducted a robbery in broad daylight in Brussels. An eye witness reported that she saw the robber leave the Brussels Variety Store after taking only $60, and proceeded to run down the street. It was also believed by OPP that this same culprit continued on to commit another robbery at a convenience store in Kitchener later that day. The investigation continued. In another police investigation, Goderich OPP examined a reported shooting in Tuckersmith Twp., Egmondville. The occupants of a home on concession three awoke to a loud noise, and found a suspected bullet wound in the leg of a 14 year- old girl, sustained while she was sleeping. The girl was recovering and investigation continued. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was Billy Madison, starring Adam Sandler. Also playing at the Lyceum Theatre in Wingham was Jodie Foster in Nell, as well as Phil Hartman and Sinbad in House Guest, “the year’s funniest movie!” By Geri Kamenz, President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture As society’s concerns grow over the harmful impacts of pesticides on humans, animals, our sources of water, and the air we breathe, governments at all levels, especially municipal, have been exploring bans on cosmetic pesticides. Those of us involved in agriculture support a ban on irresponsible uses of pesticides. The current regulatory environment for agricultural pest control products, handled by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, now acts as a red tape obstacle to registering products in Canada. We are concerned that an outright ban on urban use of such products will have the collateral damage of completely curtailing new product registrations. This will seriously hurt our agricultural competitiveness. For this and other good reasons, farmers believe the responsible use of pesticides by every citizen would be a preferred alternative to bans. Over the past 20 years, farmers have achieved dramatic reductions in the amounts of pesticides used by taking training courses on the efficient and effective use of pesticides. Farmers must be trained and certified under the Grower Pesticide Safety Course before they can purchase or use any pesticide products on their farms. As another precaution, agricultural pesticides can only be sold by vendors who are certified under the Pesticide Vendor Certification Course. Both vendors and farmers have to re-certify every five years to maintain their rights to handle and use pesticides in Ontario. Since the Grower Pesticide Safety Course was implemented, farmers have voluntarily reduced their use of pesticides by 52 per cent. This has been accomplished with advancements in education and the science of pest management. There are no known studies that provide any evidence of efforts by urban society to promote the safe and efficient use of pesticides in the urban setting. In a document prepared by the Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition for the Ministry of the Environment, we urge the ministry to develop studies that will provide insight into trends in the use of pesticides in urban environments. We believe a lot more can be done in the area of domestic pesticide use in Ontario. Looking at what has been accomplished by the agricultural community, it seems obvious the professional pest control operators – the lawn care companies 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 ‘Peaking’ toward the future When the price of gasoline shot up last week there were the usual stories about why prices increased and about consumers complaints about petroleum companies gouging customers. Seldom is it mentioned that while we continue to use petroleum at an ever-increasing pace, it’s costing more to find and develop new resources of the fuel, and we aren’t finding new supplies as quickly as we use the known reserves we have. In his book The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies,Richard Heinberg makes the case that we will soon (he predicts between 2006 and 2015) have passed the point where the seemingly endless growth of oil supplies ends. After this point, Heinberg suggests, we’ll have to get used to having a little less oil as each year goes by. Heinberg suggests an experiment to demonstrate what this will mean. Sit in the middle of a community (he suggests a city but a town or village will do) and spend some time looking at all the things around you that depend on petroleum. Now, spend some time thinking how this will change if there was 10 per cent less petroleum. Then 25 per cent. Then 50 per cent. Once we reach peak oil production, he says, that will be our reality. Certainly using alternatives from windpower to bio-fuels to nuclear power can slow this decline but they are incapable of replacing petroleum completely, he argues in detail in the book. The incredibly affluent lifestyle we have built on the back of cheap petroleum fuel may be ending. So, painful as higher prices are, they may be necessary. If we pay more we’ll be more apt to conserve dwindling petroleum resources, allowing us the use of these precious resources for a longer period. — KR Skinning the ‘fat cat’ Ontario has for decades been regarded as the fat cat of Canada. Even with hard times in the industrial sector, the province is not getting much sympathy from a federal government raised on the grievances of Alberta toward the east. That doesn’t mean there aren’t unexplainable hardships in Ontario, however. Premier Dalton McGuinty has been calling for equal treatment for laid off Ontario workers as those in other parts of Canada. The Premier says the average unemployed worker in Ontario last year received $5,110 in EI benefits, compared to an average worker in the rest of Canada who received $9,070. The difference amounts to about $1.7 billion for Ontario’s 450,000 unemployed. With a $45 billion surplus in the Employment Insurance program, it wouldn’t even cost the federal government to correct this inequity. — KR & OFA Commentary Continued on page 11