Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-01-21, Page 1Enrolment decreasing, Huron schools could close With 4,000 empty classroom spaces, the board is analyzing whether schools will be closed to balance the budget By Kate Monk 7-A Reporter CLINTON - The process to eval- uate how school space is being used has started in the Avon Maitland District School Board. • In Huron County, there are spaces for more than 14,000 pupils but SE/P'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 Film Developing 4.99 24 roU only 10,000 pupils are enrolled. "The problem is how do' you match the gap of over 4,000 empty spaces. We need to start looking at the way schools are being used," said Paul Carroll, the board's di- rector. "That could lead to one or more schools being closed." Carroll already has a handle on the usage of each school. Enrollment is shrinking at Sea - forth District High School where there could be Tess •than 300 stu- dents next year. "Once you go below 300. the program offerings go below what -'the kids should have access to," Carroll said. The Wingham arca has surplus space and the hoard 'Is looking at the. way education is -delivered. at Wingham, Turnberry and East Wawanosh elementary schools and. RE. Madill Secondary. School. One option is a concept discussed for a . few years: setting -up a 'junior high" for -grades seven and eight in Serving Exeter and area since 1873 one of the wings of F.E.- Madill. Junior kindergarten to grade six would be offered at two.schools and one school would be closed. - "There has been quiet speculation for a dozen years you could take the" population of- Walton • (Public School) and move it into-Seaforth Public," he said.' The same analysis is needed in the south part of Huron. . According to Carroll, South Ht.= ron District High School in Exeter is nearly full and is -not a problein. Exeter Public School is full and has a few portables. However, -Us= - borne Central School has extra fir Continued on page 2 SEIP'S • valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 Former head of Community Living charged in death WYOMING - Don Campbell, 45, has been charged with second de- gree murder in connection with the death of his wife Fenny Campbell. He was the executive director of South Huron Community Living from 1976-85. The Campbells were involved in a vehicle collision with a parked tractor -trailer on Wednesday. At first. it was believed Fenny Camp- bell, 44, was killed in the accident. However, an autopsy revealed she died from blunt trauma head inju- ries'. Police believe the trauma was. not from the car accident. Campbell was arrested following an interview with the OPP on Fri- _ day. . Currently, he is the executive di- rector of the Lambton County As- sociation for the Mentally Nandi-, capped. Gardiner's Grove for sale On the auction block. The Ministry of Transportation is selling by public auction a parcel of land on Highway #83 known as "Gardiner 's Grove ". - The` 1.273 acre tract is -a former MTO picnic area 15 kilometers east of Exeter .at the Usborne/Hibbert boundaiy. Arthur, Stella and Melvin- Gardiner reforested the area -in 1937. The sale will be field at the site on Jan- uary 28 at 1 p.m. , United Church moderator explains "the controversy" United Church of Canada moderator Right Rev. Bill Phipps explained his views' on Jesus _and the aftentr td ,a Captive audience at Exeter United Church on Monday By Craig Bradford T -A Reporter - - EXETER - The Right Rev- Bill Phipps doesn't took like a heretic. But that's the impression millions of Canadians could -have been left with after Philips, - the United , Church of 'Canada moderator, re- vealed his own musings on Christ, the Resurrection and the afterlife in an Oct. -23, 1997 interview with the Ottawa Citizen's editorial board. Phipps was in Exeter on Monday to meet with.thc Huron -Perth Unit- ed Church Presbytery in the after- noon' and to talk to the Exeter arca congregation in an open com- munity forum in the evening. Originally' from Toronto with stops while in the seminary on the mean streets of Brooklyn and Chi- cago before ending up in Calgary where he is the minister at Scarboro United Church, Phipps is a lawyer by trade and it shows in his ten- dency to talk — a lot. But the views Phipps shared dui- .ing an exclusive interview with the Times -Advocate on Monday, views he later explained to an alrnost