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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-07-08, Page 1OaraaUNas 1 '815 -Bunch of 10 Cash & Carry • lho COUNTRY fnOWfRS Abater • Sake r -K nestle Matsu ranee it Service Experfence Wee 235-2420 180th celebration Stooking and threshing bee page 2 CIaitvoyante Psychic Fair comes to Grand Bend page 3 Exeter Villa Nancy Holland as activities director page 5 125th Birthday Canada Day celebrations in Exeter page 6 Fastball Imperials finish second Second front 'm1..Rh lex t' Tomes running for warden GODERICH - Stephen Township reeve Tom Tomes announced on Thursday he is a candidate for the office of warden of Huron County. He was the only councillor to an- nounce his candidacy at. the .final full session of council until the summer recess. Tomes was defeated in last years election by Zurich's Bob Fisher. "I tend to get around but not pest- er," he said of visiting fellow coun- cillors during the summer to ensure their vote. County council meets again in September and the new warden is elected iu; arty December. Traffic Tight hopes squashed_ EXETER - A bid to install new traffic lights at the corner of Victor- ia and Main Streets in Exeter has failed. According to an engineer's report Fermented to the public works com- mittee. not enough traffic crosses Main Street at that intersection to warrant a traffic light to meet Min- istry of Transportation require- ments. Council had sponsored a traffic count at both Wellington and Vic- toria's intersections with Main in May in the hope that a traffic light could be of benefit to motorists and pedestrians that use either of those corners. The public works committee, however, is not giving up. They have recommended that another traffic count at Victoria and Main be conducted in the fall. No casino for Bend? EXETER - Grand Bend investors will fail to win the province's ap- proval for a casino, according to one beater man. Don Winter. who attended the re- cent Ontario Association of Com- mittees of Adjustment conference in Windsor, heard Minister of Mu- nicipal Affairs David Cooke say there will be gambling casinos in Ontario. Windsor, Cooke's home riding. will be one to have a casino. According to Winter, the prov- ince will not approve more than one casino for Southwestern Onta- rio, : so "Grand Bend will not be successful whetter we feel this is an advantage or not for this re- " North Middlesex & Lamhtnn Global Vision nominee Lucan student By Adrian Harte T"A Editor LUCAN - A Lucan teenager has been selected as one of 20 students from across Canada to participate in an international trade program. MP Terry Clifford announced at Lucan's Canada Day celebrations that Loretta Foran, a grade 12 stu- dent of Medway High School, had been chosen as one of the partici- pants in the month-long Global Vi- sion "Our Competitive Advantage" program. Foran will be travelling to Van- couver this week for training at Si- mon Fraser University before head- ing to Singapore to study. trade and culture in Malaysia with Canada's Consul General and High Commis- sioner in the nation state. Foran is the only representative from Southwestern Ontario on the trade delegation. She was selected according to academic achieve- ment, languages ability, work expe- rience and -will -be canonised to do- ing 100 hours of axsmmunity work when she returns. Much of that commitment will be spent at Speak- ing engagements where she can share her experiences of Canada's trade relations with Malaysia. Farad said she did not apply -for the program and the phone call tell- ing her she had been chosen for Global Vision came "totally out of the blue". Her principal at Medway High School was among her nominees for the program. "'Things were starting to get a lit- tle boring," said Foran of her plans for the summer. This month-long excursion has changed all that. Global Vision, a joint program of the federal government and Canadi- an corporations, sent 80 students to Europe last year, one of whom was Kevin Clay of London. Clay was present at the public announcement of Foran's selection last Wednes- Sint , 1€47: n way to Singapore -day. Clifford, after the ceremony, Mid that Foran's selection as one of 20 Canadian teenagers was a signifi- cant achievement. He said the pro- gram really does give students a first-hand view of how trade is eon ducted in other parts of the world - knowledge that is vital to Canadian htdustries seeking to expand its markets. Clifford noted that the many agri- cultural businesses of Middlesex and Huron Counties will likely we the Pacific Rim become a vital trad- ing partner in the years to come. After her tour, Foran should be able to offer help to those companies on the cultural and business expecta- tions of that region. 'It isn't just to help her, it's to af- fect hundreds of other Canadians," said -Clifford. "To realize Canada is a world player". Continued on page 2 Cool weather rules out ;bumper crops for local farmers By Adrian Harte T -A Editor CLINTON - This time last year, Huron fawners could see corn standing shoulder high in their fields. With the recent turbulent and cold weather, corn stands only about knee-high, leading agricultural experts at the Ministry of Agriculture to effectively rule out bumper crops for 1992. Brian Hall at Clinton's OMAF office said that county fields are about 125 heat units behind normal for this time of year. Contrasted with the seamy and hot spring weather of the past two years, that difference is all the more dramatic. "We won't get bumper yields at this point," said Hall, but added that if the weather does turn around the crops could catch up. "It's too early to say we won't get normaiiields. " Otherwise, -wheat, barley and pea crops look good in Huron. Some vegetable crops near Grand Bend and in the Hay Swamp area were "devastated" by the frost two weeks ago. The first cut of hay did look good, but if left in the field for the past two weeks, its quality has likely been hurt by the rains. "Anyone still trying to do hay is having a hard time getting dry days," said Hall. The soybean crop so far shows good emergence. but "that's all we know at this point," explained Hall. While farmers are likely holding out hopes for sunny warm days in the next two months, the weather fore- casters still predict the upset "backwards" weather may continue. "If the weather continues like this through the sum- mer then we'll certainly have