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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-11-13, Page 5Times -Advocate, November 13, 1991 Campaign begins Opening the door to the United Way office in Clinton on Friday was Huron MPP Paul Klopp, right; while Huron United Way Board of Directors Bill Howson, left; and Allan Halls were on hand to help celebrate the opening. The United Way will begin canvassing local business with their fundraising drive. Letter to Editor Phoenix of Huron Dear Sir: On behalf of Phoenix of Huron, I would like to respond to the arti- cle in the paper of November 6, 1991 which states that Phoenix of Huron is "virtually empty". Phoenix of Huron provides sup-. port, advocacy and rent -geared to income. housing (for no longer than one year) for women who have suffered abuse and their chil- dren, We have 22 apartments lo- cated in three centres in Huron County - six in Exeter, six in Clin- ton and 10 in Goderich. Each of our three sites have one apartment designed for accessibility for the physically challenged. We are committed to keeping those units available for the women who need them. We opened our doors in June, 1991 and since that time we have had 28 applications for residency. Of those 17 have moved in with a total of 33 children. The remainder either were judged to be at too high risk, not suitable or changed their minds after being interviewed. Of the 17 who have moved in, four have moved out for various reasons after igetting their needs met. In Ex- eter, in particular, we have had six applications and three families moved in with a total of five children. A fourth family is under consider- ation at the time of the writing of this letter. In comparing our occupancy rate with other second stage housing programs in south - ,pt. 'On Dear Adrian: I am writing in response to a small, but on the front page, arti- cle you ran in the November 6, 1991 issue of your newspaper. Specifically, 'Building virtually empty.' The first thought that the article brought to my mind was 'a waste of money'. Knowing that this is not the case I read on. I was then appalled that 'the neighbours' should report 'few signs of life around the six -unit building.' Then you go on about the $2.2 million costs shared among three shelters and a sentence on the objectives of the accommodation. Next thought was that Mayor Bruce Shaw has always wanted . to keep his eyes closed to the truth when I read his statement made to council at the Ontarians achieve big electricity saving TORONTO - Preliminary figures show Ontarians reduced their de- mand for electricity in the fust nine months of 19.91 by enough to meet the needs of a community the size of Sudbury. Total savings to the end of Sep- tember are estimated at 170 mega- watts, somewhat higher than Sud- bury's average peak demand. The largest savings have been in light- ing, at 33 MW. ---- Savings occur when Ontatians re- place a light -bulb, a motor, or some other electrical device with one that requires less electricity; or when they insulate, weatherstrip or take some other action that reduces elec- tricity demand. Customer action is one of the main influences on de- mand, the other two being the weather and economic activity. Hydro hopes customer participa- tion in "Hcy Neighbor" alone was high enough to shave two to three megawatts off demand. This would about equal the needs of a commu- nity of 1,000 to 2,000. 4aPatA► New Spirit of Giving A nation) program In encourage giving MW l vohcceeting official opening of the building, "Only one tenant was in fact a good sigIn n. response, I am appalled that you would report any ac- tivity, other than that which Phoe- nix House wish- es you to, in con- I nection with the apartment building (s). The main idea behind the shelter is safety, privacy and secrecy. I think that any report- er, and more importantly, Council should gain adequate and complete information on the true objectives of safety havens such as Phoenix House before making comments or reports. In case you didn't know, there is a whole lot of abuse in Retailers say no to Sunday shopping during pre -Christmas period EXETER - On October 23, Solic- itor -General Allan Pilkey an- nounced an amendment would be introduced by the NDP government to the Retail Business Holidays Act. The issue at hand; to permit store openings on Sunday during the month of December until Christmas. While some feel that it may com- pensate a recession -weary retail in- dustry, local store owners seem to feel it is unnecessary. "The majority of businesses in town are against Sunday shop- ' ping," said BIA chairman, Don Rompfh, owner of the