full house at Exeter United Church, aren't revolutionary or new. They are sentiments that have been re- peated by theologians and scholars for decades. Phipps, elected as moderator in August, told the Ottawa Citizen ed- itorial board his views during what he calls an "hour and a half of grill- ing" when they wanted simply yes or no answers from him for such questions as Is Jesus God?'; 'Do you. believe in heaven and hell?'; and 'Do you believe Jesus rose from the dead?' . His simple answer was no to all of them...with a "but" thrown in. "We worship • God through our understanding of Jesus," Phipps said. "Jesus would he appalled if he - felt we were worshipping --hint.. Je sus reveals as much of G,pd that can - be revealed -in a human being. God' is inctimprehensible, much larger than we can imagine. The creeds never -said Jesus is God. He is the Word made flesh. It has ncvei (teen said 'Jesus is God'...those simple three words." • - But those simple three words. or Phipps refusal 'to utter them, has created a fervor. in the Canadian Christian community. For the Iirst'. time in as long as many cliurch- goers can • remember. -mass media and regular people arc talking about faith. in the coffee shop. h9 the office water cooler, people who normally talk about the latest Sein- feld episode or the weather are questioning what exactly they do believe. And Phipps believes . that is a good thing. "11 has created fabulous theo- logical debate in the public media." he said. His other beliefs, that he doesn't believe in the traditional 'three-sto- rey' universe of heaven, earth and hell and that Jesus didn't come back from tfic dead into the sante flesh and blood he lett, also doesn't - sit well with many other Christian faiths, including some United Church followers. But at the public forum 'on Mon- day night, Phipps stuck to his guns. , "i don't believe in a three-storey universe any more. But (Christ's) followers were willing to give their lives • over their belief Jesus was with them. That's Resurrection." . As far as heaven and hell is con- cerned, Phipps believes- the human spirit continues in some way after Honored. United Church of Canada moderator Right Rev. Bi I Phipps, left, visited Exeter on Monday much to the delight of Exeter United Church minister Rev. Cordell Parsons. Phipps was off to St. Thomas on Tuesday as part of his - visit to the London Conference. Phipps recently visited victims of the ice storm in the Montreal area. Parsons said he and his congrega- tion are glad Phipps could take time out his busy schedule to visit Exeter. ' death, that "those who arc dead are safe in God's hands:" , "He cares about how we treat each other hcre, not in the after life," he explained: "We create enough heaven and hell here." . While he has had lots of feed - hack; both goad and had, Phipps said he is glad he has, started debate - among believers and non -believers alike and while some people arc an- gry with him, others have told hire they arc contemplating going back to church again after hearing his he Bet's. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone of destroy people's faith," he said. Phipps is an open. straight- forward man who. stands by what 'he believes. A social activist,. he believes the right-wing movement in Canada detests. his insistence that religion and politics arc intrinsically linked. He believes the Ottawa Citizen cd- • ir Continued on page 2 Delicious hot foods to go Lucanto get 10 more cops . EXETER Lucan isto get up to 10 more OPP officers as part orf an ad- ministrative shake-up, London OPP's new commander Staff Sgt. Karen Moffatt said. As well, London OPP staff will push paper for the Exeter OPP de- tachment starting Feb. 1. • Moffatt said 'the 'moves, which takes all Exeter OPP administrative du- ties out of the Goderich OPP's hands. and Exeter area officer dispatching out 'of the 'Mount •Forest OPP's jurisdiction; is meant to make operations. stich as telecommunications and administrative reporting more -efficient. She added moving the administrative duties will not effect OPP service in the aid. Exeter arca. - "'All it's doing is switching where paperwork and inquiries go," Moffatt-. rt•. The'policing duties for Delaware Township will be dropped by the Lon- don OPP-and picked up by the Strathroy OPP on Feb. 1 making it possible to shift them: to Lucan. - 'Lucan, McGillivray and Biddulph