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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-07-04, Page 1y WEtC.6MT0 1.11tfti"Et, 54c iJSHEt) 187 f • aWallgaiDiBMEMI C [LIORTH HURON PUBw,H,NG COMPANY INC Pot patrol Police seized hundreds of pot plants from three locations in northern Huron County last week. OPP Sr. Const. Don Shropshall shows off marijuana seized in East Wawanosh. In the background is growing equipment. The pot seized had a 24 per cent THC level, the drug in marijuana that makes someone high. In the 1960s and 1970s marijuana only had three or four per cent THC levels. OPP seize over $1 million in drub bust e Citizen ,,,,,apLying the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huro Volume 17 No. 27 Wednesday, July 4, 2001 75 Cents (70c + 5c GST) Trustee support for budget displeases some Inside this week Blyth Pathfinders get top honours Belgrave WI marks 90th anniversary Local swimmers crossing Lake Huron Track athletes vie for provincial gold By Mark Nonkes Citizen staff Marijuana that would have been worth over a million dollars on the streets, was seized from three Huron locations on June 26. Three warrants were issued for places in Belgrave, East Wawanosh and Wroxeter. Upon seizure 1,127 marijuana plants were obtained in various stages of growth along with processed marijuana. In Belgrave 136 plants were seized, 325 from Wroxeter, and 666 plants from East Wawanosh. The officers also seized $100,000 worth of ;rowing equipment. By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Local proponents of a province- wide movement to defy Ontario's ruling Conservatives on the issue of education funding praised the Avon Maitland District School Board staff member who created exactly what they don't want to see — a balanced 2001-02 budget. They were much less pleased, however, with the trustees who gave that balanced budget majority support. With three of nine trustees absent from the June 26 meeting, a 5-1 vote sealed the passage of a budget of just under $130 million, down about $1.5 million from last year. Among the -cuts were over $209,000 from educational assistants, $327,000 The equipment and marijuana seized tilled several truckloads. In all three locations the basements were set up for a sophisticated growing systems, Sr. Const.. Don Shropshall said. The plants had plenty of nutrients, expensiye lighting systems, water and ventilation systems with reflective devices to help in the cultivation Of plants. The sites were equipped to produce mature marijuana every 10 toll weeks. The value of the marijuana plants is estimated at $605,000 with- the potential street value at harvest would have been $1,352,000. Over the past few months several from in-school partnerships with the Perth' District Health Unit and the Huron County Children's Aid Society, and $133,000 from special education supports. Planned computer purchases of $300,000 were also axed, as were figures of $8,000 and $32,000, respectively, from elementary-level regional sports and secondary competitions beyond the local level. At a previous board meeting, trustees had voted to ask Superintendent of Business Janet Baird-Jackson to provide two budgets: one balanced and the other a so-called "needs-based" document reinstating all programs and services deemed necessary to adequately serve students. Baird-Jackson delivered those budgets to a special hydroponic indoor marijuana growing operations have been busted. On June 25, one day before the Belgrave-East Wawanosh-Wroxeter bust a Holmesville residence was raided. "You are seeing a lot more hydroponic operations," said Shropshall. The police started investigating the -three locations after a Crimestoppers tip. Several undercover officers were involved. • Six people were arrested while officers were executing the warrants. Arrested from the Wroxeter site were Thi Pham 35, and Doc Nguyen, 41. At the East Wawanosh site another June 20 meeting of the board's audit committee, and portions of the "needs-based" version remained in her final report to the board on June 26. One page lists the cuts to be made in one column, with the next column indicating the "tuts that reflect -minimum need." These include half the total cuts from computer purchases and the health-related partnerships, the full level of educational assistant cuts, and a full freeze on the government's continued cutbacks to school allocation and school renewal grants. Baird-Jackson called on the government to consider several areas which she says resulted in unanticipated expenditures: less- four were arrested. Hoang Bui, 53. Chien Ngo, 33, Bich Vu, 41, and Bay Nguyen, 42. They have been charged with production of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. Police have not made any arrests for the Belgrave location yet. If residents see suspicious activity, such as a lot 01 trallic going in and out of a house for an unknov‘n reason Or unknown cars parked by the corn fields, bush lots, river, streams and marshy area they should contact police or Crimestoppers at 1-800- 222-8477(TIPS). than-adequate transportation funding from the government; a so- called "anomaly" between junior kindergarten funding and early learning expectations; a jump in teacher retirement gratuity pay-outs due to a governmental policy change; the halving of textbook funding for the lead class of the new four-year high school curriculum; and continuing adjustments to pay equity settlements brought on by the amalgamation of the former Perth and Huron County boards in 1997. "That amount of money certainly would go a long way towards reinstituting those things you see listed," the superintendent of business said. For her extra work, Baird-Jackson received praise from the very people who have called on the board to defy provincial legislation and submit a deficit. Trustee Rod Brown agreed with what appears to be an assertion from the business superintendent that some of this year's cuts will have detrimental effects. "Any expenditure reduction will, directly or indirectly, affect students," Brown said. He also read a prepared statement from fellow Stratford representative Meg Westley, who was attending her son's elementary school graduation. "We may be able to manage but I believe the quality of our education will be compromised," Westley's statement declared. Three trustees — South Huron's Randy Wagler, East and South Perth's Carol Bennewies, and North Huron's Colleen Schenk — agreed the cuts threatened educational quality.. But all three argued quality would be more severely compromised if the government follows through on threats to remove elected boards which pass deficits. It was these three who drew the particular ire of Bill Huzar, the District 8 president of the Ontario Secondary . School Teachers' Federation Union. Huzar, who attended the meeting. used as his starting point the unanimous passage during the same meeting of several policies relating to the province's Safe Schools Act. "What someone should say to those three trustees is that the school hoard has a policy on harassment which identities bullying as something that is wrong." Huzar said. "And (bullying) is exactly what the government is doing to school boards." Brown agreed the Avon Maitland board should have joined two other boards which, at that point. had approved unbalanced budgets. He suggested the risk to the trustees isn't nearly as great as the political risk the government would face it' it stepped in to take control, especially if several boards defy the balanced- budget law. "It's a politically-sensitive time right now," the Stratford trustee argued. • "The current political climate would dictate to (the Conservatives) that. they should. at least. tread very lightly. An I now is the time that we could have capitalised on that, and we missed that chance tonight." Pg. 3 Pg. 6 Pg. 9 Pg. 9 Pg. 11 Special section salutes grads