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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2008-09-04, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2008. A three-part education series on autism is coming to Wingham, start- ing in September and ending in early November. The series will be hosted in the area by Wingham and District Community Living, but is put on by Thames Valley Children’s Centre. The series begins on Sept. 16 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with What Is Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)? This session will explore the diagno- sis of ASD and the characteristics common to those diagnosed. The session will feature hands-on exercises, examples and a lengthy question and answer period about ASD. The second session, on Oct. 7 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., answers the question, What Is Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)? The goal of the second session is to arm parents with the necessary tools to understand ABA. The ses- sion hopes to provide accurate infor- mation and dispel many common myths. The third and final session is enti- tled Increasing Co-operation And Learning Readiness For Individuals With ASD. It will be held on Nov. 4 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. This session will help families and encourage them to share strategies to increase the level of co-operation and learning readiness with children with ASD. All three sessions will take place at Wingham and District Community Living at 153 John St. West in Wingham. To register, e-mail register@tvcc.on.ca or call Carrie Connell at 519-685-8700 ext. 1- 53367 or toll-free at 1-866-516-5368 ext. 1-53367. To register, you will have to provide your name, phone number, date and session(s) you wish to attend no later than one week before the session. For more information visit www.tvcc.on.ca At its Aug. 19 meeting, Huron East council supported a resolution from North Huron requesting the creation of a national memorial rec- ognizing fallen firefighters. The resolution calls for the endorsement of the efforts of the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation and that the Canadian Firefighters Memorial be erected in Ottawa without delay. *** Council passed a motion to not sell a parcel of land in Grey Twp. to an interested buyer. Council agreed that it is not inter- ested in selling the land at this time. The municipality is currently involved in legal proceedings in the vicinity of the lot in question. The property used to be a munici- pal baseball diamond, said McLachlan and that obtaining the property would allow the person to square off his current property. The property is not a separate parcel, it is currently part of another parcel. *** Council received correspondence from the Mid-Huron landfill site stating that it will require the use of clear plastic bags as of March 1, in order for people to dump there. Advertisements are planned for local newspapers. The intention of the new policy is to extend the life of the landfill. The clear plastic bags will deter people from attempting to dispose of pro- hibited items and will make it easier for landfill employees to inspect incoming waste. *** Dauphin’s of Walton has expressed interest in volunteering the store as a possible alternative to the proposed mailboxes planned for Walton, McLachlan says. The community mailboxes in Walton and Egmondville have proven to be a difficult project for council, as several proposed sites have received objections. Collection of snow and possible traffic on side streets propelled some councillors to consider Dauphin’s a suitable location for mail pick-up, however, McLachlan said, that will only be explored if the current pro- posed location poses problems. *** Council defeated a motion to sup- port a proposed amendment to the Motor Vehicle Safety Act that would see speed limiters installed in vehi- cles. The speed limiters would make it physically impossible for a vehicle to travel over 150km per hour. School boards and unions negotiate agreements Autism education series coming soon to Wingham Huron East supports North Huron effort on memorial Administrators of the Huron-PerthCatholic District School Board areconfident they can reach collective agreements with their teachers’ unions ahead of a provincially-man- dated Nov. 30 deadline. But so far, that same level of confidence has not materialized for the cotermi- nous Avon Maitland public board. Provincial framework agreements have been worked out between nego-tiators for Ontario’s education min-istry, the lobby group representingCatholic school boards, and Catholicteachers’ unions. The big-ticketitems in those frameworks include 12 per cent pay raises spread out over the four years of the agreement. “For the people that we have to work with, those agreements are all in place,” explained Huron-Perth business superintendent Gerry Thuss. “We’ve met, and we have more dates scheduled, and we’ll continue to work away at (finalizing deals with the localunions).”On the public side, however, nei-ther the Elementary TeachersFederation of Ontario (ETFO) nor the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) have agreed on provincial frameworks. ETFO’s president recently called on the government to eliminate a gap in pay scales between elementary and secondary teachers. And OSSTF’s president accused district school boards of planning to wait until thelast minute before the Nov. 30 dead-line, thereby putting undue pressureon teachers to sign inferior deals.According to Thuss, the govern- ment recently announced a two- phase provision of increased funding for the 2008-09 school year. Initally, money will be provided for a two per cent increase in teacher remunera- tion. Then, if boards are able to reach agreements with their local unions prior to the November dead- line, additional funding will bringthe pay increase up to three per cent.“We’re working towards meetingthose time frames,” Thuss said.Existing four-year teacher deals with both Catholic and public sys- tems expire Aug. 30. Unions will refrain from job action until the November deadline, but boards that haven’t yet signed deals at that time could potentially face teacher walk- outs. Did we evolve from pond scum? Were Adam and Eve really our ancestors? What’s the point of life anyway? Hasn’t science disproved parts of the Bible? If God is love, why do bad things happen? Join us for an eye-opening presentation with Calvin Smith of CMI - Canada Genesis: The Missing Piece of the Puzzle Sunday, September 7 at 10:30 am Brussels Community Bible Chapel meeting at Brussels Public School, 650 Alexander Street Info:Rick Packer at 519-527-0173 Steve Klumpenhower 519-887-8651 All Welcome. Books and videos will be available for purchase. Monday, September 8, 2008 87 Percival Street, Clinton We invite you to view our extensive renovations, enjoy a barbecue and attend our ribbon cutting ceremony. to our many volunteers, contractors and suppliers. B&M Fine Furniture Ed’s Electric ADS Asphalt Paving Seaforth Plumbing and Heating Morgan’s Roofing Jack Roorda Anne Kaastra Precision Painting Interior Trends Pete VanDriel Construction Scott Townsend Plumbing Neutel Construction Custom Counterworks Complete Construction S p e c i a l T h a n k s t o o u r s c h o o l c u s t o d i a n s , B e n & A n n N y m a n a n d t h e i r f a m i l y. By Stew SlaterSpecial to The Citizen Huron East council briefs