HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1994-07-27, Page 1Government___I______Sports______I Farm______J Entertainment
Agriculture
Minister visits
Huron communities
See page 6
2 Brussels girls
gear up for
provincial qualifier
See page 8
Area farmer
shares his farming
accident story
See page 21
Bouncing Back
has its share of
good and bad
See page 30
Autopsy
done on
youth
An autopsy was done on a 16-
year-old Hanover youth, who died
in Howick Twp. this past weekend.
Wingham OPP report that at
about 10:30 a.m. on July 24, Gray-
don James Edwards, 16, was found
dead inside a building that houses
two tigers and a cougar.
The cats, which are on display at
a family park, owned by Larry Bott
at Lot 9, Cone. 8, were hand-raised
from kittens. The Edwards youth, a
nephew of Mr. Bott, has stayed
with his uncle the past two sum
mers and helped raise the cats.
Police say he frequently went into
their cage to feed and play with
them. It is unknown what triggered
the attack.
The incident is under investiga
tion.
People
report car
burglaries
A series of car ransackings has
prompted Wingham OPP to urge
people to remember to lock their
vehicles.
During the early morning hours
of July 21 several vehicles parked
behind main street businesses in
Brussels were entered and ran
sacked. The thieves took cassette
tapes, small change, a case of
WD40 and a flashlight. One of the
:ars was moved from one spot to
mother.
Also that evening an attempt was
nade to syphon gas from a car
>arked in a private drive. The gas
ap door was bent, the cap was
ound across the street on a neigh-
►ouring lawn. There was a scratch
•n the car's left rear quarter panel.
stain on the side of the car led
>olice to believe that someone had
ried to steal gas from the car.
On July 22, the car burglaries
noved to Blyth. Several vehicles in
he area were ransacked with cash,
apes, pop and a small bottle of
iquor taken.
A police spokesperson said peo-
ilc should lock their doors even
vhen the car is parked in their own
lrivcway. The thieves, she said, did
lot try loo hard; if it wasn't easy to
»ct into a car it seemed they just
noved on to one that was.
Const. Rick Schut is investigat
ing. There arc no suspects at this
time. Anyone with information that
may help is asked to notify the
Wingham OPP.
Food Fair,
The Taste of Country Food Fair
held in Blyth on July 23 was a great
success.
Committee member Keith Roul-
ston says approximately 1,000 peo
ple attended the day's events,
sampling some of the almost 30
exhibitors' wares on display.
The items ranged from fruits and
preserves to pheasant, venison,
wild boar, buffalo, elk and quail
CitizenTheNorthHuron
Vol. 10 No.30______Wednesday, July 27, 1994_______sq^gst included
Sharing some thoughts
Everett Scrimgeour, left, of Blyth, had some thoughts to share with provincial Liberal Leader
Lyn McLeod when she stopped in Blyth last week as part of her summer tour. Approxpimately
100 people turned up to enjoy a barbecue, hosted by the Huron Liberal Association, and meet
with Ms McLeod. Also pictured is John Jewitt, a trustee with the Huron County Board of
Education.
McLeod wants people working
By Bonnie Gropp
Getting people back to work and
back on track is the promise of the
Provincial Liberal Party and its
leader Lyn McLeod who brought
her message to Blyth, July 21.
Ms McLeod was guest of honour
at a barbecue hosted by the Huron
Provincial Liberal Association.
Approximately 100 people attended
to meet with and hear the Opposi
tion Leader talk on her concerns
and her parly's strategies for the
next election.
After an informal conversation
with those present, Ms McLeod
made a brief speech. Expressing
her belief that the Liberals, by hav
ing the right people in the ridings,
can and will win the election, Ms
McLeod said the number one prior-
a success
eggs.
The evening barbeque of beef,
turkey and pork was enjoyed by
180 apprcciators of good food.
The food fair was presented to
give the community an opportunity
to meet the people who grow the
food and to discover new taste sen
sations.
The proceeds went to the Blyth
Festival.
ity, once in power, will be getting
people back to work and the
province back on track.
Since the NDP government was
formed there have been $4 billion
in tax hikes imposed and an unem
ployment rate of 11 per cent.
