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Times Advocate, 1996-11-13, Page 3Region) wrap up, Attempted robbery foiled by customers GODERICH - A 19 -year-old Goderich man turned himself in to police last week after an at- tempted robbery of a gas bar was foiled by approaching cus- tomers. According to the Goderich Signal -Star, a man entered the Huron Square Gas Bar at 11 p.m. on Nov. 2 and pointed a gun at the clerk. When custom- ers approached the man was frightened away and nothing was stolen. Police issued a warrant for the man's arrest after executing a search warrant at a Goderich home. The man has since been charged with attempted robbery, forceable confinement and use of a fire arm to commit an in- dictable offence. Community rallies behind hospital CLINTON - Although the Hu- ron -Perth District Health Coun- cil claims 'save our hospital' campaigns will not help its task force make hospital restructur- ing decisions, many concerned about the Clinton Public Hospi- tal gathered for an organization- al meeting at the Clinton Town Hall on Oct. 29 in an effort•to begin a campaign. According to the Clinton News -Record, 150 people showed.for the meeting that was called on short notice. At the meeting, Mike Falcon- er, board member at CPH, dis- pelled speculation that the DHC task force will recommend clo- sure of the Clinton hospital. He noted no hospitals in Hu- ron -Perth have been specifically targeted for closure at this time. However, he added, restructur- ing will mean major changes in- cluding service reductions and the possibility of closures. Board to sell eight buses HURON/PERTH COUNTIES - The Huron -Perth Roman Cath- olic School Board plans to sell eight of its buses, reported the Huron Expositor. At an Oct. 28 meeting, trus- tees agreed to sell the buses and contract all busing to local bus operators. Gerry Thuss, superintendent of business and finance, told the Expositor the board will begin replacing school buses next year, although the Ministry of Education and Training no long- er provides funding to purchase buses. The buses will be put up for sale immediately in hopes of selling them by the end of the year. High winds demolish shed KIPPEN - High winds crum- pled a shed full of equipment at Cpleman Farms at the south- west edge of Kippen on Oct. 30, reported the Huron Expositor. John Coleman was working inside the 50 by 80 -foot shed when it blew away. Coleman es- timated the wind speed at ap- proximately 90 km per hour. IN/Tar NEim ‘,/, Terry Crabe, Natural Heritage Education/Resource Man- agement and Enforcement Supervisor at Pinery Provincial Park, was presented with the Shan Walshe Award for Ex- cellence in Interpretation recently. Crabe received the pre- stigious award during the Provincial Natural Heritage Edu- cation Fall Conference at the Leslie M. Frost Natural Resource Centre near Dorset Ontario. The award was named in honor of Shan Walshe, a renowned naturalist, and annually recognizes an individual's exceptional contri- bution to interpretation - specifically, initiatives that reflect a significant effort to foster respect for the sanctity of na- ture and heritage. Representatives from Ontario Parks made the presentation with an audience of interpreters from across the province. Crabe came to Pinery in 1977 and the programs he has developed are recognized as a model for the province. County supports bid for reactor GODERICH - Huron County council has given its support to a Canadian bid to have an experi- mental nuclear fusion reactor built at the Bruce Nuclear Power De- velopment. The $20 billion reactor would be a joint project of the United States, Russia, Japan the European Un- ion and Canada. Canada, with sites at the Bruce and Darlington, is competing with Japan to host the project. Bruce County Warden Stuart Re- avie made a presentation to county council to seek its support for the pry1 ect. Fusion is considered to be the next step in high-volume energy production. The reactors now operating around the world are based on fis- sion, a process in which the atoms are split. Uranium 235 is used as the fuel for the reaction. In a fusion reactor, the atoms are heated until they fuse together, which releases energy. Fusion is attractive as less waste is produced and less material is needed to fuel the reaction. Chanc- es of an out -of -control nuclear ac- cident, as occurred at the Cher- nobyl nuclear reactor in the Ukraine, are slim as fuel, in the form of deuterium or tritium atoms, is fed into the reactor at a con- trolled rate. Ontario Hydro spokesman Terry Squire said Ontario is the best place in the world for the reactor because the Bruce and Darlington stations produce tritium (worth $2.5 to 10 million per kg) as a by-product of the present fission reaction. As well, Ontario is seismically more stable than Japan. Squires said it would be much cheaper to build the reactor in Canada and Canadians are known for their experience with nuclear power. So far, few experiments have been able to create a fusion re- action which releases the amount of energy believed to available from fusion. But there remains much op- timism that fusion is possible. • The massive project would create about 3;000 construction jobs over 10 years from 1998 to 2008 and then 1,000 jobs during the oper- ating phases, until 2028. An additional 600 workers from outside the country would work at the plant during the 30 -year pe- riod. Reavie said the federal govern- ment has yet to commit financially to the project, but has not turned down the idea of the project. The federal government is being asked to contribute $10 million per year for 30 years, which will be matched by the province. Reavie said