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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-02-08, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2007.Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie GroppAdvertising, Ken Warwick & Kelly Quesenberry 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 ($30.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada; $92.00/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. 8, 1950 A young girl named Karin Wendler was stopping traffic in her hometown by showing off her preferred mode of transportation. Seven-year-old Karin could be seen regularly riding through the city streets in the world’s smallest automobile. Though the machine appeared like a child’s toy, the car could do nearly anything a regular sized automobile could, thus questioning the legality of young Karin’s driving privileges. A young boy suffering from anemia set a world record for the number of blood transfusions done on any human. The boy had recently received his 500th transfusion at a hospital in Brooklyn. He had had his first blood transfusion done when he was seven months old, and now at 14, the boy would be looking at hundreds more transfusions for at least another six years if he hoped to fully ensure a long healthy life. Actor Dan Duryea was presented with a gold-plated heel by one of his co-stars Andrea King to symbolize his selection as the Hollywood Heel of the Year. This insult, of course, referred to his film roles. Feb. 8, 1961 TWA, a well-known airline became one of the first airlines to introduce in-flight films in partnership with the newly formed In Flight Pictures, Inc. The program made its first appearance in a special preview flight which contained nearly 100 passengers, newspeople and crew members on an overnight flight New York to Miami. The passengers watched the film The Marriage-Go-Round, and with a successful reception, the film screens were to be installed in TWA’s fleet of Boeing 707-331 Super Jets, the first to have a regular schedule of in-flight films. Famous western artist Charles Russell had passed away in the 1920s, but his talent would forever live on as one of his most famous bronze sculptures would become the award to be given out to those named into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Small copies of the sculpture of a cowboy on his horse would be handed out to those involved in outstanding television shows, music and literature based mainly on the wild West. Russell, himself, was one of the first five people named into the Hall of Fame. Prince Philip was criticized by British press after photos surfaced of the Prince proudly showing off a tiger which he had shot in a hunting trip in India. Accompanied by the Maharajah and Mahranee of Jaipur, India, Prince Philip and his wife Queen Elizabeth were on a visit to the country when the hunting trip took place. The couple continued their trip through India, despite the looming outrage back home in Britain. Legendary artist Pablo Picasso became the godfather of the newly born daughter of Luis Dominguin, a famous Spanish bullfighter. Picasso was pictured with his new godchild Paola Dominguin, as well as Paola’s older sister Lucia in Cannes, France. Newly-elected U.S. president John F. Kennedy made his first speech from his desk at the White House after his official inauguration ball. He was accompanied by his wife Jacqueline Kennedy, whose gown quickly foretold her future as a fashionable trendsetter. Feb. 9, 1972 The village of Brussels was busy planning its centennial celebration. The events were to be kicked off when three young couples from Brussels set off to deliver an official invitation to John Ainlay, the grandson of the founder of Ainleyville, which would soon be known as Brussels. Ainlay, who lived in Evanston, Illinois, was to act as honorary parade marshall in the centennial events to come. Former residents were still receiving their invitations to the celebration. Feb. 10, 1988 A fire completely destroyed a barn in Brussels, making it the second fire in two months in Morris Twp. to cause such destruction. Firefighters from both Brussels and Wingham were called to the farm but despite best efforts and quick arrival the barn was too far gone to salvage. It was reported by the fire chief that the cause of the fire was most likely a heat lamp which caused surrounding dry straw to light on fire. Fifty-four sheep and lambs were lost in the fire as well as a large quantity of straw and hay. Damages and loss were estimated at a total of $30 000, and were only partially covered by insurance. Talented pairs figure skater Kevin Wheeler of Brussels and partner Michelle Menzies of Preston were the silver medal winners of the fours competition at the Canadian National Figure Skating Championships in Victoria B.C. with the help of fellow pair Melanie Gaylor of Stratford and Lee Barkell of Kirkland Lake. Local pride was brimming as it was announced that Wheeler would join three other skaters in the opening ceremonies of the Calgary Olympics. The Blyth Figure Skating Club held its Achievement Night. Some of the most improved skaters were: Erin Bolger, senior; Kim Ferguson, intermediate; April Bromley, power skater; and Lori Bailey, junior. By