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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2002-02-06, Page 1,. di= Es1AB1ISHED 1'877 Those were the days Grade 3 students at Blyth on Monday took a little look at the life and hardships of Canada's pioneering settlers through an Artitudes workshop. Kelly Macdonald, background, and Alix Sholdice tugged on the wagon which has been stuck for a second time in the mud. (Bonnie Gropp photo) County considers admin report NI-1 NORTH HURON PUBLISHING COMPANY INC. Inside this week P 6 g. division Blyth Novices win B Family marks 50 rg• years in Canada n 4 Long-time residents reflect on winter pg. 18 aStDteHniI rnaforennitgsht Pg in Local school teams ;1,-) win tournament e Citizen Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Volume 18 No. 5 Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2002 75 Cents (70c + 5c GST) Drug bust in Belgrave OPP executed a warrant in Belgrave as part of Operation Green Sweep, a national indoor marijuana eradication program. The attention of police was drawn to a residence in the hamlet because of an unusual amount of traffic. Officers stopped a white van in Clinton on Jan. 23. The vehicle had been seen leaving the residence at approximately 8:45 p.m. There were two men inside the van and several green plastic bags were found in the back. One of the bags was split open and a green leafy material, suspected to be marijuana was seen. A search turned up 266 plants and some growing equipment. Using a warrant the officers returned to the Belgrave home and seized another 170 plants from inside. In total the value was $436,000, plus $18,000 worth of growing equipment. Police also seized the van. Van Doai Dam, 46, of Toronto, has been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, production • of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, possession of property over $1,000 and breaching recognizance. Quang"-Ngoc Doan, 24, of Finland, is charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, production of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance. According to Sr. Const. Don Shropshall, last year 650 warrants were issued for grow operations. Investigations have shown that each of these grows produces somewhere in the area, of 160 plants per year with a street value of approximately $1.6 million. Police are asking the public for assistance in finding these operations. Shropshall said, to find a grow house look for windows covered with black plastic, heavy curtains or blinds that are pressed to Continued on page 7 Sears comes to Blyth By Bonnie Gropp Citizen editor For the second time in less than five years, Blyth Festival will be the site of -the annual Sears Drama Festival, Feb. 27- March 1, this time hosted by Listowel District, Central Huron and F.E. Madill Secondary Schools, as well as Goderich District Collegiate Institute and St. Anne's Separate School. The district event was last held at Blyth in 1998 when it was hosted by F.E. Madill Secondary School. In attendance will be drama students from schools in North Waterloo, Perth and Huron Counties. LDSS drama teacher Carol Oriold notes that there should be approximately 300 young people coming into the community over the four days. This also means that accommodations must be found for many of these students. Billeting is being looked after by Madill teacher Louanna Alexander. Anyone who would be willing to host one or more students during the Festival is invited to call her at the school at 357-1800. The Blyth event is only one of 23 district contests taking place across the province. Each has from six to 30 entries depending on population. Oriold says there are hopefully 12 taking part in this year's competition in Blyth, including the five sponsoring schools. Finalists are then invited to a regional showcase and should they win there, will move on to the Ontario showcase held this year in Sudbury May 7-11. Moving on to the regional level is a wonderful experience for the young people, says Oriold. "We are told we have the strongest region of the five in the province, and when they move on, not only do they see topnotch work, but they get to meet more people with a love of drama and participate in more workshops." Besides the performances in Blyth there will be 10 workshops from which students can choose. These have been facilitated with assistance from Eric Coates, associate artistic director at Blyth Festival. "We are really grateful for all the assistance we are getting in this area," says Oriold. Awards are presented at the district and regional levels for Outstanding Production, Individual Performances, Stage Management and Technical Achievement. Awards of Excellence and Merit are presented to promising and talented student performers, writers, directors and technicians. The Sears Festival encourages the writing and development of original scripts. In addition there are scholarships worth $200, $500, $,2,000 and $3,000. Performances are open to the public. Tickets are available at the schools or at the door. Cost is $10 per night, during which audiences Continued on page 3 By Keith Roulston Citizen publisher Huron County councillors will hold a special strategic planning day to consider a consultant's report that identifies concerns with communications between councillors, staff and Clerk-Administrator Lynn Murray. A copy of the report prepared by Hugh Thomas after lengthy interviews with staff and councillors, was obtained by The Citizen after it was presented to the Jan. 15 committee of the whole meeting. The study says that "it is clear from both council and staff that communication with staff is to be through the CAO (Murray). Members of council indicated that they are discouraged from talking to staff and staff members indicated that communication with members of council is generally not permitted." Elsewhere in the report Thomas says "the edict that members of council should speak to the CAO only, has developed a paranoia with the staff not to be seen talking to a member of council." But, says Thomas, "in a large organization with diverse services it is not realistic for the CAO to be the funnel or hour glass for all communication between the elected officials and the staff, although a number of those interviewed feel this is the way the organization functions today." Thomas also identified problems with the communication to staff of the overall direction of the county and suggests more meetings between the CAO and staff plus a monthly newsletter and an internal web page to improve communications. The report also identifies a major concern on the part of staff and unions with the lack of an experienced personnel manager for the county. "The staff expressed a lack of timeliness in dealing with job evaluation and managing replacement positions." At the council level, Thomas wondered - if the committee system should be redesigned so that all personnel issues were dealt with by the "committee of the whole" instead of by each individual committee. He suggested specific committees be set up to deal with libraries and culture, health and homes for the aged, and planning. He notes provincial legislation requires committees to deal with libraries, health and homes for the aged. Currently the library board meets as part, of the, social and cultural service committee, the board of health and planning are combined in the health and planning committee and seniors in the agriculture, public works and seniors committee. In answering some of their questionnaires, councillors expressed concern that they no longer get to know each other as well as they should. Some suggested councillors should have lunch together while others suggested more social events throughout the year to bring councillors together. Thomas also interviewed administrators of the local municipalities and found all were very happy with their contact with county planning staff and staff at lower levels of other county departments but they "indicated that they had difficulty in contacting the county CAO to discuss matters."