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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-11-12, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, November 12, 1997 Regional wrap up Abbott appeals murder conviction FERGUS - Gordon Abbott was sentenced to life imprison- ment for the murder of his wife, Patricia (Westerman) on Sep-. tember 22; •1997. He is already seeking an appeal to acquit him from the first degree murder ver- dict or have a trial ordered, stat- ed the Fergus -Elora News Ex- press. Abbott continues to maintain his innocence for the October (996 murder of.his wife. • Abbott was found guilty by a 12 -member jury after an • 11 -day trial at Guelph Provincial Court, and was sentenced to life impns- onment without eligibility of pa- role for 25 years. and is current- ly serving. his sentence at Kingston's Millhaven Peniten- tiary.'• 9-1-1 in Wellington County WELLINGTON COUNTY - Residents of Wellington County can dial 9-1-1 for tire; police, or ambulance assistance in emer- gency situations. as of Oct. 29. stated the Mount Forest- Confed- erate. The 9-1-1 emergency numher is in effect for residents of Mount Forest. Arthur, Clifford. Drayton. Erin- Village, Fergus, Harnston, •Palmerston and the Townships of Arthur, Eramosa; Ens,. Guelph. West Garafraxa, West Luther. Maryborough, Minto. Nichol, Peel. Pilkington and Puslinch. Beigrave-area man dies in car accident NORTH HURON. - A Bel - grave -area- man died 'after his four -door Mazda'ti'atchback slid on Conc. 2-3 at 3 p.m. on Nov. 2. and struck. the west side of a creek in the ditch submerging the car in two feet of water. stat-- ed.the Huron Expositor. Allan Nicholson.. 35from Lucknow and Keith Hardy from Belgrave were taken to hospital. where Hardy later died from in- juries. Police believe the accident •was cause by. excessive speed and the consumption of alcohol. Neither man was wearing a seat- belt. Bio -technology a huge revolution SEAFORTH.-•Bio-technology . is causing. a huge revolution in .the. food industry. Dr. fiord Surgeoner told the • Huron County , Federation of Agricul . tore at its recent annual meeting in Seaforth, as stated in the Hu-. ron • Expositor.. • Surgeoner said bio -technology is about engineering with living cells and organisms. Examples . of cloned sheep in the Highlands was presented at the meeting to show how this bio -technological revolution is occumng There are also • transgenic sheep producing a substance sci- " enusts think might beat cystic fi- brosis. Agriculture is OK MITCHELL - The Ministry of Agriculture and Agri -Food Can-' ada told members of the Perth Federation of Agriculture Cana- - dian agriculture is better than ever. as stated in the Mitchell Advocate. There is tremendous potential for the agri-food industry to con- tinue to grow and to contribute to the Canadian economy. and Canadians are fairing well in meeting the challenges caused by change, according to the min- istry. The domestic market for agri- culture products is expanding, and export sales are increasing. �N TNENEWS_ Public Forum in Exeter attempts to clear issues Parents, teachers, students and merchants were given a chance to give opinions on Bill 160 By Chantal) Van Raay T -A Reporter EXETER - About 300 people packed the South Huron Dis- trict Rec. Centre on Nov. 5 to hear what the teachers had to say about the current education dispute, and perhaps give a little feedback of their own. The objective of the meeting was' to provide people with background information about Bill 1,60, and to discuss issues resulting from the teacher's protest against the bill.- - . The ground rules laid out for the evening stated, In a dem- ocratic society we value' the opportunity to form individual opinions. The purpose of this evening is to share information about Bill 160, not to make judgements." A video presentation shown at the meeting was drawn from television clips of statements made by Premier Mike Harris about education in Ontario. . "Compare statements from the video with claiins.or promises in the past to what is happening' today,:and I'11•leave you to draw your own conclusions," said Bill Gerth,. principal .at South Huron District High School. . . Four people spoke after the video about their opinions on the strike. The first speaker was the principal of St. Boniface school in Zunch Laurie Kraftcheck. - Kraftcheck read a letter from a bishop stating ' that Catholics have dedicated their lives to sup-« . After. the speeches by the four speakers, the - porting teachers, but they did not feel it was ap- Dur classrooms floor was opened for discussion. The first person propriate to comment on the issues in dispute. .. • • are not like the to take the stand was Terry Wilhelm from the - The next speaker. was Dave Bieman, a part classes you and I -Huron branch of the •Ontario English Catholic time teacher at Zurich Public School and a part . -• attended,,Teachers• Association. Wilhelm explained that time coordinator with the Huron County Board.