Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-03-05, Page 1SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 Helium Foil Balloons $2.99 4 -''gilt occasions Serving Exeter ana . + .-SUBSCRIBE!, If you aren't subscribing to The Times -Advocate, you're missing out. Use the coupon below and subscribe today! 1 Name: 1 Address City _ 1 Prov. _. I Postal Code SUBSCRIPTION RATES. 1 1 year,535 . 2.45 GSear S63 •4.41 GST DOSIbESINTA 1 1 year S63 • 4 41 GST•2 year BStj 119 * 8,33 GST OUTSIDE CANADA 5102.00 1 USE YOUR CREDIT CARD ' 0000aoao 1 QQOQ0000 Card No. 1 ExpiryDate , . D Visa 0 Master Card ❑ Cheque enclosed • Retum to; TIMES ADVOCATE 424 Main St. Exeter, Ont. NOM 1S6 —r_—NEN 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Woodham residents • injured in three -vehicle accident EXETER - Police report drivers aiid their passengers involved in an accident on Highway 83 were tak- en to South Huron Hospital with., n)in<rr to serious injuries. • - , The accident occurred on Feb. 24 at approximately 9:20 p.m.. 500 metres cast of Huron County Road 2 (to Zurich). A,1991 Pontiac.driv- en by Elizabeth Monden, 23, o{ R.R. 5 Mitchell, was involved in a collision with a 1997, Dodge, driv- en by Frank A Kitts; 56. of R.R. I . Woodham. A 1988 International tractor and trailer; driven by. • Dwayne Hickcy, 23. of Wingham • was also involved. The Hickey and Monden vehicles were vJesttiound and the Kipts vchi- cle was eastbound when the Mon - den and Kints vehicles collided head-on in the eastbound land be- -side the tractor trailer.' • Monden. Kints and twb passen- gers received injuries and were tak- en to South Huron Hospital. The local fire department assisted in ex- trication. Both the Monden and Kints vehi- cies wcrc severely damaged and OPP have laid Charges. Two people seriously injured, in three vehicle collision BOSANQUET - Forest 91'P have Iaid_charges in connection with a three vehicle collision,on Saturday in the Town of Bosanquct that sent an OPP officer and a 41- ycar•old woman to hospital with. serious injuries.. Sergeant Steve Reid. 47. of the Forest OPP Detachment was dri- vimg north -bound on Highway 21 at Walker Road in a fully marked OPP cruiser when he collided with a south hound 1986 Mazda pick-up truck which was struck from be- hind by another vehicle, a 1987 Ford F350 truck. The driver of the Mazda, Penny Poole, 41, of RR 2 Lakeside was taken to South Huron Hospital and then transferred to University Hos- pital where she was listed in seri- ous condition. Reid. a 24 -year veteran of the OPP was airlifted to Victoria Hos- pital in London 0/here his"condi- tion was also listed as serious. The operator of the Ford truck, Edward Heaton, 52, from Indiana, was charged with two counts .Criminal Negligence Causing Bod- ily Harm and was remanded in cus- tody in Sernia for a bail hearing on .Monday. SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 14 Disney's Huncb- back of Nora. Dame 3_17.89 Nne a Um 235•3535 Huron teachers rally at MPP's office Demonstrators sent a clear message to the province that teachers are near their breaking point By Heather Mir T. --A Reporter EXETER - • An estimated 350. teachers and educational workers spillcd,o;''er onto Highway 4 dur- ing a rally. -held late Friday after- noon in front of Huron MPP Hel- en Johns' office. Holding banners .stating "Cuts Hurt Kids," the demonstrators sent a message to the government op- posing education reform under Bill 104. Teachers and educational work- crs unions or- ganized the in- formation rally to cap off action dur- ing the past several weeks that in- cluded a letter` campaign in local newspapers. a postcard and a ininutc walk -nut workers. • Dedicated teachers say they have adapted to past funding re- ductions but arc near their break- ing -point with, proposed further • cuts.. ..