Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1994-10-12, Page 1Lxposit on • THE HURON EXPOSITOR, October 12, 1994 • r70 cents plus(575ceoentsntsG).S.T. HOCKEY It was a roller- coaster week for the Cents. see page seven. Briefly _y Little response to call for program to prevent sex abuse Is Seaforth a 'Caring Community?' A local resident wants to start a child sexual abuse prevention program in the area. 'Caring Communities,' is funded by the Family Violence Prevention Division of Health Canada to encourage prevention initiatives across Canada, says a poster that has been circulated through Seaforth and area businesses. Sandy MacLean, first became involved in the 'Caring Communities' program after she picked up a pamphlet the Huron County Health Unit dropped off at the daycare centre. She says that so far she has had very little response on organizing the program in the community. "I was hoping to get a lot of people involved, I'm looking for a cross section of the community." MacLean said the reason she is looking for people to support the program is, she doesn't have time to do it as one individual. MacLean said, she understands organizations like the Children's Aid Society don't start a program like this unless the community asks for it. "There is a need for this type of program in every community. The program shines the light on the problem." Maclean hopes to have the program installed in local schools by January 1995. For more information on the 'Caring Communities' program call Sandy at 527-2234. Media celebrity speaks in Seaforth The former host of TV's W-5 will be speaking at the anniver- sary service of Northside United Church in Seaforth. Jim Reed will be speaking at the service on Oct. 16 at 11:00. He will speak on 'Fear into Hope' and talk about how there is hope despite the crises throughout the world. Jim Reed is a well-known former TV journalist who now resides near Dungannon. Municipalities hire building inspector Allan Nigh is the new building inspector for the Town of Seaforth, Villages of Bayfield and Hensall and townships of Usborne, Stanley and Tuckersmith. The participating municipalities hired a new building inspector to replace Herman VanWieren. The resignation of the outgoing inspector was accepted with regret by Tuckersmith Township CounciL INDEX Entertainment... page 17. Sports...page 7. Letters...page 4. Rec preview...14. "Your community newspaper since 1860..serving Seafortli, , kItn l r Brussels and surrounding communities." A MILTON J. DIETZ LIMITED SEAFORTH 522-0608 • Pesticides & Custom Spraying • Spraying Equipment & Parts • Nutrite Premium Fertilizer • Ventilatian-& Livestock Equipment l�l tialPURINA FEEDS & PET FOODS FALL FAIR Cattle shows, Midway, bobbing for apples... it was fun;:. at the fair. see pages , 2,7,14 Your Full Una Dealer FORD MERCURY Sales - Service - Selection 'The Friendly Dater with The Mg Ns PROFILE Who came from England, was a wireless instructor during the war and became Seaforth Clerk? for answer, see page five. FIT FOR A PARADE '- Six-year-old Matthew DeJong and five- year-old Jessica DeJong, both of Seaforth, were perfectly dressed Turf cvHNmdo Prromo up for the 'family' theme of the Seaforth Fall Fair Parade on Friday. Military Satellites help agriculture BY MARK CRIPPS High above the earth, 24 global positioning satellites (GPS) help the United States spy on the world, as well as guide their arsenal of cruise missiles. During the war in Iraq, also known as Desert Storm, the U.S. military used these satellites to put a quick end to the threat to global peace. But in Huron County, the same satellites arc being used for an entirely different purpose - the production of food. For the past year, Bruce Shillinglaw, who owns a cash crop operation just east of Londesboro, has been using a sophisticated system on his combine that records yields and moisture levels on -the - go, by location, every second. This feat uses signals from the U.S. military satellites, static random access memory, or S -RAM chips, and a GPS positioning device. Shillinglaw then uses the data to calculate seeding and fertilizing rates for his next crop, utilizing a highly detailed map that indicates potential maximum yield. The system is called "The Yield Monitor 2000", and costs around $10,000. According to Shillinglaw, who was the first farmer in Canada to use the system, the device could become the future of farming. "it has so many benefits," he said. "The most important of which is that it is environmentally friendly." Shillinglaw pointed to an example where he experimented with alternate rows of corn and nitrogen fertilizer. "On the map that is produced, I can see exactly where the nitrogen benefits, and where it doesn't vary the yield to any significant degree. "It also helps define areas of low yield, and help determine- whether to reduce the amount of plants or to not plant at all. "An in all, it helps reduce the amount of fertilizer used which improves the ground water quality.' One of the main benefits o Shillinglaw's system is the map. Detailed in colour, indicating levels of yield per acre, the map serves as a precise record of the land and its growing qualities. If an area on the map shows poor yield, manual core samples are taken and recorded into the computer so that even soil types can be recorded onto separate maps. in fact, the system offers a multitude of micro -geographic features such as weeds, rocks, broken tile lines, water course dram patterns. All are then taken into consideration for future planning. The aim of the system is cost efficiency, optimum yield and environment friendliness that will save $12 to $13 per acre annually in feed and fertilizer over the lifetime of the system's use. Currently, Shillinglaw is conducting a variety of experiments in conjunction with the University of Guelph. The goal of this research is to devise a network of information that can be used by all farmers in understanding a highly technological system. "This is technology that not everyone will be quite ready to use yet," said Shillinglaw. "We're hoping to come