HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-09-20, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, September 20, 1995
JINT FNFWS
Regiona
wrap up
Manley
pleads not
guilty to
murder
GODERICH - Jeffrey Wayne
Manley, 19, of Chatham, plead-
ed not guilty to second-degree
murder in the death of seven-
year-old Danny Miller, also of
Chatham. Danny's brutally beat-
en body was found Apr. 23,
1994 in an abandoned building
near a Chatham public. school,
reported the Goderich Signal -
Star.
Manley bet his cousin $50
he'd seen a child's dead body.
Edward Minors, 23, testified
that during the evening of Apr.
24, Manley made a bet a few
hours after Minors asked about
what looked like a Targe blood-
stain on the leg of Manley's
jeans.
Minors also said Manley ap-
peared "nervous...scared" " ac-
cording to the Signal -Star.
The trial is expected to run for
three more weeks.
Reunion
marks 34th
year with
thousands
of visitors
BLYTH - The Huron Pioneer
Thresher and Hobby Association
Reunion attracted over 12,000
people last weekend, celebrating
the 34th annual event, reported
the Clinton News -Record.
The three. day reunion hosted
723 campers on the grounds of
the Blyth Community Centre
along with many daily visitors.
The attractions included huge
old steam engines, threshing ma-
chines, antique tractors, a flea
market, saw mills and a tractor
pull.
Townships
refuse to
pay share of
program
MITCHELL - Mitchell area
townships including Logan, Hib-
bert and Fullarton have refused
to pay their share of the Town of
Mitchell's salary administration
program, reported the Mitchell
Advocate.
In July, Town Council ap-
proved the implementation of
the program for all of its em-
ployees at a cost of $4,500
which includes the hiring of Hu-
man Resources Basics to assist
in its preparation.
Council had hoped that each
of the individual boards such as
the arena board and the fire area
board would pay their share of
the overall cost according to the
percentage allotted to each de-
partment.
Fire
destroys
Ashfield
barn
ASHFiELD TOWNSHIP -
Last Monday night a fire de-
stroyed an Ashfield Township
barn just one day before the
Doughertys planned to have cy-
clone repairs completed, report-
ed the Ooderich Signal -Star.
A silo had blown into Gordon
and Yvonne Dougherty's barn
during the July 13 storm that
tore through the Ooderich area.
More than 15 head of cattle
were removed from the barn
with the help of a passing motor-
ist.
Local lawyers
react to new
legal aid plans
Brenda Burke T -A staff
EXETER - Local lawyers are relieved after Attorney -General
Charles Harnick announced last Wednesday Ontario lawyers will be
paid for their legal aid work.
"It wasn't surprising and it certainly was a relief," said Exeter law-
yer Jamie Grant, who added, "approximately 50 per cent of my
criminal and family practice is legal aid."
"No one wants to work and not get paid for it," said Exeter lawyer
Kim McLean.
Harnick triggered panic in the legal community last week when he
announced the 6,900 lawyers in Ontario who do legal aid work
might not get paid for it.
Because the $300 million plan, in the hands of the Law Society of
Upper Canada, is now $70 million in debt, it may be transferred to
an independent body responsible for down -sizing it. The amount of
money in the system will be capped, reducing the number of people
eligible to receive legal aid and requiring clients to pay part of their
legal hills.
"In theory clients who (now) make recoveries or own real estate
are required to reimburse the plan for the fee. However, in many
cases, that does not happen," said Grant, adding, "People who are in
receipt of legal aid occasionally take positions during lawsuits that
they might not take if they were personally paying their Iaw-
yer...People fight over very minor things when legal aid is footing
the bill."
"(The money) is coming out of the public purse. What is the in-
centive to settle?" said McLean concerning divorce coverage.
Legal aid covers criminal and family law cases for clients unable
to pay. After qualifications such as income are taken into considera-
tion, the client is issued a legal aid certificate, usually within a week,
stating they are covered under the plan. Then the client may choose
a lawyer to represent them in their case.
Grant said the government's streamlining of legal aid services will
make it more difficult for people to qualify.
"I think you'll see legal aid cover fewer areas," he said, in order to
"force those people who can make a contribution to make a con-
tribution...We have to reduce the services that are provided. I think
the legal aid office has to keep tabs on the lawyers and the clients."
Basic legal aid rates are $67 per hour, with an experienced lawyer
receiving more. According to McLean, $67 per hour is not a lot of
money within the law practice, considering overhead expenses.
Under the new plan the legal aid income eligibility threshold will
be reduced from a $27,000 annual income to a $21,000 income.
Also, a cap ranging from $150,000 to $187,000 per year will be put
on lawyers dealing with the plan.
McLean agrees with the government's decisior.•to cut coverage of
legal aid.
"There's a crisis here that they have to deal with...They're going
to cut services dramatically...You can't expect every area in society
to take cut, cut, cut and lawyers and legal aid not to."
mommemoi
Terry Fox Run
The White Squirrel looks on
as participants of Exeter's
Terry Fox Run do some warm-
up stretches in MacNaughton
Park before beginning the 10
km trek. From left to right,
Marg Pavkeje, of London,
Joyce Baptie, of Exeter, Jean
Fleming, of Mount Carmel,
Mary Pavkeje, of Centralia
and Josephine bietrich, of
Dashwood.
At right, George Mathonia has
participated in Zurich's Terry
Fox Run for the past five
years.
Below, Exeter Public School
students participated in a Ter-
ry Fox Run Kick-off Friday
morning. Primary students
were paired with grade 7 and
8 buddies in their run around
the Alvin Willert Field.
Task force maps school
aboard boundary changes
Amalgamation benefits
outlined in the recent
reduction task force report
Heather Mir T -A staff
CLINTON - A report of the Ontario School Board
Reduction Task Force was recently released, outlining
the benefits of school board amalgamation. The report
also provides maps showing school board boundary
changes.
