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The Citizen, 2019-01-03, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2019. Editorials Opinions President: Keith Roulston • Publisher: Deb Sholdice Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld • Heather Fraser The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years CCNA Member 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 $38.00/year ($36.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada; $160.00/year in U.S.A. and $205/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: Mon. 2 p.m. - Brussels; Mon. 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca January 4, 1968 A whole host of new postal regulations were set to be rolled out in 1968, especially in regards to the mailing of newspapers. The new method would utilize the “count method”, in which auditors would count and classify each newspaper subscription on the list, checking it against a number of regulations to which the addresses had to adhere. The new regulations also dictated that newspaper subscriptions had to be paid for in advance. To this end, The Brussels Post printed a large advertisement asking readers to subscribe for the discount price of $2 for the year. Myra McNair of RR2, Brussels was the grand prize winner of the Stephenson Bakery Christmas Draw, which netted her $10. Mrs. Calvin Smith of Brussels was the second- place winner, taking home $5. William Tucker of Goderich, and formerly of Brussels, was killed in a two-vehicle crash in Caradoc Township. Tucker, 61, and his son-in-law Donald Sharp, 39, were both killed in the crash. January 3, 1973 Huron County Council approved a pay raise for Huron County employees. Increases fluctuated depending on the employee, but annual salaries for the affected county employees at that time ranged from $5,700 to $7,700. Mark Battye won first place in the Blyth Legion’s Remembrance Day poetry contest. Philip Street placed second and Jeanette Manning placed third. Cliff Bailie placed first in the Remembrance Day essay contest, followed by Jayne Watson in second and Roger Barrie in third. Tom Thomson and Keith Arthur were on hand to present the students with their awards. The Blyth Board of Trade handed out just under $220 in prizes through its “Double your Money” draw. Walter Shortreed ended up bringing home $100 after he won $50, but was able to claim it within an hour of the announcement. Other winners were Ken Brigham, Viola Sanderson, Debbie German, Maureen McCrea and Norma Glousher. January 4, 1995 The Blyth and District Fire Department was kept very busy in the final days of 1994, being called out to a number of fires in late December. The department was called out to the farm of Steven Webster on Dec. 30 with a report that an implement shed was engulfed in flames. While he said he couldn’t be sure, Blyth Fire Chief Paul Josling said he suspected the fire began when an overhead wood stove overheated in the shed. One day earlier, the fire department was called out to a combine fire on County Road 22 just north of Auburn. Tom Franken had been driving the machine home when it burst into flames. On the night of Dec. 29, the department was called to the home of Eugene Gore in Blyth with reports of a chimney fire and on Dec. 27, firefighters responded to a call for back-up in Wingham at a turkey barn fire. Brussels Village Council was informed that insurance rates were due to soar in the village as a result of high court awards in liability claims against other municipalities. Randy Fisher of Frank Cowan Insurance said that the village’s total insurance bill for all bodies covered by the village would be $7,600. Murray and Shelley Ducharme of RR3, Brussels were the proud parents of Tilynn, the area’s New Year’s baby. She was born at 6:24 a.m. on Jan. 2 at Clinton Public Hospital, weighing 8 lbs., 13 oz. She was one of three born that morning. January 8, 2009 Windstorms on Dec. 28-29 resulted in over 230,000 Hydro One customers reporting power outages across the province, with several thousand local households losing power on Dec. 28. By Dec. 30, the majority of the customers in the Clinton and Walkerton service areas had their power restored, but outages were still being reported in far-flung areas like Bracebridge, Huntsville, Parry Sound and Bancroft. During its annual festival RIDE campaign, Huron County OPP charged nine people with impaired driving and another 20 had their driver’s licences suspended for 12 hours due to their level of alcohol consumption. Emily Rodger and Paige Fear were two East Wawanosh Public School students who were working on a project to track the weather in December. They said they found that 24 of the month’s 31 days were what they would classify as “snowy” on their graphs. Fred and Ruth Armstrong of Huronia Jerseys in Auburn added yet another agriculture award to their collection, winning the Eric Vander Meulen Award, which was actually named for a friend of the family who died in 2006 in a farm accident. The Armstrongs were presented the award through the 2008 