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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1998-05-20, Page 4eads and tails Photo by Janice Becker Looking Back Through the Years From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post and North Huron Citizen May 23, 1968 Stuart Nichol graduated fromU- niversity of Guelph, with an Ontario Degree of Horticulture. He graduated with distinction, hav- ing won the Canadian Nursery Trades Association Scholarship for attaining, the highest mark in any, section of the program. A notice appeared in the paper from the Transport Minister Irwin Hasket stating that all used cars sold in Ontario, more than 600,000 per year, would be subject to inspection for mechanical fitness under a measure introduced in the legislature, to ensure safety on highways. The New American Hotel boast- ed a great entertainment lineup with Merle Larson and Jim Adams at the top of the list as well as the Huron Plough Boys from Listowel. A delicious menu was listed with such foods as spare ribs and sauerkraut, roast turkey, giant ham- burgers, southern fried chicken, and the ever popular fish and chips. May 23, 1973 Blyth United Church hosted a guest speaker from Japan, a young man who came to speak about his life, his trip to Canada, and "shar- ing bread", not only, the bread of the stomach but the bread of life. A call which came shortly before noon to the Blyth firemen sent them to a house fire at the farm of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Barth. The fire did heavy damage to the roof and upstairs of the home. An executive knows something about everything. A technician knows everything about something. A switchboard operator knows everything. This anecdote was found on the front of the paper. The former Pearl Gidley house in -Blyth was noticeably up for sale as the house was listed with four dif- ferent real estate agencies; with so many signs around it, it was almost hard to see the house. This week at Snell's Food Mar- ket, a lb. tin of ground coffee was selling for 89 cents. May 21, 1997 The cuts were getting deeper and cultural organizations were begin- ning to bleed when Blyth Festival Theatre received notice the govern- ment had cut a further 16.5 per cent from the OAC budget. This was a large contradiction to what Helen Johns announced the previous week saying that funding for the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) would be maintained. Neither drizzle nor rain could keep avid golfers away from the course when spring arrived. Though the Victoria Day weekend was disappointing weather-wise, golf enthusiasts had waited too long so they braved the elements. Christine Knorr, 20, from Ethel was to spend eight weeks in Mon- golia taking the gospel to the "unreached" and teaching English to secondary school teachers, The Blyth Tykes baseball team kicked their first game of the sea- son into high gear with a 32-16 victory against Vanastra. Letters THE EDITOR, Can we make our garbage useful? By burning or burying our garbage in landfill sights all we are doing is creating pollution. During the decaying process of garbage methane gas is produced which adds greatly to the greenhouse effect that concerns many people. There is no way of monitoring what we are adding to the atmosphere! When we bury our garbage it allows the toxins to eventually contaminate our water. When our water becomes contaminated it is too late. There are alternatives! By using a waste-to-energy plant we can turn waste into steam, or electricity to heat, cool, light and power homes. Through the process . of combustion, household trash is used as a fuel to generate power. Waste-to-energy effectively reduces trash using safe, environmentally friendly and economical technologies. By using an incinerator we can effectively monitor exactly what we are adding to our air. Waste-to- energy destroys disease-causing bacteria, pathogens and other harmful elements commonly found in trash. Waste-to-energy plants can reduce trash in volume by about 90 per cent. Therefore, I as a citizen of a small community, feel that if we had a waste-to-energy plant it would be beneficial to our health, the environment and would make use of household garbage. Jody Button. THE EDITOR, This fall I attended an information seminar on child car seat safety presented by the Huron County Health Unit. Like most parents, I thought my car seats were installed correctly. I had read the manufacturer's instructions, had a professional install the tether strap, and made sure the kids were belted in for every trip. What I learned though, was that they were still in danger of becoming one of the 70 children killed each year in Canada in car accidents. I would like to reach out to other parents and share some of the information that I've learned about safe car travel. The biggest change I made was to finally replace my poor old dangerous car. While shopping for a new vehicle, I was discouraged by an apparent lack of interest from manufacturers to make cars "car seat friendly". Many of us assume Continued on rye 6 C • itizen '41I A The North Huron P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM 1HO NOG 1HO Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@huron.net Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil The Citizen is published weekly In Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable In advance at a rate of $27.00/year ($25.24 + $1.76 G.S.T.) In Canada; $62.00/year in U.S.A. and $75.00/year in other foreign countries. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited.. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. Blyth. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 VW PO' co CORM La. AIICINI E ditorial PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1998. Who do you listen to? When politicians say they know what people want, you have to wonder which people they have been talking to and just how representative these people are of the general public. At a recent session of Huron County Council, for instance, one councillor said "The purpose of amalgamation is to save money and there is no question that is what the constituents want." It's nice to know he is so sure. One of the mysteries of amalgamation discussions is that nobody seems to be asking the people what they want. The only "people" municipal officials are worried about pleasing right now are members of the provincial government. The politicians, and because of that, many local residents, seem resigned to amalgamation whether they think it's a good idea or not. Consultation talks only go as far as hearing from members of local municipal councils. There has been little attempt to get real feedback from the citizens. To be fair, the county politicians plan to put together an amalgamation plan then ask people what they think. By then, however, they've committed to amalgamation, even if people don't want it. They're only offering people different varieties of amalgamation. When politicians suppose they know what the people want they are taking a grave risk of guessing wrong. It might be nice to slow down and really listen to the people. That's what democracy is about. — KR Free enterprise not free The government that likes to think of itself as the most powerful government in the world is taking on the richest man in the world in a test of the new world order. Want to bet who will win? The U.S. government this week launched an anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. and its president, multi-billionaire Bill Gates. The government, along with the governments of 20 states, argues that Microsoft is using its power as provider of Microsoft Windows, the operating system that runs most of the computers in the world, to beat out competition in providing access to the World Wide Web, or the Internet. Microsoft is planning, with its Windows '98 edition, to provide its own web browser free of charge. This would undercut other companies like Netscape, which created the software that most people have been using until this time. If Microsoft's web-browser is already installed on their computers, most people won't bother to purchase another browser and use it. The frightening part of this for governments and observers of the developing intemet world, is that it gives one company a monopoly on the intemet and all the new services that will be provided over the years. At this point we can't even envision all the ramifications this might have. But Gates argues that the American government is interfering with the very free enterprise it purports to stand for. The lawsuits will only hinder the innovation that's possible in the new wired world of computers and the intemet, he says. There has always been a struggle between the public good and free enterprise. The natural end point of free enterprise is monopoly. Small companies grow to be bigger companies, buy out their competition and get stronger. They seek advantages by buying their suppliers at one end, and the distribution system at the other. They find innovative ways to promote their own growth at the expense of other companies. The very creativeness that is welcome in a small company, can smother all competition in a huge company. A century ago U.S. Republican President Teddy Roosevelt, realized the dangers of monopolies and brought in anti-trust legislation (we're still waiting for real anti-trust legislation in Canada). For the past century the legislation has created some sense that the American people at least, would be protected from the worst abuses of big business — though the U.S. government still used its power to help such companies in other countries around the world. Now the challenge, in a global society, is whether business has become bigger than even the biggest government in the world. In many ways, the Microsoft case will be an indicator of whether governments have become obsolete in the new age of global corporations. If Microsoft wins, there may be no way to control the business giants. They may be beyond the reach of governments. — KR