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TIMES ADVOCATE
Exeter, Ontario, Canada
Wednesday, December 15, 1999
LeBeau will
hear fate.
next month
GODERICH — A teary
eyed Sarah LeBeau said
in Goderich court Monday
she often wishes she died
in the crash that claimed
the lives of four of her
friends.
LeBeau is awaiting sen-
tencing after being found
guilty in October of 10
charges stemming from
the Nov. 24, 1996, single
car accident on Huron
County Rd. 31 just north
of Varna. Those charges
include four counts of
criminal negligence caus-
ing death, criminal negli-
gence causing bodily
harm, four counts of
impaired driving causing
death andone count of
impaired driving causing
bodily harm. The criminal
negligence causing death
rtharges carry a maxi-
mum life imprisonment
sentence.
LeBeau apologized to
the families of the victims
at the start of her sen-
tencing hearing on
Monday.
About 40 people wit-
nessed the hearing
including many of the vic-
tims' family members.
The victim impact state-
ments were read for more
than four hours.
Crown attorney Bob
Morris is asking for an
eight-year prison sen-
tence while LeBeau's
lawyer Glenn Carey is
asking for conditional
concL
t al
sentence meaning no 'ail
J
time but requires es LeBea
u
to be a spokesperson -
against impaired driving.
Judge Thomas Granger
will hand down his state-
ment on Jan. 24 at 1 p.m.
Man
charged
TUCKERSMITH TWP. —
A 32 -year-old man from
McKillop Township is
charged with failing to
stop for a school bus in
connection with an inci-
dent that happened on
Dec. 2 shortly after 4 p.m.
Huron OPP Const. Don
Shropshall said Murphy's
Bus Lines reported an '81
Maroon Chev was travel-
ling southbound on
County Rd. 15 when it
met a stopped "school bus.
The driver of the car
failed to stop and passed
the bus thabthad its stop
arm out and lights flash-
ing.
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Parents fighting
to save McCurdy
By Stew Stater
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE
{
SEAFORTH — The campaign to save Huron Park's
McCurdy Public School looked like a well-oiled
machine as supporters of the school took school buses
to Seaforth for a public delegation meeting Dec. 8.
Karen Windsor, chairperson of McCurdy's school
council, was the first speaker of the night and started
by challenging the Avon Maitland District School
Board's description of McCurdy in its recently -released
accommodation review, in which McCurdy is listed for
possible closure.
"I find fault with the description of a 47 -year-old
building -- McCurdy Public School -- as a temporary
structure," Windsor told board staff and trustees,
gathered for the second of two meetings designed sole-
ly for public delegations on the closure issue.
"More specifically, a temporary wartime structure,
when the war was over in '45 and the school was built
in '52."
The heart of Windsor's presentation, however, came
when she challenged trustees to find all the facts
before voting on the closure issue.-
Having
ssue.Having already. distributed _a list of questions, she
repeated some of them, Ineltithig asking how much
extra money it will cost to bus Huron Park residents to
other schools, and how many of the board's designated
"teaching" dollars are actually spent on administrative
tasks done by principals who also teach.
"You're elected officials and we are asking you for
your help," Windsor told trustees. "Please, make sure
you know everything about this and do not have ques-
tions like us."
Lack of information is at the heart of the McCurdy
campaign, Windsor explained later. She says the
board has failed to provide adequate information to
community groups, even though it has repeatedly com-
missioned studies about school accommodations from
those same groups. And it's happening again, she sug-
gests, as the board mandates community studies from
each of the seven schools now listed for possible clo-
sure.
"When the board doesn't do anything to facilitate
cbmmunication with the public, and they mandate us
to do something and then don't do anything with it,
then it gets pretty frustrating," she said.
But
WindsorsP res a ant do
n was only beginning the be ' of
the McCurdy presence at last week's meeting.
Following her delegation, several McCurdy parents
spoke, offering testimonials about the positive effects
See McCURDY page 2
Usborne resident concerned about
mega barns' effect on environment
By Scott Nixon
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
USBORNE TWP. — Dave Hern
wants to know what happened to
his Garden of Eden.
The Sunshine Line resident is
concerned about the soil, water
and air quality of the township
with the ' recent approval of a new
"mega" pig barn going. up near
his house. Once the barn is put in
use, Hern says his 50 -acre prop-
erty will be surrounded on all
four sides by mega barns which
could hold. a total of 10,000
mature pigs.
All of these pigs would be locat-
ed within a mile's radius of
Horn's property, which .ironically
includes a sign on the front lawn
asserting Garden of Eden.
Hern recently addressed his
concerns to . Usborne council
where more than 20 of his neigh-
bours attended in his support.
While the newly -proposed barn
near Hern's house passed all the
necessary local 'requirements,
Hern is upset he wasn't told
ahead of'time, either by the peo-
ple building the barn or the town-
ship.
"It's a betrayal of the communi-
ty's trust" Hern said.
While . Hern said he was happy
and surprised council gave him
two hours to air his concerns at a
meeting and says they were "gra-
cious," he wants them to act.
Among Hern's suggestions to
council was that it pass a morato-
rium on the building of all new
mega -barns until more scientific
data is collected. He said munici-
palities should be erring on the
side of caution.when dealing with
mega barns and their potential
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dangers. He said seven states in
the U.S. have moratoriums on
mega barns and Ontario should
be following suit. He adds Quebec
and Holland have also gone from
having no regulations concerning
farming to having strict rules
about waste management.
Hern says he is not against
farmers, but opposes misman-
agement of waste and worries' the
mega barns neighbouring his
property don't have enough land
to deal with the pork waste. And
trucking the manure away will
See HOG BARN page 2