HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1998-07-15, Page 1Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 — Seaforth, Ontario
Child
rescued
from pool
remains
in critical
condition
A two-year-old
Tuckersmith Township boy
remains in critical condition at
last report in a London
Hospital after being found
unconscious in the family
swimming pool.
Blair Landsborough was
found in the pool by his
father, Jim when he failed .to
come in the house for supper
on July 10.
Landsborough began CPR
on the boy and he and his wife
Catherine drove the child to
Clinton Public Hospital. He
was unconscious when he
arrived but had a pulse and
was transported to Sick Kids
Hospital in London where he
remains in critical condition.
OPP Community Services
Officer, Don Shropshall said
they don't know how long the
child was in the above ground
pool.
Blair had been playing
outside with two brothers
while his father was in the
barn and his mother was in the
house making supper.
One brother saw Blair head
in the direction of the barn
and thought he was going
there to play with some
kittens inside.
When the family was called
in for supper, Blair did not
come and Jim went looking
for him around 5:15 p.m.
On Monday, Blair remained
unconscious and the hospital
was conducting tests.
July 15, 1998 --• $1.00 includes GST
SPY WI1'H MY LITTLE EYE! It was a confrontation between miniature coneheads
at Optimist Park last Wednesday night as Cassie Morey (left) and Ryan Martene
(right) had one another squarely in each other's sights on the sidelines of last
Wednesday night's Seaforth Minor Soccer games at Optimist Park. That's Jenny Duffy
In between.. More minor soccer pictures are on Page 14.
CAMPBELL PHOTOS
Mail might not make it to boxes
Post office has
been sorting
improperly
addressed
letters for
years but
can't anymore
BY SCOTT HILGENDORFF
Expositor Editor
As of now, Seaforth and
Egmondville residents need
to have their mail addressed
correctly or have it sent.
hack, "returned to sender."
"In a small town, as a
courtesy to people, we have
delivered the mail without
it have thc proper address,"
said Jane Smale, post
master at the Seaforth Post
Office.
It's something that's been
done for years but recent
changes in thc mail system
mean the local post office
staff will no longer be able
to do the extra sorting.
One of the most common
addressing problems is that
people haven't been using
their post office box
numbers.
Staff know who the
people are and have been
able to put the mail in the
proper boxes.
A couple changes have
taken place that have led to
Smalc's concern people
won't be receiving their
mail if they don't give out
the proper address.
The first change began in
March when the
Egmondville Post Office
received additional mail
boxes.
For years, there has been
a shortage of boxes
available in Egmondville.
Every person is entitled to a
free form of mail delivery
and since there weren't
enough boxes in
Egmondville, many
residents were given a box
in Seaforth.
Now, Egmondvillc
residents who wish to
continue receiving their
mail in Seaforth will have
to pay for the box because a
free box is available to
them in Egmondvillc.
Many Egmondvillc
residents using Seaforth
boxes would still use their
Egmondvillc Street address
instead of their Seaforth
box number and proper
mailing address.
Until this week, mail
addressed to Egmondvillc
came through thc Seaforth
Post Office. Again, as a
courtesy, staff would pull
Egmondvillc addressed
mail and put it in the proper
Seaforth hox if that was
where the resident picked
up the mail.
But now, through a
system change within
Canada Post, that mail is
going directly to
Egmondvillc where thcrc
arc now enough post office
boxes for everyone.
Seaforth staff won't be
able to carry out the
courtesy much longer.
Smale points out the use
of proper addresses has
always been a requirement.
In larger centres, if
people do not use their
proper street address and
postal code, their mail does
not arrive.
"A lot of people don't
realize their addresses are
incorrect," said Smale.
And it's getting more
difficult to direct the mail•
to the proper box as new
faces come into the
community and newer staff,
who don't know everyone
anymore, can't be sure
where an incorrectly
addressed envelope is
supposed to go.
Postal codes get the mail
from the Stoney Creek
sorting plant to the correct
community. Post office box
numbers get it in the right
box.
"Where you get your
mail is your address."
Smale said.
If someone lives in
Egmondville but decides to
pay for a box in Seaforth.
the mailing address is in
Seaforth, not the person's
Egmondville street address.
Smalc is preparing a
notice that will he placed in
everyone's post office hox
to help further explain the
changes.
Norah Eckert places mall in customer's boxes in Seaforth.
