Huron Expositor, 2001-10-10, Page 1Ri " " a
October 10, 2001
Si
(includes GST)
Doug
Elliott, CFP
.ot
(kluba 9, 2001
best S.I.C.
Rats
30 Day...3■25%
1 Year _3E05%
5 Year.. 4•80%
CARTIER PARTNERS
FINANCIAL SERVICES
26 Main St., Seaforth
527-2222
In brief
Police
seek
suspect
in Cardno
smash
;land grab
theft
Police are seeking a
suspect seen near
Cardno's Mens Wear in
Seaforth before a smash
and grab early last
Wednesday morning that
saw more than $15,000
worth of clothing stolen.
Officers responded to
an alarm that had been
activated at 3 a.m. at the
store where they found
the front door had been
smashed to gain entry.
Taken were a large
quantity of men's pants,
women's coats and other
clothing.
Debris on the ground
outside the Main Street
store had been used to
smash the glass.
Police are looking for a
clean-shaven man in his
late, 20s -between 5'6"
and 5'8." tall who was
wearing dark clothing.
He was seen near the
break-in and anyone with
information is asked to
contact the Huron OPP or
Crimestoppers at 1-800-
222-8477.
Halloween display
damaged
A Halloween
scarecrow display was
destroyed and other
display items damaged
by vandals in Grey.
OPP were called Oct. 4
at 11:30 a.m. to College
Corner Crafts on Maple
Keys Line.
Sometime overnight,
someone entered the
property and damaged
the display.
Mailbox stolen
Two mailboxes worth
$100 each were reported
stolen from Monerieff
Road in Grey on Oct. 4.
The light blue metal
mailboxes were shared
by neighbours and were
taken sometime the night
before.
Liquor stolen
More than $800 worth
of liquor was reported
stolen after a break and
enter at the Commercial
Hotel on Main Street in
Seaforth.
The owner of the hotel,
also a bar, called police
on Sept. 18 at 5:15 p.m.
when he found someone
had forced a door open to
get into the bar.
Inside...
Condolence
book con still
be signed..
Paye a
Newpihdpal
%ohms Tessier
tckoesthe heim...
Pagel 0
Find rutoloacss event in
Walton this weekend._
Pa*
Schools to be listed again
Schools to be identified Oct. 23 could face possible closure
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Staff
Seaforth is "sitting on
tenterhooks" for the month of
October until a list of schools
to be studied for closure is
released - possibly as soon as
Oct. 23 - by the Avon
Maitland District School
Board, says Seaforth District
High School council chair
Maureen Agar.
"It's like waiting for a root
canal or waiting for
Christmas and hoping for the
stocking instead of the box of
coal," she says.
"Of course, we're hoping
for the Grades 7 and 8 in the
high school option," says
Agar, adding that the current
enrolment of SDHS at 250
students would be close to
300 with the Grades 7 and 8.
The West Central
community accommodation
study committee, which
includes Seaforth-area
schools, presented its report
to the school board at last
night's meeting, asking for
Grades 7 and 8 to join the
high school to prevent its
closure.
Superintendent Bill Gerth
says a director's action
report, anticipated for the
Oct. 23 meeting, will name
"schools under review for
substantial change."
"The changes could
include scenarios of closure
or grade reorganization or
boundary changes. Any
number of things are
possible," he says.
"It's a mistake to say it's
all about closure. One could
argue significant building
could be going on," says
Gerth.
While the director's report
on Oct. 23 will deal with
"changes" at district schools,
Gerth says a meeting
Joy riding...
Ingrid Vloet and Maryke Geene take a ride during a special event held Saturday at Bontrup s Frontier Town near Kinburn.
Activities were held at the horse farm to raise funds for Special Olympics
Clint Haggartphoto
sometime in December will
be more likely to release a
list of schools to be studied
for closure. He says the date
of that meeting has not yet
been established.
As well, the board's final
decision relating to school
accommodation and any
possible closure, will be
made in February, "in all
probability," says Gerth.
School
study
groups
present
options
By Stew Slater
Special to The Huron Expositor
Reports were presented
last night (Tuesday, Oct. 9)
from four community-based
study groups looking into
how the Avon Maitland
District School Board
(AMDSB) should tackle a
continuing trend towards
declining student enrolment
and decreased utilization of
student spaces.
The four Community
Accommodation Study
Committees (CASCs),
representing West Central,
South, North, and Stratford
areas of the Huron and
Perth County -based board,
were struck in May, 2001.
Though there is still an
opportunity for the public to
have input through each
school council, under board
policy, last night's
presentations marked the
final participation by the
committees in a process
which could potentially
lead to school closures.
At the next regular
meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 23,
board staff is expected to
bring forward for trustee
approval a List of schools to
be studied further for
accommodation -related
changes.
At last night's meeting,
the four reports differed
Sim CLOSURE, Page 5
Hundreds of ladybugs invading homes
Numbers increased with aphid food supply, bugs now looking for places to winter
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Staff
For Juliet Edwards and her family in their
Winthrop -area farmhouse, the song Ladybug,
Ladybug was just not working to make the huge
numbers of bugs fly away home.
"I have never seen so many ladybugs in my life.
It feels like one of those science fiction movies
with the whole porch just crawling with bugs," she
says of the recent population explosion of ladybugs
on her property and throughout Southwestern
Ontario.
And, while she recently had her house sprayed
for flies, she's relieved that many of the ladybugs
also succumbed.
"I feel so evil spraying but I broke down because
of all the flies this summer and it did a job on the
ladybugs too. It was the invasion of the little red
things - we couldn't do the gardening last weekend
because of all the ladybugs landing on our hair and
arms. Everytime we came into the house we had to
pick 10 ladybugs off each of us," she says.
A recent press release from the Ministry of
Natural Resources says favourable
weather conditions and an
abundance of food are behind the
noticeable increase in the ladybug
population.
Outbreaks of aphids and scale
insects on soybeans and fruit trees
have provided plenty of food this
year for the 180 species of
ladybugs in Ontario.
And, Tracey Baute, field crop
entomologist for the Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) is
concerned that misinforipation
about the current abundancE of ladybugs could be
causing people to resort to using pesticides.
"There is no such things as a had ladybug. These
are the good guys of the garden. There is no public
health threat. The ladybugs are an annoyance but
they're easily vacuumed up," she says.
Because the majority of ladybugs now prevalent
in Ontario are an Asian variety that differ from
native species by spot numbers, colour, size and
Quoted
I have never
seen so many
ladybug in my
life, --
Juliet Edwards,
Winthrop -area
resident.
the number of segments on their legs,
Baute says myths are spreading that
these ladybugs are somehow "bad."
While she agrees that ladybugs
native to Ontario could be threatened,
impacting local biodiversity, she says
that ladybugs of any species are still
very beneficial.
"They could never be looked
upon as cockroaches, wasps or
spiders. They don't feed on wood and
they're not going to cause any harm
and they're not spreading disease.
There are much worse things that
could be invading your home," she
says.
The Asian ladybugs are more aggressive than the
native varieties and will bite. But, their
aggressiveness is helpful in combating the new
soybean aphid, which is an Asian variety as well,
says Baute.
"Their bite is more of a pinch - it's the way they
see if you are a food source. But there's no blood."
SM PEST, Pogo 2