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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1998-07-15, Page 4Photo by Janice Becker Blowin' in the wind Looking Back Through the Years July 18, 1968 New benefits were announced for Ontario Hospital Insurance. Use of the operating room for minor surgeries and use of the hos- pital facilities to treat medical con- ditions were added to the list of things covered by the plan. Phone calls from Brussels to Wingham were charged, because they were not considered local calls. In a political opinion piece from the Gentlemen's Club, one para- graph said, "The NDP, which of course means No Depression Party, will be the official opposition party and will form the government in 1979. Until then, just try and get along." Two American girls were expect- ed to visit the area, on a caravan for the 4-H club. One was to stay with Miss Mary Veitch of RR2, Brussels, the other with Miss Rose- mary Blake also of RR2, Brussels. July 18, 1973 Blyth firemen were busy Friday, July 13th. Two fires broke out within six hours of each other. One occurred when a bearing on a transport truck overheated. The second one was caused by a light- ning bolt that hit a garage to the rear of a residence. In an editorial it was claimed that a study had been done to show that Canadian housewives each worked on average 99.6 hours per week, giving them what would be $20,000 per year at that time was this a paying job. Army worm numbers were on the rise and at the highest they had been since 1964. Farmers were warned to be on the lookout for heavy infestations, especially in the barley fields. The Opportunities for Youth pro- gram was underway in Blyth. One activity that had been done was teaching kids how to wrestle. and North Huron Citizen July 16, 1997 It was reported that social assis- tance cases in Huron County were at the lowest level that they had been in five years. There were reported to be only 448 cases in the county. Suggestions on how Brussels residents could decorate their house for the homecoming week- end were featured. Among the Ontario Scholars at CHSS were Rhonda Gibbons of Blyth, Karla Stacey of RR1, Lon- desboro, Terry Pardys of RR1, Auburn, and Kristy Caldwell of RR3, Blyth. Two Walton area graduates were also named Ontario Scholars. They were Tara McLellan of RR1, Wal- ton, and Jason Baan of RR3, Wal- ton. The Drum and Bugle corps from Yokohama, Japan were scheduled to play in Brussels, then sleep and eat at the Community Centre. From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post THE EDITOR, To all former Maryborough residents: One hundred and twenty-five years ago, the Village of Moorefield was officially incorporated as a Police Village. If it were not for amalgamation, the Township of Maryborough would have been 150 years old in 2002. A ''celebration" 98 committee was formed last year and a gala celebration is planned for Civic holiday weekend July 31, Aug. 1, 2, 3. Many exciting events have been planned including a huge parade, Continued on page 6 Letters PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 1998. C itizen ZPA P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM IHO 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 VEClisti[O LIPCULA,PON 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 The North Huron Enough already Like all "rights", the public's "right to know" can be abused, and when it comes to the family of Albert Walker, an admitted swindler, convicted murderer and all round slime-ball, the media has already spent too much time with innuendo and morbid curiosity. Barbara Walker, abandoned wife of the fugitive financier from Paris Ontario, called Monday for the media to leave her and her daughter Sheena alone to get on with their lives. Albert Walker, who fled Canada with millions of dollars of other people's money eight years ago and posed as husband to his daughter while hiding out in England, was found guilty last week of the murder of a man whose name he had used while in hiding. Now that the case is over, his former wife wants peace for herself, her daughter and the two children her daughter bore while in England. There is no public good to be gained from the hounding of a family trying to put its life back together after being abused by a truly evil man. The fact is Sheena has children to raise in as normal a fashion as possible and continued media speculation about their paternity isn't going to help her or them (or the public, beyond settling curiosity). The right to know on the part of the public, and the right of the media to tell us, is one of those rights that carries with it a heavy responsibility. We have the right to know things that can affect our lives. The famous case of "Jane Doe" where a Toronto woman was raped after police failed to inform women in a neighbourhood that a rapist was on the loose, showed where the right to know is important. The Walker family history is hardly of urgent importance for the public. A year after the public disgust over the hounding of Princess Diana, the media seems to have learned nothing at all. While major media figures tried to distance themselves from the tabloid rabble that pursued Diana's car on the night of her tragic accident, they have returned to the same kind of exploitive coverage in both the Walker case and in coverage of Diana's children. There's an added irony in the Walker case. Big city media often like to portray small towns as places where everybody has their noses in everybody else's business. Yet when the media descended on Paris, the community pulled together to protect the Walker family. People refused when asked to speculate on what had gone on. They closed ranks to not give the media any information about where the family might be hiding. If only the national media would act as respectfully as the people of Pans. — KR Time for a highway crackdown Anyone travelling the highways of southwestern Ontario these days knows that drivers are travelling faster and faster and taking more and more risks with their own lives and the lives of others. If people will not show responsibility on the road then it's time for the Ontario Provincial Police to devote enough police officers to restore some sanity. Despite the increased speed limits on former Hwy. 4 since Huron County's highways department took over the road, drivers are still exceeding the legal limit by 20, even 30 or 40 km. per hour. What's more, the impatience of many drivers has led to them passing slower drivers (often themselves exceeding the legal limit) on hills or curves, putting the lives of oncoming drivers in danger. It's no coincidence that this increased danger on the roads comes at the same time as the presence of OPP patrols has declined. Without fear of being ticketed for speeding, more and more drivers seem to turn off their common sense and feel that they're skilled enough to handle their car no matter what speed they're travelling. Impatient as they are, these drivers hate to slow down even when they're going through towns and villages, endangering the pedestrians and children who are trying to cross these major thoroughfares. So far there have been amazingly few repercussions from the increased frenzy on our highways but it's bound to be only a matter of time before there is a terrible price to pay for this risk-taking by drivers. We must find ways to get more police on the job to slow people down. Perhaps that can be one benefit to either a regional police department, as proposed in North Huron, or a county-wide contract for OPP service. It may be one way to get the additional money to provide the policing required. Lives will depend on getting drivers to respect the power of their vehicles and the lives of their fellow drivers. — KR E ditorial