Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1983-09-28, Page 1L CK Single copy 35c Published In Lucknow, Ontario, Wednesday, September 28, 1983 16 Pages High speed car chase results in policeman's death A 25 -year veteran of the Ontario Provincial Police was killed in a bizarre accident in Goderich Township early Sunday morning when a Town of Goderich cruiser smashed the car he had stopped on County Road 18. Dead is Constable Bruce Kennedy Crew, 47, of 121 Nelson Street Goderich. A member of the OPP for over 26 years, he came to the Goderich detachment in 1965 after a few years service in Kitchener. The accident is still under investigation by members of the OPP under the direction of Inspector John Deslauriers of Toronto. A statement issued by police Monday said that Crew and Constable John Straughan, 38, were assisting town of Goderich police Constable Peter Mason in the apprehension of a vehicle owned by Wayne McDonald, 23, of U.R. 2 Lucknow at approximately 3 A.M. Sunday. The black Pontiac Trans Am was pursued by Const, Mason east on Highway 8 and Clinton Police responded to a call for assistance by setting up a road block on Highway 3 at Holmesville. The vehicle then proceeded west on County Load 18 towards Highway 21. Crew and Straughan, stopped the vehicle three kilometres east of High- way 21 at Porter's Hill. Crew approached the vehicle and was about to remove the keys from the ignition while Straughan returned to the cruiser to infor=m dispatch that the pursued vehicle had been stopped when Mason came over a rise and slammed into the McDonald vehicle, killing Crew, who was standing beside it. beslatiriers said Mason observed the vehicle in town and continued to pursue it outside the town limits while requesting assistance, The Inspector said tha Straughan and Crew happened to be in the area on another occurrence when they responded to the request. Deslauriers and his investigating team are still trying to determine how Crew was hit. "Constable Crew was out of the cruiser and Constable Straughan was beside or getting into the cruiser," he said. "We haven t put all the pieces together." Constable Straughan . was treated for minor injuries while Constable Mason and a passenger in the McDonald vehicle, Allan Nicholson, 21, of R.R. 2, Lucknow, were taken to Alexandra Marine and General Hospital for treatment and later released. Both the town and OPP cruiser and the McDonald vehicle were damaged in the accident. The vehicles were being examined by a forensic team in the OPP garage. beslauriers said no charges were laid in connection with the incident but both McDonald and Nicholson were given breath tests following the accident. Goderich police chief Pat King said that subsequent to a meeting with OPP in- vestigators and the crown attorney Monday evening, it was determined that constable Mason was not travelling at an excessive speed and that the accident could not have been avoided. "The Clinton Police cruiser followed the vehicle on County Road 18 but Constable Mason, as agreed between them, overtook the Clinton cruiser and continued to pursue the vehicle," Chief King said. "The OPP had radioed that the vehicle had stalled and had been stopped. The dispatcher relayed that message immediately to Mason but he came on Porter's Hill in a matter of three seconds. He tried to stop the vehicle and almost put his own cruiser in the ditch." Crew is survived by his wife Emily; one daughter, Mrs. Carson (Emily) Milley of Goderich and three sons, Stephen of Kit- chener and Peter and Stuart both of Goderich. A hill pollee funeral was held at lrirst Presbyterian Church, Collingwood, Wednesday. Members of the Goderich detachemtn of the OPP and police from across Ontario formed an honour guard for the funeral, Beef producers poll results Results of an expression of opinion poll by Ontario beef producers on whether to make the Ontario Cattlemen's Association check- off non refundable were announced today by Dt. George Fleming, director of livestock inspection, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Of a total of 5,271 who cast ballots, 2,628 ot 49.9 pet cent voted "yes" and 2,643 of 50.1 per cent voted "no". The vote was held September 14, 15 and 16 at each of the ministry's 54 county and district offices plus one additional location in each of five larger counties and districts. Under the Beef Cattle Marketing Act, one-fifth of one pet cent of the value of cattle sold for slaughter is checked off for funding the OCA. The fee is refundable at the request of the producer. Announcing the poll in June, Agriculture and Food Minister Dennis Timbteil said he would consider the legislation if two-thirds of the producers polled agreed to make the check -off non refundable. M1 individuals, partnerships ot corpora- tions who owned cattle for sale for beef purposes between June 15, 1981 and June 15, 1983 were eligible to vote. • ' �> "x a:> .. WO rf. • 2 s. Kathy Nicholson of West Wowa nosh and her son, Curtis, 9 months, narrowly escaped injury when their ear Mew a rear tire as they were proceeding north on Huron County Road 1, just south of t,ucknow. The car entered the east ditch where it flipped over. The accident occurred on Friday afternoon+ about 3.30 p.m. (Sentinel Staff Photo' Tim Becker of Lucianuw was the lucky winner of a 10 speed bicycle hi a promotion for the tall fair sponsored by the Lucknow Agricultural Satiety. t had to he et the iota Nay night when his name was drawn to qualify for the final draw and he had to beet the c cert and Miss MidaWestern Ontario pageant on the Saturday night of the � dehe hie when his name was drawn. (pap by Sem m D�j Hosp. „ ital board members question commitment to buildingproject By Henry Hess The plan to build a 51.4 million emergency and outpatient department at the Wingham and District Hospital remains a hot topic for the hospital board of governors. At last week's board meeting, a number of questions were raised about the extent to which the board has committed itself to the project, as well as about the function of an ad hot committee formed by the board to pave the way for a community fund raising drive. After hearing that the hospital has already paid an architect more than $60,000 to draw up plans for the new addition, Dr. Brian Hanlon, newly appointed hospital chief of staff, inquired whether the board considers it good business to commit that much money to a project for which it has not -yet secured the full funding. "11 you were going to build a house, would you pay 550,000 in architect's fees and then find you don't have the money to build the house? If the hospital has to shelve the project for lack of funding, there is no guarantee it would be able to use the same plans five years down the road, he noted, particularly if it changed architects. The board had agreed previously to proceed with drawing up plans and calling tenders on the construction, at which time it will make the final decision whether or not to proceed with construction, At the start of the meeting, Board Chairman Mary Vair reported the architect's drawings are await- ing Health Ministry approval, and the project probably will not be ready to go to tender until November 1. At that rate, it would be the end of November before the contract could be let, which would postpone the start of construc- tion until next spring, she said. She added that this would not be a bad thing, however, since it will give the board more time to prepare its public relations and fund raising campaigns. Later in the meeting, following a report by Vair on the activities of the ad hoc committee, a question by board member ° Robert Pike sparked a lengthy discussion of that committee's intended role in the project as well as about the nature of a rift between the hospital and the community. Noting that the committee had been formed by the board after a fund raising feasibility study discovered a substantial split between the hospital and the commun- ity, Pike said it had been given the "very Tarn to page 24 In the news Thursday, September 15 was the second last beginners' race in the new Holly Gully Beginners Moto -Cross Series. Brian Olson of Dungannon placed second m the Enduro class. Brian also placed second in the Enduro C class of the 11 -fully Gully House league race held September 1 Bob Greer of Listowel shot a 69 to win the IOW gross category during the end of season tournament of the men's division at the f.istowel (;!orf Club. September 1-7. Bob IS the Son of ( larence and Marie Greer of 1 uck now Kincardine detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police are continuing, their investigation into a theft of 12 - 15 heavy cattle from the farm of Dave Plphick, concession 1 of Huron Township on Sept- ember 21. A stake truck appears to have been used in the incident. Kincardine OPP are also investigating a break and enter at i ucknow Custom Weld ing and Small Engines during the early morning of September 22 No arrests have been made as vet in relation to either c,in,e