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The Huron Expositor, 1996-05-15, Page 1• Crhne More thefts and break-ins in Huron. See page 3 Hospital News Why do patients of Seaforth doctors end up at Wingham hospital'? See page 2 Ontario. Budget Huron MPP talks about Tory budget in -Goderich. See page 6 Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 --- Seaforth, Ontario Briefly Meet officers on Police Week It's "Police Week" and the Goderich detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police is having a "walkabout" in Seaforth. There will ' also be a "Seatbelt Convincer" parked outside the OPP's Main Street office tomorrow (Thursday). Police say it will ;'be operational- from 9 a.m. that clay." - Tomorrow morning, Mayor Irwin Johnston of Seaforthwill also escort the commander of' the Goderich detachriient, Staff Sgt. Brian Baldwin, and Sgt. Frank Young to meet business own- iers, as a way of introduction. Sgt: Young is in charge of the Seaforth and Clinton offices of the Goderieh `detachment. The OPP only assumed policing duties in Seaforth late last ,year and Scaforth's Police SerMices Board felt Police Week is a better time than many for the detachment to get acquainted. Support gaining for Blyth tax revolt' Letters of support fot Blyth's decision to stop col- lecting education taxes at the -start of next January "are still arriving on a daily basis and• show no sign of loss of momentum" according,to Monday's press release from the nearby village. Only 12 municipalities have indicated they do not support Blyth's action, according to clerk treasurer John Stewart, whereas 177 responses fully support it and and. another 41 c',ouncils have sent letters of support in prin- ciple. Reeve Mason Bailey says few of those he has spoken to "are aware that farmers have been relieved of 'education tax through farm tax rebate since 1v7o." the press release states. Save -town history Scaforth's history will take centre stage at Town Hall fol- lowin$ Victoria Day. on Tuesday night. when there will tie "an exciting video tour of the Frank Sills collec- tion and look at some of A.Y. McLean's memorabilia." fol- lowed by refreshments and "an idea -sharing session on how we can achieve the con- tinued preservation of Scaforth's many historical resources." The invitation is from Seaforth Mayor Irwin Johnston and the event is sponsored by the town, with help from Scaforth's Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (LACAC) and some govern- ment ministries. It is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Awnings to lower? Council discussed a draft bylaw at Tuesday night's meeting that would raise the minimum height of awnings on businesses on Main Street in Seaforth to 2.5 metres above grade. The restriction would accommodate snow removal work in winter. May 15, 1996 - 75 Cents Plus GST FACE TO FACE - Shelby Stryker of the pre-school learning centre visited the petting zoo at the Seaforth Veterinary, Chnic was startled by the pony. Many groups of Seaforth and area students visited the animals all last week. PHOTO BY GREGOR CAMPBELL last Thursday moming and 75 Traffic Violations Student observes bad driving habits near school, daycare BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff A local teenager is per- plexed about the way people drive around Seatorth's pub- fic school and daycare centre. Kyle,Ray lives on the four-. way stop at Market, and Sparling Streets and watched • traffic for an hour late in the afternoon hack on March 19. "I though that I would not see enough traffic violations to make an accurate record," his three-page typewritten report states. "I thought this because. of course, it -is a school Ione." • Kyle observed 75 "traffic violations" between 3 and 4 p.m.. with failing to•signal topping the list at 24. Failing to stop at a stop sign was the next most prevalent had habit at 18; then not wearing seat belts at nine. Taking it a step further on his Own initiative. *the Seaforth high school student who is learning to drive. also figured out the number of dollars • in fines and the demerit points that might have resulted from the* vari- ous infractions had a police officer been there. It worked out to $7.110 and 203 points. There were only 13 cars "who followed the traffic laws and procedures" as Ray saw it that mid-afternoon in March. As for near accidents, "for- tunately nope", he reports. Other observed infractions at the four-way stop ..were: improper left turn 3, improp- er right turn 5, speeding 5, failute to yield right of way to other vehicles 2. failure to yield right of way to pedestri- ans 4, incorrect stop position 5. tailgaiting 0. driving to •- slow 3. other. "Some drivers on the road committed so many offenses while going through one intersection that they could go to jail from three months to a whole year," the local student says. "For an intersection near a . school zone. this is