HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1994-03-09, Page 1Community 1| Government |Sports \
Brussels to give
cardboard recycling a
trial run
Huron County councillors
to examine inspection fee
increase
Future of Junior C hockey
in Brussels gets 10 day
reprieve
See page 2 See page 6 See page 11
Lift off
Blyth resident Amy McCrea (left) brought a special gift for
Janet Amos when the Blyth Festival Artistic Director
announced the 1994 line-up of Festival plays — a cake
celebrating the launch of the new season. Blyth residents
attended a special launch party at Memorial Hall on
Thursday.
Season promises laughs
Janet Amos has emphasized
laughter in choosing plays for her
first season since returning as artis
tic director of the Blyth Festival.
All four of the plays in the 1994
season emphasize comedy. There
are two world premieres in the
schedule, including Glengarry
School Days, an adaptation of the
Ralph Connor books about pioneer
days in eastern Ontario which will
open the Festival on June 24.
In unveiling her season for about
50 interested community members
on Thursday, Ms Amos said she
has been interested in doing some
thing with the books for several
years and felt Blyth would be the
perfect place to premiere the play.
She chose Governor General's
Award winning playwright Anne
Chislett to adapt the 1902 novel
and other works of former minis
ter, diplomat and soldier Charles
William Gordon who, writing
under the pseudonym Ralph Con
nor, sold five million copies around
OPP investigate accident
Members of the Wingham OPP,
Wingham Fire Department and
Wingham ambulance were called to
the scene of a serious two-vehicle
accident at 9:25 a.m. on Friday,
March 4. The accident occurred on
Highway 86, approximately four
Deadline...' nears....
Just a reminder that this
Friday, March 11 marks the
deadline for Citizen of the
Year nominations.
While we have received
several we are certain there
are many other worthy candi
dates, deserving of this
recognition.
Applications are printed in
recent issues of The Citizen,
on page 2 of this issue or may
be written on paper and sub
mitted to the Brussels and
the world in the early part of this
century. Ms Chislett, one of the
founders of the Festival, has
authored such Blyth hits as Quiet in
the.Land, The Tomorrow Box and
Yankee Notions.
The play takes part in 1878, just
11 years after the founding of
Canada when there was, Ms Amos
says, a tremendous sense of build
ing a country. Among the issues of
the day is the first of the elections
fought on the issue of free trade
with the U.S. The play will feature
a large cast including local young
sters.
To honour the 20th anniversary
of the Festival, Ms Amos is follow
ing the suggestion of former Artis
tic Director Peter Smith in bringing
back one of the most popular plays
from the past: He Won't Come In
From The Barn, starring her hus
band, writer-actor Ted Johns. The
story of Aylmer Clarke, the frus
trated Huron County farmer who
Continued on page 23
km. east of Wingham.
According to a press release from
the OPP the driver of one of the
vehicles, Marianne Lemont, 29, of
RR1, Cargill was taken to Wing
ham Hospital, then transferred by
ambulance to University Hospital
in London with leg fractures. A
passenger in the vehicle Randy
Schuler, 38 of Mildmay, was taken
was also transferred from Wingham
to University Hospital, suffering
from head injuries.
The driver of the other vehicle,
Thomas Cornwall, 62 of Wingham
was taken to Wingham then trans
ferred by air ambulance to Sunny-
brook Hospital, Toronto with chest
injuries. Passengers in the Cornwall
vehicle were three-year-old Landon
Volaric and four-year-old Adriana
Volaric of Listowel. Landon was
treated at Wingham and released.
Adriana was taken to Wingham,
but may be taken to Victoria Hospi
tal for further treatment, the release
states.
The accident is still under inves
tigation.
CitizenTheNorthHuron
Vol. 10 No. 10 Wednesday, March 9, 1994 600 G6Tinclu*<i
HCBE wrestles with budget
It is budget time again for the
Huron County Board of Education
and Director Paul Carroll prepared
the trustees for a long and difficult
struggle to wrestle the budget
down.
"We must try to deal with the big
picture, the big money," he says.
"The trustees will have to have
faith and trust in each other to let
the little things go."
In a preliminary scenario, taking
into consideration cuts suggested
by the committees, the ratepayers
in Huron County would see a
10.13% increase in the mill rate.
Mr. Carroll stressed, at the March
7 meeting, that the trustees and the
administration will have to find an
additional $2.5 million in cuts at
the special budget meeting to be
held on Wednesday, to get the rate
down to an acceptable level.
Mr. Carroll outlined the situation
and options for the trustees.
"Though Huron County has the
lowest tax rate per pupil in the area,
this is not necessarily a good
situation," he says. This is not the
time to bring the tax level up to
other counties.
"There are many consistencies in
the economy right now. In the
private sector, businesses are either
having great success and are
looking to expansion or they are
Balancing act
With the few warmer days and rain, time for fun in the snow is limited. Students at Blyth PS
took a chance last week to enjoy winter with a Play Day. Kyle McNeil maneuvers over a
bench as part of the obstacle course which was one of the events activities held on March 4.
The day was wet but warm for the children to take part in relays, hockey games, toboggan
races and snowshoeing.
failing."
"The government seems to have
all kinds of money to spend for
jobsOntario and infrastructure
programs, yet there are reductions
in grants which affect operating
costs and salaries."
"Both are designed to preserve
employment," says Mr. Carroll.
"In looking at cost reductions, we
must consider two things. First, we
must maintain the buildings so
repairs don't accumulate over time
and we must change the way we do
business."
"There are two options. We
retain the jobs for everyone and the
salaries decrease, or we reduce the
number of jobs and consider the
impact it will have on the students."
Salaries make up 80 per cent of the
HCBE budget.
Mr. Carroll says these cuts to the
budget will cost a lot of people
employment.
Another means of reducing
expenditures would be for the
trustees, school and system leaders,
teachers and support staff to temper
their demands. "This will take
considerable negotiation with the
bargaining units," he says, "and we
are limited by the contracts."
Mr. Carroll expressed his
concern with regards to the difficult
situation in which the board must
set the budget.
"The current task is awful.
Government reduction require
ments don't get to the board until
more than one third of the year's
budget is spent. It is ludicrous
behaviour to have the board set its
budget after so much of the year is
gone," he says.
"The remaining $2.5 million
which must be removed from the
budget will have to come from the
September to December costs. We
have to look ahead to 1995 because
the cuts could be three times as
much."
"These reductions do not allow
for any further changes from
Toronto. We cannot speculate on
any new decisions that could be
made in the next three weeks," he
said.
"We will have to strip everything
to the bone in an effort to reduce
the budget by $2.5 million and
anything else will be a function of
what is done in Toronto," says Mr.
Carroll.
On the good news side, there
were suggestions presented for
ways the board could increase
revenues. It was suggested that the
schools sell services, such as
computer time, to small companies
unable to acquire the technology.
Continued on page 8