HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1996-03-13, Page 1* M*
CENTENAIRES
R. DEVELOPMENT HOCKEY CLU/
Hockey
Centenaires set.
to meet Exeter
in second round
of playoffs.
See page 6
Country Charm
Seaforth Figure
Skating club holds
annual carnival.
See pages 6 & 7
Education
olie S'do,, Director of Education
,e and Huron MPP
v have battle of words
't,„. 44° Op `be44° on funding cuts.
See page 5
Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 — Seaforth, Ontario
Murray
hearing.
adjourned
until May 30
A preliminary he&ring has
been adjourned to May 30,
-1996, for a '46 -year-old
Goderich man charged with
second-degree murder.
Steve Murray was charged -
Sept. 15, 1995. in connection
with the death.of his daughter,
15. -year-old Mistie.Nicote
'Murray, who has not been
-- seen since May 31.'1995. Her
body has never been found.
Murray was released Oct. 4 ow.
$125,000 hail.
'The preluiminary•hearing.
which started Tuesday. was
originally -scheduled_ to last
four days, hut ,ended at
appr9mi,mately ;'noon on -
-Thursday. •lt was presided river
,by Judge Garry Hunter.
Huron Cou.nty Crown'
Attorney Bob Mdrris said he
is nearly at the end of his list .,
of witnesses. He has reserved
the right.to call more witness--
• es when thc preliminary hear-
ing resumes. •
"We're• considering ihc. pos-
sibility Of calling. witnesses.
said Daniel Porte. speaking on .
behalf of defence counsel
. Brian • . Greenspan. of
Greenspan and Htirnphrics•,
Toronto. - -
It is' illegal to publish any
evidence given during a pre-
liminary hearing. Preliminary
hearings arc held to determine
,whether there is sufficient
Crown evidence to go to trial. -
Phony
Child Find
solicitation
• Child Find is cautioning
residents of the Seaforth and
Wingharn areas about recent
phony telephone solicitations
for the provincial organiia-
tion.
• The director of fundraising
for Child Find Ontario. Tom
Chirc, says its telemarketing
docs not involve the sale of
any products. and would-hc
donors do not have to give
out their credit card numbers.
He adds telephone solicita-
tions for the organhNation that
' insist on a set donation. for
instance $100. and arc not
professional and polite. are
not legitimate.
Chirc says Child Find docs
not solicit door-to-door. and
legitimate telephone •ulicita-
tions arc always followed up
with mailings from the orga-
nization that 'night include
one of three addresses - the
provincial office in Oakville
or two Toronto 'addresses,
either 79 Scollard Street or 2
Moor Street West.
Suspicious solicitations
should be reported to the
police. If you call Child
Find's provincial office at 11-
800-447-6047) and give your
number the organisation can
also quickly confirm if the
solicitation was legitimate,
the fundraising director says.
Hc says money raised is
used in Ontario to, among
other things: locate runaways,
identify babies and children
(thumb and footprinting pro-
grams), and publicity. .
People also have a right to
have their names removed
from the solicitation list.
Chirc adds. .
March 13, 1996 -r 75 Cents Plus GST
PHOTO BY GREGOR CAMPBELL
COUNTRY ICE - The local arena was packed Saturday night for this year's carnival by the
Seaforth and District Figure Skating Club; called "Country Ice." Alicia Vanderloo was one
of the dynamite solo skaters. She also finished first in the recent provincial qualifying
competition in Stratford, and another competition in London earlier Saturday.
Safety recommendations made
Inquest ,rules manure tank
death in Crediton accident'
BY MONA IRWIN
SSP News. Staff
Relatives of John
Williamson, the 26 -year-old
Crcditon man, formerly of
Walton, who died in October
after falling into an under-
ground manure holding tank
in Stephen Township, say the
recommendations made by
tiie jury at the Feb. 28 coro-
ner's inquest miss an impor-
tant clement.
"There's no penalty," said
Jeffrey Williamson, brother
of thc victim.
"If there was no penalty
attached to speeding laws,
and all a cop could do is give
you a warning, would you
stop speeding?"
'The inquest, which docs
not assign legal responsibili-
ty, determined the death was
an accident.
The day -long inquest was
held in Goderich. Williamson
died Oct. 20 on a farm owned
by Ron O'Brien, of Conc. 9,
Stephen Twp. His body was
found in a tank, 60 feet in
diameter and about 12 feet
deep.
The inquest was headed by
6
Dr. S.J. Spiers, of Milverton.
The five -person jury was out
for about an hour before rul-
ing the death accidentental.
POSTMORTEM
Dr. Robin Waite, of
Milverton, did the post-
mortem exam on the victim.
He told the jury Williamson's
fluid-filled lungs were typical
of someone who inhaled
hydrogen sulphide, the gas
produced in a manure lank.
He listed the cause of
death .as asphyxia (lack of
oxygen in the lungs). No
alcohol was fdund in
Williamson's blood or urine.
Ishmail Moftah, a senior
provincial toxicologist with
the Centre of .Forensic
Sciences (Toronto), said any-
where
nywhere between ,1,O0 and 200
parts per milli i in the air
would kill a person within 10
minutes. At certain concen-
trations it will paralyze the
olfactory nerves, so the per-
son will nd longer notice the
disagreeable odour.
Agitation, which may.happen
when the manure is being
pumped out, accelerates gas,
production.
"The exact concentration
would depend on the size of
the container, the amount of
manure and the amount of
agitation," Moftah said. He
agreed with w jury member
that an exhaust fan would
have cut down the levels of
gas in the tank.