Geri Kamenz, President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture The Ontario Federation of Agriculture believes that a healthy agricultural economy means an overall healthy economy for the province. That’s the message we took to the province’s standing committee on finance and economic affairs recently in Barrie – a pre- budget presentation. OFA’s submission made reference to the Canadian Senate’s interim report called Understanding Freefall: The Challenge of the Rural Poor. That report highlighted the fact that the rural poor have rarely been the subject of political attention. We believe it is time for that situation to change since poverty in rural Ontario spills over into urban areas and weakens the overall economy of the province. This reality is manifested in the fact ‘the migration of youth and business from rural Ontario to our urban centres creates expensive consequences,’ OFA’s submission to the committee stated. As examples, the brief refers to the ‘infrastructure, transportation and social problems we see in the news every day. In its 2006 report, the Organization for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) provides additional supporting evidence for what OFA was telling the committee members. Our brief referred to the vicious cycle of a poor agricultural economy leading to rural migration leads to low population density, lack of critical mass for infrastructure and services, low or declining rates of business creation and fewer jobs. These outcomes again weaken remaining farm operations and the cycle continues, we told the committee. OFA’s brief to the committee called on the province to make “strategic investments to strengthen Ontario’s economic advantage.” Many of these investments need to be made in agriculture and the province’s rural economic development initiatives. We told the committee that Ontario farmers have readily 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 There must be consequences For democracy to work, voters must know as much as possible about the workings of their governments, so the recently-introduced Transparency in Public Matters bill is a good start. The private member’s bill introduced by Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor would require municipal councils and bodies like library boards and Local Health Integration Networks to be open to the public. The bill would allow the Information and Privacy Commissioner to disallow any decisions taken during an improperly held secret meeting. The proposal would also standardize the list of reasons for these bodies to legitimately go into closed session, excluding the public and media. The proposed bill allows members of the public to challenge decisions of public bodies to conduct their business in private and would require a body to appoint an independent investigator of its activities. The bill doesn’t, however, provide penalties to organizations that repeatedly break the rules in doing public businesses in secret. The vast majority of people sitting on councils and boards are dedicated to making their communities a better place and want to play by the rules. Now and then, however, human nature takes over and some people get caught up in their own self-importance, feeling they have the right to make decisions where they are beyond criticism. There must be consequences for those who break the rules on a repeated basis. Still, the Transparency in Public Matter bill is a step toward keeping public bodies public. The difficulty is that as a private members bill, unlike a government-sponsored bill, there’s no guarantee it will be passed. It should be passed, with an amendment that puts penalties on public officials who improperly try to operate in secret.— KR Where do we go from here? With the report of the prestigious Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last week, it’s going to be very difficult to maintain the argument that global warming is unproven. So where do we go from here? Focus in the last year has been on the failure of the previous Liberal government to put in place a plan to accomplish the goals it signed on for with the Kyoto agreement and the attempts to force the disbelieving Conservative government to accept that there is a problem at all. But governments don’t create greenhouse gases: they can only force the rest of us to accept measures to reduce the creation of gases like carbon dioxide and methane. In the long run, each and every one of us has to change our habits to reduce the amount of carbon being burned. While we in rural areas may look at belching urban smoke stacks as the major polluters, in the last half-century, economic efficiency has undermined the environmental efficiency of our rural lifestyle. Where once we lived in self-contained communities where shopping, work, church or other activities were close at hand, today we must drive further and further to meet the most basic of our needs. Where once agriculture used few fossil fuel inputs, today it takes vast amounts of petroleum products to power equipment or fertilize or spray crops. Energy efficiency must become as important as business efficiency if we hope to make our rural lifestyle part of the solution. — KR & OFA Commentary Continued on page 12