Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 1999-10-06, Page 44 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, October 6, 1999 Ex":` " sitor G&L 1k]LSE1M)Itl}i91.% „„, Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 Terri-lynn Hart - Publisher Pat Armes - Office Manager Scott Hilgendorff •Editor Dionne McGrath : Subscriptions; Closvfieds Susan Hundertmark • Reporter Bowes Publishers Limited •.• 11,.w l n.(.+a..-1C^.r. ..M.•. E-mail us at seoforth@bowesnet com SUBSCRIPTION RATES LOCAL • 32 50 o yeor in advance plus 2 28 G 5 T SENIORS 30 00 o year in odvance plus 2 10 G S T. USA 8 Foreign 28 44 o year in advance, plus S78 00 postage, G S T exempt SUBSCRIPTION RATES Published weekly by Signal -Star Publishing 01 100 Moin St Seaforth Publication mad registronon No •0696 held at Seoforth, Ontorio Advertising is accepted on condition shot in the event of o typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with o reosonoble allowance (or signature, will not. be chorged but the bolonce of the advertisement will be poid for at the applicable rote In the event of a typographical error. odver,,sing goods or services of a wrong price. goods or services may not be sold Advertising is merely an offer to self and may be withdrawn of any time The Huron Expositor ,s not responsible for the loss or domoge of unsolicited manuscripts, phos Or other materials used for reproduction purposes Changes of address. orders tor subscriptions and ,,ndeliverobfe,copies ore to be sent to The Huron Expositor Wednesday. October 6. 1999 Editorial and Business Offices - 100 Mali. Street.,SeaforHt Telephone (510) 527-0240 Fax (519) 527.26511 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69, Seaforth., Ontario, NOK 1 WO :Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper, Assoc,otion, Ontorio Community Newspapers Associohon Publication Mail Registration No. 07605 Editorial Is more secretive government on the way? Canada's brand of democracy may not be perfect, but it still stands near the top. It doesn't remain there on, its own; it requires constant vigilance. Ironically, the greatest threat to democracy often comes from the • politicians themselves. • From time to time, politicians at all levels entertain • proposdls to consider changes which would result in Tess accountable, more secretive government. Perhaps that reflects the basic element of human nature -. that information is power and those who have the power want to keep it to themselves. As newspapers whose role it is to convey such • information to the public, we often face struggles in ,our attempts to access such information. Newspapers are also one of the most effective forums for the expression of public opinion. Neverhas there been a public outcry demanding less open, more secretive governmen/. Yet, less open, local government is what Ontarians will receive ifthe province proceeds with proposed changes to the Ontario Municipal Act. The Municipal Act sets out the powers and limitations of our local municipalities and was enacted back in .1849. Granted, an overhaul to a 150 -year-old piece of legislation is commendable, but some sections of the act were taken too far. • • The 'current act:allows councils and municipal bodies to go in -camera, or' behind closed doors, to make decisions related to specific issues that are best discussed in private - the security of property; personal/personnel matters; acquisition of land; labour relations, litigation, and legal mattersof solicitor -client privilege. Before going in -camera, the municipality or _local board must state that they .are going in -camera and disclose the general nature of the matter to be considered: • .A number of municipalities have suggested that the current list- of subjects is toa restrictive. As a result the proposed new Municipal Act would allow municipalities to write their own bylaw spelling out any other reasons for them to go behind closed doors to make decisions that effect their communities. This could create a wide variance of -in -camera rules across Ontario and be subject •to constant changes at the whim of local councils.' Community•newspapers believe this would only further erode the public's confidence in the democratic system. We need :greater accountability from our government, not a free rein to hold secret meetings. We need: our elected representatives to stand in front of their. constituents and speak Ioud and clear on the issues that deal with the health and well-being of out . communities. As your local community newspaper, we don't think we. need. changes to make'a more secretive government; rather we need to institute penalties for those who contravene or stretch the current restrictiorfs ' too far Furthermore1 clear andspecific definitions of what constitutes those restrictions need to be spelled out. The current list is far too open to abuse. We also believe the act should contain penalties for offending councils Sarnia.Mayor Mike Bradley was concerned enough 'about this proposed legislation that he wrote then - minister Al leach saying this amendment was 'a step backwards in making local government open and accountable.' He suggested the minister review the State of Michigan's act which holds members of councils, board and commissions personally responsible and subject to fines for violations of the act. This newspaper is a member of the Ontario Community Newspapers Association which represents 265 newspapers.The association, on our behalf of its member newspapers, has raised these concerns with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and its new minister Steve Gilchrist. To his credit the new minister has been listening to the concerns and