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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1996-03-13, Page 8Page 8 Times -Advocate, March 13, 1996 COMMUN1"TY Exeter Curling Challenge League Final Standings W L Pts. Smits Morgan J. Kerslake Webber Chanyi McBride Dinney Chambers Shapton Brock Turner Dougall McNeillly W. Kerslake Astle Vert Thomson Currcll Bernhardt Stasik 16 3 14 5 14: 5 14 5 12 7 10 9. 10 9 10 9 9 10 9 .10. 8 11 7 11 6 13 5 14 4 14 4 14 4 15 32 28 28 28 24 22 22 22 20 20 20 18 18 16 14 12 I0 8 8 8 Ends Won 80 1/2 86 83 1/2 74 81 1/2 82 72 1/2 70 79 1/2 78 1/2 72 1/2 80 75 79 1/2 71 1/2 72 69 62 1/2 58 56 1/2 I.P.M. hold meeting WALTON - Huron 99 Interna- tional Plowing Match held an infor- mation meeting on Wednesday March 6 in the Walton Community Hall. O.P.A. Director Neil McGa- vin and 1.P.M. 99 chair Graeme Craig addressed the meeting. Over 30 committees will be work- ing together to organize the I.P.M. The I.P.M. 99 Huron group was South Huron High School bans explicit t-shlrts Students were clearly upset at the ban of "co-ed naked" shirts EXETER There's a new sheriff in town. South Huron District High School's new principal Bill Gersh dress code and decided these t - announced at Friday's school Tal- shirts are "explicit" and will not be ent Show assembly students will no permitted at school. longer be able to wear "co-ed "It sounds like a dictatorship over naked" t -shirts. there," said Scott Bogart from RSD Gerth told a large crowd of stu- Sports Den in,'Exeter when he dents gathered in the auditorium learned of the ban. "What's going to staff met to discuss the issue of h;, next?" Scott Bogart of RSD Sports Den, displays a couple of the shirts very pleased with the excellent Huron District High School won't be wearing to class anymore. turnout at the meeting. students attending South South Huron drama students prepare for festival EXETER - The Sears Ontario Drama Festival is the largest and longest running student drama festival in North America. About 300 Ontario schools and 7,000 students and teachers will be participating in the 50th season celebrations. Among these students are the cast and crew of the South Huron District High School production of "Blind Dates". Written by Anna Fuerstenburg, an alumini of the festival, the play explores fear of the future and the many decisions that lie ahead for several young adults. One character explains "I have a blind date with the future and I can't even tell who is fixing me up." As Ron McInnes, vice-president of public relations for Sears and a fan of the festival notes: "At Sears Canada, we believe -- and demonstrate though our ongoing commitment to the Sears Ontario Drama Festival -- that education in the arts allows young people to make a commitment to endeavour's and values that are larger than any one individual, and by do- ing so, build core values and meaning into their lives." To this end, the festival, which has always seen itself as an intricate part of the education process, de-emphasized competition more than a decade ago. In its place is a multi -layered educational forum for students and teachers to reach out into their communities and schools. As important as the development of new actors, designers, directors and writers, is the nur- turing of new audiences and the germination of new friendships. The festival started as a small Toronto presentation sponsored by Simp- sons and expanded to an all -Ontario event in 1964 when Simpsons -Sears took over sole sponsorship of the festival. In addition to sponsorship of professional adjudications and excellent professional workshops, the festi- val has expanded its recognition of talent. Students participate in competi- tions for poster design, an original fanfare and an original script. South Huron's performance will take place at Listowel District Secon- dary School on March 27 at 7 p.m. The cast and crew look forward to see- ing you there! The South Huron Drama Department is entering their pro- duction of 'Blind Dates' in the Sears Ontario Drama Festival on March 27 in Listowel. Pictured at dress rehearsal are Theresa Wilhelm and Ryan Negrijn. HCBE gives "tool kit' failing marks The measures released to achieve spending reduction lack specifics Heather Mir T -A staff EXETER - Huron County Board of Education trustees and administra- tion are sorely disappointed with the measures announced on March 6 by Minister of Education John Snobelen in an effort to cope with $400 mil- lion in cuts to school board grants. The so-called "tool kit" presented to school officials was intended to give boards new tools to achieve cost savings. However, the document is vague and has failed to give the Huron board financial ground rules even as almost half of the spending year is over. Stephen Township Trustee Bob Heywood said he will be asking the board to make tough political decisions by re -opening dis- cussion on Junior Kindergarten, which it supported for an- other year as well as Tech 21 and Adult Eduction. "I think JK should go immediately," said Heywood. He added the measures announced fail to give boards proper and adequate tools to deal with funding reductions. According to Heywood the province was given an op- portunity to address the need to force the separate school system into a partnership with the public system. "Everybody's going to start suffering because of this du- plication," he said, calling for confederated boards. Heywood anticipated the "tool kit" would take decisive action to help boards deal with expenditure reductions such as mandating a percentage wage cut across the board. By failing to do so, he feels the province