Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1980-10-30, Page 4Page 4 Citizens News October 30, 1980 The Goshen ghost is ready for Hallowe'en. Are you? Keep your eyes open 1Motorists arereminded to be on the lookout for ghosts and goblins as they take to the streets of the community tomorrow night. With standard time now in effect there's a good chance that several children will be out trick or treating during the supper hour so be very careful around this time of evening. For the ghosts and assorted characters who will be out, it's a good idea to avoid walking on the roads and use the sidewalks. If you must walk on a road stay on the shoulder and face the traffic. Avoid wearing masks or any devices which im- pair vision and wear light-coloured clothing. Taking a flashlight along would also be a good idea. A safety -minded addition to .any Hallowe'en costume would be bicycle reflective tape. Why not have a getup which glows in the dark? Rural hvdro customers oav aaain Thanks to the kind folks at Ontario Hydro rural customers of the government owned monopoly will be paying 11.2 percent for their hydro in the up- coming year. It's about time that Hydro take seriously statements by Premier William Davis that the gap in hydro rates between rural and urban users be narrowed. This action by Hydro serves to increase this gap. The actual increase in the bulk power rate charg- ed to rural customers is 9.9 percent with the other 1.3 percent covering "additional rural distribution costs." While it may be true that it mightcost more to provide power in Stanley township compared to Scarborough why did the rural wholesale rates in- crease .6 percent more than the rates charged to the municipal utilities and .3 percent more compared to the amounts charged to Hydro's 100 largest in- dustrial customers? It's something which Hydro should be made to ex- plain. One would think that Ontario Hydro chairman Hugh MacAulay would take Davis' concerns into consideration when contemplating the new hydro rates. In April, Davis told the legislature that rural elec- tricity rates were about 29 percent higher than ur- ban rates and the gap could widen as new municipal utilities were formed in urbanizing areas. He said he directed that ways be found "not only to avoid this rate trend but to reverse it." As an example, will.residents in Middlesex Coun- ty face a higher increase compared to the City of London which is in the middle of Middlesex. There are plenty of examples where the provision of what can be deemed as essential services are provided at the same rate, regardless of geographic location. The postal service and telephone systems are two examples which come to mind. Chairman MacAulay in an attempt to partially justify the increase said "inspite of the increases, residential and industrial customers in Ontario will continue to have favourable costs compared to most other places in North America." That's somewhat of a simplification if the exam- ple of a customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours is any indication. The rate charged by Ontario Hydro for that amount will be 50 per cent higher than charged by Hydro -Quebec. Published Each Wednesday By J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association o1Nsrio Weekly Newspapers Association News Editor - Tom Creech Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 Subscription Rates: $8.50 per year in advance in Canada S19.50 per year outside Canada Single copies 256 • • 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111110411111111111111111/1/11/111111g10,~1N1111111 11 1 Miscellaneous Rumbling 1 By TOM CREECH F. 1 The wise old columnist says... Hard as it may be to take, this column marks the third anniversary of yours truly with this newspaper and signifies that approximately 150 columns have flowed forward. It is an occasion worthy of note but no money, please. A five dollar card, a potted plant or some roses would be just fine. Needless to say, there have been many changes in both the newspaper and writer since the fall of 1977 but this is not the time to wax nostalgic about the good old days. But it is a good time to reflect �n the wisdom which has been gained during this. period of time. Among the many problems which the writer possesses is the habit of saving every damn scrap of paper which he has either bought or used during his almost 26 years of existence. As such, there were many ,a box of school books, notebooks and essays accumulated during the school years which ended up in the attic of the Creech homestead. Due to some insulation changes in that area it was decided to remove the many "goodies" which had found their way to the upper -most portion of the house but there was the problem of what to do with the bloody stuff. The existing upstairs closets are near busting, there's no storage space on the main floor so once again, it's up to the basement to look after the overflow. Before the materials were to be transported down a couple of flights of stairs it was decided that a general sorting of the goods should take place. After a couple of hours of going through this stuff it was amaz- ing what was deemed worth saving a few years ago. Out go all the high school math books, out go most of the high school biology notes and out goes all the correspondence between the writer and the U of W of 0 telling him that he's a confused student. • Saved from the giant leaf bags were some quite or- dinary history notebooks and a notebook from a grade 11 world politics course and a couple of other items which are noteworthy if only from the standpoint they were not the way to complete assignments. To whit: Coles Notes do not suffice as a substitute for certain English texts which one student should have read and an essay which was worth an A in grade 11, doesn't "cut it" as a paper in a first year university course. . If the writer had only one thing to say.to today's students it would be to do your work. You- can rationalize all you want but you are the only person who is going to benefit or suffer by the amount of work which is put into the good old academics. * * Continuing the wise old owl method of column writing, the writer was quite happy to learn that a friend purchased an automobile based on the recommendation of you -know -who. The acquaintance is thetype of individual who un- til recently was of the big car school of thought, so it came as a real surprise that the auto which he purchased is bigger than a bread basket but smaller than a Rabbit. The machine should be ideal for the acquaintance since he will be doing many a mile of winter driving on some snow-covered roads. Por the writer's sake, this car better not be a lemon, for if it is, the wrath of a slightly overweight of- fice worker may be felt a few years down the road. * * * Capsule summaries in the automobile department: The writer had a chance to drive the replacement for the late, unlamented Pinto/Bobcat replacement, the Escort/Lynx. They're one heck of a nice little car, very com- parable to the Rabbit and at a price which is very com- petitive. Whether they will hold up like a foreign car after a few years of driving is an unanswered question. Another automobile which should make an impact on the marketplace is the new Renault .18 which will be marketed in Canada by both Renault and American Motors. The car's main claim to fame is that it's one of the few French -made cars which does not look French either on the Inside or outside. The Renault will fight it out in the market for small well-appointed sedans presently dominated by Please turn to page 9