has indicated his willingness to listen. It's not too late... If this concerns you, and we believe it should, please contact your MPP as well as your mayor and council to ask them to speak out on the dangers -that these changes will have to our open and democratic system. ' the Ontario Community Newspapdr Association Opinion Rural Response for Healthy Children challenges families to go without television for one week Anyone who --has spent time obser'ving children knows. that their actions and beliefs are influenced by their experiences particularly the models that adults provide, be those positive or negative. Toddlers are a prime example. They imitate our actions: putting on daddy's shoes, baking a cake like mommy.. School age children sometimes mimic our worst qualities. How .many times have we overheard children ' playing house or some other imaginary games saying to their little sisters,"Stop that before Mommy gets mad" or some other phrase that we were determined we would never say as a parent? • We try to provide good models and keep our children awayfrom 'inappropriate influences .yet we believe those who hate, "The jury is still•oul on the effects of television." Yet. the research is inconsistent' and -flawed. A study on television violence and it's effects on children of different ages. written by Wendy Josephson and • distributed by the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, reviewed psychological research on the subject and determined television violence has a negative effect on children who are abused or neglected. In general. studies indicate that television violence can: proville models for children to imitate violence and crin►e seen • 111 tele% 15100 1 copycat ylolrnce ): reduce inhibitions against behaving aggressively.:. • trigger impulsive acts of aggression and take time away from activities such as socialising with other children and interacting with adults that would teach children nonviolent ►t,t\s to solve conflicts. Television violence has also been found' to have emotional effects on See TV, Page 4sdf Gas really starting to get my stomach upset A funny thing happened on, the way to work today. . The price Of gas went up again. Actually, this is typical of any day. Actually. it's not very funny. Actually. it kind of stinks. The price increases this time are blamed on the doubling of the price of crude oil in the past four or ifive months.' Strange though. is the fact when crude oil prices reached 20 -year lows during the past couple years, the. price never dropped. I've been vacationing in a southern stater for about :seven years now and as I Was making plans for a trip down there .a couple weeks ago', friends warned me : the price of gas had skyrocketed. Yeah. it 'skyrocketed all right. It was back to the original. price when 1 first , started travelling down there about se' en. years ago. Back then, it was about $1.17 a gallon (or 21 cents a litre. US --still nluch cheaper - even when. you factor in the exchange rate). Seven:years 'later. it's about $1.17 gallon. , Seven years ago, here.I can't remember, the price as Gas wars By Scott Hilgendorff closely but will estimate it was •in th,e low 40 cents a litre range. When crude oil prices dropped. the price of gas dropped in the States and the past couple years has seen it at amazingly low. levels. Back in February. I could find gas for as cheap as 79 cents a gallon (14 cents a litre. US), down from•that •,$1.17 nark. While it's understandable that as crude oil_,prices -increase, so will the price of gas at the pumps hut what I simply cannot comprehend is how the price never came down in Ontario when the price of crude had dropped. What did start to happen is Canadians • became uncharacteristically vocal in protest against the ever-, increasing prices and what seemed like policies to increase the price. at the pumps the Friday of a holiday weekend: When people, and the Canadian Automobile, Association protested the alleged practice of gouging travellers. "gas police" began watching the pumps more closely. Since then. in the past couple years, the price has increased as much as a week before a holiday weekend and at radom times. But it has almost always increased. Syre. there have been the occasional Strops but never below the levels it was originally at before a significant increase. It has managed to steadily climb to levels that are quickly becoming unaffordable. There had also been an outcry against unfair prices. The Lake Huron shoreline travelling'. region was paying about five dents a litre more than communities further inland and even more than in the cities. • Explanations of gas wars and competition were offered in defence of the uneven pricing since many of these pumps were fueled from the same suppliers and sometimes even the same trucks, But, since more eyes have. been watching the prices closely in the past couple years. these prices have also leveled 'out io more Predictable levels when travelling. It's much harder to find a punipeven in a city, that doesn't match the pumps at-home. . . Sadly, the only thing that seems to have changed is the fact people are gouged more equally at the pumps. But no matter how bad it gets, just rem?mber•'the people who put the gas in your car are not to blame for what's Happening. They're the only faces wc•see each 'time the price goesup but it's just their job to put the gas in our cars and trucks and . collect the, cash. The source_ of the trouble is unreachable by us and seem to be untouchable by the government that settles for and accepts simple answers from the oil companies. Allegations of price ,fixing; and competition act violations are seem to he seldom made or looked