reduced yields," said Hall, .who also pointed out that the cold weather gave the upper hand to weeds because the crops were slow to grow and force them our - - "it's mere difficult, for weed ameretothlryter7satd Hall, who expects -many producers may be investing some more time with scuffling and cultivating between the rows this summer. Legion donation keeps police -bicycle patrols on the street EXETER - The Exeter Police's bicycle patrols -will be -back on the meets this summer. and now with a bicycle of their own. Last year's pilot project to put officers on the beat with pedal power was such a,es .theft the police decided the force needed its own bicycle. Unfor- tunately, that item was one of those trimmed from the 1992 budget, so chief Jack Hadcness applied to the local Legion for help. Thanks to a $ l.000 donation, a new Cycle Tech mountain bike hits the streets this week. The Calgary company bas been ag- gressively promoting its bicycles for police use. Lightweight. but rugged enough to stand daily use. the Cycle Tech was esiected as a best buy for the police's needs. With accessories (iaclud- - ing . the obligatory lights and bell) there is still a little money left over fix the police to pur- chase bicycle safety material. If an officer mots a cyclist obeying the rules of the road, they can lc rewarded with a re- flective "happy face" sticker. Harkness said he is also consid- ering a bicycle helmet draw at the end of the season for all those cyclists awarded with stickers. However. there is also a more serious side to policing. by bicy- cle. While it cannot replace a cruiser, one of which must re- main on the nada at all times, the bicycler has shown to have its own advantages. Constable Liam Braman, who used his own bicycle for the pi- lot patrols Jost year, found ,be was able. to. awe argily -aadlch Owe ,with liquor in . *Aides. -He even sande a dug seizure: approecbirtg aver art bieye1e. .cryiser would bave.biew too vis- ible. "A lot of .jssibelt .wassjimpt .err rc,iitteueutilaalal r, WO* AAA ot,,ptttrpiabyjwtatiae," �d Brannan. Harkness -said -the bicycle pa- trols should be an effective weapon against mischief, thefts, and vandalism in and around Ex- eter's parks. public buildings and Jbsk.Al►eYs "They often look out for a cruiser - so if they don't see a cruiser the element of surprise is ours," said Harkness. The bicycle is also seen as having further advantages. It can cult through congested Main Street treble, can quickly tra- verse parks and river areas in emergencies. and brings the offi- cer outside his "hunk of metal with four tires underneath" to be closer to the public. Harkness said he was grateful to the Legion for seeing fit to sponsor the bicycle purchase to keep the program alive. "1 was diseppointcd when the budget wouldn't accommodate it. I couldn't see letting it he as a done issue," said Harkness. "The pilot run last year proved it was worthwhile." The new bicycle will be avail- able to all officers who can de- cide if the weather warrants. they can supplement the cruiser patrol with a little old-fashioned pedal power. $1,000 cheque was presented to chief Jack Harkness (left) Monday afternoon by Exeter Legion president Jim Mer- ryJees. In the foreground is the new bicycle to be used by the officers on bicycle patrols outfitted like constable Liam Brennan at right. London Middlesex MP Terry Clifford congratulates Lucan's Loretta Fontan, one of 20 nominees chosen from across Cana- da to participate in an international trade program. 'own asked to consider smoking restriction bylaw EXETER - As reeve Bill Mickle pointed out Monday evening, Exeter al- ready las a bylaw regulating smoking in is_municipal buildings, but Dr. Maarten Bokhout, medical officer of the Huron County Health Unit, was asking couecil to go the full course. Bokhout said it is time for Huron mu- ..nicipalities-toadopt bylaws to restrict smoking in all public places. Bokhout read from a prepared statement at Monday evening's council session. He patted out tobacco is the only product sold in Canada which causes death when used exactly as intended by the manufacturer. He also Mid smoking related deaths in Canada are equivalent to a crash of a jumbo jet e four days. Bokhout said an "overwhelming majority'' over 80 percent of Huron's population supports smoke free areas in public places, including restau- rants, workplaces, retail stores, banks, doctors offices, theatres, and at large indoor gatherings. He also said it was a misconception that smoking restrictions hurt busi- ness. An utcreeasing number of restaurant customers ask for non-smoking areas and he said no business that has made non-smoking a policy has ever reported a drop in business. Bokhout insisted that smoking be banned in all public places except those with separate designated smoking areas. Sectioning off areas of the same room "is like designating chlorinated and non -chlorinated ends of swimming pools". he argued. While smoking bylaws usually include fuses of several thousand dollars they are rarely laid. Bokhout said the bylaw is mostly for compliance, not enforcement. Deputy -reeve Lousy Fuller said she had spoken to a lot of people about such a bylaw. agrees with it herself and thinks it will eventually be ap- proved. Bart she said the Recreation Centre board should be consulted, Conti ued on page 2 Huron County doesn't want responsibility of provincial highways GODERICH - Huron County is taking a farm stood wawa tate province's attempt to taw* the msinumpaa of three .highways from tit ptuvinoe,to.the. county. As part .of tie. distawaggle went process. the costly could be told they will becamerespon- sible for the upkeep of High- ways 83,84 and 87. During Thattaflay's county council meeting in Gtoderich, Exeter reeve Bill Mickle joked the NDP government should post signs saying they have *Widmer! she highways. "Wc don't want these high- ways,".said Mick c. The county's enguteet has been authorised to approach the Ministry of Transportation con - caning the future of the high - We may end up goring thorn by virtue of wallies with thorn (province). but cwt having Any lunacy ;to kook *slier it." Oldie added the county tax- payers elol►ild not have to fano - cWY stlipoll the 4iphways. "I dura t believe the proviape basright io.dowrtpeade than to a " Sid the coYaty, if tithi ditty are sono piWe kor Abe �may Act do it. is a kale ilay'U flip it On Acs. Meat dvS t't mon ,Ire Los Joelccept 4 4