townships are the big beneficiaries of the moves. Moffatt said they plan on -adding up to 10 more officers on top of the current two stationed out of the Lucan' detachment:This means the entire area will havequicker OPP response time and Exeter OPP will have better backup. . Exeter OPP's 14 officers will be assigned from London OPP rather than Goderich, Moffatt said. though they will -continue to report to. the Exeter station. "Basically they have a new boss -- me," she said. - Huron County/Goderich OPP Const. John Marshall said some of the - burden his detachment and the Mount Forest comm centre have handled will ease now that not responsible for tire Exeier area. But the Hu-'ron County OPP's workload won't drop off much since it is taking over for the Goderich municipal police service on March -1. The Goderich Mu- nicipal police will be folded because officials there decided to 'switcl, tot the OPP due to the-OPP's lower service costing quote, Marshall said. Moffatt was appointed to London OPP's top job last month. She is an ' 18 -yea' veteran and has spent the -last four in London. Prior to her current post. Moffatt taught for two years at Aylmer's Ontario Police College, spent seven years with the OPP' headquarter's intelligence division and started her career at the former HQ at Downsview in Toronto. Moffatt was to meet with Ltuan.council at its meeting yesterday after the Times Advocate went to press. ' Grand Bend lawyer hits bottom Former London Hydro chairperson Bill Kennedy is - trying to rebuild, his life after another set -back GRAND BEND - One-time Lon- don' mover -and -shaker Bill Ken- nedy can never again he;registered to sell securities in Ontario or sell Securities or limited market .prod- acts exempt under the Securities Act after an Ontario Securities Commission ruling last week. ac= cording,toi the London Free Press. Kennedy along with London in- vestment dealer Dino Perry De- Lellis. were dealt the hard ruling by three adjudicators • after . ev idence was heard at a hearing in London last' month. The panel found Keniedy and DcLellis guilty ot,not dealing fairly with London - area investors in a scheme to raise low -lie cattle.: Kennedy has • declared personal bankruptcy and ._OWCS Revenue Canada $270.233 on unreported in- come for '92-95 while a partner in the bovine limited partnership;' owes over $50,000 to credit card companies and the .family home on Cheapside St in London .was re- possessed by National Trust. Ken- nedy is currently residing in ,the family cottage. in 'Grand .Bend which was transferred to his second - ex-wife. Patricia Lynne Kennedy, as pan of their divorce settlement. Kennedy is a former chairperson of London Hydro and was one of 'London's wealthy elite as a mem- ber of the London Hunt Club and: . the Oaks country club. A.onc-time Olympic -class swimmer, Kennedy' was born into a blue-blooded fami- ly: his mother. Jean Kennedy. had - the London Aquatic Centre dedicat- ed to her after her death. His father, John Conway Kennedy. was a world-class orthopedic surgeon. TNT Stand -By Power sending generators to storm -hit area EXE"iER - They may he shy, but those with TNT Stand -13y Power are doing their part to help those in eastern Ontario suffering the of ter effects of the ice storm of the century. TNT is shipping dozens of generators to the Ottawa valley arca to be used by farmers and other residents that haven't had power for al- most two weeks "We're doing the best we can," TNT's Ken Triebner said. Both Ken and Don Triebncr and the rest of their staff were putting in extra long days to ensure the generators made it out to the stricken arca in good time as well as handling their usual hectic business schedules. Though they are doing a good deed of note, the Triebners arc hes- itant to blow their own horns and want as little press coverage as possible. They declined to comment further (they were simply too busy) and alsopurned down a photo request. Financial advice you can count on! Kitr; George Godbolt CLU, CFP 496 Main Street Exeter ON 235-2740 When it comes to investment and tax strategies, retirement and estate planning, and more, we have the expertise and technology needed to help secure your financial future. Call me today for financial advice you can count on! Licensed with Mutual Life al Canada/Mutual fnvestco Inc . Iwo comp;,mns of the Multiat a Mutual affair *The Mutual Group