WIFE TESTIFIES
Williamson's 'widow, Heidi,
testified John had worked on
O'Brien's hog farm since
• 1992. At about 7 p.m., John
told her.to come see him at
the farm before she went
home.
When she went there, she
found John's truck parked
next to the manure tank. It
was near dusk, and when she
saw a .tractor pull away, she
assumed it was her husband,
going to spread another load
of manure.
However, when the tractor
returned, it was being driven
by a youth, who did not
know where John was. As
she Walked back. across the
tank, she noticed one of the
access holes was open.
"I was curious — anybody
could've fallen in — but I
didn't think about it a lot,"
she said.
When she got home, she
noticed lights on and evi-
dence that John had come
CONTiNUED on page 3
BIA elects two new
co-chairs for 1996
The Seaforth BIA (Business
Improvement .Association)
now has two. co-chairs
instead of just' one Chair for a
one-year term.
The BIA held its annual
meeting on Monday, March 4
and elected the 1,996 -co-
chairs - Christine Behnke, of
Christine's Cafe, and Liz
Cardno, of Cardno's Mens
Wear. They take over from
1995 BIA chair Dave
Deighton, who also resigned
from the executive commit-
tee. He wanted to devote
more attention to the adver-
tising/promotions committee.
The BI -A executive commit-
tee has two new members
this year - Liz Cardno and
Jason Wheatley, of the
Comtnercial Hotel. The rest
df the executive includes:
Bob Fisher, Pizza Train; Jim
Campbell, TD Bank;
Maureen Wildfong, Culligan
Realty; Pete •Martene, Pete's
Paper Clip; Town Council
representative Heather
Robinet and student rep
Marcy McCall of SDHS.
In other business, .the BIA
approved its 1996 budget of
$28,000, the same amount- as
last year. Of that amount,
$16,600 is paid for through
taxes.
Many of the promotions for
1996 will be the same with
the addition of special.
Mother's Day, Father's Day
and Back -to -School promo-
tions.
The group will continue
with its Christmas BIA
Buckspromotionbecause it
was so successful in 1995,
says BIA secretary Cathy
Garrick: ,
The association's biggest
promotion, Moonlight
Madness. will be held again
this year on Friday, July 26.
One of the next, promotions
will be the annual Easter Egg
Hunt at 10 a.m. on Saturday,
April 6 at Victoria Park and
St. James School grounds.
Details for these and other
proinotions have'yet to be
confirmed. _
Discussed at the annual
meeting as a theme for this
year is encouraging more
local shopping. A possible
slogan is "Shop where your
neighbours work."
Local hospitals: could
specialize to survive
BY DAVID SCOTT
Expositor Editor
Some big changes could be
in store for Huron's hospitals.
Dr. Mark Woldnik, medical
•, director. at Huronview, talked
to Tuckcrsmith Township
Council last Tuesday night
about local long term care
and geriatrics. Woldnik is the
Medical Director of Care at
Huronview in Tuckcrsmith,
south ° of Clinton on Highway
4.
Woldnik took over the Targe
• patient load from Dr.
Edmund Malkus, who recent-
ly retired from the Seaforth
Community Hospital staff
after 40 years of service.
With that change to his work
coupled with his medical
director positions at both
Huronview .and Seaforth
Manor, the Tuckcrsmith doc-
tor has made a shift away
from younger patients.
He recently took an in-
, depth course at Kingston in
geriatrics, an arca in which
he has a great interest.
"Huronview is one of the,
best centres in Southwestern
Ontario," said Woldnik. As
an administrator, he says he
has to be there and have a
profile. "I'm not .just there
once a month. Patients like
eager doctors."
Woldnik says he's an
exception to the norm. "I'm
38 years old. It's rare to have
a young physician interested
in geriatrics." -
The Huronview medical
director said some local peo-
ple still refer to the facility as
"the farm."
"People call it that. it's.
good if you're 85 but it's
changed. It's amazing how
it's run."
Huronview is getting
patients from a wide arca,.
from as far away as Toronto,
said Woldnik.
He was asked by
Tuckcrsmith Council what
th'c future of local hospitals
would be.
"There certainly is going to
be movement of surgical -
based services. It would be
Netter to move aroundser-
vices. Let's takethe strength
of each one (hospital). One
do geriatrics, obstetrics, etc.
Right now, all five hospitals
in Huron have a full slate of
services including obstetrics
(with the exception of
Exeter)."
"It may mean patients from
one town jumping over to
another town if they wanted a
certain type of service," said
Woldnik. He said it's not
unusual to have that situation
in large!' cities where one
hospital specializes in a cer-
tain type of surgery.
Woldnik said if hospitals
don't act, thc DHC (District
Health Council) will imple-
ment change. Conducting a
hospital restructuring. study
"was clearly established as a
priority for the Huron Perth
D;strict Health Council for
1996-97," stated a recent
press release from the DHC.
in answer to a question.
about hospital administration,
Woldnik said "to amalgamate
administrations would be the
easiest thing to do. With fax
machines and increased tech-
nology there's not the need
for as much administration."
Woldnik said that it would
be disastrous if the local clin-
ics were cut back.
"You don't do things quick-
ly in rural areas because peo-
ple get skittish."
• 1996 Roads Budget
The purchase of a new
half -ton pick-up truck has
been put on hold by
Tuckcrsmith Township.
Council reviewed its 1996
roads budget at its March 5
mccting. Starting out with a
figure of $ 110,000 higher
than last year's budget, coun-
cil made some serious deci-
sion on spending cuts.
In thc end, a pick-up truck
CONTINUED on page 3