HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-08-24, Page 1PUBLISHED IN
LUCKNOW, ONTARIO
Wednesday,
August 24 1994
550
G.S.T. Included
An estimated $1 million in marijuana went up In smoke last week when Walkerton OPP, acting
on a tip, seized plants and growing equipment in Greenock and Carrick townships. Constable
John Twelves puts the torch to part of the haul. (Walkerton Herald -Times photo)
$1 million _haul up :in smoke
by Tracey Doerr
Marijuana with an estimated street
value of $1 million went up in
smoke last Thursday.
Walkerton OPP. burned 1,830
'Marijuana plants, ranging in size
form seedlings to six feet, that were
seized from Greenock and Carrick
Township last Wednesday.
Police acted on. a tip that
eventually led them to marijuana
fields at four different locations in
'Greenock Township. A. total of 488
plants, with a value of $250,000
were taken from those fields.
The marijuana was being
cultivated in fanners' corn fields
without their knowledge.
Walkerton OPP staff sergeant,
Terry Nicholls said no arrests have
been made in connection with the
Greenock Township crimes.
In Carrick Township, police
' uncovered an extensive marijuana
'growing set up. In searching the
property, officers found about 300
plants at various stages of growth in
four rooms of a house along with
$10,000 of growing equipment.
Further investigation uncovered 980
plants growing in adjacent corn
fields. The value of the narcotics is
estimated at $750,000.
A 34 -year-old Carrick Township
male and 38 -year-old Cambridge
male were arrested at • the scene.
They have been charged with
cultivation of marijuana and
possession of narcotics for the
purpose of "trafficking. A search
warrant for another male has been
issued.
Nicholls said this time ,of year is
the prime season for growing
marijuana: He said investigating
constables Chris Knoll, Kevin
Washnuk and supervisor Bob
Chandler have" been monitoring the
areas for about a month.,
He said they had considered
waiting until the marijuana was
taken by its growers before making
the arrests but said they would risk
losing it all.
To his knowledge, Nicholls said
there has never been a marijuana
seizure of this magnitude in Bruce
County.
"This is an annual thing and we
feel it's on • the increase,"said
Nicholls. "There may be many
more fields we don't know about."
Nicholls said . farmers should
watch for tire or foot marks,
suspicious vehicles and any unusual
activity.
Police are requesting any
information which could lead to the
arrest of the persons responsible for
the Greenock Township crimes.
Kinloss not interested
in sharing landfill site
by Pat Livingston
KINLOSS TOWNSHIP - Council
has decided they don't want to
share the township's landfill site
with any other municipality within
the county.
The decision was reached after
reviewing the 'report of the Bruce
County waste management steering
committee. The 'report .•includes
three options to ensure that each.
municipality in the county has
adequate; long -tear (minimum 20
year) landfill capacity. The
evaluation is the result of input
from public meetings, a consultant
and the Ministry of Environment
and Energy. .
Council's decision falls under
Option 3 that reads "...assumes that
.the existing sites are not suitable for
sharing from atechnical viewpoint
or that the owners of the sites are
not interested in 'sharing' their
capacity. The county would con-
tinue the search for new capacity to
service the first Bruce County
municipalities that run out of ;pace •
(5-7 years)."
Option 1 is a recommendauon
that landfill sites remain under local
ownership and a 'shared system'
developed as part of the ..current .
Master Plan. The search for a new •
landfill capacity would continue and
criteria for selecting a new site ,.
would be established within five
years: A new capacity would be in
place when the 'shared system' is
full (15-20 years).
. Option 2 is similar to the first
one, in that it would establish a
'shared landfill system' and provide
new long term landfill capacity.. In
• this scenario the county would
assume responsibility for waste
disposal, under Section 209 of the
Municipal Act, and become the sole
owner of the existing sites in the
county.
The report states that, "With one
owner, the 18 sites, would in effect,
•see To, page 2
jobLink will help get
people off welfare
by Pat Livingston
• The number of people on social
assistance, in Bruce County, could
decline in. the future when a new
$50 million program is .up and
running.
The jobLink program is designed
to help people on social assistance
get back to work, through job
training, or upgrading their
education... Once in place, social
assistance recipients will be able to
access a broad range of tailor-made
supports and.programs to help them
enter today's job market and stay.
off social assistance.
"We were a little surprised, but
delighted," said Dick Verrips, social
and family administrator for the,
county, when it was announced last.
week that Bruce County was one.of
the first communities to be selected
for jobLink. "We had shown an
interest to the social services
department.. We were "very
interested in seeing this program
•
developed," said Verrips.
' The program is geared to both
municipal general welfare assistance
and provincial family benefits al -
Schools get
infrastructure
funding
Four projects of the' Bruce -Grey
County Roman Catholic Separate
School Board have been approved
under the Canada/Ontario
Infrastructure Works program.
The $464,498 in funding will be
used to replace the heating system
at St. Joseph's School, Port Elgin;
upgrade the heating system at
Sacred Heart, in Teeswatcr; upgrade
ventilation systems at three schools,
and instal an elevator for persons
with disabilities at Hanover Holy
Family School.
According to the new's release;
work is scheduled to begin im-
mediately and should be completed
by October.
lowance cases. 7"We have . to do
everything in our power to make
people independent," said Verrips.
Currently Bruce County has 1,054
people on the general -welfare case
load. • •• "
No implementation plans have
been developed: Verrips said
representatives of the federal,
provincial and municipal
governments and community agen-
cies will work together to develop a
plan to coordinate services. "The
plan can be as creative as the plan-
ning committee, want's," said Ver-
. rips. "It will be a lot of hard work,
but very exciting."
Vemps referred to the plan as a
"one -shop access" where people on
social assistance will be able to get
information on employment,
training and support programs, and
have access to everyday job -hunting
necessities such as typewriters,
computers, telephones, fax
machines and child care.
Bruce County and Waterloo were
the first of 10 communities to be
selected for jobLink, jointly funded
by Ontario and Canada.
Stolen car
set on fire
A stolen car from Guelph was
found ablaze on Concession 1 of
Huron Township , on Aug. 20 at
1:50 a.m.
Police received a report of the car
fire and the Lucknow fire
department was called.
No one was found in the area and"
by 6 a.m. it was discovered the
vehicle had been taken from ' a
Guelph .residence.
When OPP arrived, the rear and
interior of the car had burned itself
out. The engine was still on fire.
Both Kincardine OPP and Guelph
police are investigating.
Anyone who may have witnessc.J
something is asked to contact the
OPP,,