HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2004-04-29, Page 1Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Thursday, April 29, 2004 $1 (93c + 7c GST)
e Citizen
Volume 20 No. 17
Inside this week
Pe • 8 Motocross back at
u.Auburn Hills
pg
10 Lakers bring home
•gold from Europe
2 Sarnia writer
A 8' " settles in Blyth
Local
Pg. 11 ambassadors take
top spots
Pg23 Blyth woman
' returns as Greta
Once again young student film
makers from across southwestern
Ontario were able to express their
creative talent through submitted
entries to. the third annual Imago
Student Film Festival.
This unique student film festival is .
organized entirely by students
enrolled in the digital media studies
course at Central Huron Secondary
School in Clinton under the
supervision of Stephen Oliver.
Imago ran for two days, starting
last Friday then was highlighted by a
public presentation of their. film the
following night. The entries
submitted by students across
southwestern Ontario acre also
shown.
Oliver, the teacher of the digital
media studies program: and teacher
organizer, said this year CHSS put
together a four-and-a-half minute
music video entitled Ceilings by the
local band itvhgrove..
Almost 70 students from
Kincardine, Owen Sound,
Kitchener/Waterloo, Petrol ia,
Clinton and Goderich gathered at
M.P. Russo building in Clinton, to
watch, learn and experience the art of
filmmaking. '2--
Many professionals came from
Montreal, Toronto and London to
share their knowledge with students
including Brent Radford, formerly of
Londesborough. who directed the
video.
Trent Richmond, formerly of the
Blyth-area. shared his knowledge of
audio techniques.
Mike Henry, a CHSS alumni, came
from his job at Much Music in
Toronto to explain video editing and
Nick Scott, a cameraman for the New
PL in' London. worked with students
Continued on page 22
By Ahdrea Hruska
Special to The Citizen
It's Aug. 20, You wake up, perhaps
brew some coffee and flip on the
radio.
At 6 a.m., EnN)ironment Canada
reports temperatures will reach
unbearably hot, complete with
choking humidity and severe
thunderstorms. Seven minutes later,
the radio blurts out that Environment
Canada has now issued a tornado
watch for the area.
You move about your morning;
unaware that by 7:59 a.m. tornadoes
have torn apart the Waste Water
Management plant in Harpurhay
and destroyed major water and
hydro supplies before mercilessly
ravaging a subdivision in Seaforth.
Several homes have been wiped out,
injuring an unknown number of
residents, littering the area with
debris and knocking out power.
Members of Huron East's
Municipal Control Group (MCG)
are alerted of the crisis and quickly
come together.
Although this situation _ is
fictitious, the realistic threat of such
an environmental disaster within
Huron East prompted Marty
Bedard, community emergency
management co-ordinator, to
develop his first training session for
the MCG using this scenario. The
training, held last Friday at the
municipal office in Seaforth, put
the MCG members (a task force
including mayor Joe Seili, OPP, fire.
ambulance, hydro, public works and
municipal employees) through the
motions necessary to manage the
crisis, a time referred to by Gary
Wood, Huron County CEMC as The
Golden Hour — when all hell's
breaking loose."
The simulation, contained entirely
within the building, consisted of
groups in three locations. In one
area, scripted messages from
emergency crews were sent by radio
to another location, at, which point
the - information was confirmed,
recorded and delivered to the
appropriate member at the MCG
location.
Municipal office staff was the
group responsible for confirming
and delivering the urgent
information.
During debriefing, administrative
assistant Janice Andrews explained
that she "couldn't imagine that
really happeriing" and reflected on
one's ability "to just find strength
when you need it".
OPP Sgt. A. Farrow, participating
as an observer, felt the exercise was
-very useful. "I often think of things
from an OPP perspective but it was
good to hear from all of the other
groups."
In her experience, Sgt. Farrow
said that "when stress is thrown into
a situation, you rely on what you
know. I was blown away by how
well these (MCG) people knew their
community."
Bedard and the Huron East MCG
were observed and evaluated
throughout the two-hour exercise by
Goderich CEMC Lynda Rotteau and
Gary Wood. Rotteau, who held the
Goderich training a week earlier, felt
the group did a great job.
She did remind participants. that a
"real life" situation like this would
last "two to three days rather than
two to three hours."
Bedard is planning more
simulations in the future, which will
include all three municipal fire
departments responding to a mock
disaster.
Residents
to look
at water
options
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
A meeting will be held tonight
(Thursday) in Belgrave to discuss
four options for water service in the
hamlet. •
Representatives from Burnside
.will be at an .open house beginning
at 5 p.m. to show residents the
proposals. Then at 7 p.m. there will
be a formal presentation.
At the April 19 meeting of North
Huron council treasurer Donna
White said that the recommendation
from Burnside is for the option that
would see the well which services
the Humphrey subdivision
abandoned. The water then would
be pumped 'out of the Jane and
McCrae system on the Morris side
to a new pumphouse on the East
Wawanosh side. From there, it
would- be sent out through a
distribution system.
While White noted that the
Ministry would only fund the
cheapest option, it was felt that there
would be long-term operational and
maintenance costs that would not be
considered.
White suggested that council
members look over the proposals
and attend the meeting armed- with •
any questions they might have.
A Kitchener man is facing
numerous charges after being
arrested by police early Monday
morning.
While conducting a patrol in
Brussels at 3 a.m.. April 26, an
officer noticed a vehicle in the car
wash on King Street. The pickup fled
at a high rate of speed.
After going through some
intersections without stopping, the
driver was finally apprehended
several kilometres away. The officer
noted an odour of alcohol and had
the driver take a roadside test .for
impaired which he failed.
Inside the truck, police found coin
boxes that had been stolen from the
car wash. It was also determined that
the truck was stolen.
While breathalizer readings at the
detachment determined that the
driver was under the legal limit for
impaired, the 36-year-old was
charged with break, enter and theft,
possession of stolen property, theft
under $5,000, driving while
disqualified, flight from police and
breaching probation.
He was held in custody until a bail
hearing at 2 p.m. Monday.
Spring cleaning
Taking advantage of a rare day of warmth and sunshine, students at Hullett Central Public
School commemorated Earth Day by doing a big spring clean-up around the schoolyard.
Tidying up the courtyard, were, from left: Nick Salverda, Katie McClinchey, Dan Raidt and
Caitlin Armstrong. (Bonnie Gropp photo)
Huron East Municipal Control Group
learns in emer enev training session
Imago
teaches
film
-making
By Elyse DeBruyn, •
Citizen staff
Suspect
flees
from OPP