Huron Expositor, 2000-03-29, Page 1March 29, 2000
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Local weather
Wednesday --Wet snow
ending near midday
5 cm accumulation.
Clearing. High 5.
Thursday --Cloudy, sunny
..t �. periods. Isolated showers.
High 11.12.
•
Friday --Sun an d cloud.
High 12. Low 2.
Saturday --Mix of
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From Environment Canc. u
In brief
Coleman
died of
natural
causes,
autopsy
reveals
Ivan Coleman died
of a natural causes.
His body was
discovered March 20
in a Hallway in The
Commercial Hotel on
Main Street in
Seaforth.
Police were called to
the scene at 7 a.m. and
quickly cordoned off
the area• with police
tape because police
could not be certain
how Coleman, 49, had
died.
An OPP inspector
and several detectives
and police officers
were on the scene for
most of the day
although the police
tape was removed
from the scene by
noon.
An autopsy was
conducted last
Tuesday morning
revealing Coleman had
died of natural causes.
The autopsy results,
although available,
could not be obtained
by The Huron
Expositor by an
extended Tuesday
deadline.
No one from
Stratford General
Hospital. where the
autopsy was
conducted, or the
coroner's office in
Mitchell would put
The Expositor in
contact with the
coroner, J. M.
Comtois.
The officer who
received the autopsy
results was not
available in the
afternoon to release
the information to the
media.
As a result,The
Expositor had no other
information other than
that police were
treating the death as
suspicious, a process
the police had to take
until the autopsy was
completed.
By Scott Hilgendorff
'aa tuu
.Pfl %
Syrup festival '
The Maple Syrup Festival was held at the Hibbert Township Shed near Staffs Saturday with a big pancake breakfast and horse drawn wage rides.
Scott Hilgnendorff photo
Drawings coming for new dressing rooms
Plans would mark first phase of wish list for arena expansions
, if area councils approve the project that arena says is a priority
By Scott Hilgendorff
Expositor Editor
The first phase of a wish list at
Seaforth and, District Community
Centres could be on the road to reality
by the end of this month.
That's when drawings are expected
for two ,new dressing rooms and
washrooms at the facility.
"We have a proposal put together for
a wish list and immediate needs," said
Arena Manager Graham Nesbitt.
The washrooms and dressing rooms
are at the top the list as an immediate
need.
Overcrowding of the current dressing
rooms. combined with having girls
teams coming on the ice following a
boys team or mixed teams of girls and
boys, has seen people using offices and
other parts of the facility to change
before and after a game.
"We have to stick the girls.
somewhere," is what Nesbitt says ends
up happening.
He said if there's a men's team on
the ice and one with women coming up
next, there is nowhere to put them.
While area municipalities,'who share
the operating casts of the SDCC, can
probably expect a proposal for the
dressing rooms on their council tables
in the next month or two, Nesbitt said
they are also seeking grants to help pay.
for the project.
Until the detailed drawings arrive,
Nesbitt said they aren't even sure of a
ballpark figure for the renovations that
would come but expects to have that
put together in April.
To receive a grant, Nesbitt said ,one
of the criteria they will have to show
involves a change in how the facility is
used from when itwas first developed
about 20 years ago.
The reason for wanting the extra
dressing rooms in the first place is what
Nesbitt said will address that 'part of
their search for a grant.
In the last 20 years, he said the
growth of women in hockey and other
sports like broomball, which features
and number of women and coed teams,
has created a need that he hopes will
qualify them for some government
funding.
As for the washrooms, Nesbitt said,
Pee Wees only team
to push Tavistock
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Staff
• While they lost the final
two games in the All Ontario
finals last week, Seaforth's
.Pee Wee 1 Stars were the
only team to take Ontario
champion Tavistock to a
five -game series, says team
manager Richard Verbeme.
"They were fairly even
teams and we gave Tavistock
some competition they
weren't used to having. This
was the only series they were
pushed past three games,"
says Verberne of Tavistock's
undefeated record this year.
Seaforth's Pee Wees "were
smoked" Tuesday night with
a 10-1 loss but "put it back
together" Wednesday night,
losing 2-0 to Tavistock.
"It was the first time these
boys had been to an All -
Ontario final and the coaches
were pretty proud. We had a
very strong team this year,"
sa 's Verberne.
