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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." A 1