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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-12-02, Page 1Fresh Evergreen Wreaths, soft pine or deluxe mix 14 95 each Cash wide -wry u. COUNTRY FLOWERS Exist tr • Serving S-outli Huron Inside Cutbacks Municipalities dealt new blow by province page 3 Giving Christmas Bureau prepares for season of need page 5 Walpole? What happened to the Chiefs? Second front 4-H awards Annual ceremony in Clinton page 20 North Middlesex & Lambton Since 1873 Grand Bend man injured in truck collision EXETER - A Grand Bend man suffered major injuries after his pickup collided with a tractor trail- er on Highway 21 Thursday eve- ning. The Exeter OPP and the Zurich Fire Department responded to the accident call, in which a small truck driven by Paul Janmaat of Grand Bend became partially wedged under the tractor trailer driven by Mark Wallace of RR5 .Clinton. In order to carry our the rescuer the Zurich firefighters ended up us- ing a four-wheel drive tractor to separate the vehicles and free Jan - meat, who was treated at South Hu- ron Hospital for what police de- scribed as "major" injuries. The OPP say charges are pending over the collision, but would not re- lease further details at this time. Candlelight vigil to remember Montreal massacre GODERICH - A candlelight vigil will once again be held in the Court House Square in Goderich to re- member the deaths of 14 women killed in Montreal three years ago. Stop Woman Abuse Now (SWAN) of Huron County is orga- nizing the third annual vigil to re- member the deaths of the 14 female students killed by a gunman at Ecole Polytechniquc on the last day of classes before the engineering school's Christmas Holidays. The vigil, to be held Sunday De- cember 6, will run from 7:30-8 p.m. and will feature music and speakers to link the Montreal kill- ings to acts of violence by men against women and children. The vigil will be followed by mu- sic and hot chocolate at the Livery and organizers say all are welcome. Annual cookbook included with this issue If you're planning on making some special rec- Mgipes for the holi- day season you'll want to check the 111110 annual T -A cook- book which is in- serted in all news- papers this week. Cheques are in the mail for this year's winners: Jan Sedlak RRl Centralia; Diane Kaak, RR2 Dashwood and Joanne McKnight, hxeter. fr New equipment for /iospital X-ray technologist Tom Bowen demonstrates the flexibility of the new x-ray equipment re- cently purchased by and installed at South Huron Hospital. The larger of the two ma- chines has a motorized bed, on which co-op student Cheryl Ballantyne is lying, which can be rotated into any position from horizontal to vertical. South Huron Hospital's new $500,000 x-ray department now up and running EXETER - South Huron Hospital now has up and running, $500.000 worth of new x-ray equipment that gives the hospital a new technological edge in providing health care to the community. The new equipment not only allows the hospital to maintain its emergency diagnoses for victims of accidents and injuries, but also continues the shift towards a more "out-patient oriented" form of health care where patients can make a brief visit to the hospital for an x-ray to keep a track on their progress. Tom Bowen, chief x-ray technologist, says the de- partment handles between 30 and 40 patients a day "which is alright for a so-called small hospital". The equipment has completely replaced the hospi- tal's previous x-ray system, which Bowen said was purchased in 1976 for about $105,000 While the new system may seem considerably more expen- sive, Bowen explained that the costs cannot be easi- ly compered because the new equipment has capa- bilities far beyond what was available in 1976. The Siemens equipment, made in Germany, is also more efficient in its use of operator time through the use of remote-controlled movements, and more efficient in its use of x-ray radiation. "This is 16 years after we bought the other one. And the technology means that it uses a lot less ra- diation to do the same thing. That's better for the patient," said Bowen. With no x-ray equipment made in Canada nowa- days, the hospital board spent a year and a half eval- uating equipme9t from German, Japanese, and American mani facturers. The Siemens system came out on top. Not coincidentally, it too was cho- sen when the Clinton and Seaforth hospitals recent- ly upgraded their x-ray departments. "Right at the moment, this is the most advanced in x-ray equipment in the world...this is it." said Bow- en. who also notes the machine can be upgraded to an all-digital system should the hospital wish to eventually eliminate x-ray film entirely. The board decided to purchase the current state- of-the-art equipment mainly because they view it as something of an investment. Canadian hospitals, notes Bowen, upgrade x-ray systems only after 15 or 20 years, or "keep them until they break", unlike American hospitals which may upgrade as frequent- ly as every five or six years. While the half -million dollar expense may seem Continued on page two In Goderich court Parkhill woman pleads guilty to defrauding Exeter bank of $200,000 GODERICH - A former Commercial Account Sup- port officer for Exeter's Bank of Montreal branch pleaded guilty in a Ooderich courtroom Friday, to eight counts of fraud exceeding S1,000. Leona Faye McIntosh of RR4 Paridtill, was original- ly charged with four counts of fraud in November, 1991 following a two-month investigation by the Exet- er Town Police into a bank fraud scheme. After further investigation, four additional counts of fraud were laid against McIntosh. Although details of how the fraud was carried out and exact amounts are unavailable until her sentenc- ing, the charges involve a lots of over $200.000 from 1984-1991. However, that does not include interest losses for that period nor the potential loss of income. The Bank of Montreal assured all customer accounts that may have been affected by fntudulatt transactions have been reimbursed by the bank, although several victims who sat in on the trial expressed their concern at not yet being fully compensated in terms of interest losses. Representatives of the bank were unavailable as of press time for further comment. The Bank of Montreal did submit a request to the court for a compensation older, entitling them to resti- tution from the accused. The investigation, which began when bank officials notified police of their suspicions, involved one full- time town police officer exclusively dedicated to the case, while the OPP Anti -Rackets Branch was also brought in to assist. The prosecution delivered a 25 -page summary of their investigation to the court Friday, which will now be scrutinized prior to Mclntoth's sentencing January 22. 