into. electric cartiatete? lapeenetc(, to the Secretary of Athletic- Association gets $iso salary October 6, 1899 T Russell, B.A. of Thames Road. has been appointed secretary of the Toronto University . Athletic Association at a salary of 5150.00. A great • number of beautiful apple trees at Leabury broke down under Me weight of molt' andfait. Finlay McIntosh of Leabury has been away filling a ,zwnher of -silos in - Tuckeriniitlt, having brought the necessary machinery is -illi lust, • A very. happy .event took place ai the residence of James E. Troyer, Hensall, when Miss Teresa . Jane, daughter of Mr. Troyer was united in marriage to James H: Wright. machinist, of Hensall. • • • Snow to the depth ofjour itches covered mother earth at Hensall,• a very unusual ot•currence in September. Jacob 'McGee of Egmondville thinks. his new stable is _too grand 16 be soiled by a horse, consequently he has been looking _ around°for an autnmtllnle. Messrs. John and Frank Jackson of Egmondville have been goat, to Toronto to resume their studies, one at Osgorxle Hall -and -the other - at the school of Practical Science. . Wheii tearing up the sidewalk infrvnu ofthe Royal Hotel, a well about 14 feet deep u -as found directly under the walk. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Swan of Brucefield have returned farm a pleasant trip to Rih Lake, Wisconsin. He was not very much taken with the states and was more contented with his own home. When people arose on Saturday and looked from their windows, they were surprised to see all the ground covered with three -inches of snow October 10, 1924 Edward Brady. who is in the employ of F. Eckart. Manley, met with a painful accident, when he was kicked by a horse. In the Years Agone John 'Eckart. Manley was one of the losers, in Sunday:c tornado, when it blew the verandah of flus house. • • Reuben -Hart and the family of Winthrop mored, this week to Chas. Dolnuige :s house. West rf the village: ' John Bullard of Winthrop is unpaming du' appearance.. of his -residence by putting. asphalt shingles on ft- . -Through the courtesy of Wm. Si. Apleton of Dublin, the local hard hall fans are • able tags -len in each day to. the broadcasting of the World Series.. Right Wor. C- Aberhart D.D. G.M. of Seaforth. paid: his official i'isit to Zurich Lodge 224 at Hensall when" there was a large attendance. Miss Martha Reid entertained the H. G. L. Club at the home of her, another, Mrs. J. E Reid. . The new blacksmith strop 'at Constance i.s being rushed along. The,cement walls are completed Richard Reid of town brought into the Expositor office this week a large branch that was literally covered with large raspberries._ Tie nearest approach to a cyclone that. Seaforth hers ever experienced passed ober here about 6 p.n:. Emery hydro pole from the North Gravel Road to the Maitland ..Cemetery was broken off at the ground. On. the farm of John Eckort: east of the cemetery, the orchard ►eas- «hnost completely destroyed. October 7, 1949 Thomas R.. Cluff. of the Timmons- branch of the Donanions Bank has been transferred to the Atitokon, Ontario branch. It is the site tithe Steep Rock Mines. - Mt and Mrs. J.H. Wright, former well known residents of Seaforth and now Windsor, celebrated their 50th wedding' anniversary: Mr. Wright was in the garage bitsiness in •Seaforth for nonny years, in the building now owned by W.T. Teal(. Results of the T. Eaton Co. bacon hog special prize were a,uu,unced 1st prize, Robert McMillan, Seaforth.• 2nd prize. Russel Bolton, Dublin. 3rd prize. W.E.D. Storey. Seaforth.. 4th. prize, Harry Bolger. Walton. Sth• prize Russel Bolton. Dublin. 6th prize, W Storey: Dublin: Town and provincial police HATS OFF to all the volunteers who helped the CIBC Seaforth canvas for Arthritis. Without the support and dedication of these people the campaign would not have been a success. Seaforth, Egmondville and Harpurhay raised $2493. Hats off to a special volunteer, Marjorie Hulley. She helped organize the routes and find the volunteers to canvas. are searching for thieves who broke- into a jewellery stoic in Cli,iton and escaped .with about $1.001) worth of watches, rings, •necklaces and .stones. • Mrs. James McNairn of Egmondville. won the consolation prize in a draw held by 0 London; firm at• due Westeni Fai►: She received a voucher ►ronit $40.00. John Scott of Cromarty has sold his house and lot to Geo. • Mrs. WE. Hawley of Winthrop : picked ripe raspberries in her ,garden last week. SO citizens, including business, teachers. and employees of the mill at Zurich. gathered for the purpose of digging post holes for the erection of the new 345,000 {'onm:unity. Centre and Babe Siebert Memorial Arena.- Ivan Kalhfleis.J: ►s•as ur c• large of the work. One of Seafnrrl:'s best known and hi;yd:ls respected citizens passed away in London in the person of Robert Deyeraux in his 87th Year; He was horn in Tuckersn:itl: and • wa.s married • to Johanna McGrail: of Wi,:tha,p. Frank Ellwood of Fergus is relieving at the C.N.R. Station during -Mr Kaisers's absence. Mrs. J. %V Free has leased an apartment ►eitl: Mrs. Roland Kenneth.. • Tito St. Coluinlxu: brothers were seriously injured when they fell 24 feet in a silo accident. Monday on an En:bro area farm. Joseph, 23, and Leo Cronin, 24, both employees es Schoondenyoeal. Bros. Ltd., were working (n tl:e lust silo of the season. Seaforth District High School vice-principal Bruce Shaw is running for Mayor of Eyelet 4 The summer of 1974 might not have been a great year for the crops, but it was a bumper year for, radishes, Joe Nigh of Louisa Street found out.' The radishes are tasty as well as huge say's Mr Nigh who boils them and eats them like turnip.