up with some practical way of interpreting,, the results and applying the technology." Currently, Shillinglaw said there are roughly 20 people using the system in Ontario, but he expects that number to grow in the future. "Last year I was the only one," he said. "This year, there's 20. Next year, probably 150. "Would guess that in the next five to eight years, 15 per cent of farmers in Ontario will be using it. John Deere is already offering it as a factory installed item." _ In fact Shillinglaw said this type of technology could some day become a required part of farming. f Huron strips planning rights from two towns By DAVID GREENBERG Signal -Star Editor County council has pulled the plug on Clinton and Exctcr when it comes to granting approval for seve- rances and some other planning issues. Exeter and Cli- nton. mea- nwhile. are refusing to pay the co- unty out- standing fees amou- nting to more than $3.400.00. The decision means Exeter and Clinton residents must apply directly to Goderich.planners for approval to sever a lot into two, Goderich Deputy Reeve Bill Clifford for example, or infill small subdivisions. "It's really a question of who people feel should be doing the various services," says senior county planner Scott Tousaw. Originally, the decision to permit local municipalities to approve - consent to, in the planners' language - severance requests, divided all the costs according to work performed. For example, the county might bill the municipality for something or vice versa. "It was intended to be a cooperative system," Tousaw said. Seven of the county munic- ipalities have the consent authority - Exeter and Clinton have decided the county is charging too much, so they refused to pay the 1993 invoices. Last week county council turned off the consent power. Huron board chair won't run in election CLINTON - With a month left until municipal elections, trustees for the Huron County Board of Education announced their elec- tion intentions at the Oct. 3 board meeting. Roxanne Brown, trustee for the town of Clinton, will be seeking re-election. She has been a trustee since 1988. She is the vice -chair of the board. Bob Burton, trustee for the village of Bayfield and Stanley Township, will also be _running_ _' .is tis _thir•_ year es a trustee. Allan arter as decided to run again. He is the trustee for Tuckersmith Township and the village of Hensall. He has been a trustee since 1989. Joan Van Den Brocck will also he seeking re-election. She has served on the board since 1981 and is the trustee for Colborne and Goderich Townships. John Jewitt has decided not to run again. He has been with the board since 1981 and is presently the trustee for Hullett Township and the Village of Blyth. Oraemc Craig will not be seeking re-elec- tion. He has served with the board since 1982. He is the trustee for Seaforth-and McKii- lop Township. He is also the chair of the board. Central Huron municipalities meet over transit service BY DUANE JESSUP A meeting held at Seaforth Town Hall last Thursday, was to clear up any doubts that local townships and towns may have over the establishment of a CHuMS (Central Huron Mobility Service) program. And now it's the responsibility of those in auendance at the meeting to advise their council of the proposed plan. - Seaforth and Clinton town council members were present along with representatives of Tuckersmith, Hulleu and McKillop Townships. Prior to the meeting Thursday, the CHuMS organization learned that they were incorporated as a non- profit corporation. CHuMS is hoping to ,c approximately $90,000, .half of. which CHuMS will receive from MTO to purchase a demo low -floor bus. This is the type of vehicle is recommended by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) and is preferred by seniors, says a CHuMS brochure. As of Thursday night CHUMS had raised over $30,000, only $19,500 left to raise to reach their goal. Ron Latham, Chairman of CHuMS, said to the joint council . meeting, "We've carried the litiltr---- - enough, now it is your turn to take it across the goal line. "There are many more seniors that need help that are too proud to come forward." To raise the money for the bus CHuMS is contacting every organization in central Huron, asking them to determine if they are able to support the start-up of a mobility bus service plus ongoing annual support of operating costs. Half of the cost of purchasing a bus comes from the MTO. More than 200 residents have already registered to use the service. The eligibility committee is now reviewing those requests to determine if they are eligible to use the service. CHuMS will charge a small fee for their service, but it will be less than a taxi fare to the destination. • Part of the criteria to ride the service is the customer is unable to walk a distance of 500 feet or climb stairs. CHuMS plans to use the bus that is presently serving Huronview, but that bus is not expected to last any longer than two years. Once a customer meets the criteria to ride on the CIIuMS system, they are then able to ride on any of the 98 MTO approved systems in Ontario. Once CHuMS is up and running they have hopes to operate the service five days a week during the hours of 8a.m. to 5p.m. Fair weekend quiet Seaforth Police Chief Hal Claus reports that this past 'Fall Fair' weekend went smoothly with no problems whatsoever .and the parade went well. During the weekend police were requested to locate a person for a compassionate message Over the weekend police investigated two accidents, both of which resulted in charges. At approximately 11:15 a.m. Friday, a vehicle travelling southbound on Main Street crossed the centreline in front of Town Hall, striking a northbound vehicle. A charge of failing to share the roadway when meeting a vehicle has been laid against the driver of the southbound Vehicle. Later that day at approximately 2:23 p.m. a westbound vehicle turned left into a driveway at 141 Godcrich Street West causing a collision with an eastbound vehicle. The driver of the turning vehicle has been charged with, turning not in safety.