- "We think the publicdeserves to know the impact that the past and proposed cuts will have on the educational opportunities _ of • our - students." said Secondary Teach- - ers Federation - officer John Clarke, adding, "Our working conditions are our students' learn- ing conditions." Support staff who joined in the rally arc worried they may beout- sourced and de- manded this pot - "We think the tion of the bill be public deserves to know the impact that the past and proposed cuts will have on the educational opportunities of our students." campaign by LUPE. removed. - " "Take it out! Take itout!" they chanted. Johns spoke to the . -large group about. the pro= prised cuts to ed- ucation funding_ and the- Edgca-' tion .Improve- ment Commission. She said, her government is acting on requests by parents for a change in educe - tion. , She added past • inequities between rural and urban hoard may he alleviated under education finance reform. , "Huron County, could be'win- ners in this," Johns told reporters prior to the demonstration. "I just think it's too early yet to start , saying that there's going to be funding cuts to education in Hu- ron County.-. There may well hc.:.somewhcre. We couldn't get much lower." When federation and union members heard this message from Johns, they asked for guarantee cuts will not hurt local students. t'Forty-five• in a classroom. Is that where we're going?" asked a members of the demonstration: Johns left the rally after she ad- dressed the group that continued to deliver its message that future cuts jeopardize the future of Hu- ron County education initiatives. , •The OSSTF believes further cuts to support and tcaching staff may force theclosure of some of Huron County schools. Huron Women Teacher's Association President Willi Laurie told rc- - porters and demonstrators the - government would receive: a fail- ing grade if it was given a' report. card by teachers.. ' "JI would gee failing grades for • or Continued on page 8 More coverage on page 15' t • Huron, Edo4 Teaching staff and educational workers gathered in front of MPP Helen Johns' office Friday night. More than 350 dem- gnstrators turned out. Letter of complaint not sent to Board of Ed EXETER - At Monday night's Abu,,,��cil • meeting, the Timcs- dvocatc- asked- the. following question of Chair Reeve Bill Mick- le- (who was filling in for the ab- sent Mayor Ben Hoogenhoom): As background to- the question; a few weeks .ago.. a motion was passed, the essence of which was to write a letter to the Huron County Board of Education condemning its de- cision to grant a 'retirement. gratu- ity' to a member of the administra- tion who left the employ of the hoard for a position in another ju- risdiction, and to express concern over the granting of a pay rise. of $37.00( to another member of the administration. (Local board Trus- tee Bob Heywood led thc few op-, pi nents to thc decision.) The T -A could not obtain a copy of the letter from Exeter's Town Offices and subsequently asked. the Board of Education for. its reaetion to -the letter. The hoard replied it had nes - er received a letter of complaint from the. Town of Exeter on. that subject. The .question is: why war the• letter not written when council (quite outraged at the time) -author- ized its being sent? Administrator Rick Hundcy an-` �swcred for the chair, "It was my fault, in a sense. i had some prob- lems and called the school hoard. office and talked -to a lawyer as .Some intirrmation -was in conflict with what council was rid- vised. It was. marc hoard business than council business. 1. did' not raise it with council formally. hut, wc.talked ahout'it and decided not to send the letter." Councillor RobertDrummond added, "I did -not approve of coun- cil's action. but 1 was outgunned." Miclde advised, • "It' is hest for council ,to sensibly consider de- ferring the issue until a later meet- ing. We had some concern with some of the facts -and left the mo- tion hanging.". Drummond interjected, "1 raised the matter twice and time was adailahle to !cam everything." • Hundey, when asked the. nature of the confusion of facts said, "I have some concern surrounding .whether the gratuity was part of an 'early - exit - plan an exit in- ducement. a way of downsizing." hrununond was sti11 not satisfied. • ':We ha%c a prohlcin with the inter- pretation of the facts:" The issue was put to rest with a motion to rescind the motion to write the letter.