1993. Wednesday, December 2. 1992 iL Gaiser-Kneale Insurance SerWce itExperience Value 235-2420 75 cents Bean board will ask government for 'third line of defense' subsidy VARNA - When the Ontario Bean Producers Marketing Board meets with federal govemment offi- cials -in Ottawa later this week, they will be seeking the "third line of de- fense" to help bean farmers hard hit by the wet summer of 1992. Charlie Broadwell, general man- ager of the board, delivered that news to local producers who met at the Stanley Township Community Centre Monday evening for their annual district meeting. Broadwell said the third line of defense, direct government subsidies to farmers, will likely be needed to make up the difference between the bean farmer's average return and 'what he will end up with this year. Broadwell said while the return on an acre of white beans has aver- aged to about $342 in past years, he said a low eight -bag an acre yield many farmers are getting is likely only to earn about S200. Even after crop insurance is added in, he said a shortfall will still remain and that should "fall into the third line of de- fense". Despite the bad Ontario crop, Michigan bean producers did well, producing over two million bags, preventing bean prices from rising above normal market values. "You have to keep in mind the price isn't going to run away," Broadwell told the farmers, and added it will be hard enough to convince Ottawa to boost the initial payment on the crop to $14.00 a bag. Farmers were paid $10.79 when they delivered their beans to the el- evators this fall - an unrealistically low price said assistant general manager Marty Huzevka, since the board is selling beans up to $30 and $33. But Broadwell said holding out for a payment of $3.21 a bag will likely delay payment into the new year. "$3.20 in December is likely as good as you'll get," said Broadwell. A show of hands indicated the members agreed and supported a $3.20 payment if delivered in De- cember. A summer like 1992 hasn't been recorded in Ontario for years said Broadwell, and won't likely be seen again for decades. "It's probably once in a lifetime that you've had such a mess and you probably won't see it again, and your children neither," he said, adding that it is unfortunate this summer fell on the Bean Board's 25th anniversary. Crop insurance was another main topic of discussion for the evening. Some concern was expressed over heir the crop price would be deter- mined by the Crop Insurance Com- mission, and it was argued that an average harvest -time price as used Continued on page two Wet harvest means Iayoffs at local grain -mills HENSALL - Poor weather has meant the local grain mills will have Lc lay off some of their employees. Friday afternoon, Dale Good, Branch Manager of W.G. Thompson and Sons in Hensel', confirmed that due to the poor weather, the Hensel! mill will be forced to layoff workers. "We don't know at this point how many we're looking at it. We had the boys together and asked anyone if they would volunteer to go on layoff. You never know, some of the older ones may want to go south," said Good. He said there are 43 employees at the mill and added those who won't be laid off will be kept busy. "There are other things. There pre white beans to process and we've got the seed operation which is more fortunate than some of the other facili- ties. The poor weather conditions have meant farniers have not been able to get onto their fields and harvest the fall corn crop. • "They're finding it tough and so are we," said Good who said the laid off employees will be back in time for the spring harvest. He said that Thompson's other facilities in Seaforth, Mitchell, Port Al- bert, Granton and Ailsa Craig are in a similar predicament. Other companies have been affected as well, at Cook's in Hensel!, Hank Kraech, Chief Executive Officers said they will be laying off four or five employees as well. "We have to look at that at all our facilities," said Kraech. Cook's has mills in Centralia, Kirkton, Parkhill and Walton. Earl Wagner, General Manager at Hensall Co-op said the 20 employees at their mill don't have to worry yet. "We're okay for a while yet," he said. Response to celebrity Puncheon described as 'overwhelming' EXETER - While the totals aren't yet in, it is already clear that of- ficials of Child Find of Huron County are elated with the response to their fust ever Celebrity Luncheon held on Friday at restaurants throughout the county. Local "celebrities" took over duties as waiters and waitresses in restaurants in Exeter, Clinton, Goderich, Wingham and Zurich. All tips received and part of the price of the day's specials were donated to the Child Find organization. "Overall, everything went fantastic," said Julianne Varley of Child Find Huron County, adding that the public gave the luncheon an "overwhelming response". "The celebrities I talked to had a really good time; they had fun," said Varley, adding that most of the restaurants liked the fundraiser so much they are already asking when the next will be hold. "It looks like it's going to become an annual thing," confirmed Varley. Varlcy said while some totals arc in from most of the restaurants and communities, an overall picture on how much money the lunch- eon raised for Child Find had not yet been tallied as of Monday eve- ning. Even when the totals arc known, Varley said the Child Find executive will be deciding Wednesday whether to break the funds down by community, or to just release the overall figure. Varlcy said the organization will certainly be sending written thanks to all participating restaurants. 4