very sad," he concludes: "It has changed the way I think about the intersection. "If nothing is done, then one, of these days. there will be, an accident, and then something will be done, to avoid another. Hopefully, if an when an accident does occur, no ,one is killed, because 1 don't think that anyone wants to see that." The student's study sur- faced at last Tuesday's meet- ing of Seaforth Council. A councillor commented the four-way stop near thc high school is another bad one. A copy of Ray's report was left for possible comment at the Seaforth office of the Ontario Provincial Police, but none had been received by press time. Board of education sells office in Clinton, moves to high school BY AMY NEILANDS SSP News Staff. The Huron County Board of Education (HCBE) has accepted an offer on the pur- chase of the Clinton office which houses the' hoard's administration, and pending the closing of thc deal, the 'office will be moved to space in Central Huron Secondary School (CHSS) in Clinton. The board has accepted the offer of Doug ,Mason Building Products Ltd., of Dorchester, the only offer the board was given on the build- ing, said HCBE . Chair Roxanne Brown in a recent. telephone interview. It Was stated in a press release that the company will renovate the building to becomevctiremcnt apartments. No further details of the sale could he released at this time. • The office was - put up for sale last Deeember after the board decided the up keep would be too expensive. It was • estimated .that over the next • 10 years, the hoard will save about $1 million in oper- ating costs and major repairs !to bring the present building up to standard, said Brown. She added that a -couple of years ago an architect's report. showed that the building was in an unsafe state and the board was unwilling to spend the dollars on repairs. "It's gone. downhill since then," stated Brown. The board will see savings in the long run. said Brown. by moving into the school. She stated that such things as - ,communications • equipment will he shared. • This move will also "guaran- tee the tong term viability of CHSS." stated a press release: Several months ago. an accommodation review list showed that the CHSS occu- pancy level had fallen, below the 'acceptable level for a school of its .size. While the school was built to accommo- date about 1.400 students. its ,present 'student population is about 650 students. "It is not at a level where the school would be dosed.".said. • CONTINUED 'on page 2, - okt• xpositor up for sale - again' g �' The Huron Expositor is .: For Sale" - for the second in six months! e 136 -year-old local kiy newspaper and 10 tater publications in the gnat Star chain. including Mitchell, Clinton, Goderich )lrd Zurich, changed hands in ecember when sold by urgoyne Publishing and ght by Bowes Publishers j..td. of London. But Bowes in turn is owned y the Toronto Sun blishing Company, which turn is controlled by Communications Inc. Rogers announced it want- ed to sell its 62.5 per cent share in the Sun suddenly last Tuesday, to strengthen its balance sheet, which means Bowes too is now on the block, and all Signal -Star tapers again, meaning The p Before buying the area pub - cations, long-established owes already owned a ring of small dailies and weeklies in the London region and another string of dailies and weeklies out west, the largest being the Daily - Herald Tribune in Grand Prairie, Alta. In a memo to staff after Rogers announced its inten- tion to sell, Bowes president, W. R. Dempsey, says as far as this company is concerned "it's business as usual." He said by doing what the company does best, produc- ing profitable newspapers of quality, he is convinced Bowes will emerge as an important on-going concern. • Other papers in its Signal - Star publications are Focus, based in Goderich, and the Bruce County Journal as well as weeklies published in Kincardine, Lucknow and Walkerton. Speculation pins rampant as to who may bid on Sun Publishing, which includes its popular Toronto tabloid flagship of the same name and an investment in the Fintmcinl Post. Conrad Black of powerful. Hollinger Inc. and Pierre Peladeau of Quebecor Inc, of Monireal have been suggest- ed contenders, and Paul' Desmarais of media and. finance giant Power Corp. of Canada is another possibility. Hollinger is now on a buy- ing spree, leading to concerns by some analysts about con- centration of ownership. f. bought a group of seven dailies, Including the Chatham Daily News and Sarnia , Observer, from Thomson Corp. last week, shortly before Rogers announced the Sun was for sale. Many newspapers, weekly and daily, have changed hands in the last year. The industry across the continent has been plagued for the past. several of years by near- record newsprint costs, declining advertising revenue and competition from emerg- ing technologies and the end of government postal subsi- dies.