- Only Drummond and Councillor Thom.Hughes Op- posed that action. Bowl for millions Big Brother Mark Jones offers a bowling tip to his little brother Michael, right, and Nico, who 's big brother is absent because he took the picture. They were among the 20 "bigs " and "tittles" who participated in the South Huron Big Brothers/Big Sisters Association Bowl for Millions fundraiser at Town and Country Bowling Lanes on Sunday in Zurich. Own- ers Tony and Marlene Bedard have been offering their facility to the organization for the fast 17 years. This Is the main fundraiser for the association which hoped'to reach a goal of $10,000. The South Huron Big Brothers/Big Sisters Association match mature volun- teers with children from single parent homes for outings and companionship. The associa- tion is in need of big brothers. Rodeo committee seeks ideas from community groups By Chris Skalkos T -A Reporter - EXETER - The South Huron Recreation arid Community Centre, Board held.a Rodeo Committee meeting recently togaugethe inter- est of community clubs and organizations'in helping pull off'a dom- munity-wide western style rodeo. If the enthusiasm displayed at the meeting is any indication. or- ganizers will not be short of people.willing to help and offer ideas: The Rcc. Board -will. pay $16,000 to A Bar K Roden Productions which will put op a seven -event rodeo from August 8 to 10 featuring saddle bmn,c riding, bareback -riding, steer wrestling. calf roping, la- dies', barrel racing and hull riding. - ' • ,. Nineteen people representing the Exeter Saddle Club, The Exeter Business Association: the Lions Club; the Exeter Nomads. the Fair Board Committee, the Exeter Junior "D" Hawks, the Exeter Pre- cision and Figure Skating Clubs the Exeter Volunteer Fire'De- partment showed up at the information meeting to express, their inter- est. Mayor Ben Hoogenhoom also attended. "We're not ready to strike .up a formal committee yet but we want to sec who wants to take part," said Lynne Farquhar. Rbc. Centre di- -rector. "The Rec. Board has committed a lot of money in doing this , but we still need help and we'd like to hear,from other groups" ' Exeter Councillor. and Rec. Board member Dave Olin said he would like to see this rodeo regain the splendor it oncei had when a local group orgariii`red an annual home-grown rodeo in Exeter nearly 20 years' ago. • • "If the whole )own gets involved this could be as big as Zurich's Bcanfest. We want to work towards making this a town event with something for every organization to do, but we need your ideas." he said suggesting it could eventually be tied in with the Fall Fair. Those present adjourned to take the information hack to their vari• - ous clubs and organizations and promised to return to the next meet- ing on March 26 at 7:30 p.m. Hospital restructuring retreat an open forum for discussion MITCHELL - South Huron Hos- pital Board Chair Verla Russell claims the Huron -Perth District Health Council (HPDHC) Task Force retreat held on the weekend at the Mitchell Legion was more of - an open discussion session rather than an opportunity to begin draft- ing $plan for governance." i felt they (task force) learned more from us than we learned from them," said Russell of the meeting. "It was just general discussion." in attendence were all eight hos- pital board chairs and vice -chairs, DHC task force members as well as a Ministry of Health repre- sentative. Also on hand were two consultants from Price -Waterhouse, which conducted a costing analysis of hospital restructuring options. Although the retreat appeared to he an information meeting, the hos- pitals have already gathered three times to begin working on a plan to .meet the June deadline for es- tablishing interim governance. Hospital chairs, medical staff and administrators have been involved in these discussions with a fa- cilitator. The group hopes to de- velop a unique plan for the rural - urban mix in Huron and Perth in hopes of impressing a commis- sion." We haven't committed to any- thing," said Russell, adding, "I'm hopeful that it's -us, the hospitals, that will make the plan." Although Huron physicians passed a motion that Huron and Perth hospitals move to county governance, the task force has held firm in its recommendation that a single administration be created. The Task Force's detailed final report will he brough to the HPDHC in March for approval be- fore being forwarded to the Min- istry of Health.