• . the teachers have -cooperated with the downtown of Education. - core in respects to picketing: He believes the.government has done an unacceptable job 'When an issue has come •up we have tried to. address it teaching people what Bill 160 is all about, hut That the pro- right away. . • ' - - . vincial government has managed to influence people's de- ."We have made some mistakes because we are not pro- visions by the wordings in Bill -160._ . . fessionals at ibis.", he said. ''I'm a professional teacher, not a Bieman said "minister ofTeducation" appears 260 times in the professional striker." .• Bill. while "student" appears only once. He said the word fund • Niall Straw: principal of McCurdy Public School addressed' appears 154 times. while. cumculum, learning, testing, special the - issue of 'loss of business due to- the strike. assuring, needs and skills does not appear at all. • - "We're going to need. t'o get teachers back- into the town to He also gave the example of how Ontario was rated 13th in shop." • - international math and science testing. He reminded People .41 EBA chair nim Seip responded to this by saying with. so countries were involved. and countries who placed ahead of many people walking up and down the street, businesses are Ontario did not necessarily meet sampling requirements. . . hound to respond hut said the location of the strike was in - The next representative to. speak was Alma Westlake•from' evitable because that is where. Helen Johns' office is located. the HWT: -''The teachers are taking .';are of our students. today, and "I wanted to make this fair. I didn't want tot make this per- these are' the young people Who will - be taking care of our -sonar- she said. adding she'helieves there are three things that - should he considered when dealing with the hill. Her -first point was the Toss of teachers in the school system. . . "There are'a number of things that are not noticeable, to other people," she said. explaining that teachers spend a lot ail extra time with students in extra curricular activities. or are on the . Exeter resident Michael Van Raay. "Who has .power to do The teachers responded by saying that they are not trying phone -after; class -setting-. up- bus -schedules: -or --planning -class, ._what?".„.. -.._ _ - to rewrite the bill; hut that they don't want to be dictated to trips. She said this, time is needed for students who 'seek 'as- • -Linda Steele, an Exeter physician said that as a physician because of it either. Not only as teacheis� hut -as -parents and • ,'stance after class. she sees. the same problems. with education as happened dur= as citizens. The second point she addressed dealt with class sizes. "Our classrooms are not like the classes you and I at- tended," she said. "These kids demand a lot of energy." Westlake explained teachers are busy with administering medication to some students, developing a modified program for others. and 'continue trying to keep students feeling_ good about themselves. The final point she made was the lack of resources schools ing hospital restructuring. . "The same thing is going to happen in our education," she said. BillPurdy said that his biggest single expense is mu- nicipal taxes. Although he believes the quality of education of students is very important, he said he looks at his taxes and sees his educationtaxes continue to grow: "I feel as though I'm in a position where I have taxes have. She said there are no science, history or geography text-. without representation. This isn't a revolution but it's cer- hooks at her school. adding -her stridents are sharing anthology fainly a confrontation," he 'said 'adding, "If teachers have books to read. when they might not be spent the same time improving education as at the same reading level.. they have spent fighting this .hill. I think this Barb Golding, a teacher from South "If teachers have spent meeting wouldn't.he necessary," ;Huron Distract High School said, "It the same time improving • - Another speaker at the meeting was a con- ' makes me profoundly sad to see what •corned OAC student who said, "This has come is happening at our schools." education as they have at a really awkward time. I'm trying to make She explained that she teaches his- spent fighting this• ow, 1 sure I get the courses I need for university he tory classes with 74 students, and it think this Meeting . cause I can't afford not to have them. If I Jose takes her 30 minutes to mark each of wor " all of this class time. will it mean I'm not pre- uldn t be necessary.,, the papers. - - pared for university?" - She said it would be impossible for Two people responded to this concern. The her to spend 30 minutes on each of the 74 assignments, saying first response was by Bill Gerth who assured that this short she will just have to cut hack on her marking time. time away. from school will be made up for in the future. • "1 will feel like I"will be cheating students out of their ed- Bonnie Becker, a guidance councillor at SHDHS said, ucation." she said. "I can't do that." "Other kids are asking the same thing you are. They do.: want you at university," she said; adding they, have- talked to universities and have planned for.cumculum adjustments to be made. . A number of other concerns were raised such as why the teachers didn't talk about the issues hefore they went on Strike, and how a crisis attracts attention thus escalating the crisis of the strike. Paul Dyck responded to these concerns with: "If we would' have called this meeting three weeks' ago. I don't think we would have had :the same turnout as we have to- night." The information session still left many parents confused as to what the strike.actually meant. Many parents felt that _ the session was teacher -oriented and left the meeting filled • • with a lot of confusion. One parent felt frustrated about the hill. • "I'm more frustrated," said concerned parent Theresa Van Raay. "I_ have spent the last; I don't know 1fQw -many days on the phone trying to understand what's going on. There's a lot of 'inconsistencies." she said. - .One of the final questions. -and perhaps the, most im- portant of the night was, "Where do we go from here'?" husinesses.in the future," he concluded. - Cindy Hamather. an early years teacher, said if the teach - The group heard a number of concerns from the audience, els let go of their stand. everything that will ever be done in One• issue that was addressed -centered around the issue of the school will be by the cabinet. , power. . • Another question asked was; "What should the model ed - "How many different contexts can power he. used?" asked ucation be run under if Bill 160 isn't it?" - Tourism is $225 -million. business in Huron County . By Kate Monk T -A Reporter • BENMILLER - Tourism is a ma- jor contributor to Huron County's economy. A survey of tourism - related businesses revealed tourism contributes $225 -million to the. economy of Huron County. Karen Moms and Dr. Harry Cummings of the University of Guelph. presented the study results at the Huron Tour- ism Association annual meeting on Thursday night in Benmiller. • . The researchers mailed surveys to nearly 1.200 businesses in Huron County serving tourists including bed and breakfast establishments. grocery stores etc. The interim findings of the sur- vey are: ('..Approximately • 2.000 direct. full-time . jobs are created by tour- ism. • . • 2. 3.675 workers • serve tourists: 1,140 full time. 895 part-time and 1.640 seasonal workers.. . . 3. Nearly 80 per cents of the bYsi- sses surveyed stayopen all year. I. An average tounst spends S20 at one establishment. . 5. Over 90 per cent of the bust- nesses are owner -operated: 6. The origins of customers are: 37 per cent within Huron County. . 59 per cent outside Huron: hut in- side Ontario. . six .per cent outside •Ontario. but .inside Canada... • six per cent from the United States. • one per cern from overseas. 7. 77. per cent of the businesses that serve tourists purchase goods and services outside Huron County. Cummings said the statistics -are based on rhe 248 returned surveys _which is a good return rate for a survey. "There is an impressive diversity Of businesses in tounsm in Huron County. Direct tounsm • sales and jobs • support the Huron County economy." Morris explained. • • Further study and analysis will be included in Morris' thesis. A study headed by Cummings in 1996 revealed agriculture has $512 - 'million in direct sales. He -said fur- ther study could.detertnine the link- ages between agriculture and tour- ism: The Huron Tourism Association will be building -on the, partnership of farming- and tourism in the next year. • - The. HTA, in cooperation with supporting organizations. has re- ceived a 564.500 CanAdapt grant from the Agricultural Adaptation Council to • build Huron's- agri- tourism industry. The grant repre- sents half of the project's budget. As a first step. Cass Bayley of • Hensel) has been hired as the pro- -fect coordinator. "I think it's a very exciting in- itiative and very. timely." Bayley said. - - • ' She has been in the business of 'promoting tourism in. Toronto' and' Grand Bend finally owns the beach By Chwttan Van Raay T -A Reporter GRAND BENQ - The Ministry of -Natural Resources announced last Thursday that a settlement has been reached to ensure Grand . . Bend now owns •what is called 'Gibbs Beach'. It has been almost 20=years since Gibbs sued the village and the Province of Ontario on terms that the Gibbs family owned the beach just south of Main Street. For: nearly two decades, •Gibbs was pitted in legal battles against both the village and the ministry. ' The settlement sees the village - pay Gibbs S 149,000 as well as an undisclosed larger alumni from the ministry. In return. the beach, becomes the property of Grend Bend and will be .named Gitibs Beach in recognition of the*, Gibbs family's historic . own- ership. The beach, which has op- erated as a public beach for many years, is a major factor in the vil- lage's economy since half of all tourists visit Grand Bend be- cause of the beach. "It's our major asset," said. Mayor Cam Ivey. "It's always nice to have control over the ec- onomic aspects as well as the res- idential aspects. T think what we endeavored to do was gain hack ownership of the property." The province is also selling a small portion of the north beach (north of MainStreetl.to the Vil- lage of Grand Bend for a fee of $100.. which means that Grand Bend now owns nearly all of the main beach. • Until the early 1980s, The Mint istry of Natural Resources and its predecessor, • the Department of Lands and Forests, held conten- tlons that the beach south of Main Street was owned by the Crown, since the original. Crown grant excluded ownership of the beach by a private individual. When Gibbs sued the . province and the village. he claimed he