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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1996-11-13, Page 1Feature How: two people survived near death experiences . See page 7 Education SDHS students go to work with parents. See page 8 Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 Seaforth, Ontario Briefly Christmas Bureau open again soon The 1996 Christina% Bureau will be at the First Presbyterian Church. Seaforth again this year. Donations of toys and cloth- ing will be gratefully accept- ed from Dcc. 9-13 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Arca families who are in heed of assistance may call Goderich at 1-800-265-5198 to register. All calls ,are in strict confi- dence. Appointments will he , scheduled for the week,'of Dec. 16. Jim and Jannekp • _ ray are the Christen eau managers agai § _ is i and ' they can her 5 2407. Thc M ..,. "-`' 'crc totally ovetiwhclrnes by the 't'stnennsitt: support of the Seaforth, last year and they hope. rat 1996 will hey even better! "It is the goal of . the Bureau to make- sur that Christmas is a sheet nd. joyous time for cvtry inily regardless of circumstances." stated Jannekc Murray in it press release. November 13, 1996 — $1.00 includes GST wry. PHOTO BY CARLY PRICE HONOURING FALLEN COMRADES - Jack Muir lays a wreath in memory of those who died for freedom at the Remembrance Day service at the Seaforth Cenotaph, Monday. Despite a cold and snowy day many Seaforth citizens Citizenship -came ..ay respects. .ecu winners announced The winners of this year's Seaforth citizenship awards have been determined by the recreation and parks commit tee. The committee •voted Peg Coombs as winner for humanitarian service. Charles Perkins for civic service and Hank Binnendyk for service to sports. They awards .will hc:prc- sentcd at the. annual BIA Christmas dinner and dance. New Legion book on 161 st in Huron schools Local branches of the Royal Canadian Legion have pro- vided each elementary and secondary school in Huron County with copies of clic just -released special com- memorative publication about the 161st Huron Battalion 1916. called "Lest We Forget". Drug awareness at high school A lifestyles team from the Huron County Health Unit will he at Seaforth District High School in the noon hour Monday hosting a health fair. Its part of drug awareness week across Canada and the local fair's theme is "choices. consequences .and responsi- bility." Thc rnost commonly used drugs arc alcohol and tobac- co. According to a survey by the Addiction Research Foundation, drug use by stu- dents in Ontario increased between 1993 and 1995. The use of marijuana. cigarettes and alcohol have all risen among Ontario students. Area residents not notified Cantel tower approved in McKillo BY GRI (;QR,CA;v1PBE:Lt, Expositor Staff What "democracy" means is at issue as a new tele-com- • nrunications tower is once again news in McKillop. A local delegation attended council's meeting last week with question. concerning the township's' recent approval of a Cantel tower for 1.0 31: Conc.' 6. north of Roxboro. which neighbours confirm is owned by McKillop's roads superinten- dent. Wayne i)olm:►gc. "Shame is the very (east description of: your actions." states Elaine McDivitt in her letter on the issue\ to council in support of the delegation. made up of Paul Vander Moten and Mr. and Mrs. Graham Yates. All. are ratepayers. "In the future: 1 wi►utd think it would serve the community hater if you acted on the premise of receiving permis- sion' rather than bullying tac- tics." her letter continues. "Your views and actions arc most certainly not a reflct:- tion.of mine.. "It is your responsibility to, inform. not. my responsibility to try to find out what, you are hiding. although ypur actions certainly prove your unworthiness of such trust." "BLACK HOLES" , Tele -communications tow- ers are necessary for some of today's emerging technolo- gies, probably thc most popu- lar of which are cellular phones such as this particular. tower would accommodate. A similar Bell Canada tower. the first for McKillop, caused a stir around ,Beechwood before it wens up earlier this year. Before then McKillop and other rural areas immediately adjacent wcrc considered a "black hole" in the industry, whcrc the available scrvicc, now taken for granted in much of the province and industrialized -world, was of inferior quality or non-cxis' tent. Analysis say there are now 2.8 million cellular phone owners in Canada. and esti- mate that in the coining decade that figure will rise to 12 -million subscribers for cellular and PCS (personal cominunication system) phones. Digital PCS technology is the most recent advance in thc`industry. - There arc rumours another tower is in the works -for McKillop. a Clcarnct tower or "Mike" as currently adver- tised on television and rise-. where. Some my C learnet is now "the company of compa- nies" in the industry. • Thc tele -communications industry is regulated hy the ,federal government and these businesses negotiate agree- ments and pay landowners • for the right to put up towers on their land. Critics in the Beechwood controversy called them