"Everything that should be down is
up and everything that should be up
is down," she said.
Though during this summer lour
she has met a few people who feel
the province is coming out of the
recession, she finds the fact that
580,000 Ontarians are unable to
find jobs "unacceptable".
"Seventeen thousand new jobs
created in five months is not good
enough for Ontario," she said.
"There is no reason that the
province that used to lead this
country should be trailing. I won't
accept there's not hope for so many
unemployed people."
She added that she did not want
to give the message to university
students, the construction worker
who has been unemployed for three
months or the small business per
son who wasn't able to keep it
going, that there is no hope of get
ting a job. She cited an example of
a university graduate who was told
that they could be re-trained
through jobsOntario as a bartender.
"Thai's just not good enough," she
said. "Those arc the kinds of human
stories behind the numbers that
make jobs and economic develop
ment our number one priority," she
said.
The policies of the Liberals have
been based on the work of a job
task force. The first step to achiev
ing their goal, Ms McLeod says,
would be to implement a program
to boost the province's economic
growth rate beyond current fore
casts to six per cent over five years,
rather than the government predic
lions of nine per cent over the same
time period.
What is making it tough right
now for economic growth is taxes,
Ms McLeod says. "We are commit
ted to holding the line and a realis
tic reduction to send a message that
we are serious about taxes."
Government regulation is another
detriment to growth she said,
adding that much of the cost of
doing business with government
doesn't make sense. She said she
had talked with fruit and vegetable
farmers in Middlesex County who
said they wanted to stay competi
tive but government regulation for
bids them from using the same
chemicals that their American
counterparts use. Yet, we accept
the chemically treated U.S. prod
uct. "It just doesn't make sense.
People arc saying the government
Continued on page 6
Robbers
jailed
Two of the men charged with the
assault and robbery, which took
place Jan. 21 at the Bobkat Royal T
Gas and Variety in Wingham pled
guilty Monday in Goderich court.
The store's owner Bob Crumb
had been beaten with a baseball bat
by the robbers who had been wear
ing snowmobile suits and bala
clavas.
Michael Campbell and William
Sanderson were sentenced to a total
of two years less a day. Each
received one year less a day con
secutive for robbery, one year less
a day for wearing a disguise during
the robbery, one year less a day for
conspiracy to commit robbery and
one year consecutive for using a
firearm.
The pair will be in jail for a short
time then transferred to a provincial
reformatory.
They were also placed on two
years probation with conditions.
The third man charged, Michael
Beldman pled not guilty. He will
appear Nov. 14 for a preliminary
hearing.
Farmer loses
4% of crop
Don Dalton, a Walton area
farmer has learned the hard way
that a new product may have many
advantages, but there may be some
flaws not yet discovered.
High moisture levels followed by
intense heat created a problem with
the new herbicide Ultim, developed
by Dupont.
The herbicide was designed to be
applied before com has reached the
six-leaf stage to avoid the possibili
ty of it absorbing toxic levels of the
chemical.
The sudden heat spell in mid
June, which boosted com growth,
left farmers with only a few days to
apply the herbicide.
■ Mr. Dalton said approximately
four percent of the com on his 100
acres was damaged or killed.
Alan McCallum of the Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Rural Affairs, says, "The rapid
growth allowed the com to absorb
high levels of the chemical which
are now inhibiting amino acid pro
duction in the growth part of the
com."
Mr. McCallum says the unusual
weather conditions where not stud
ied during the development of
Ultim and OMAFRA and Dupont
are monitoring the situation.
"The extent of the damage
depends on the location of the field,
crop variety and the timing of the
last spray," he says. "Much of the
damage was done in the 2,600 to
2,700 heat unit varieties. Most of
the fields are recovering well."
Dupont representatives are in the
area, visiting farmers, to gather
information about the application
of the herbicide.
Dupont General Manager of the
Agricultural Product Division Dick
Reasons says, "Only three or four
per cent of the crop in Ontario was
affected and of that only 10 per
cent will be lost. The other 96 per
cent of the users are having great
results."
Mr. Reasons was unable, at this
time, to say what Dupont's position
on liability would be.