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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-02-15, Page 1The CitizenVolume 23 No. 7 Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007 $1.25 ($1.18 + 7c GST)Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Inside this week Pg. 2 Pg. 8 Pg. 10 Pg. 12 Pg. 17 Derby returning to Brussels Local teams in playoffs Blyth Legion donates to team Federation president in Blyth Dairy chair praises ag minister A Grey family is homeless after fire destroyed their Jamestown Road house on Friday morning. According to deputy fire chief Bill Pearson, firefighters from the Grey department arrived on the scene at 11:30 a.m. to find half of the house already in flames. Stan Gulutzen and his two sons, Mike, eight and Ryan, three, were home at the time. “The father was outside fixing the car,” said Pearson, adding that the children “barely got out in time.” Firefighters remained on the scene until 10:30 p.m. that evening. The house was brick covered in siding, a factor which contributed to the problem, said Pearson. “That certainly added to the difficulty in getting the fire out, because of several wall layers.” The house is a total loss, with most of the family’s personal possessions also destroyed. The cause of the blaze is as yet undetermined, said Pearson. Gulutzen’s brother Stephen, of Walton, said the family, which also includes wife Cornelia and daughters Kelsey, 10 and Nicole, six, are staying with family at this time. In addition to losing their home, the Gulutzens have had to try and get things back into their barn where they house the milking goats. “I think we have that up and running now,” said Stephen in an interview on Tuesday morning. While Gulutzen said he wasn’t aware of anything specific having been set up to help the family as of Tuesday, he added that anyone wanting to make donations of items or clothing could do so by contac- ting him at 519-887-6484. Collision in Londesborough Winter driving in Huron County can be perilous and even if a road wasn’t closed as the result of last week’s relentless snowstorms, drivers travelled them at their own risk. Just south of Londesborough on Hwy. 4 a collision took place early Thursday morning between a Chevy truck and a Neon. Visibility was poor and the Neon was rear-ended. Blyth firefighters were first on the scene with EMS and OPP not far behind. Neither driver suffered serious injuries, though the driver of the car was taken to Clinton hospital. (Shawn Loughlin photo) Blaze leaves family homeless A letter from an unimpressed ratepayer nearly delivered a wrecking ball to the Ball’s Bridge agreement. The letter, penned by Wingham resident Robert Elliott, questioned the wisdom of allocating $250,000 to the devolving of Ball’s Bridge. That letter was used by county councillor Bernie MacLellan of Huron East, Feb. 7, to reopen debate on the plan to pass the bridge to the lower-tier municipalities that border it, along with a one-time $250K grant. “To me, we’re not following correct procedures here,” said MacLellan, arguing no funds should be allocated to the bridge because council agreed not to spend any money from the 2007 budget on the bridge. Warden Deb Shewfelt of Goderich noted that the bridge was removed from the roads budget to allow for the ultimately approved solution — money from the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund — to be found. Though a resolution, put forward by MacLellan, failed to pass in order to debate the fate of Ball’s Bridge, one took place when council was faced with passing a bylaw that officially turned the bridge over to Central Huron and Ashfield- Colborne-Wawanosh. Shewfelt argued it only makes sense for the county to devolve the bridge and pass along the funding. “It’s the start of things that should’ve happened years ago,” he said, noting he doesn't understand MacLellan’s stand on the bridge when Huron East has a number of bridges that must be dealt with. MacLellan argued it would not be unheard of for the county to reverse its decision on Ball’s Bridge. And, he said, council might’ve fallen victim to a “political ploy” because a number of representatives of the Friends of Ball’s Bridge were on hand at the last meeting. Councillor Joe Seili of Huron East said the money attached to the deal makes him uncomfortable since there is nothing written to force the lower tiers, which haven’t officially agreed to take the bridge, to use the grant only for the stated purpose. Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh councillor Ben Van Diepenbeek noted that his municipality has already agreed to take on the bridge, and it has also applied for funding from the province’s one-time $70- million Infrastructure Ontario grant. “We’re not going to squander it on something else,” he says. Councillor John Bezaire of Central Huron expressed concern about whether the final tally on how much rehabilitating the bridge will cost would prove too daunting to Central Huron and A-C-W. Bezaire also put forward a motion to table the third reading of the bylaw that would allow things to move forward. It failed to pass. Councillor Bert Dykstra of Central Huron said the host municipalities are “sticking their necks out” by signing the agreement without knowing what the rehabilitation project is going to cost. The warden argued it is time to move forward with the Ball’s Bridge project. “I think we’ve had great discussion on it for a year and a half,” he says. In a recorded vote, 12 of the 19 voting councillors agreed with Shewfelt’s assertion. Those opposing the bylaw’s passage were Bezaire (Central Huron), Neil Vincent (North Huron), Max Demaray (Howick), MacLellan (Huron East), Dorothy Kelly (Morris-Turnberry), George Robertson (South Huron), Seili (Huron East) and Jim Dietrich (South Huron). Ratepayer’s letter nearly delivers wrecking ball to bridge agreement By Cheryl Heath Clinton News Record Right in the middle of a pastor study tour, a bus full of Canadian tourists, including Blyth resident Dave Wood, was attacked in Jerusalem last Saturday. The attack occurred on the west bank of the Jordan River and it was a protest against ramp construction situated around a supposed holy site. Palestinian teenagers pelted the bus with rocks until Israeli police came on site, arresting 17 protesters. No one was injured in the attack. Wood, pastor at Huron Chapel Evangelical Missionary Church in Auburn, wasn’t hurt but was understandably shook up. “We were just driving and all of sudden a bunch of kids started picking up rocks and whatever they could get their hands on and started throwing it at the bus,” Wood said to the Associated Press. “This is our first day in the Holy City and it was quite disturbing to say the least.” In addition to being quoted in the Associated Press, Wood was also featured in CTV’s coverage of the event. Wood’s wife, Julie Wood, said that she has not heard from her husband since the attack, but insists this is nothing new. “No news is good news,” she said. Wood left for the trip on Feb. 7 and he is due back into Blyth on Feb. 15. By Bonnie Gropp The Citizen Palestinians target bus carrying local pastor