He says that a 1-0 loss to
Tavistock earlier in the year
at a Silver Stick tournament
warned the Seaforth team
that "we were going to have
our hands full" at the finals.
"But, the best two teams in
the double C division were
definitely in the finals," he
says.
The final series included a
1-0 win for Seaforth in the
first game, a tie in the second
gameand a 2-1 win for
Tavistock in the third game.
"The first three were very
close games and while the
fourth was a blow-out, the
fifth could have gone either
way," says Verberne.
Verberne says most of
Seaforth's Pee Wee 1 players
will move up to bantam level
next year, creating a
"decent" bantam team
locally, while four of the Pee
Wee 1 players will remain on
the team with some "good
players coming up."
"We could have a chance
next year to get a
competitive team going and
get to the finals again next
year," he says. •
"The biggest problem is, we
don't have handicap
accessible, washrooms in the
arena "
While there is one in the
community facility adjacent
to the arena, Nesbitt said
there needs to .be a
wheelchair accessible
washroom on the arena side.
When there are functions
taking place on the arena floor, he said
there aren't enough washrooms to go
around, particularly if the hall side of
the community centres is booked.
Nesbitt said this project, if approved
by area councils, would become "phase
one" of the wish list that could
eventually see a second ice pad in
Seaforth.
Having a plan for futureneeds was
, Groh
Nes
are
mana
am
bits,
na
ger
'something Nesbitt and SDCC
committee chair Dennis O'Connor last
year said is smart idea for arena board
to do when the duo shared the SDCC
wish list with The Huron Expositor.
O'Connor had told The Expositor the
larger plan is in place for whatever
future opportunities might arise, like
the arrival of a new industry,
that would create a greater need
for an expanded arena.
However, ice time is already a
challenge toschedule and the
arena and Seaforth Minor
Hockey are currently applying
to become a host for a regional
girls silver stick hockey
tournament that would begin
next year. .
Nesbitt said they would like to
have the new changerooms in
place by next season.
They are being designed to be
incorporated into a potential second ice
pad as the facility continues to be
prepared for the future with each step it
takes.
Nesbitt also said if they can go ahead
with the new dressing rooms, that
construction is going to have to go a
little further because of government
regulations.
Once construction begins, other parts
of the building will have to be
developed to provincial standards
including such work as the installation
of a sprinkler system in case of fires.
Whether they had it planned or not,
Nesbitt said the renovations could also
mean they have no choice but to install
a wheelchair accessible washroom.
After 8o years of serving
area farmers, OMAFRA
begins its radical changes
By Carl Stavros
Clinton News -Record Staff
After over 80 years of
servicing Huron County
farmers through personal
consultations at their
Clinton office, the Ontario
Ministry .of Agriculture,
Food and Rural Affairs.
(OMAFRA) will be
radically changing their
methods of delivering
ministry information.
As part of a realignment
program, farmers and other
rural residents who
previously visited the Don
Street office will now be
required to seek answers to
their questions through an
enhanced intern* site,
contact (call) centre and
ministry documentation
available at the newly
created Resource Centre in
Stratford.
"We are moving to new
ways of serving our clients
better," said Dan Carlow,
Manager of Marketing and
Communications for the
agricultural and rural
division of OMAFRA. He
added that the newly
created sources, "will offer
technical and business
information to farmers,
commercial agriculture and
rural business clients."
Carlow said, in an interview
from his Guelph office, that
OMAFRA's clients will
now have more options to
find the answers to their
queries.
Although Carlow stated
that the changes will be
taking place through the
month of April, he was
unable to provide specific
dates as they have yet to be
finalized by the ministry.
"Documentation can be
ordered via the website, the
contact centre," in addition
to the Resource Centres, he
explained. Prior to the
changes, clients could only
seek information through
the field offices themselves.
The website, Carlow
explained, will be an
enhanced version of the one
currently online, accessible
through the Government of
Ontario's main site. At the
contact centre, which will
utilize the 1-888-
4OMAFRA currently in
operation, industry
professionals will address
queries of caller on a one-
on-one basis, he explained.
As for the Clinton office,
the changes will consist
mainly in the areas of
service delivery. The
current Agricultural
Representative Daryl Ball,
said Carlow, will be moving
to head Stratford's Resource
Centre as the Regional
Soo AGRICULTURE, Pogo 7
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