HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-11-05, Page 1Sports ■______Farm______g| Education |g_____Review
Bulls have good
weekend with
win, 2 ties
See page 11
Guelph professor
talks about bio
tech’s benefits
See page 18
Teachers’ forums
in Wingham,
Clinton
See page 30
McDermott’s new
CD lovely to
listen to
See page 31
CitizenTheNorthHuron Belgrave-area man
dies in car accident
OPP are investigating a fatal
motor vehicle accident which
occurred in Ashfield Twp., Sunday
afternoon.
Officers were called to Cone. 2-3
at 3 p.m.. They say that the vehicle,
a 1987 four-door Mazda hatchback
was travelling west on the wet
asphalt road, when it negotiated a
curve, then left the roadway. The
car entered the north shoulder and
slid out of control, leaving the road
and striking the west side of a creek
in the ditch. It came to rest partially
submerged in approximately two
feet of water.
The Lucknow firefighters were
called in to assist in the extrication
of two males who were trapped
inside. Allan Nicholson, 35, RR2,
Lucknow and Keith Hardy, 57,
RR1, Belgrave were taken to hospi
tal. Hardy later died from his
injuries.
Police say the accident is
believed to have been caused by
speed and the consumption of alco
hol. Neither occupant was wearing
a seatbelt.
The OPP in Goderich are being
assisted in their investigation by the
TTCI and Reconstruction unit of
the OPP, along with the Mount
Forest identification unit.
The OPP are asking anyone with
information regarding this accident
to call them at 519-524-8314 or
Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS
(8477).
Law and order could change
in north Huron municipalities
Board bans R.L. Stine book
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
“It is a horrible book for children
to be reading.”
Those were the thoughts
expressed by Lynda Horbanuik,
Huron County Board of Education
trustee for Blyth and Hullett Twp.,
as she brought the issue of R.L.
Stine books to the Nov. 3 meeting
of the board.
After consideration by the educa
tion committee and talks with the
Blyth Public School advisory coun
cil, where the issue first arose, a
recommendation was brought to the
board to remove Hide and Shriek
from all elementary schools while
monitoring all other books in the
Fear Street series.
A small group of Blyth parents
had raised concerns about the
graphic violence in some of the
R.L. Stine books last June.
The HCBE education committee
took the conoem under advisement,
obtaining information from the
Librarians Association as well as
reading a number of the books
themselves.
Both Horbanuik and Abby Arm-
strong, trustee for Bayfield and
Stanley Twp. expressed disgust
over the extreme images in the
book.
“I was sick after reading it,” said
Armstrong.
The board passed the motion
with an invitation to other trustees
to read the books to determine their
appropriateness.
Thieves burn pickup
A 1990 Dodge pickup was
destroyed by fire in the early morn
ing hours of Oct. 26.
An OPP report states that the
truck, located on County Road 15,
just north of Highway 8, was
doused with gasoline between 4:30
and 5:45 a.m., Sunday morning.
The vehicle was completely
burnt.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
With the additional cost of polic
ing coming to Huron municipalities
serious consideration is being given
to a change in law and order.
At the Nov. 3 meeting of Brus
sels council, Wingham Police Chief
Jim Dore, answered questions
regarding three options being
looked at by the northern munici
palities, in conjunction with
restructuring talks.
While he admits that everything
is still very "much up in the air,"
Dore explained that the government
has set a deadline for January for
communities to contract for police
services, but has set no rules as yet.
"I would like to get across that
nothing has to be signed (with the
OPP) by the first of January. The
worst thing would be, if you don't
sign, that you will start getting a
bill for $171 per household per
year.
Dore said the OPP, have extend
ed a proposal that they would like
to see signed by municipalities as a
contract service for a period of
some years. "But I can't stress
enough that though they may tell
you you have to sign, you don't."
With the proposed cost, there
would be no change in the type of
police service seen by municipali
ties now.
The Wingham Police Services
has proposed three options, the
third of which would provide the
best coverage in terms of staff with
11 constables, two sergeants and
one chief. Cost for this would be
$217 per household.
To go through Wingham's
department, Dore said he doubted
that they would be on the road by
January. Another issue is the fact
that municipalities must be con
tiguous as the Wingham police
could only pass through ones in
their jurisdiction. "It wouldn't be
feasible otherwise."
Councillor Joe Seili wondered
what would happen if one commu
nity in the middle "decides to go
OPP"
Dore said that one wouldn't be a
problem as the officers could go
around it, but he recommended that
municipalities work together. "We
can do it with three municipalities
and go from there. There's nothing
to stop us from adding more and
bringing the cost down further."
Other concerns Dore said are
with regards to serious crimes that
require intensive investigation,
such as murders or hostage takings.
"People want to know who would
pay for the special units. Also we
can't bring in 60 officers to conduct
an investigation for a couple of
weeks," Dore said.
He said that in a telephone con
versation with the assistant minister
at the Solicitor General's office he
asked outright if municipalities
which opted out of OPP would
have to pay for that service. "His
response was if they had received
that service free before they still
will. That condition is for places
like Metro, which has its own spe
cial units, so they can't disband and
get OPP."
Services included would be the
TRU, team, identification and
canine units.
He noted that the assistant minis
ter agreed to respond in writing that
these services would continue to be
free. "Otherwise, we can’t pro
ceed."
Councillors asked if taxpayers
weren't paying for the OPP through
their municipal taxes anyway. Dore
explained that the money for OPP
paycheques comes from provincial
income tax. "So in a way you are
getting a free service, but you're
still going to be paying that, plus
the new fee on top of it."
Dore said that if Wingham does
n't do something with its municipal
force, he believes it will be gone in
five years.
Clerk-Treasurer Donna White
Continued on page 27