HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2000-04-12, Page 66 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, AprII 12, 2000
Youth found with drill
after break and enters
A I5 -year-old Sealorth male has been charged alter the
Freeze King Restaurant on the west edge of Seaforth anda
garage were broken into at approximately 4:15 a.m. on
April 5.
A person entered the restaurant through a window. and•
after checkingthc premises police found nothing to be
missing.
The owner and police found a young male walking on
Main Street and after further questioning, found that the
youth had broken into the restaurant, had just broke into a
garage where he stole a drill press and was on n his way to
break into another place using the drill.
Van damaged
A 1983 Ford van on Victoria Street in Seaforth was
damaged sometime in the last two months.
It was reported on April 3 that a person lifted the hood.
cut all the wires to the distributor cap and cut several more
wires that led to different areas of the engine while the van
had been left in the driveway for the winter months.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the OPP or
Crimestoppers.
Business breakfast
a successful event
eyScottHilBertdorff the Provincial Savings
building on Main Street
Expositor Editor
following a March 28 report
Seaforth council will from the Local Architectural
donate a town flag to the Conservation Advisory
Seaforth Dublin and Mitchell Committee. -
Lions Club TV auction this The front door of the
year. building will he painted
• Administrator Jack burgundy and the back -lit
McLachlan . said the sign is being, removed and
traditional board game the will be replaced with a
town donates to the annual'- wooden sign lit with goose-
fund raising event has not neck lighting, which
received many bids and conforms with LACAC's
suggested the town flag guidelines• for building
might generate more bidding. signage.
Deputy Reeve William •Business breakfast
Teal) said with Seaforth as success
expected to become part of The first breakfast meeting
Huron East next year, the of the Business Retention and
town flag could be seen as a Expansion Committee was a
momento. success, report committee
Town still investigating members Gwen Devereaux
what to do with its PUC and Coun. Paul Menary.
With a deadline looming in Thirty-five business people
November for municipalities attended the meeting with 21
to decide the fates of their people completing a
public utilities, now that comment sheet, stating they
Ontario Hydro had would like to see the program
deregulated. Seaforth is still continue.
exploring its options. - "That's good response for
Several new hydro the first time out," said
companies have come Mayor Dave Scott at
forward looking for this. council's March 28 meeting.
area's PUCs to join them. The meeting is being set up
Municipalities in Huron as a chance for the business
and Perth County have been community to network and to
looking into forming what is hear from speakers about
called a "joint venture business related issues.
company' where together, Devereaux told . The'
they would look after Expositor the first speaker.
supplying hydro services to Chris Lee, was well-received:
the area, following newly He spoke about e-commerce
established regulations for opportunities for business
how the power must be and the need to explore the
distributed and billed. markets available through the
Other options include internet.
selling the PUC to the newly The next meeting will take
formed. provincial -run power place April 20.
company. With the,success of the
Area municipalities have business — retention
been trying for more than a committee's first breakfast
year to determine whether or meeting, Coun. Heather
not- to form their own joint
. venture company.
Mayor Dave Scott told
council at its March 28
meeting he hopes a decision
can be made in the next few
months so there is time to go
through the procedures of
setting up the new PUC
structure before the
November deadline.
He said municipalities are
realizing it will be hard to
operate the companies on
their own without another
corporation's expertise in the
energy industry to help
handle the operation.
Municipalities met with
one energy company two
weeks ago and with two
more last week offering ways
of forming partnerships.
seeking this area's public
utilities' business.
"It's ongoing and there's a
lot of information happening
all at once," said Scott. '
LACAC's budget approved
Council approved thc
Local Architectural
Conservation Advisory
Committee's $1,500 budget
that Deputy Administrator
Cathy Garrick said, was
"virtually the same as last
year." at council's March 28
meeting.
The balance of last year's
budget, $1,211.61 has been
transferred to reserves.
There is currently about
.Robinet said a rejuvenation
has alsotaken place with the
Business Improvement Arca.
That committee had a
general meeting last month
that sawseveral business
people join the BIA's
executive.:
Heather Robinct said
there's "a lot of keen,
enthusiastic people," taking
part now and that they are all
excited about working with
the Business Retention and
Expansion Committee.
