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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-02-05, Page 1SEIP'S vale -mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 ,Q F Walt rNawey's ��. Banl ietv.$17.99 Net brie 235.3535 SEIP'S valu-mart 4 Ili 83 Exeter 235-0262 r If you aren't subscribing to The I Times-Advoche ate, yoo�u're rni$sing out I Use subscribe today! and 1 Name: I Address - City 1 Prov. I Postal Code suaseace cei lures: Gymnastic fun ST 1 l year 635. 245 GST•r 683. 44IGST 1 I 1 year $83 r• 4 4, GST•2 year V19«8 33OST QtastoEsedeoA 5102 00 I USE YOUR CREDiT CARD1 ocoacioau 333UEi IL6 Card No. ' Expiry Date - ❑ Visa .0 Master Card ' ,a Cheque enclosed ' Return to' TIMES ADVOCATE g 424 Main Si. Exeter, Ont. NOM 1S6, ma am mg I..WM — OM 1 Inside Farm Update See page 11 OSSTF begins question campaign See page 13 Local dog sledders share snowmobile trail See. Crossroads Second front - Zurich swimmers wins six medals Sef page 16 Flexible kids. After a two week postponement due to weather conditions, the South Huron Recreation Centre's•gymnastics and • kindergym finally began on Saturday. Ninety children from ages three to 12 are registered in -the popular program. - Top left, -Instructor Daphne Damen supports Clarissa Glanville on the uneven " bars. Below, Assistant instructor Melissa Prout spots Dan- . lel Hartman on the bal- ance beam. Delegation opposes snowmobile ban . EXETER - A. lixeter Council prepared to pass one of two bylaws restricting snowmobiles from the town during its regular meeting on Monday night. a num-.. her of people in the gallery •convinced council to de • ler a final decision until more question s could be swered. • Atter receiving numerous complaints about snow mohilers troni thc public council prepared two differ- ent hylaws as solutions to the problem. One is de signed to control the use of the machines in town. the other to han. them completely. Meeting delegate Peter Armstrong was invited• to address council regarding a letter he had written gir Continued on page 2 Adoption agency has local roots By Brenda Burke T -A Reporter WINCHELSEA - Adopting six - and -a -hall month-old • Nicole trom China was such a • joyful ex- periehce. Karen Willis. decided to help • initiate the Canada -China Adoption Association. "' the only such non-profit organization -,in the London area. - CCAA was founded in Januar by Karen. who lives near Win- chelsea. and -Yue Chi. a China na- tive who resides in Toronto where she owns a travel company . CCAA' was set up to assist married Ca- . nadian couples with China adop- tions by offering information. trav- el and translating assistance. and post -adoption meetings for Ontario families. • The organization also assists Chi- nese orphanage, by providing ne- cessities such as food clothes and medical supplies. • Chi. who met the Willises in Lon- don while presenting, a seminar on China tours. was impressed • with their adoption story and later agreed when Karen suggested start- ing .the CCAA. Response to the new adoption association has been .favorable • with 12 couples en- quiring about information packages on China adoptions. "I knew that the potential was out there." said Karen. adding. "There (are) many opportunities for people to adopt." During their own adoption pro- cess, which began in September 1995, Karen and her• husband, Ed, spoke with couples in London • about their adoption experiences., 'They were the ones who ba- sically guided us through the whole process," said Bd. The couple decided not to adopt locally since availability. of children was scarce. After reading about two other couples who had travelled :to China to adopt;,they called Chil• - dren's Bridge: a non-profit adop- ' tion agency in Ottawa. They com- pleted. a .required home study and received adoption approval three months later In the.meantime they. collected (he required documents The Willises describe their ex- perience in China as positive. add- ing they. were attracted to the area due to the targe number of healthy children available •tor .adoption. a situation they claim is largely due to the country's one -child policy, which was implemented in re- • sponse to its problem of over- population. Karen and Ed travelled to China with 15 other- adopti ve couples. "It's just Iikc a little community." said Ed of the group he and his wife plan to keep in touch with. As a cultural keepsake for Nicole when she grows older, her parents took more than three hours of video footage and 200 photos of China while on their adoption trip. • "We feel (Nicole has) been with us all her life." said Karen, adding she and Ed plan to -teach her about her "very interesting" and "very de- tailed" Chinese culture. "It's not an easy decision." said Karen of international adoption. ex- plaining seloptive parents must be fully willing to accept a child's cul- tural differences. Although the trip to China was stressful • for the Willises, who hadn't travelled extensively prior to --adopting Nicole, they admit they wouldn't hesitate to do it all again. "Many .people think adoption is buying a child but it's not like that,:' _stressed Ed, adding many people, thinking they arc paying A solely. for the child, don't consider • you're coming home with the ul- . the.. expense ot:, air tares arld the cost timate souvenir:: he added. of the trip itself. For more information on CCAA. "Basically:. you're going 'over _call 229-8811. . . there • for a. two-week top and After adopting Nicole, Karen vied couples adopt children husband, Ed. Willis from decided to help other mar - China. Seated is Karen's Huron -Perth to get new wheat plant Construction .of the proposed $65 million wheat fractionation plant, which will -employ about 50 people', may begin as early as. April By Brenda Burke T -A Reporter HURON/PERTH. COUNTiE.S . • - . Which community will be chosen?. Exeter, Hensel!, Seaforth. St. Mar-. vs. Mitchell or Stratford? All are in the middle of Ontario's most, important wheat -producing area and all have a chance to be home of a new plant that will' pro- cess wheat into food products and ethanol. mainly for • interested American companies. • Metalore Resources. a 50 -year old natural gas and mining com- pany located in Simcoe County.. has - six Huron and Perth communities on its short fist while it searches for- aserviced industrial park site -with rail access. • . An ideal site would avoid zoning ,problems that have caused previous headaches for Metalore. The corn- pany had initially planned to con- struct a wheat processing plant in .thc hamlet of Walsh near Simcoe last year with the aim of using sur- 'plus production -from the area's nat- ure! gas facilities as a plant power . source. - But Metalore: which has five em- ployees and an estimated 7R natural . gas wells in production. ran into zoning -complications with the pro- posed plant when local residents complained about potential traffic problems in the rural area. 'Also. using surplus natural gas` from the Walsh site became less ap- .pealing when the company dis- covered new Michigan markets for the gas: - • .Exeter Mayor Ben Hoogenhoom acknowledges the benefits a new . - plant in Huron/Perth will create, de scribing the opportunity as.onc that will provide "a tremendous spin-off 'that creates johs." "Certainiv we'd Hive to sec it in . Exeter." he 'said. adding the to vn has "fairli' close_'` access to rail .se - service. "With a healthy workforce. we should he right in there. if they - ask us for help. we'd : ertainly be . willing The new p .r, t! .rsc an es-- • omitted 200.000 tonnes of • wheat annually and is expected to produce . approzimateh 75 million litres of ethanol each year. A new process will he used to - separate outer layers of the wheat to produce bran, gluten and wheat . germ products. which arc of intense - interest in the food industry due to - their cancer -fighting cornpounds... Remaining wheat starch. will be . • transformed into.: ethanol, a • re- newable fuel that provides environ- mental benefits including reduced carbon mbnoxide and ozone - forming. emissions. Wheat. corn and barley are the . feedstocks of choice for ethanol production.' Student win may cost taxpayers Board of Education Director worried cost of new municipal responsibilities Will cost taxpayer ' By Heather Mir. T --A Reporter_ CLINTON - While there are 'many 'still unanswered questions regarding the new education fi- nancing modelsannounced recently by the province. at Monday's reg-. ular hoard meeting Huron -County Board of Education Director Paul • Carroll said he feels the new per pupil funding • may benefit local • students. • "We have . tended - to agree it would be good for our students to move into a . new financing mod- el." sajd.Carrol. adding the per pu- pil rate may increase. a "couple. hundred dollars." These comments were later tem- pered with concern for the local taxpayer who may shoulder the burden municipalities will face as they take on new responsibilities. Historically the board has set the mill rate one third lower than pro- vincial average according to 1994 figures. However. a former Min- istry of Education and Training fi- nance official has suggested com- mercial rates may increase by 46 per cent when the province es- tablishes the commercial/ industrial rates. "We must- know about the po- tential negative impact on .our tax- payers." said Carroll. 1f the minister takes an addi- tional SI billion out of the educa- tion system as planned. Carroll be- lieves amalgamation will not have a net benefit to the bottom line. Many believe taking this money out of the system will be im- possible while maintaining quality education and meeting technolog- ical goats. lducation board amalgamations announced by Mike Harris' gov- ernment is estimated by the min- istry to:,save: approximately $148 million. Carroll told the board he . was pleased no reductions are ex- pected for -teachers. education as- sistants. library. guidance. prepara- tion • time . or m -school administration. "That's significant and it's good " to see .in black and white:' said Carroll: The majority - of reductions are anticipated for the , cost'. of super- visory officers, directors. educa- tion program support and -govern- ance once hoards • • are amalgamated. Board discussion regarding amal- gamation with the Perth board re- sulted in a motion stating the chair and vice chair of the hoard be des- ignated to • represent the interests, of. • -the board in amalgamation dis- cussions with Perth and that they. be nominated for consideration as members of a local Education lm provement Committee. The names of Allan Carter and Doug Gamiss will be forwarded to MPP Helen Johns for this committee. The board also. carried a motion appointing Director Carroll and , Superintendent Janet Baird -Jackson to speak on, behalf of the ad- ministration in amalgamation mat- ters. Carroll re -introduced information to the board resulting from the Sweeney report and based on the 1994 Education Funding Reform Project. The revised staffing under the Sweeney report, which is con- sidered a starting point for amal- gamation staffing formula, reduces the total number of trustees in an amalgamated Huron -Perth board to seven. A single director would head up the administration in addi- tion to a total of six or seven super- • intendents.