HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-04-16, Page 1Sports || Feature |Entertainment
4 pages salute local
Minor Hockey teams
for 1996-97 season
Member of‘Space Jam’
animation crew visit
Madill art students
Needles’ fourth offering in
the Wingfield series still
fresh and funny
See page 13 See page 23 See page 27
Schenk
wins
PC nod
By John Greig
Advance-Times Staff
Colleen Schenk of Wingham
won the Progressive Conservative
party candidacy for the Huron-
Bruce riding on the weekend.
Schenk, 45, defeated Shirley
Hazlitt of Benmiller.
About 400 people attended the
nomination meeting held in
Wingham.
Schenk made reference in her
speech to the Little Engine That
Could, the children's story about
the train which wouldn't give up.
She says the Conservatives need to
be the same.
Capturing the nomination is the
first step up the hill for Schenk. A
federal election, likely to be called
for June 2, will be the next.
"It’s time to recapture the little
engine's spirit," she told the
audience.
"In 1993 the people of Canada
told us we weren't listening."
Schenk said one of her
commitments would be to
communicate with people in the
riding.
The Tories held a series of town
hall meetings across the riding in
the last couple of weeks.
Schenk said "You told me you
and youf children need jobs and
you need them now. You're
concerned the health care system is
going down the drain. You want to
retain the Canada Pension Plan.
You said our military needs
boosting, not tom apart. You want
equality for all Canadians."
Schenk also said she recognizes
the importance of agriculture as
Canada's second largest industry.
Schenk said Conservative leader
Jean Charest is the only viable
alternative to Jean Chretien's
Liberals.
Schenk is a Huron County board
of education trustee and runs a
Mary Kay cosmetics business.
She is a graduate of the
landscape architecture program at
Ryerson Polytechnic University
and has lived at both ends of
Canada. She's lived in Wingham
for 20 years and has a very political
family. Her husband, John, a
Wingham lawyer, ran for the
Conservative nomination in the last
provincial elections, losing to
Huron MPP Helen Johns.
Schenk has been active in he
community in her church, as a
board member for Mothers Against
Drunk Driving, and for the local
figure skating club, as well as
serving as the chairman of the
Wingham planning board.
Incumbent Liberal MP Paul
Steckle will be running again for
the Liberals, while the Reform
party and the New Democratic
party have nomination meetings
scheduled but have yet to pick
candidates.
The North Huron
itizen
Vol. 13 No. 15_______Wednesday, April 16,1997 7oos«gst750
Tuning up for soccer season
With youth from across the region signed up and waiting for soccer season to begin, it was
time for coaches and parents to receive instruction. The Brussels Minor Soccer committee
hosted an information night, April 12, to give out coaching tips to those who will be guiding
the young athletes from the sidelines as well as first aid tips for parents and coaches alike.
Betty Graber, right, instructs Pam McLellan on the fine art of wrist wrapping.
Library prepares to go on-line
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
With a lot of help from the com
munity, internet may soon be com
ing to the Brussels Library.
In conjunction with a federal
community access project and a
provincial grant for student
employment, Brussels Library
hopes to raise approximately
$3,000 over the next two to three
months for the purchase of comput
er equipment, said Librarian Susan
Nichol.
The federal government will
match the funds raised by the com
munity, which will pay for equip
ment, two years of internet access
and the extra phone line needed,
she said. "The community access
grant runs out at the end of 1998.
After that, we don’t know about the
funding."
The provincial government will
contribute to the project with a stu
dent employee who will train resi
dents on internet use, help clients
set up a home page and encourage
businesspeople to make full use of
internet possibilities.
Beginning July 1, residents may
book time with the student. Every
one logging-on to the internet will
be asked to sign a code of conduct
contract which asks participants to
refrain from using the internet for
unethical purposes or searching for
morally questionable material. Par
ents will be asked to sign the con
tract for their children. All schools
with internet access also require
students to sign an "acceptable use
Ethel fire guts SS No. 11
An early morning fire in Ethel,
resulted in the total loss of SS No.
11 schoolhouse.
The Grey Twp. Fire Department
was called to the home of Arthur
Grist, 87 Main St., at 1:47 a.m.,
April 9, said Grey Twp. Fire Chief
Gary Earl.
When the firefighters arrived,
smoke was coming out of the eaves
and was in the walls, he said.
The Grey Twp. department had
assistance from the Elma fire
agreement."
The fundraising for the new com
puter has already begun with the
sale of chocolate-covered almonds
at the library and municipal office.
Raffle tickets, $2 each or three
for $5, are being sold on items such
as a teddy bear contributed by San
dra Clark, candlesticks- from
Nichol, ear candling and reflexolo-
Continued on page 26
Department tanker and remained on
the scene until approximately 8
a.m., returning several time
throughout the day to put out hot
spots.
The building is considered a total
loss, said Earl, with in excess of
$175,000 in damage.
Earl said the owner believes the
fire was caused by plumbing
repairs (soldering) which had been
done the previous day.
There were no personal injuries.
Ed. taxes
to rise
3.05%
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
The numbers are in and it will
cost Huron County taxpayers an
extra tank of gas to fund the
increase in education taxes for
1997.
With the deadline approaching
for submission to the Ministry of
Education, the Huron County
Board of Education (HCBE) passed
the 1997 budget Monday evening,
showing a 3.05 per cent increase in
the mill rate for municipalities.
On a $100,000 assessment, the
increase will mean an additional
$25.98 for education.
The administration has continued
to work to bring down the expendi
tures for the coming year, dropping
the estimated total by $913,429, to
$59,889,786. The new level of
spending is a 1.5 per cent decrease
over the estimates for 1996.
Though the board cut just over
$900,000, there were several fac
tors from the provincial govern
ment, both on the expenditure and
revenue side, to be considered.
The share of the budget coming
from the province has continued to
decline, dropping 4.8 per cent this
year.
This decrease is a result of the
impact of the general legislative
grants which are used to calculate
funding, “an antiquated system,”
said Superintendent of Business
Janet Baird-Jackson.
One of the largest impacts comes
from the per pupil grant allotted to
the board. Though the dollar value
is up $37 from 1996, they are still
below the 1995 level. The HCBE
received $4,627 for elementary stu
dents in 1995 and will get $4,184
this year. In the secondary school
panel, the grant is $5,116 for 1997
though it sat at $6,176 two years
ago.
In this grant category, junior
kindergarten students have been
removed from this calculation,
resulting in a $950,000 loss.
Total grant reductions in this area
is $635,000.
The HCBE did fair better in the
grants which are board or program
specific. They picked up $360,000
due to shrinking enrolment and
$250,000 for offering the junior
kindergarten program.
“The board would have been in
much worse shape if it were not for
the junior kindergarten students,”
said Glenn Lamb, of the finance
department. “Enrolment in the ele
mentary schools has dropped 281
pupils and would be down 505
without junior kindergarten.”
Another cost increase coming
from the province is the setting of
the standard mill rate. This is the
number which determines the por
tion of the total budget the province
will pay. Their contribution is
down 4.8 per cent to $25,960,324.
Since 1992, the province’s funding
has dropped from 55.7 per cent to
Continued on page 28