System changes mean letters have to addressed with
proper box numbers starting this week.
Gas prices
held steady
Seaforth pumps busy after
auto club's increase alert
BY SCOTT HILGENDORFF
Expositor Editor
Although there's no way to prove it, the Canadian Automobile
Association would like to think last week's alert of spikes in gas
prices kept other areas like Seaforth from seeing similar jumps
of five cents or more.
The association issued press release warning that the price of
gas in Toronto had risen as much as seven cents to about 54
cents a litre --what people in Seaforth have been paying for
about two months now.
When the alert was made, Marc Robinet of Archie's Service
Centre, said they were busy with people coming in to fill up.
However, Robinet wasn't expecting a price increase and it
proved to be a false alarm for this region where prices remained
the same.
The CAA had advised people if they could find gas for less
than 54 cents a litre, to fill up.
The organization was responding
to reports from some of its offices
across the province that gas prices
were spiking.
Kingston and Hamilton saw
increases of about five and six cents
a litre.
It happened gradually which gave
the CAA a chance to issue the alert.
"This is the first time, as far as I
can recall, that we've done this,"
said David Leonhardt, director of
consumer affairs and government
relations with CAA Ontario.
He said they can't be sure their
alert stopped increases from
continuing into Seaforth and other
regions.
"I would like to think we at least put some dampening effect
on price increases," he said, adding they made the alert as a
service to their customers and the public to get them to fill up
before prices jumped.
Robinet, who has 19 years at the centre, doesn't think the
prices were going to rise here but that the increases in the larger
centres like Toronto and Ottawa were a levelling out to what the
rest of the province is paying.
In places Tike Ottawa, he said the price had dropped to 47
cents a Titre but it was only that low for about a week before
returning to 54 cents.
He said what often happens in places like London is that
prices drop below the 54 cent -level but then rise above it to
make back the money that is lost by selling it below cost. The
savings the customer may have had one week are lost the
following week.
Robinet makes two to three ccnts for every litre of gas he sells
under the system used by his company. With price fluctuations,
other gas stations may collect as little as one cent a litre and as
much as six but on average, at 54 cents a litre, other stations are
likely making about three cents a litre too.
He said people are happier with a more consistent gas price.
Had the price change been a one or two ccnt Fluctuation in .
other areas, Leonhardt said CAA wouldn't have issued an alert.
But Leonhardt said they can't understand why the price of gas
jumped so much, or why it's already as high in Seaforth as the
level it jumped to in Toronto with a seven ccnt increase because
of historic low prices for crude oil.
And he said those prices arc expected to remain low for the
rest of the summer.
He said the price at the pumps should reflect that.
Robinet said the oil companies, which produce and set the
price of fuel before it is distributed to gas stations, arc definitely
making money as arc banks and other industries.
Huron Bruce MP Paul Stcckle was. a member of an
independent committee of Liberal MPs that toured the country
earlier this year to find out how and why gas prices are set.
At the time, Steckle said 54 cents a litre seemed to be the
reasonable price for gasoline at the pumps.
The committee has prepared a report which is currently
moving through government channels.
Sicrklc was not available Monday for comment.
If large price increases occur again in a similar fashion,
Lconhardt said CAA will continue to offer alerts to the public so
those not immediately affected can fill up and save a little cash.
`I would like to
think we at
least put some
dampening
effect on price
increases
--David Leonhardt
of Canadian
Automobile
Association
Man charged for murder
in Hullett Conservation Area
A Port Franks man has been
charged with murder,
following an investigation into
a hunting accident which
occurred last summer.
The Huron Detachment of
the OPP reported that on July
30 of 1997, John Douglas
Windsor, 29, of Exeter,
"...died of a gunshot wound
while on a hunting trip in the
Hullett Conservation Area,
north of Clinton, Ontario."
At the time of the incident
last year, the News -Record
reported that Windsor was
pronounced dead at the scene
and an autopsy was ordered.
The story also stated, "The
results of the post mortem,
conducted at St. Marys
Hospital in Kitchener, state
that the death came as the
result of a singe 20 -gauge shot
to Windsor's neck."
It was also reported that a
male companion who was
with Windsor at the time of
his death could not be named,
"due to the continuing
investigation."
Last Thursday, however, the
OPP reported, "The Ontario
CONTINUED on Page 6