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The Citizen, 1995-08-16, Page 1Vol. 11 No 32 Wednesday, Aug. 16, 1995 610+ 4¢ GST 650 The North Huron itizen Devilish prank Ted Quinn, a lifelong member and former warden of Trinity Anglican Church, Blyth stands before some of the graffiti defacing the north and west wides of the church. The vandals handiwork was discovered by a neighbour on Thursday morning. The church is presently in the process of building a Sunday School and meeting room in the same corner where the blasphemy was written. News Australian pastor on exchange at Blyth United See page 3 Sports Tigers, Bulldogs sit with one game apiece in playoff action See page 8 News Lifelong Blyth resident takes over as Festival's acting general manager See page 19 Humidity, rainfall causes problems By Bonnie Gropp It's been a long, hot — and wet— summer. Boyd Taylor, a local weather observer with Environment Canada reports that the 125 ml (five inches) of rainfall recorded for the first two weeks of August, is "grossly over" the average. "We have been most fortunate in that (this area) has missed some of the severe storms, but we have cer- tainly seen some deluges this sum- mer. And it's not over yet," he says. Taylor says that the June rainfall was recorded at 180 ml, up from the 1994 total of 76 ml that same month. While July of 1994 was relatively dry with only 33 ml of rainfall recorded, this year Taylor reports a July rainfall of 106 -ml. Donna White, clerk-treasurer of Brussels says the heavy downpours have caused problems with several residences in the village. "There have been lots of reports of flooded basements, many of whom have never had it happen before," she says. "Unfortunately when it comes "Our gas lines are inherently safe. Union Gas employees do not feel they are in any danger with pipelines running through their front yards." "Our's are not TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. lines," says Con- struction Co-ordinator for Union Gas, Terry McNally, in response to an article in The Toronto Star on Aug. 7, which detailed problems regarding TransCanada's natural gas lines bursting. Union Gas lines which run through small villages, are plastic and are operated at only 60 lbs. of pressure compared to up to 1,000 lbs. of pressure on the 48 inch lines affected by the stress ruptures, says Elizabeth Havelock, public rela- tions officer for Union Gas. "There are high pressure pipes running through Southern Ontario, but most are newer with a new to weather, we take what we get and there's really nothing can be done to change that." Blyth Clerk John Stewart says he has not received any reports about flooding at his office. "No one has made me aware of any problems, but that's not to say there isn't any." For farmers the biggest stum- bling block of this growing season has been the humidity, Taylor says. "No one is complaining about the heat. The growth has been phenom- enal, the difficulty has been to just get things dried out." Noting the hail storms in the Lake Erie region recently, Taylor adds that local farmers are fortu- nate to have missed it. "Hail at this point would devastate many of the crops, even the apples." Unsettling as it may sometimes be, Mother Nature's capriciousness is something humans can do little about, of course. "We are in the Great Lakes basin and they do greatly influence the weather of this region. We just have to take what comes," says Taylor. coating. The lines are also checked constantly." The lines in North Huron are considered intermediate pipes and have considerably less pressure, she says. Union Gas has had lines for 80 years with very few incidents, says McNally. Aside from the different pressure levels in the pipes and different materials used in the construction (TransCanada's are steel), the Tran- sCanada lines also run through very different terrain. Many of the stress ruptures have occurred in Northern Ontario and Manitoba over the last 10 years. Researchers believe the fractures may be caused by a combination of high internal pressure and tempera- ture, pipe coating, acidic soil, elec- trical activity and pressure fluctuation. Union Gas says its pipelines safe Vandals deface church walls Hamlet gears up for national race Two incidents of vandalism were reported in Blyth this past week. On Thursday morning, a resident, who lived next to Trinity Anglican Church, noticed graffiti painted on the north and west side of the building. He contacted Ted Quinn, a former warden of the church, who called police. The damage, located about six feet up on the walls from the ground, espouses such messages as "Christians suck" and "I love Satan, Cod ignores me". There is also the Satanic symbol of three sixes and an upside down cross. While church members are not sure how they can remove the van- dals' handiwork, Quinn, a lifelong member of the church, whose ancestors helped to build it, is not intimidated by the deed. "I felt pret- ty bad at first, but then after think- ing about it I realized they're (the vandals) doing themselves more harm than good. Someday they're going to have to answer for this." Police were called to Blyth earli- er last week, this time to BJ's Café. Sgt. Greg King said that Cathy and Larry Nethery, co-owners of the business had been called at 3 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 7, and told that the patio furniture from the cafe had been moved. Sgt. King said that three tables, 16 chairs and three flower pots had been stacked across the road and were completely blocking Queen S t. Revved engines, clouds of dust or pools of mud and pumping adrenaline will be the name of the game this weekend in Walton when the fourth annual TransCan Nation- al Motocross Championships come to the Lee farm. The high-speed event, which takes place from Aug. 17 to 20, will feature the Pro National Cham- pionship series and Canadian Ama- teur National Championship with a purse of over $30,000. Along with observing local riders fighting for top spots on the track, the weekend features many other activities for both racers and spec- tators.