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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-12-16, Page 2Regional wrap up Mitchell men oin Davidson MITCHELL. — When John Davidson's trek across Canada landed in Calgary, three Mitchell -area men were there with him. Harry Norris, Blythe Lannin and John Scott flew to Calgary to join Davidson on Jesse's Journey - A Father's Tribute, reports the Mitchell Advocate. The idea to meet up. with Davidson's walk came from kitchen -table discussions when they began to discuss places they would like to go. for a trip. . Norris. a former heart bypass patient and an avid walker was inspired by Davidson. The men went to Alberta on Dec. 2 and returned on Dec. 7. Norris walked an entire day with Davidson and helped hand' out brochures and T-shirts during the Santa Claus parade in Calgary. Lannin. and' Scott; also walked part of the way with Davidson. Norris was amazed a man could walk 33,km every day. Lanvin said passing the 7,000, kilometre point in the journey just east of Calgary was one of the highlights. Insurance -company, says it won't cover Y2K damage GODERICH — The. Town of Goderich has.devel- oped a plan cel' attack to deal with the Year 2000 computer issue and has put its treasurer in charge of the project to ensure the town's operations are Y2K compliant, according to the Goderich Signa-= Star. . The biggest concern is with the- delivey-'of Bard • services like hydro and water. Steps to address the -issue include: taking an inventory of all the town's computer software. computer hardware and anything else that could be controlled,by a computer chip; • testing systems (such as those at the water treatment plant) to make sure they ,are Year 2000 compliant: • making sure town supPliers have addressed the issue; • reviewing existing insurance coverage. The town is also looking for the best places to es- tablish emergency sheltersifor people in case of a power outage. Project coordinator Luc Gagnon said the tw on. is taking action because ultimately, ;the,town will be responsible. r I I . He told, council. the, town's insurance company leas advised ny damages as a result of Y2K failures will be covered by the town's policy: Accor,ding,to. Gagnon.- the insurance company , won't pay fur damages because .there is. advance warning of the problem. Deer crashes, through Parkhill home windows 'PARKHiLL A deer sutTered massive cuss when ee cr•ashted.through a front w,iridow and glass patio' door at a home in Parkhill during the first week Of Uecen'iber, according to tf)e Parkhill Gazette. Homeowners Dave and Nancy Gle'ndirming were not at home when the young buck entered the house. Flooring, .windows , and ,walls were splattered with Blood and damage 'was extensive. Afer enter- ing through a' front Yvindow, the' agitated deer crashed through a glass patio door into, a • sun - room. Two ministry of natural resources officers •and three police officers'iresponded. A ministry officer shot and killed the critically -injured animal. LeBeau, blood alcohol tests ruled admissible Gt)DISRICH -- Evidence presented 'in voir dire in the Sarah LeBeau trial was ruled admissible last Tuesday in provincial. court in Goderich. 'l'he.court ruled that the information obtained by police officers from blood taken from LeBeau at Clinton Public Hospital and London Health Scienc- es Centre' was not obtained in contravention of Le - Beau's Charter rights. LeBeati faces 11' charges stemming from a Nov. 1996 accident that took the lives- of four people. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The trial adjourned in late Sept. to allow the Crown to have new DNA evidence tested and will resume, on Jan. 11, 199?, according to the Gode- rich Signal Star. Exeter Three -Advocate In the News School boun Continued from front page design and technology program to the secondary schools. These possibili- ties are 'everything short of school closures,' said director of education Lorne Rachlis. Parents, students, trustees, teachers, princi- pals and other community members will make up the community commit- tees. In a 'separate motion, Wednesday, 1)cceember 16. 199ti trustees voted to study two satellite schools in Stratford for closure. This list is final. Trustee Leslie Wood asked if the proposal was limited to the suggestions on the list. "We've had a number of good suggestions coming from school communities. We should consider their ideas." said Baird - Jackson. But trustee Vicki Culbert Correll leaving hospital Continued from front page he didn't blame Currell. for his decision.. Carrell described his years with the hospital as rewarding adding that he had a sense of accom- plishment each day after work.. - He pointed to doctor shortages and the prob- lem, with keeping South Huron's emergency room open. in 'the summer as challenges during his time as administrator. While his contract expires on Jan, 31. • turret! might be finished earlier because of vaca- lion time. He said he'll then take some time to consider what he'll do next. - - Hoover said Currell will receive a severance deal determined by the Ontario Hospital Association. The Huron Perth Hospitals Partnership's new management team will go into effect on Feb. 1; 1999. - Livingstone and Skinner appointed EXETER — Mayor Ben Hoogenboorn, Chan tiv- ingstone and I3ev Skinner will serve as members' of the Hydro -Electric Commission for the Town of Exeter which will be established Jan. 1, 1999. The three men are current commissioners on the Exeter Public Utilities Commission which will - he dissolved on Jan.1. - Hoogenboom sits on the* commission as ,the head of Exeter council and .the others are qual- ified electors appointed 'by council. Livingstone and Skinner, were acclaimed to their posts in the Nov. '97 municipal election. ' At in -camera discussions, on• Nov. 30, Exeter cyuncil directed town admieistrator Rick Hundey .to prepare a report with the P.U.C, outlining a process for the town to assume the water func- tion based on a timetable that is "consistent with council workload demands and with .related re- • structuring." ' But dont expect any changes in the delivery of the water, and electrical' services in Exeter on, New Year's Day:. "All that's changed . was the nature of the body." Hundey said. it is now an appointed cath- ' er than elected body. ' lioogenboom said a committee is in place to deal with the restructuring composed of coun- cillor Joe Bogan and Hundey representing .the town, with Livingsitone andgeneral manager Sherman Roth representing the e.U.C. Amalgamation talks to begin in January 'EXETER - - The Town of Exeter and the town- ships of Usbor'ne and Stephen have agreed to form. an organization committee to. help the. municipalhties proceed towards amalgamation. The committee meets on. Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Exeter municipal office. All future meet- ings will also be held in Exeter. , The organization com- mittee will consist of two members from each mu- nicipality. The c'.ommit- tee will elect a chairper- son . Eor a more detailed story on amalgamation in the area, please see the front page of this is- sue's Crossroads sec- tion. changes possible said the board gets con- demned for not being fair when the ilst changes. 'The pubic has been in a great deal of turmoil. We need something con- crete.' said trustee Ray Ford. The committees will be established over the next few weeks. Recommendations are expected from those com- mittees by Feb..16. 1999. Baird -Jackson said peo- ple 'can become part of those committees by con- tacting the principal of the rchool. This report follows sev- - eral months of possible school closures which the board turned down. it is an effort to deal with excess space in,schools and a shortfall in grant revenue from the Ministry of . Education and Training. . Zurich. chooses reps ZURICH — The -Village of Zurich has chosen which members of council will be -'negotiating on the - municipal restructuring •committee that will work on the amalgamation- ofsix municipalities. • Reeve Dwayne LaPorte and Coun.. Marg Holmes were chosen at. last Thursday's*.council meeting to sit on the 'original six's'steering committee. That committee -meets* today 'at 4:30 p.m. at the Ilay Township municipal. office. Involved municipal- ities are Zurich, Flensall, Hay; Bayfield, Tuck- ersmith and Stanley. . - In other amalgamation. news, .Zurich council discussed Iwo letters from the Town of Seaforth and the Township of McKillop indicating- those two municipalities wish to be included in amal- gamation'talks with the group of six.. , Holmes said she thinks expanding, in that direc- tion would be a mistake. LaPorte .agreed. al- though council said they would not shut the door on the two municipalities. Council also repeated its desire to be- included in an amalgamation with Exeter, which agreed last week to enter into amalgamation talks with. Stephen and Osborne townships: - New chairperson elected - CLINTON - A Tavistock- area woman will lead the. Avon -Maitland District School Board through the final year of the .century. Last Tuesday night in Clinton, trustee Wendy .Anderson of lilt 2 'Tavistock was elected chairperson elf the board, defeating Trustee Abby Armstrong. Armstrong chaired the board during the first year after amalgamation between the former Perth County Board of Education and the former -Huron County Board of Education. chairperson Anderson commended her pre- decessor lur her dedication to the job! Although amalga- mation issues kept all trustees busy, Anderson said Armstrong 'bore the bulk of the. responsibility. • - With a good part of the amalgamation issues -behind it, 'Anderson said she hopes the board' can get back to -focussing on children. "AmalgaTnation issues have made this year one we ,won't soon be repeating," said Anderson. She said the journey for the board in its first year was rough, •but she looks forward to the t:oming year because the ,board has learned' from ifs mistakes and alsohas a committed group of parents working with it : `When thugs looked bteiikest, we called on the public for support and we got it,' she said. Anderson also credited the public .in the Avon Maitland district for some of the new funding announced by the Ministry of Education. Although - Toronto parents received dile praise, Andersen said the praise should,have come to Avon Maitland. "In the Avon Maitland district, we have the satisfaction of knowing the pressure began here and spread across, the province," said Anderson. , The first year brought the two counties together and Anderson said that was a positive move for the board. 'We can no longer dwell on the old ways of doing things. We have to go the Avon -Maitland way, she said. Although Chairperson Anderson will lead the board as the century comes to an end,. she sees it as a new begin- ' ning. "Let's work together to make. the last year of Ate 1900s the best year for Avon Maitland students," she said. Trustee Bob Allan was elected as vire-chairperson to work alongside Anderson. Ile defeated Trustee Vicki Culbert and Atje Tuylen in the election. Allan takes the position over from Trustee . Ray lord who served with Armstrong. Trustee Colleen Schenk ,will represent the board on the Ontario Public Sehoo) Boards Association.