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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2004-04-22, Page 1The Citizen Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Volume 20 No. 16 Thursday, April 22, 2004 $1 (93c + 7c GST) NORTH HURON PUBLISHING COMPANY INC Inside this week P g. 2 Sweet business in Brussels Blyth Sting wins 3 Pg.Montreal tourney P P g . (:‘ Woman seeks -1-u people to chat 1 Q Girls team wins g. ICP provincial bronze pg io Blyth Festival -t i shares good news Support Tai Chi for Arthritis Day By Elyse DeBruyn Citizen staff Friends and family of arthritis suffers are being urged to show their support and participate in the annual Tai Chi for Arthritis Day on April 24. _ As part of the World Tai Chi Day, the Blyth Tai Chi Club is conducting a free Tai Chi for Arthritis lesson durtng WoridTai Chi Day. The hour- long lesson begins at 10 a.m. on the patio at Memorial Hall and the club is asking those interested to bring their own lawn chair that will be used during the exercise. Tai chi is a Chinese exercise that has many different styles and techniques including lying down, sitting or standing. Jan Vodden, leader of the Blyth Tai Chi Club, said she and the club members will be practising Yang style of Tai -Chi during the worldwide event, She said it is an ancient art meditation using martial arts techniques. "The tai chi exercises doesn't damage joints. It's a very gentle exercise that strengthens muscles and ligaments and supports joints," she said. Vodden said the three different techniques are Sun, Chen and Yang and each has many variations from basic to advanced. Tai chi is something that has to be worked at slowly. "It's not a cure, but it helps to cope with arthritis. It's very relaxing and excellent for the body, mind and soul," she said. World Tai Chi Day was founded by Bill Douglas and he supports the Tai Chi for Arthritis Day. It's a worldwide event involving nearly 1,000 events in 60 nations, that will begin the mass Tai Chi demonstrations in New Zealand and spread across the world, time zone by time zone, finishing in Hawaii. He said World Tai Chi Day's work has been recognized by the United Nations World Health Organization. Douglas said he is thrilled to have Continued on page 15 Huron East residents are ready to tackle the issues facing their municipality, according to a recent community survey. "People are really anxious to get on with building a better community. Amalgamation Is behind them, and they know what they want for the future," said Ralph Laviolette, business grOwth and economic development officer, in an interview after the release of the results of the 2004 Community Survey last week Key among the issues identified by respondents was business development. Thirty-four per cent said it was a top priority, noting that attracting industry and business to the community would create jobs for local people. They suggested tax incentives to startups, people shopping locally and more stores as ways to bring other business into Huron East. Governance and environments were also listed among the top priorities. "There are some big issues to deal with for the economic development committee and the council. And we should be publicly addressing them," said Laviolette. Nearly 200 people, or 8.3 per cent of Huron East's population, completed the 85-question survey, which covered topics such as economic development, education, tourism and youth. "The responses we got were highly representative of the makeup of our population," said Laviolette, adding it was also representative of the geographic distribution. He was interested to note the services people wanted to see in their community compared to existing services. For example, when asked what the top preferences in programming were, a number called for more community centres., "We have three community centres in Huron East." he said. "There is some effort to be done by service clubs, community groups and the municipality to make services known," he said. "We don't advertise them. People have asked for services that already exist. We don't make them well-known." Access to information was also an issue in health care. "It wasn't so much that people wanted more doctors, but they want information on what doctors are available and where," he said. Copies of the 2004 Community Survey are available at the Huron East Economic Development Office, 138 Main St. S., Seaforth, or by calling (519) 527-0305. Highlights of 2004 Community Survey • Key issues facing Huron East: business development (34 per cent), government (23 per cent), environments (22 per cent) • Top preferences in programming: community centre, -children's Continued on page 6 OPP nab ATV thieves Huron OPP proved that crime doesn't pay after they arrested the two men responsible for area ATV thefts. A 23-year-old male from Central Huron, was charged with possession of property obtained by crime over , $5,000, break, enter and theft and breach of probation. He is expected to attend court in Goderich on May The second is a 19-year-old male from Mitchell and has been charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 and break. enter and theft and will attend court in Goderich on June 16. Around noon on April 16, OPP were called out to the Blyth residence on Gypsy Lane over a break-in in progress of two red Honda ATVs, from the outside garage. The owner, who was at home at the time, told police that he saw two males leave his garage on the two ATVs. He rushed out to find that the men had brokeninto.his garage and stolen the machines. Several Officers using their own ATVs, closed off Many area roads looking for the two suspects Over the next few hours, several officers using cruisers and ATVs tried to catch the thieves who had fled the site onto an abandoned railway trail. The two suspected men managed to escape the group of officers between Blyth and Londesborough. The search for the stolen machines shifted to the Seaforth area. On April 16 around 5 p.m., two off-duty officers in. Seaforth spotted two males on ATVs that matched the description of the machines which were reported stolen from Blyth earlier that day. The men driving the machines also matched the description of the two men wanted for the thefts. Shortly after, the machines were spotted in the Heritage Estates Trailer Park, just east of Seaforth. Officers pursued one male who fled on foot after abandoning the stolen machine. A canine unit was called in to assist and at 6 p.m. one male was apprehended in a field off Tile Road. The second male was also taken into custody one hour later. Both stolen ATVs were recovered and returned to the owner. Huron OPP have been investigating several ATV thefts in the area including a recovered stolen, undamaged Arctic Cat ATV on April 15, however, in this case the culprits managed to get away. A police report stated that at about 4 p.m. an OPP cruiser heading northbound on London Rd near Sparling's Propane in Blyth, spotted two men on an ATV that was also heading north along the side of the road. Upon seeing the ATV, the officer attempted to stop the vehicle. Continued on page 6 Final touches Some of the Brussels Public School students like Julie Rushton took advantage of a glorious day outside on Thursday to put the final touches on their Tech 21 woodworking projects. Supply teacher Harry Brooks put together a special workshop for the Grade 7 and 8s. (Bonnie Gropp photo) And the Huron East survey says...