unsightly. among other things. and wcrc concerned with the regulating proce- dure. which they didn't feel was democratic and struck them as lax and un-account- ahle. Some also felt such towers wcrc a hazard to health. Experts argue both ways on any health hazard. Solid evi- dence. either way. is scanty, hut federal regulators appear comfortable with their stan- dards and conclude such tow- ers' "emissions" are of tittle or no harm._ PUBLIC CONCERNS The Huron Expositor was not at the council meeting where- the issue of the Roxboro -arca tower arose. McKillop Clerk Marion McClure summarized the del- egation's rnain concerns Friday: • arca residents were not notified: • • some predict more towers CONTINUED on page 3 Board accused of unfair competition BY AMY NEILANDS SSP News Staff Huron County, Board of Education Director Paul Carroll responded to allega- tions that the board is compet- ing with local computer busi- nesses and Internet providers Ott the November 4 board meeting. Carroll addressed a series of letters regarding the board's involvement siting com- puters to staff' land students through tile Huron County *Lineation Foundation as well as the board's involvement with Its... itemet provider, HOMEtown. One letter accused the board of unfairly competing with the private sector, providing students and families with Tess expensive equipment and interne! time, and subsidizing a money los- ing internet provider that is pressuring customers to switch to their services. Carroll told trusters that he had only directly heard one person's complaints and added that several other com- plaints were made through the internet as well as through Huron. MPP Helen Johns. A meeting was held with Johns and local private Internet providers to talk about the board's actions. "We were not invited to the meeting with Helen Johns regarding this issue," said Carroll, adding that he would like to deal with this in a calm and responsible manner and on a personal basis. The main concern of the private providers is the func- tion of the education founda- tion. Due to downsizing, the hoard has had to "beef up rev- enue generation," said Carroll, so the foundation was created as a non-profit organi- zation with the main function of fundraising for public edu- cation. The organization was reviewed by a solicitor and was found to be fine. "We sell a lot of things in our school system - unfortunately," said Carroll. An agreement was set up to create partnerships for Inter- net services, said Carroll. The partnerships included HOMEtown, public libraries, thc Education Network of Ontario which is supported by the teachers' federations and thc Ministry of Education. They have already established about 700 Internet sites acre the county, and Carroll said they will have about 1,000 sites hy the end of the school year. CONTINUED on page 3 Canadian Tire gets reminder of heritage rules from LACAC When it met in October, Scaforth's Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (LACAC) decided to send a Tetter to the owner of the Canadian Tire Store at 126 Main Street South "to remind them that their building is part of the heritage conserva- tion district, and therefore requires council approval for any alterations made to the exterior of the building." The outside of that store recently got a fresh coat of paint. Minutes of that LACAC meeting also state the .com- mittee suggests the chief building inspector visit 58 Main Street South (United Auto Parts) "to determine the nature of work being done and to provide any informa- tion -on appropriate tech- niques and materials that we have. Council approval for the work will also be required, following comple- tion of the application process." Secretary Cathy Garrick also reported "that after con- siderable thought and consul- tation with both LACAC and council the owners (Jim and Danika McNichol) of the store at 33 Main Street South (Nifty Korners) have decided to erect an interior lit box - type of sign to replace the old Radio Shack sign." Hak urges councillors to support hospital At last week's meeting, Corn. Mike Hak urged fel- low town councillors to show visible support for Seaforth Community Hospital. similar to other area towns as the Huron -Perth District Health Council (i)HC) approaches its end -of -the month , timetable for recommenda- tions on area hospital .restruc- luring. • He said SCH is an impor- tant part of this community and a hig employer, and noted save -our -hospital pres- sure groups arc becoming vocal in other arca towns that might he affected by whatev- er thc DHC recommends, for instance St. Marys where an estimated 700 people recently attended a public meeting in support of that town's hospi- tal. Coun. Hak commented the committee of the Huron- Pcrth DHC whcrc recommen- dations arc being formulated has said it will distance itself from such pressure groups to remain impartial. Deputy -reeve Bill Teall said he agreed with. Hak, and observed the local DHC showed in its eventual deci- sion to locate offices in Mitchell, despite Seaforth's formal application that fol- lowed official guidelines, that its decisions could be swayed by unsolicited public opinion.