The map for Southern Ontario English -Language
Public School Boards. teams Huron County with Perth
representing 26,091 students.
The map also amalgamates Bruce
with Grey, London with Middlesex
and Kent with Lambton.
School board amalgamation
been discussed for some time
since the Royal Commission on
Learning report released in January
made recommendations to reduce the
number of boards by 40 to 50 per
cent, the wheels of motion have be-
gun to turn.
"If it is perceived to save money,
then it will most likely go ahead
whether it actually saves money or not," said Trustee
Don McDonald at the last Huron Board of Education
meeting.
The report also illustrates• boundary changes for
French -Language Public School Boards and French
and English -Language Roman Catholic Separate
School Boards.
The criteria for the creating of new boundaries in-
cludes size of student population, reasonable distance
between boards, existing traffic patterns, natural bar-
riers and similar interests and natural affinities.
has
but
The report also indicates recommended changes to
trustee representation. For a student population of up
to 10,000 students, the task force suggests the number
of trustees as five. For a population of up to 35,000,
seven trustees are recommended, for 60,000 students.
nine trustees, for a population of up to 80,000, 11 trus-
tees and for 80,000 or more students the task force sug-
gests 11 or an optional 13 trustees.
Currently, Huron has 16 trustee and Perth has 14 but
under the proposed jurisdicition, Huron -Perth would be
represented by seven trustees.
"Most new boards cover a much larger geographic
are than existing boards Because there are fewer trus-
tees, local representation must be fair and equitable.
School council and other proposed re-
forms. if implemented will relieve trus-
tees of some burdens," stated the report.
The task force timeline looks toward a
full implementation of the new school
board boundaries by January 1988 at
which point the task force will disband.
In the nearer future, a final report to the
Minister will be presented by December
31 with transition to the new school board
boundaries beginning as soon as January
1996. In November of 1997, municipal
elections will be held including the elec-
tion of trustees to the new school boards
to the new formula for trustee repre-
"If it is
perceived to save
money, then it
will most likely
go ahead
whether it
actually saves
money or not."
according
sentation.
Although the Huron Board is opposed to amalgama-
tion it has been involved in partnerships among local
school boards which focuses on reducing costs and du-
plication. Huron, Perth and the Huron -Perth. Catholic
school boards have held ongoing joint committee meet-
ings over the last 10 years. Through many cost-saving
cooperative ventures. the three boards have saved an
estimated combined total annual savings in 1993 of
s850,000.
Ipperwash investigation begins
IPPERWASH - After four days of
negotiations, the OPP and the Prov-
ince's Special Investigations Unit
entered Ipperwash Provincial Park
for the first time since the standoff
began.
Native observers will accompany
non-native investigators as they
conduct a probe into the shooting
death of Anthony (Dudley) George
during a confrontation that left
George dead.
The Kettle Point natives allowed
investigatorsainto the campground
only for the duration of the probe
which is expected to wrap up by the
end of the week.
The negotiations began after the
debate over the existence of a na-
tive burial ground in the park was
clarified last week by Indian Af-
fairs Minister Ron Irwin who an-
nounced his staff found 1937 corre-
spondence which made reference to
the burial grounds.
The trouble began in July when a
group calling itself Stony Pointers
took over the Ipperwash army base.
The natives took possesion of the
adjacent Provincial Park on Sep-
tember 4 claiming the campground
rests on an ancient burial site.
Health inspectors visit Huron fall fairs
Chris Skalkos T -A staff
EXETER - Along with the
sights and sounds of annual fall
fairs comes the traditional "dog
and burger" food booths that usu-
ally spring up on fair grounds.
These food venues are treated
no differently than year-round res-
taurants by County Health Units,
and public health inspectors will
be checking to ensure they are
practicing safe food handling pro-
cedures.
Klause Seeger, acting director
for the Huron Health Unit based
in Clinton said not every fall fair
is inspected, however. random
surprise checks are not un-
common.
"We do spot checks if we know
there will be food vendors avail-
able at the fair. It's usually up to
the discretion of the inspector,"
said Seeger who also added all
complaints by the public are
checked out.
"The kinds of food usually
available at a fair such as cotton
candy or popcorn are not really
hazardous, but we certainly want
to make sure meat products that
are available have been inspected
and approved, and any dairy
products have been pasteurized,"
he said.
Improper food handling can
lead to food borne illnesses
caused by bacteria in con-
taminated food. Food poisoning
symptoms include mild or
bloody diarrhea, abdominal
cramps, nausea and fevers. Chil-
dren and the elderly are more
prone because of their weaker
immune systems.
Seeger said the most common
mistake by food handlers is tem-
perature abuse. High risk foods
such as hamburgers, hotdogs,
poultry, pork and salads with
eggs or dairy products. are cam -
mon at fairs but are more prone
to improper refrigeration or in-
adequate cooking.
"Temperature control is our
biggest concern and that's usually
where most of the problems oc-
cur," Seeger said.
He explained these types of
food must remain out of the "dan-
ger zone," the temperature range
between 5 degrees celsius and 60
degrees celsius where germs and
bacteria grow and multiply. Un-
cooked food should be stored be-
low 4 degrees celsius and the
centre of all meats should be
cooked throughout.
Seeger said it has been many
years since a food vendor at a fall
fair has been charged for improp-
er food handling practices, how-
ever, health inspectors won't hes-
itate to issue tickets to violators.
Fines range from $53 to over
$100.
"For the most part food vendors
at fairs are cooperative. They
know we have similar interests,
they want to provide a good qual-
ity product for the people that vis-
it the fair because they want peo-
ple to come back."
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