Dinsmore steps down
from Police Services Board
Bob Dinsmore, member of
the Seaforth Police Services
Board for seven years. has
stepped down.
Dinsmore was the
provincial appointee- to the
board and his time allotted to
that position has expired.
Replacing him as the
provincial appointee to the
board is Joe,Steffler.
Firefighters construct shed
Members of the Seaforth
Fire Department have been
given permission to construct
a small building to be used
for storage adjacent to thc
fire hall.
The building will he
constructed at thc
firefighters' expense and
received no objections from
the Seaforth and Area Fire
Board. .
Fire calls up
$27.000 in that reserve. The Seaforth and Arca Fire
Provincial Savings Department responded to 43
building calls last year.
to make changes That is an increase of 13
Council approved some calls from last year.
changes to the appearance of
News
Strong stand against mega hog barns
taken by National Farmers Union
By Tim Cumming •
Goderich Sgnol-5tor Editor -
Large meat processing
firms financed their growth
and mergers through the low
prices paid to pork
producers, said the Vice -
President of the National
Farmers Union (NFU) on a
trip to Huron -and Perth
Counties.
"There's no evidence to
say there was a conspiracy
but the lower the price, the
more profit the companies
made," said Fred Tait, who
visited Kingsbridge on
Monday night and the
Crosswinds Restaurant in
Mitchell on Tuesday. "They
didn't .have to go to financial
institutions and borrow large
chunks of capital ... they did
that with the purchase of
(cheap) hogs."
Tait spoke to about 30
people in a circle of chairs in
the basement of Kingsbridge
Roman Catholic Church
where he took a strong
position against hog
megabarns.
During the pork price
collapse in 1998 family
farmers lost the equity they
had built up over one or two
generations. That loss of cash to last another two or three
in the bank is preventing years; said Tait.
them from competing with Large corporate farms in
large operations and forcing Manitoba are essentially
them to become contract or hiring farmers as labourers
tenant 'farmers for big and using - agricultural
companies, said Tait, a legislation to get around
Manitoba farmer with a 200- paying benefits such as.
acre beef operation. and workmen's compensation,
sawmill near Portage La said Tait. The operations also
Prairie. require long hours and are
"When the prices began to leading to respiratory
recover, the growers were in illnesses.
a position .of facing "If they're going to be-
bankruptcy," he said. "The changing us from feigners to
alternative to bankruptcy was labourers we're going to
to become contract growers." negotiate a better deal," said
In the past, a drop in prices the Farmers Union Vice -
would lead family farmers to President.
cut back production. Today. Changes in the meat
large processors can lose packing industry have
money on their hog resulted in unsafe andlow-
operations because they paying conditions for
make money on the packing employees of the : large
side, said Tait. This processors, said Tait.
contributes to an increase in "Traditionally, it was hard
production at the same time work, it was dirty work, but
the price paid for hogs it paid well," he said. Today,
remains flat. that has changed.
"Small and medium-sized Tait claims that the growth
producers cannot exist in this of large intensive livestock
environment."' operations in Canada is
Meanwhile, there is a largely the result of large
lingering commodity price • American hog operations that
slump in almost all sectors have worn out their welcome
except the supply -managed in their U.S. homes.
foods. Government sources Many of those who
expect those basement prices attended Monday night's
meeting. were organic
farmers or nrcmhcrs of
environmental groups with
names like PROTECT and
CARES (Citizens Active
Representing the
Environmental Sector).
-The NFU Vice -President
.says agriculture is, built
around the aquifer and the
construction of• large
intensive livestock operations
is creating predictably
negative results • on the
environment.
The Farmers Union is part
of. a coalition called Hog
Watch Manitoba. It's . a.
"strange alliance," he said.
and he acknowledged.
significant-. differences
between coalition members._
such as farm groups and 'the
Humane - Society. Tait.
however,- calls the
environmental coalition an
unqualified success at raising
awareness about concerns
with the environment related
to large intensive livestock,
farms. _
The National Farmers'
Union: is a direct-
membership- national farm
organization with .more than
10,000 members.
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