HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-12-01, Page 1The Citizen
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 21 No. 47 Thursday, Dec 1, 2005
Festive
RIDE
program
now
underway
The holiday season is almost upon
us, and the Ontario Provincial Police
wants to remind the motoring public
of the danger of mixing alcohol with
driving.
From Nov. 25 to Jan. 2 the OPP
will team up with police services
across the province for the annual
Festival RIDE (Reduce Impaired
Driving Everywhere) campaign.
Impaired driving remains the
leading criminal cause of death in
Canada. OPP officers will be out in
your neighbourhood in an effort to
remove the threat of the impaired
driver, and reduce the death toll on
Ontario roads.
Last year, during the five-week
OPP Festival RIDE initiative,
officers stopped 450,582 vehicles at
roadside checkpoints, 294 persons
were charged with criminal code
alcohol-related offences and a total
of 664 i2-hour licence suspensions
were issued. Officers also issued 315
of the 90-day administrative driver’s
licence suspensions.
For every 470 vehicles checked at
our RIDE locations, one driver was
either charged with an impaired
driving related charge or was issued
a 12-hour licence suspension.
Unfortunately during the Festive
RIDE campaign last year, officers
investigated 37 fatal collisions in
which 41 people lost their lives.
Three of these fatal collisions were
alcohol related.
“This needless and tragic loss of
life must stop,” said Const. Jeff
Walraven
“OPP officers will be doing their
part to remove impaired drivers from
our roadways. Please do yours by
not drinking and driving.”
The ‘clipper’ blows in
By Heather Crawford
Citizen staff
What Environment Canada called
an Alberta clipper hit North Huron
hard Thursday, Nov. 24 creating
whiteout conditions and causing
schools and roads to close in the
area.
Snow squall warnings continued
until late Friday afternoon.
“There’s an old saying,” said Boyd
Taylor, a volunteer weather observer
for the Government of Canada, “In
the summer you go to the lake and in
the winter the lake comes to
you.”
Temperatures dropped to what felt
Christmas Bureau open Dee. 5-9
The Huron County Christmas
Bureau will be held this year from
Dec. 5-9.
The Christmas Bureau has been
helping to ensure that there are food
and gifts for every family at
Christmas since 1967.
Local area churches, along with
the Children’s Aid Society will be
setting up drop-off venues
throughout the county where people
can drop off items they would like to
donate such as food and gifts of toys
like a chilling -21°C and winds
reached 80 kilometres per hour
according to the Weather Network.
The area reportedly received 9.1
milimetres of snow Thursday,
although Taylor said it’s difficult to
measure how much snow fell during
winds of that speed. “It was
howling,” he said.
The storm caused the cancellation
of many local events and happenings
and the closure of all area schools
Thursday and Friday.
Bluewater Highway (Hwy. 21)
from Blyth Road north of Goderich
to Amberley, Hwy. 4 between
Clinton and Exeter, as well as from
Wingham to Teeswater and Hwy. 8
or clothing.
Lynda McGregor will be
organizing the depot in Blyth at
Memorial Hall. Local residents are
encouraged to donate whatever they
can.
Everything is needed, McGregor
said.
The bureaus will be set up in
Clinton, Exeter, Goderich, Seaforth
and Wingham. Transportation of the
goods collected in Blyth to Clinton
will be arranged by the Bureau.
2 sides
Trevor Tyler, Jordan Button,
Brandon Pickell, Sabrina
Morrison, and Jessica Tyler
take advantage of all the snow
with a giant snowball fight on
Friday, Nov. 25 during a day
off from school. Snow piled up
quickly Thursday, Nov. 24
during snowsqualls, but most
of the havoc was caused by
winds that often reached 80
kilometres per hour causing
plenty of blowing and drifting
that reduced visibility to
absolutely nil. Queen Street in
Blyth was barely visible for
much of the day. (Heather Crawford
photo)
from Seaforth to Stratford were all
closed due to icy road conditions and
zero visibility.
Const. Jeff Walraven of the Huron
OPP said officers were busy
throughout the night of the storm.
“We were swamped with numerous
minor accidents,” he said. Walraven
said there were no major accidents
but OPP were kept busy with road
closures.
The OPP said they can’t stress
enough the importance of staying off
closed roads and highways, both for
the safety of the driver and also for
those emergency personal that have
to travel in dangerous conditions to
ensure safety.
“Memorial Hall is open to the
public from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. every
day,” McGregor said.
Funds donated to the bureau are
used to purchase food certificates
and clothing in sizes where
donations are lacking. All of these
items are purchased from local
businesses.
The bureau is managed entirely by
volunteers and is sponsored by the
Huron-Perth Children’s Aid
Society.
Stay clear
of bean
sprouts
warns
HCHU
At least four cases of salmonella
have been confirmed in Huron
County, the cause of which has been
linked to bean sprouts from
Toronto.
According to Pamela Scharfe,
public health manager of the Huron
County Health Unit, the Food
Inspection Agency gave out a list of
Toronto Sun Wah Trading Inc.’s
clients and it is apparent that they
did not directly supply to this area.
It is presumed, therefore, that those
suffering from salmonella in
Huron contracted it outside of the
county.
The Toronto producer and
distributor of mung bean sprouts
was ordered Nov. 25 to halt
production.
The Sun Wah bean sprouts are
distributed across the province to
restaurants and grocery stores and
may be sold under
the store name or the Sun Wah
name.
Grocery stores have been told to
pull bean sprouts from their stores.
“No one should be able to find raw
bean sprouts,” said Scharfe.
A total of 290 cases of salmonella
have been reported to the Ministry
of Health and Long-Term Care from
across the provinces, since the
beginning of November. Normally
20-25 cases are reported per month
at this time of year.
While the investigation continues
into the outbreak. Dr. Sheela Basrur,
Ontario’s chief medical officer of
health is advising people to avoid
eating bean sprouts.
Salmonella can be a mild illness
but for young children, elderly
people and those with weak immune
systems, it can be a very serious
disease.
If you have eaten bean sprouts
and are feeling ill, contact a
physician immediately.
Salmonella can spread from
person to person. Meticulous
hand washing is important to
further prevent the spread of the
illness.
This naturally-occurring bacteria
is found in the intestines of animals,
particularly poultry, cattle and
swine. It can contaminate raw fruits
and vegetables, including sprouts
that have been in contact with
unclean water, animal manure or an
infected food handler.
Symptoms of salmonella include
fever, headache, diarrhea, stomach
cramps, nausea and sometimes
vomiting.
They will occur 12-36 hours after
the consumption of contaminated
food or water.