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Shooting the messenger When Time magazine named a group of journalists as its “Persons of the Year” for 2018, it highlighted how dangerous the world can be for truth seekers. Last month the UNESCO Observatory of Killed Journalists tabulated that 495 journalists had been killed in 2018 for doing their job. Cases like the murder of Jamal Khassogi, murdered while in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey by thugs working for the Saudi government, get publicity but the deaths of most of the hundreds of victims go unnoticed. There were, for instance, the deaths of two people working at a small radio station in Syria, killed by Islamist extremists because they dared to play music and air the voices of women. The story goes well beyond the deaths. In many countries governments have punished journalists who ask aggravating questions by throwing them in jail, beating them or subjecting them to threats to intimidate them. Yet still many of these brave men and women soldier on, trying to publish the unpopular truth about their governments. People who become journalists generally do so with a tremendous sense of dedication, just like doctors. While people can see doctors healing the sick and realize the good they’re doing, it’s harder to see the contribution of journalists toward a healthy, knowledgeable society. Journalism in the Middle East, Russia or China is a whole different world than it is for someone in Huron County or Canada in general. The greatest danger local journalists here face is the possibility of a testy phone call from a politician who feels wronged by something written or an angry letter to the editor. Yet even in open democracies such as Canada and the U.S. journalism is becoming a more uncomfortable profession. South of the border we’ve seen U.S. President Donald Trump frequently calling the media the “enemy of the people”, even pointing fingers at journalists in the audience while followers at his emotion-filled rallies bray their hatred. It seems only a matter of time before some loyal follower decides he should punish these villains. Here in Canada, the federal Conservatives have been attacking the media with increased frequency, sure that reporters are secret supporters of the Liberals, even as reporters step up the harshness of their criticism of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford’s aggravation with the media has led his staff to limit access to him by journalists, leading to farcical scenes of reporters trailing him through buildings before he escapes by jumping in one of several similar getaway cars so he can’t be followed. But informed journalism is perhaps under greater danger in Canada from citizen indifference. In the age of the internet and social media, many people who have cut the cable to over-the-air television or stopped buying newspapers depend on being informed by what’s being sent to them by tweet or Facebook post. Too few seem to appreciate the difference between well-researched news and some angry person spouting off about a topic the reader tends to agree with. Hopefully, the attention surrounding Time’s “Persons of the Year” will get people thinking about the importance of reporters tenaciously digging for the facts that help us make informed decisions. – KR 2019 will be ‘interesting’ An old Chinese curse says: “May you live in interesting times”. Looking ahead, it appears 2019 will be much more interesting than we would really have preferred. Late in 2018, China itself added to the interest when it retaliated against the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies, in Vancouver on a U.S. warrant. As the Americans make their case for her extradition to face U.S. charges, several observers have predicted China will further tighten the screws on Canada, after already jailing two Canadian citizens in China. Chinese leaders seem to think our politicians can do what they would do: order the judge deciding the case to make a decision based on what the government wants. We can expect the unpleasantness from south of the border to continue as turbulent Donald Trump enters the third year of his four-year term (doesn’t it seem like he’s been President two decades, not two years?) In fact, things may get worse now that the Democrats control the House of Representatives and the investigation draws to a close over whether or not there was collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election. Here in Canada, there are bound to be many unpleasantries exchanged as we approach the October federal election. While the official campaigning won’t start until fall, the unofficial jostling for position will ramp up with every day that goes by. And then there are all the unexpected things that will pop up. So many of 2018’s biggest news items took us by surprise, from the confrontation with China to a court halting the construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Yes, 2019 looks as if it could be one of those years when you’d like to say “wake me when it’s over”. –KR &