Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1991-11-06, Page 1Election special |News Sports \ Blyth, E. and W. Wawanosh and trustee candidates speak to issues Brussels students win Menzies award at Madill Commencement Bulls lose to Barons, teams share top spot in Junior 'C See page 11 See page 2 See page 18 Brussels parents win battle, get crossing guards CitizenTheNorthHuron Vol. 7 No. 44 Wednesday, November 6,1991 60 cents Hot car Blyth Volunteer Fire Department were called out shortly after lunch last Wednesday to a car fire at Cone. 9 in Hullett Township. The fire started under the dash of the 1980 Cadillac while being driven down the road. By the time firefighters arrived it was pretty well under control. 90 attend Blyth candidates meeting High taxes and the resentment over the push for junior kinder­ garten were the major sore points when 90 people attended an all­ candidates meeting in Blyth Memo­ rial Hall Oct. 29. Halloween vandals cost Brussels $2000 Hallowe'en vandalism is expect­ ed to cost Brussels taxpayers close to $2000 by the time all the bills are in. The bill includes repairs to dam­ age plus the extra wages of town firemen and works crews who had to patrol the streets, putting out fire in leaves and bales of straw and replacing street signs tom down. Signs were tom down both Oct. 30 and Hallowe'en itself. Wednes­ day night town workmen were on duty until 2 a.m. replacing 16 stop signs that had been pushed down flat, one that was broken off and three that were pulled out com­ pletely, Reeve Gordon Workman told village council Monday. The next night, as gangs of young peo­ ple roamed the streets, firemen were on duty until 3 a.m. putting out fires and trying to prevent more Loudest applause of the night came when former councillor Bill Manning questioned Blyth-Hullett school board trustee John Jewitt, asking him if there was any chance of derailing plans for junior kinder- in losses damage. Frustrated councillors com­ plained that vandals from Blyth, Wingham, Seaforth and Lucknow had descended on the village. "We can likely handle our own young people but we can't handle three or four other towns'," Reeve Work­ man said. The Reeve suggested more vol­ unteers will have to get involved next year, setting up a kind of Neighbourhood Watch program. Councillor Bruce Hahn suggested the advice of police should be sought in how volunteers can make a citizen's arrest on vandals. Council agreed to have the issue put on the agenda for the August and September meetings of council next year so planning can be done well in advance of another Hal­ lowe'en. garten (JK). Mr. Jewitt said the local board has been against the program and he has been leading the opposition but the legislation still says JK must be started by 1994, even though the province has now withdrawn money to help start up the program. The one loophole may be that there is nothing to say how much JK there must be. It might be one JK class in the county and it would be the responsibility of parents who wanted to take part to provide the transportation. Mr. Manning drew the applause when he said he didn't think any responsible parent would want to put a four-year-old at the end of a lane on a cold day to get on a cold bus to go to JK. "I think we have the same opin­ ion," said Mr. Jewitt after the applause died down. "The majority of the board feels the same way." Nearly all of the candidates for council came out against high taxes in their presentations. Former Reeve Tom Cronin, seek­ ing to return to the post, said one of his goals was to keep taxes down. He was also interested in being part of the reconstruction of main street. His opponent said Blyth is a very special village through the contri­ After years of complaints, wor­ ried Brussels parents got their way Monday night when village council voted unanimously to hire two crossing guards to guide children across busy intersections. Concerned parents jammed the council chamber then filed a peti­ tion with more than 200 names on it with council. Parents have been pushing for protection for children Crossing Tumberry St. (main street) for sev­ eral years but council had felt paid butions of many businesses, groups and individuals. Blyth has many things other communities would love to have, he said and people must work as a team to keep the village strong. Al Donaldson, running for his first chance on council, said he was running with the hope of reducing taxes and tightening the purse strings. He would recommend, if elected, an immediate reduction in councillors' salaries. He also wants to see the village office slay open from 12 to one through use of stag­ gered lunch hours. Because he is retired, he said, he could devote more time to council business. John Elliott, a veteran of 14 years on Huron County Board of Educa­ tion and on the PUC, the fire area board, said he has watched with concern the growing tax revolt in rural Ontario. His years on the board of education taught him something about the bureaucratic nightmare at Queen's Park and even at the county level. "It's time tax­ payers indicated they are the ones to have control," he said. He said that at the first meeting after he was elected, he would move to have the special meeting Continued on page 17 crossing guards would be too expensive. But in the long run council needed little convincing with the strength of the movement convincing them taxpayers wanted the extra money spent. The move will cost the village $4800 a year to hire two guards for one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. Guards will be provided at Tumberry St. at the Anglican church comer and at Mill and Tumberry (JR's comer). Claudia Spink was the leader of the large group who showed their support for the need for guards. She said that on three occasions last week volunteers spent an hour at the comer of Church St. doing traf­ fic counts. The result was scary, she said. On one day there were 203 cars and 16 transports through the intersection during the hour Continued on page 27 Slippery roads bring rash of accidents Slippery road conditions resulted in three accidents in Grey Town­ ship on Sunday, November 3. A spokesperson from the Wingham OPP said the first accident occurred on Highway 86, just east of Grey Township road 10/11 at 4:20 p.m. OPP said Tammy Coleman, 26, of Kitchener was travelling east at approximately 80 kilometres an hour, when her 1984 Pontiac lost control on the icy road and entered the south ditch, where is struck a hydro pole. Ms Coleman sustained only min­ imal injuries and did not need to be hospitalized, police said. The second accident, another sin­ gle vehicle one, happened at 5:45 on Highway 86, one kilometre east of County Road 12. Police say Kimberly Ann Roos, 26, of Cambridge, was travelling west on 86 at a stated speed of 70 kilometres an hour, when she pulled out to pass another vehicle. She lost control of the 1977 Dodge Van on the snow covered road, which entered the south ditch and rolled end over end. Ms Roos was taken to Wingham and District Hospital by ambulance where she was treated for minor injuries. A passenger in the car, Wayne Goss, received only mini­ mal injuries and did not require hospitalization, police said. At 8:10 p.m. on County Road 12, just south of Highway 86, police say a 1986 Chev Pick-up, driven by 63-year-old Donald Edgar of RR2, Gorrie, swerved on the icy road. The southbound vehicle then left the west edge of the road and came back onto the roadway to the east edge where it was struck by a 1984 Buick Le Sabre, driven by Ben Van Den Akker, 46, of Egmondville. Mr. Van Den Akker and his pas­ senger, Brent Van Den Akker, 18, were travelling north on County Road 12. The impact drove them into the east ditch, across a lawn and into a tree, police said. The pair were taken by ambu­ lance to Wingham and District Hospital with major injuries. Mr. Edgar and his passenger, Betsy McBride, 50, of RR2, Gorrie, were not hurt in the accident, police said.