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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-12-06, Page 2t'axe 2 Times -Advocate, December 6, 1995 IN'1'1II;NI'INS Regional wrap up Signal -Star confirms sale GODERICH - Signal -Star Publishing has confirmed the sale of its operation to Bowes Publishers of London, reported the Goderich Signal -Star. According to a joint press re- lease, Signal -Star will join a growing number of Bowes pub- lications including five daily newspapers and nearly 40 com- munity newspapers across Cana- da. The company's head office and main web offset plant is lo- cated in London where it pub- lishes London Business Maga- zine, Ontario Farmer and other agriculture -related magazines. Smoke alarm saves Walton man's life BLYTH - A smoke alarm saved a Walton man's life when his home filled with smoke dur- ing the early morning hours of Nov. 23, reported the North Hu- ron Citizen. Jim Cook awoke to the sound of an alarm after a fire, which started in the chimney, pro- gressed to the structure of the house, according to Blyth and District Fire Chief Paul Josling. "This could have been a much worse story," Josling told the Citizen. Firefighters arrived on the scene at 4 a.m. and stayed fro about two hours after receiving a back up call from the Brussels department. Arson suspected in fire CLINTON - Arson is suspect- ed in a fire that destroyed a vehi- cle behind Central Huron Secon- dary School last Friday night, reported the Clinton News - Record. The vehicle, a 1983 Plymouth, had been left behind the school's auto shop, since Nov.22. Be- cause the battery had been re- moved from the vehicle, which was up on jacks, Clinton Fire Chief Dean Reid told the Record the fire was not caused by the electrical system. Reid explained such an act of vandalism results in a charge of arson if a suspect is caught. An arson charge may carry a prison term up to 14 years. Arson com- mitted as fraud is punishable by a term not exceeding 10 years. Way paved for sewage treatment plant MITCHE' L - The Town of Mitchell and Ault Foods Ltd., Mitchell signed an agreement last week that will pave the way for construction on the town's S6 million sewage treatment plant, reported the Mitchell Advocate. Ault Foods will contribute $ 1.7 trillion to the construction and aid in the day-to-day operation of the new facility. Construc- tion is expected to begin within weeks and a compktion date is expected in January 1997. According to the Environmen- tal Assessment Study, required before the town could begin up- grading at their overloaded la- goon sits, Auk Foods was p as the The Advocate reported Ault Foods will also pay $180.000- $200,000 unualV to the tows to help with the daily operation and maintenance of the new Plant 4, Lack of smoking area causing problems for high school neighbors • Continued from front page A school custodian agreed having a smoking area made it easier to keep the litter under control. "I just wish they'd open up the smoking area again...(The garbage) used to be confined," she said. "It's a lot easier to clean up a lit- tle pad of cement," added Becker, referring to the former smoking area. A petition was started last month in hopes of bringing back a smok- ing area to the high school prop- erty. So far, the list consists of 225 signatures of parents, students, teachers and neighbors. The Gans, who have lived at the corner of Senior and Gidley streets since 1962, signed the petition last Wednesday. Some students believe the smok- ing ban now in effect is difficult to enforce on school property. "The smoking area made the ad- ministration's job easier," said Becker. Student council may form a task force to deal with the smoking/litter problem which may involve ap- proaching the Board of Education. "The school doesn't seem to be doing anything about it," said Gans, adding because school of- ficials are keeping a low profile, it forces the neighborhood to deal with the litter. "The smoking area has nothing to do with the school," said Principal Herb Murphy, adding a change to Bill 119 would have to be be imple- mented before regaining a smoking area on school property. "It's a pain having all the kids around the neighborhood," he ad- mitted, but explained, "It becomes a question of where does the school property end and the town property begin?" "It would be an awful lot better to have the smoking area where it was," he added. "It's not just di- rected at students." But Murphy doesn't believe the loss of the former smoking area has contributed to the neighborhood's litter level, which, he said, has been an issue for years. "(Litter) might have increased a little bit," he said, "but I don't think so....There's been an ongoing prob- lem with litter across (the street)." Because gatherings near res- idences are not on school property, he explained, the school has no ju- risdiction in the matter. GB merchants and residents favor project Main Street task force committee receives feedback at meeting. Chris Skalkos T -A staff GRAND BEND - The citizens spoke, and council listened. A public meeting held Thursday night in Grand Bend allowed cit- izens to express their views about improving the appearance of downtown Grand Bend and help turn the village into a year-round tourist attraction. A committee established last March called the Main Street Task Force, was designed to recommend ways of enhancing the street- scape on Main Street West. One of their ideas was encouraging property owners on Main Street to consider adhering to a uniform theme when renovating or developing any portion of land or build- ing facing the street. The committee favored a "Turn of the Century/Ontario Heritage" style utilizing the historic nature of the community would best suit the village. They emphasized participating is strictly voluntary. "That's a point we should make clear before we get into a dog- fight. We [council] are not going to pass a bylaw to make everyone start building," said committee chairperson Bob Mann. "We are just trying to set out guidelines businesses could use to voluntarily develop their property to a uniform design." Over 20 year round residents and merchants attended the lively meeting which allowed them to ask questions and express their views regarding the issue. Susan Roche, a delegate from Finne- gan's restaurant located midway down Main Street in Grand Bend was concerned following a theme would make everything looking the same. "The main strength of Main Street is it's diversity, its international flair," she said. Mann