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Lakeshore Advance, 2013-02-20, Page 1414 Lakeshore Advance • Wednesday, February 20, 2013 Wind opponents say wind company donations to conservation authority "a violation of public trust" Heather Wright QMI Agency GRAND BEND - A donation to a conservation authority by one of the wind energy companies plan- ning a massive project in the Grand Bend area is "a violation of public trust" according to anti -wind activist. And officials with the conserva- tion authority which accepted it say it may be thne to create a sponsor- ship policy. For the past six years, the Ausa- ble Bayfield Conservation Author- ity, whose watershed covers some of Lambton Shores and Warwick, has held a golf tournament to raise money to maintain trails in a memorial park In Exeter. Last year, Nexthra Energy was one of spon- sors of the event. In an interview with QMI Agency, NextEra officials say they have a long history of backing community initiatives and they make the con- tributions "because it is the right thing to do:' But the sponsorship drawn the ire of anti -wind activists who say the conservation authority has to approve the projects and should not be accepting money from the companies. Marcelle Brooks of the Middle- sex Lambton Wind Concern isn't surprised NextEra is passing out cash in the community. "They are specifically aligning themselves with community and environmen- tal organizations in order to appear sensitive," she says. Tom Prout "Fortunately, residents know all about NextEra and that they are Valentines celebrated at Queensway Lakeshore Advance Valentines was well celebrated at Queensway with a party held Feb- ruary 12th at 7 p.m. The group "Audibly Awesome" was the fea- tured entertainment and their per- formance lived up to their name with a wonderful repertoire of love songs perfect for a Valentines cele- bration. Members of the group; Len Lobb, Richard Lobb, Bert Lobb, Richard Rose, Bill Strong and Fred Lobb, besides entertaining spent time visiting with the audience fol- lowing the performance. Residents had also been involved baking & decorating heart shaped sugar cookies for the event at Baking group. The presence of family members and friends enhanced the residents enjoyment of the evening and our thanks goes to Audibly Awesome for another won- derful evening. • Tanjay & Alia Store from West - mount Mall visited February 7th with a stylish array of clothing for sale. They facilitated a Fashion Show highlighting several of their coordinated Spring Outfits. Volun- teers Joyce Pepper and Lillian Beer modeled many of the outfits doing a great job demonstrating the special features of each ensemble. Some Residents and visitors lin- gered after the show over refresh- ments while others perused the clothing displays and made their purchases. Pastoral Care Volunteer Dianne Loerchner led Worship February 5th and Pastor Colin Snyder led February 12th. Joyce Pepper was volunteer pianist for the Services while Kay Mock ushered & assisted Residents. Kippen United Church women are providing assistance and prizes at the Monday afternoon Bingo games throughout February and Lambton man facing luring charges QMI Agency A 30 -year-old Alvinston man faces criminal charges for Internet luring fol- lowing a two-month police investigation. Grand Bend Tourism.corn Ui.u.., ,,.,nd R Arca l:hn,nbur of Cbo.n.r,.• Notice Annual General Meeting of the Grand Bend & Area Chamber of Commerce Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 1pm - 2:30pm Royal Canadian Legion Nail 20 Municipal Drive, Grand Bend More Information 519-238-2001 InfoCOgrandbendtourism.com Members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Child Sex- ual Exploitation Unit, known as Project I; executed a search warrant with Lambton OPP officers at an Alvinston residence Thursday — seizing a laptop and handheld computer device. State police in Massachusetts — along with Granby, MA. municipal police and the U.S. Department of 1 lomela nd Secu- rity — began investigating after receiving three separate com- plaints from alleged victims of child luring in December, 2012. lue ______„. ater[we lly est ome ANNUAL, MEETING Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 7:30pm at the Blue Water Rest Home Chairman: Ric'har(l Erb Secretary: Ron 1Vestlake neither environmentally sensitive nor sensitive to the needs of the community. "It is an absolute conflict of inter- est to accept any money from a company exploiting its land hold- ings...NextI ra needs to get across the Ausahle River (which is under the jurisdiction of the conservation authority). 1t is a violation of a pub- lic trust:' Tom Proutt, the general manager of the ARCA, says the donation went directly to the cause through the foundation. And he says the sponsorships don't come with conditions. But Proutt concedes the spon- sorship may, to some, have an appearance of being too close to the authority which will have to give approval for the controversial Residents also enjoyed a Bingo game facilitated by program staff on Saturday February 2nd. Resi- dents continue to benefit from weekly Music 'Therapy, Massage 'Therapy, and a myriad of other pro- grams such as exercise group, sen- sory programs, 1-1 programs, woodworking, etc. A new program in 2013 which has quickly become a favourite is the iPad program on 'Tuesday afternoons with volunteer, Maura Simpson. Several Resi- dents now have the opportunity to keep in touch with loved ones at a distance through the iPad Skyping program with Staffer, Jocelyn help- ing residents to connect Tuesday and Thursday evenings & volunteer Mama facilitating Skyping'ILesday "We received information from them that they believed that the suspected person was from Ontario, based on Internet addresses that they had obtained," said OPP Det. -Sgt. Paul Thompson, with the child exploitation unit. "We assisted with the investigation and followed up on the information over the past month here, in Ontario." Officers are analyzing the two devices and Thompson expects it will be weeks before the nature and volume of the data collected is known in detail. Wast Coast kitchens.. EH": I intl.' krauts Oul .lhfnrtf,fnn And 31 uc,h Afore • Kitctxn. • ('u.I,anVanulc. • !ellen:unnk ul t him • How o111, PROFESSIONAL INSTALLATIONS CUSTOM DFSIONs & COUNTERTOPS 50 West St. (:octerich 519-440-0352 G.Jrnrh A lh,fnrf ( Anmhrr ,rl ('on,mr,, r ?t"unr•, a1 the I rry lw an! 1111M 1(mwll: s!r h w.IAllorhur"nlrLun.c, wind projects to move forward. "The energy company needs our approval for roads and transmis- sion lines," says Proutt, "but the Green Energy Act says...we have to give permits for that work. We can- not withhold our permission." A report to the conservation authori- ty's board says directors can only turn the projects down only to con- trol pollution, flooding, erosion or protect dynamic beaches. Proutt says the complaints from the public about the sponsorship from NextEra may lead to change in how donations are accepted. "'Ibis (accepting donations from wind energy companies and thea, opposition to it) is all relativel� _ new," says Proutt. "We don't have a policy and we will have to look at it:' afternoon. We are thankful for Maura's commitment to this weekly program. COMING EVENTS: • Thursday February 21st 7 p.m. Memorial Service lead by Dianne Loerchner IS Thursday February 28th 7 p.m. Birthday Party with Jim & Elaine Scott ■ March 1st 2 p.m. World Day of Prayer at Queensway with E Iensall United Church • March 5th 9:30 a.m. Volunteer & Family Council Mtg. ■ March 16th 2 p.m. St. Patty's Party with "HI Audrey" • March 28th 7 p.m. Birthday Party with music by Lisa Stewart There's 110 reason to believe there are any victims from Ontario, he said. Multi -jurisdictional investigations like this aren't uncommon, given the inter- national scope of the web, he said. "It's the Internet, so it knows no boundaries when it comes to this kind of work." The OPP unit will continue working with Massachusetts authorities,'Ihomp- son said. 'The accused, Justin Wong, 30, of Win- ston, faces 10 criminal code offences, including possession of child pornogra- phy, making child pornography, access- ing child pornography, Internet luring and transmitting sexually explicit mes- sages to a person under age 18. Wong is scheduled to appear in court on Friday for a bail hearing in Sarnia. The investigation is continuing.