the reactor project could generate $50 million per year in taxes. Squire said fusion technology will not likely be available com- mercially until the middle of the 21st Century. Little support to . return county levy GODERICH - There was little support at county council for Exet- er's recommendation to return $1.25 million the county levies per year from municipalities. Over the years, the Money has been used for large projects bene- fitting the whole county, such as building the county museum. More recently, the money was used to develop a plan for a county -wide landfill site. Now that plan has been abandoned, the county has decided to move the money into capital projects, such as fixing roofs on county buildings and applying a finishing coat of asphalt to county roads. "I'm disappointed there has been no debate on the transfer of the $1.25 million," said Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle at the most recent county council meeting. "I cannot support moving the $1.2.5 million over and it's totally wrong." Mickle said the county needs to look at what it does and decide if it can continue to offer the same services. He said using the money for immediate capital projects sends the wrong message to the prov- ince. Councillor Bill Vanatone of Colborne Township said the county may have to do without some of its 'soft' services in order to keep others. "This morning I talked to three ratepayers about the $1.25 million. They wondered what was going to happen to it now that we weren't developing a landfill site," he said. "hey wondered if it was going to be used to cushion our reserves" Warden Bill Cliffordturd it should be stressed the money will. continue to be used on capital projects and won't be used for opera- tions. "We have $45 million worth of buildings and $5 million of equip- ment which have to be maintained,* he said. Tines -Advocate, November 13,1996 Page 3 .1— Village of Hensall announces "Victorian Village Christmas HENSALL - The Healed' Economic Development Committee is pleased to announce the plans for Hen - sail's Annual "Victorian Village Christmas" -- Christ- mas Tree -Lighting Festivities. The event will take place Sunday, December 1, beginning at 5:30 p.m. This year marks the 11th annual event, and will in- clude a special historical unveiling. An open house and viewing of exhibits, upstairs at the Town Hall, will be from 5:30 - 6 p.m. Village col- lectables will be available to purchase, nostalgic vil- lage memorabilia will be on display, and old-fashioned cider, and popcorn balls will be available. Those in at- tendance are encouraged to "Dress for the occasion" too. There will be prizes awarded for the best Victorian costumes! Categories for best boy, girl, lady and gen- dlenten. The time of 6 -6:30 p.m. will include the tree - lighting, Historical unveiling and arrival of Father Christmas. These will be in front of the Village Hall. Finish off the evening at the Hensall Arena, with free skating for everyone, from 7 - 7:50 p.m. The Hensel! Economic Development Committee en- courage donations of non-perishable food items, warm hats and/or mittens, all of which will be donated to the Huron County Christmas Bureau. The work of the Economic Development Committee also includes plans for the annual Christmas Decorat- ing Contest in Hensall. There is no need to pre -register for this festive event! Residents are simply asked to "jolly up" their homes for the holidays. Street patrol keeps vandalism in check By Brenda Burke T -A Reporter LUCAN - Thanks to a group of eight volunteers, Halloween van- dalism in Lucan this year amounted to no more than a little egg - throwing and pumpkin -smashing. That's a far cry from last year when a girl was hit by a pellet gun, Post Office windows were shot out, parks were vandalized and tricker - treaters were harassed by youths. From 6:30 to 11:00 p.m., four Westervelt College Law and Secur- ity students and four Lucan res- idents patrolled the streets of Lucan on foot and by car. Wearing orange ribbons to identify themselves and armed with flashlights, they watched and listened and probably deterred actions of would-be van- dals. Lucan resident Terri Noble took the idea to a Business Association meeting at the end of September in an effort to organize the patrol in time for Halloween and deter what she described as "groups of van- dals" who have attacked the village lately, destroying planters, harming parks and hassling people. "Nobody wants to decorate any- more because the kids just wreck it," she said. By kids, she Means those as young as 10-years-o1d. Noble, who feels vandalism in the village has been on the rise over the past year, is concerned potential vandals are now younger than their teenage counterparts were a few ytars ago. However, she refrains from la- belling them as "bad kids," ex- plaining, "There just isn't anything for them to do." It gets to the point, she said, w(ere youths are banned from cer- tar stores in an effort to curb van- dalism and theft. Noble aims to get 20 volunteers to take shifts for next year's Hal- loween patrol that will include Devil's Night. At last week's council meeting, Reeve Rob Brady congratulated both the patrol and the village youth for the quiet H4lloween. "There was no reported vandal- ism in either of the parks...The reg- ular targets were not attacked at all...It was very quiet." which was organized by Terri Noble of Creative Affairs and several other community -minded volunteers Your efforts in making Hallowe'en an enjoyable experience are appreciated. The foot patrols by volunteers from the Westervelt College Law and Security program contributed to a major decrease in acts of vandalism this year.