said providing room for di- versity was reasonable and pointed to the streetscape outside J Dee's Sum- merhouse as an example of what a "Turn of the Century" theme may look like. Last summer owners Jim Davies and Craig Paulger planted dec- orative trees and installed ornamental style park benches along Queen Street. Davies said the project was inexpensive and he has noticed an increase of traffic along the street. "Something that simple can make a world of difference," said Davies. "If every business owner planted one tree we would have a lot of trees on Main Street," added Paulger. An urban design consultant, Juris Berzins, attended the meeting and presented council with a visual display of beautification ideas the village could incorporate. He stressed they should have a clear strategy and adopting a theme is important before embarking on a project. "If you don't have a plan you can get off track. I think if you give this a vision it would be easier to set out a plan," said Berzins. Mayor Cam Ivey said the feedback from the community was a good start but suggested the group come to an agreement on what should be done so council could assess the scope of their in- volvment. "This meeting was called to see what you wanted. We will see what we can do to participate but nothing is going to happen until the property owners come to sonic sort of a consensus," Ivey said. Another idea drafted by the task force committee with the aid of property owner Jim Hevey outlined a long-term plan that would have Main Street changed to a one way loop that could incorporate the downtown area with the marina. Everyone at the meeting favored the idea, however, the project could take 10 to l5 years to complete and the issue of beach own- ership affecting this project has not been resolved. Oakwood Golf Club Owner, Dave Scotched, said he would like to see something clone to Main Street right away and suggested oth- er property owners follow the lead of 1 Dee's Surnmerhouse. Paulger and Davies agreed to play an active role in com- municating the ideas b other merchants and the meeting adjourned .with a recommendation that council officially adopt the anetecape plan at their next meeting. "...nothing is going to happen until the property owners come to some sort of a consensus." With their former smoking area closed, of the school property. students are forced to smoke along the outer edges S.H.D.H.S. Student Council President Adam Jean, Student Council Vice -President Andrew Hem and student Jeremy Becker would like to see the school's old smoking area reopened. Huron teachers vote no to college EXETER - A general meeting of all teachers from Huron County high schools was held last Monday at the Exeter Recreation Centre, to discuss and vote on the proposed College of Teachers. With 90 per cent of teachers voting, teachers overwhelmingly voted against the creation of a College of Teachers. The vote result was 221 against the creation of a College of Teachers, and three in support of the creation of a College of Teachers. John Clarke, District Federation Officer of District 45 OSSTF said, "The members of Ontario Secon- dary School Teachers' Federation, (OSSTF) District 45 have given a clear message they are against the creation of a bureaucracy that will cost between 15 and 20 million dol- lars annually." Teachers delivered the results of the votes to MPP Helen Johns' Of- fice. Huron County high school teach- es have joined with their colleagues across Ontario to protest the gov- ernment's announced intention to proceed with legislation to establish the College of Teachers. In an attempt to undermine an on- going workplace democracy vote on the College of Teachers, Minis- ter of Education John Snobelen re- cently announced he would proceed with legislation to create the col- lege. Earl Manners, President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation said: "During the month of November, our members have been examining and voting on the College of Teach- ers Implementation Committee's report, 'The Privilege of Profes- sionalism.' The results so far are running nine to one against. Despite the government's avowed dedication to workplace democracy, he said, the Minister's statement is a clear sign that the government has no intention to let the grassroots get in the way of deprofessionalizing our schools." "Teachers see the col- lege for what it is - an attempt to control, not empower. They see that it is an expensive bureaucracy, an unnecessary duplication and rampant credentialism. They see it for what it is - needless bureaucrat- ic hoops which will serve only to distract them from the important business at hand, teaching." "The Minister stressed accounta- bility in his remarks today. Perhaps he missed the fact that teachers are already supervised by and account- able to their board of education, to the Ontario Teachers' Federation (OTF) and to their individual affili- ates of the OTF. Last year, OTF recommended the cancellation of more teaching certificates than did the British Columbia and Scottish "Teac the co what a con e Colleges of Teachers combined." ""Teachers have long supported greater transparency in the Rela- tions and Discipline procedure and have promoted public involvement for many years, explained Manners. Recently, he added, the Ontario Teachers' Federation again sug- gested that the Relations and Disci- pline Committee and the Board of Governors in- clude members of the public. We stand by that suggestion as a less ex- pensive, more profes- sional alternative to the College of Teachers," he said adding, "Teachers were not involved in any phase of the college of teachers - not the decision to seek one and not the development of the proposal." "The government can rest as- sured that the teachers of Ontario will not stand aside for a govern- ment which cloaks its anti -public education agenda with the robes of phony professionalism," he said. OSSTF, founded in 1919, has 50,000 members across Ontario and 250 members in Huron County. Its membership includes public sec- ondary teachers, occasional teach- ers. continuing education teachers, secretaries, psychologists, social workers, speech-language patholo- gists, custodians, attendance coun- sellors and other educational work- ers. hers see !lege for itis -an ttempt to trol, not mpower." Huron Park Housing Awoalatlon eornnettee, front row left, Alma Griffith, Nick Braunsch and Barb Ge. Back row Mei Winger and Jim Parker discuss upcoming strategies to c,nvn ss citi- zens of Huron Park. t 1.