Selah book store. "They feel that their employ- ees are entitled to a common day off and they want to continue this type of employer-employee rela- tionship." Currently, Bill 115 permits mu- nicipalities to exempt themselves from the Sunday closing law. Many centres closer to the border already allow Sunday shopping. The amendment announced by So- licitor -General Allan Pilkey on Oc- tober 23, would allow store open- ings on Sunday throughout December before Christmas. "Because of the location, em- ployees and it being a small town, it's quite a decision to make added Rompfh. "People here feel their employees are entitled to that one common day, although some would open if competition warrants it and they were forced into it." "Myself, I wouldn't care if the whole town opened up. I would not open on Sunday." When surveyed, other local retail- ers echoed the sentiments of Rompfh. western Ontario, we find we are exceeding the rate of occupancy we had originally projected based on their experiences. Other pro- grams have had 50 percent occu- pancy after operating for six months and 100 percent by the end of the first year. We appreciate the support the Exeter community has shown us since we have opened our doors and we look forward to a contin- ued positive relationship. If neigh- bours or members of the communi- ty have questions or concerns, we welcome your calls so that we can discuss them with you. Sincerely, Arlene Timmins Coordinator Phoenix of Huron 1�11t ,l,J:,U4iJ111i1. itl MU dt . . .1 .41; Why. .tobtititg2.zi balsa 'b a/ homes around the area. It is too bad that people think that they shouldn't talk : lout it. '1 kfully, now there is a way for r .,o le to get the help they need and they don't have to do it alone. In conclusion, I think it is unfor- tunate that the local news ap re- ported on tenants of pPtlo tiix House and I am deeply saddened by the fact that Council thinks it is a good sign that there is only one person there, when in fact, all it means is hundreds of people, adults and children, maybe your neighbours, your daughter, your grandchildren, are living in abusive situations when they shouldn't and don't have to. Sincerely. 1,.yn Keyser Supporta of positive futures Coming next week... The T -A's annual. Christmas song book. canon FI 1X/LIJBLASER IX/PIER INSTA]VT COLOUR COPIES Enlarge family orteam photos to 8 1/2.x 11 or even 11 x 17 instantly with outstanding results. Ideal for business presentation materials... evert colour transparencies 424 Main Street Exeter 235-1331 A "No, we will not open," said Mike Anstett of Anstett Jewellers. "I think you'll find that's the norm in the smaller centres because there just isn't the volume of consumer traffic to warrant it necessary." Peter Antaya of the Saan store said that "as a company, we don't like the thoughts of opening on Sunday. It's not our policy or pro- cedure to do so. And it's not some- thing we would like to see year round." But he also added that "if competition warrants it, then 1 guess we have to follow suit." "Were not anxious on getting into Sunday shopping," said Rompfh. "We're kind of letting the market go whichever way,it,wants to go. And I really don't think that, for ex- ample, if London decided to go with Sunday shopping, that it would really effect Exeter." Rompfh cites extra wages and op- eration costs as cutting too far into sales to make opening Sunday fea- sible. "If you look at your sales, people only have so many dollars to spend, whether they spend it in six days or spend it in seven." Bob Geller? of Stedmans agrees with staying closed on Sunday, but unlike Rompfh he said larger cen- tres nearby would definitely have an impact on his decision. "If London, or say Stratford, were to go, I would have to," said Ge- han. "It would also have to depend on what happened around here. If some of the others around here . opened then I would probably have to. It's all competition driven. If no one does it then we won't." Gehan also said he didn't feel the cross-border shopping issue had a large enough impact on this area to warrant opening on Sunday. "That's really for the major cen- tres which are closer to the US, not a small town such as ours," remind- ed Gehan. "They have all these studies that 80 percent of the Canadian popula- tion is in favour of Sunday shop- ping. But a lot of it is the cities im- pacting the figures. If they ever did a study of just small towns, I think you would find a different result." At the moment, the NDP amend- ment is being held up in the legisla- ture while it is reviewed by an all= party justice committee. 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