owned the -beach and not the Crown. Both the Village and the Province I: anter -sued. • After a 76 -day Supreme Court trial, Gibbs won 'the case. The province and the village appealed the decision, and in 1995 the On- tario Court of Appeal upheld 'a ruling that Gibbs owned the beach, but ruled that the public would still have access to use the beach for recreational -purposes. "There was a concern in the eyes of the public that Grand Bend did not own the beach and were not in control of our des- tiny,"..lvey said. "For the last six years Grand Bend has worked with Mr. Gibbs in terms of the beach. Over that time the public was con- cerned that this property could be sold to someone else." On May 6, 1997. the issue went to non-binding arbitration before an Ontario judge and a proposed settle- ment was reached. This settlement • was implemented on Thursday. • Ivey believes the settlement comes at a good time because of the timing of the 2001 Games. "Clearly we have the Games com- ing up." . said Ivey, . adding, "We .have ideas in respect to facilities at the beach." While the settlement means the village will save money, such as the $5,500 annual lease agreement, that was not the main intention of the settlenient. "it's not that we're saving oper- ating. money," Ivey said. "But we're securing a vital asset." "it leaves me with a good fi- nancial settlement," said Gibbs dur- ing an interview with the Times - Advocate. But Gibbs feels the same way about the settlement as the vil- lage and that is the journey to settle ownership is finally over. "It's a 20 - year journey that's over," he said. "It's nice to see it come to a conclu- sion." • London'and sees the ments of Hu ron County for tourism. "Having the International -Plow- ing Match here is a goal to work to- wards." she said, adding through networking and working as a team. the IPM would have benefits for everyone in the tourism industry. • Bayley's first job is to initiate agri-tourism, packages' for tour .groups... • She explained tourism trends are in the area of education and hands- on experience and sees an ad- -vantage in being close to London. Conference organizers are looking for ideas for day -trips -to provide .variety. "We .should showcase our ag- ricultural background and heritage and put it together with restaurants and accommodations." Bayley said. • incoming HTA president Cliff Edwards of Wingham,'echoed Bay- ley's enthusiasm. "This is a rare opportunity and I'm excited about . the potential." said Edwards. - He emphasised the. HTA must "keep up our end" in developing- tourism. evelopingtourism. ."As tourism operators. group tour business is a county -wide initiative. We will feel adirect result of the in- itiatives in our own businesses," he said. With the IPM on the horizon, Ed• wards would like HTA members to make a commitment to improve and even enlarge their businesses in or- - der -to make a good impression on, tourists an_ d encourage repeat busi- ness.. . He would also like HTA member- ship to increase. "Anyone who is getting Si from • .tourism can he -a member," em-• - phasized Edwards. - "i'm pleased to he president.. ['11 give you all I've got. It's exciting to - be living in Huron County, '-he con- cluded. Battle continues over Bill 160. 4r Continued from front page withdrawn. Tony McQuail, from near Luck - now, was leading Monday's dem-. onstration. , "Because teachers have gone back to class doesn't mean the con- cerns are gone. As parents we're •concerned: " McQuail said. . The numerous cuts in provincial • services including health care. high- ways and ambulance services are serious issues to McQuaid. "The government. is chopping the Pro- vincial structure that Ontario has built over decades for our chil- dren's sake," McQuail explained. • - When asked if there were any specific sections of Bill, 160_ his group would like changed, McQuail replied that at this stage, the entire bill should he withdrawn. "It was not created through A con- sultative process. It's time they (government) backed off," McQuail stressed. The parental protest started from concerns raised at the Wingham in- formation meeting, according to McQuail. "People from across the county are saying this is something we need to take a stand on." "We will th govern the legis Parent information meetings were held- Monday night at Clinton Pub= lic School and Grey Central School. Child care expense form still in the works Carroll said the board has not yet received the final form for parents to claim child care- expenses in- curred during the teachers' strike. "As soon as we get the final form from the ministry, the form will be available at the schools," he said. • - According to Car- roll, parents • are to complete the form. send it back to the schools where it will . be cross-checked. The forms will then be sent to the board to he pro- • cessed. The ministry has suggested a six to eight-week processing period al- though Carroll hopes that doesn't. occur in Huron. "We'll prbcesi them as soon as we can." promised Carroll. One delay in finalizing the form • is that the legislation has not yet passed to allow for the child care expense claims. Carroll would like the process to be completed• before Huron and Perth boards amalgekate January 1. pursue e Harris ment in lature. ''