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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-05-03, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2000. Editorials & Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil The Citizen is published 50 times a year 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 $100/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 newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. Publications Mail Reg. No. 09244 Canadian Publication Mail Agreement No. 1374990 The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com j^ocna®" gr Member of the Ontario Press Council Look after your community The giant shrugged, and the little people across Canada are wondering what the future will be for their local newspapers. With the announcement last week that Conrad Black’s Hollinger International is planning to sell off i-ts newspapers in smaller cities and towns across North America, people within the publishing industry and in those communities are concerned about the future. The sale of the newspapers can be a good thing in the long run. There has been growing concern that Black, a man with an active agenda of promoting his own ideas, had accumulated too much power by owning daily newspapers with half the newspaper circulation in Canada. The problem is Black’s empire is so large it will be difficult to find anyone to buy it. Some communities now worry that they’ll be left without a local paper if their paper isn't attractive enough for one of the two remaining chains. The Torstar and Sun Newspapers, to be interested in. It’s a situation familiar to people in northern Huron. Nearly 20 years ago The Brussels Post and The Blyth Standard vanished as stand-alone newspapers when the sale of the small chain that owned them, left both papers unwanted by the larger purchaser. But in 1985 community members decided they needed their own paper and bought shares in a new publishing company to serve the two villages. The Citizen was born, and despite prophesies of extinction, the paper will mark its 15th anniversary this October. It’s doubtful if other communities, following the north Huron example, could pull off the same project today. The sense of community was so important back then, people were willing to buy shares in The Citizen without any guarantee they'd ever see a profit. A newspaper, they felt, was an important part of a community like a school, an arena or a hospital. But today people seem less attached to communities, less eager to rally to things that will build their communities. The Citizen is still incredibly popular with our readers (we have more circulation than the old Blyth and Brussels papers combined even though the population of the area has declined) but the subscriptions paid by readers make up less than a fifth of the cost of running the paper. The majority of income is from advertising and our readers, who are also shoppers, often seem to have little loyalty to their local businesses, choosing to spend their money in other communities. If there are no businesses left in the village to advertise a newspaper can’t survive. And the businesses, like the shoppers, often have an eye for faraway pastures, looking to spend their promotion dollars anywhere but with the publication in their own community. The sale of the Hollinger papers shows that large companies care about only one thing — their profit levels and share prices. That kind of bottom-line thinking may work in big companies but it doesn’t work in small communities. Instead there’s another model, the kind demonstrated over the years by people who raised money for arenas and hospitals, and who bought shares in a community-owned newspaper 15 years ago. We can’t afford to get sucked into the Conrad Black way of thinking or our villages will be nothing but bedroom communities without the thriving community life they now enjoy. — KR Interesting times ahead? If it weren’t so frightening, the prospect of Tom Long as prime minister might even be amusing. Long, the brains behind the Common Sense Revolution of the Mike Harris government in Ontario, announced last week he’s seeking the leadership of the Canadian Alliance with the ultimate goal of uniting the right wing in Canada to drive the Liberals from office. If he were to become prime minister, Long would then be on the opposite side of the federal/provincial battleground from Mike Harris, for whom he was friend and adviser. Under Long’s advice, Ottawa has become a favourite target of Harris whenever he needs a bad guy. As well, in a recent television interview, Long said Ontario programs like workfare and education reform should be spread across the nation by the federal government. Yet welfare and education are provincial programs, jealously guarded by the provinces. It might be interesting to see Long butt heads with the premiers, including Harris. — KR Photo by Janice BeckerSpring rushes in Looking Back Through the Years Letters to the Editor The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Letters that are not signed will not be printed. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise. May 10, 1974 The Huron County Board of Education held an open house at its new Clinton headquarters to let county residents see the results of a renovation project completed the previous year. Dr. Frank Mills, Huron’s medical officer of health took time out at Huron County council to outline the new regulations with regard to septic tank installation here. Levies for the elementary and secondary panels to be paid to the Huron County Board of Education for 1974 by the 26 municipalities in Huron County were released. It showed an increase for all municipalities. The budget of $13,185,831, passed at a special meeting indicated an increase of 9.24 per cent over 1973, and would mean an overall increase of 2.2 mills in the tax rate for Huron ratepayers. In a brief session of Huron County Council, approval was given by the executive committee for three members of Huron County Council to be members on the Historical Building Committee. This committee, comprised mainly of persons interested in the preservation of the former Huron County Jail and finding some use for it, had its first meeting. Ontario Hydro appealed to developers and industrial customers to provide the utility with earlier notification of planned new developments requiring transformers and other electrical equipment. Clinton Area Manager Walter Palmer explained that a world shortage of critical materials, particularly steel, was causing severe delays in deliveries of electrical equipment. May 2, 1990 After debating for over one hour at the Huron County Board of Education trustees rejected the proposed budget that could see an increase in expenditures, of 22 per cent over 1989, from a total of $51,609,770 for elementary and secondary schools to the proposed total for 1990 of $57,315,977. Blyth village council formally approved a bylaw to loan money to the Blyth Industrial Slow-pitch tournament committee to complete rebuilding of the George Radford Memorial Ball Diamond. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts starred in Pretty Woman, which was playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich. May 3, 1995 The Ark hosted a tantalizing mystery tour in Brussels as local youths followed clues to some chocolate treasure. Five residents hosted the group treating them to a special chocolate lovers delight at each stop. A letter from a municipality that paid a share towards the arena had Blyth councillors hoping for some volunteer support. Blyth council was told that Hullett would withdraw its support as of Dec. 31 if Blyth did not “fulfill their commitment as to their representation to the board as required under the terms of the signed Agreement” by June 1. Owners of two lots on Brussels Mill Street West (beside the Masonic roadside chapel) had offered the property to village council for free, but after considerable discussion, councillors decided they didn’t want it unless the owners paid the legal fees to transfer the property. The problem came from the fact the land is useless because of its lack of depth and various setback regulations. Huron County council’s administration, finance and personnel committee would seek a solution for a unique problem caused by the fact Ashfield Twp. Reeve Alan Gibson could not take part in debates involving the proposed landfill site in the township. Because Reeve Gibson owned one of the properties involved in the only remaining candidate site for a Huron County landfill site, he had to absent himself from the council chamber for any discussion involving the site. This left Ashfield, the only township directly affected by the search for a site, without any representation It was once again time for the Spring Fish out at Cook’s Pond. The third annual even, which drew dozens of participants each year donated 10 per cent of all proceeds to Big Brothers.