has declared war on Huron County property owners because it will force mill rates up. In an emphatic letter to Huron MPP Helen Johns, HCBE Director Paul Carroll challenged the province to tell the board where it stands. He add- ed the government still owes the board more than $1 million in unpaid capital grants from 1995. "I increased the bank interest line in our budget )almost $200,000 yes- terday, one more percentage point on the mill rate for property tax rat- epayers because this government has not yet paid last year's bills," he stat- ed adding, "1 know your government will renege on promises already made for funding top -ups for '95." Citing cost savings such as reductions in administration and a highly in- tegrated school bus system are already achieved, Carroll said there is "no more blood in that stone." "Stop insulting us. If you can't do better than that, it's time to take the Michigan approach. When we run out of money this spring, let's close the schools! I'm serious. Maybe then we can get some corrective action for this astounding injustice in funding direction." In response to Carroll's letter, Johns said the minister "suggested that your letter contains no solutions or suggestions but rather is a tirade of negative comments." Outlining the options given to boards in the "tool kit", Johns said, "I am sure that your board and the parents of Huron are not prepared to close the school system in the spring and can use these tools to find savings." In a letter to trustees, associations and teachers' federations, Snobelen said the decisions for realizing the savings are based on three goals: pro- tection of classroom funding; provision of opportunities for local de- cision-making and locally negotiated solutions; and stabilization of local taxes. New measures in addition to those already announced including re- storing junior kindergarten as an optional program and funding changes for adult eduction are as follows. New measures Grants will be adjusted to yield savings of $81 million in out -of -classroom expenditures in areas such as trans- portation, school board administration and custodial main- tenance expenditures. Greater flexibility will enhance local accountability through legislation to be introduced, enabling boards to en- ter into cooperative agreements with other boards and pub- lic agencies. It will also require public reporting on sav- ings, giving boards responsibility to negotiate local sick - leave plans by removing entitlements from the Education Act and imple- menting administrative structures to meet local needs by modifying ap- propriate regulations under the Education Act. The minister will appoint a small working group to investigate and make recommendations by the summer on th^ feasibility of having qual- ified personnel without teacher's certificates perform functions such as li- brary, career counselling and computer-related services. Changes will also be made to the official student -count dates used for funding purposes to ensure reported figures accurately reflect enrollment patterns. In the interim the minister will initiate a' review to develop rec- ommendations on alternative financing options for new school construc- tion. This report is due in the fall. In addition there will be a one-year moratorium on new capital projects for 1996-97. The above measures will cut $400 million from the total provincial ex- penditures of S14 billion including $167 in deferred construction costs. According to the Middlesex Board of Eduction, the change in the method of extracting funds from education will be severe but not as harsh as the minister predicted last November when he said cuts would result in a nine per cent reduction in provincial grants. However, until specifics of these cuts and the regulations that will im- plement them are received, it is impossible for boards to finalize their 1996 budgets. "When we run out of money this spring, let's close the schools!" The family -run sporting goods is the only store in Exeter that carries the shirts which Bogart considers to be a fad among teenagers. He feels the school is justified banning shirts with profanity, however, not all of the shirts contain offensive language. Boggy said the school's ban will have an impact on his business and he believes the administration did not consider implications it would have on local business. Seven persons Jailed in Exeter provincial wild EXETER - In Provincial court on February 27, Judge R.G.E. Hunter sentenced seven persons to jail terms, fined one and issued suspended sentences to two others. Disqualified driving charge Michael Black of Zurich was sent to jail for 45 days after pleading guilty to a charge of operat- ing a vehicle while his driv- ing privileges were disquali- fied . His licence was again revoked. In COUPt While on routine patrol in Zurich on August 10, 1995, Constable George Finch of the Exeter OPP detachment noticed a vehicle being driven by Black and the constable knew he was a prohibited driver. The court learned that the accused had been fined $750 each for driv- ing and drinking offences in September and November of 1994. As Black is now employed in Guelph Judge Hunter agreed that the jail teen be served at the Wellington detention centre on an intermit- tent basis from 9 a.m. each Saturday todays at 6 p.m. Jailed for at It Another 45 day jail sentence was hand out to Lloyd Masnica of Exeter after he pleaded guilty on a charge 4 assault. The incident occurred on August 29, 1995 when Masnica is charged with slapping and kicking a six year-old boy. In Masnica's defense, duty counsel David Reid said his client knows it was a cowardly act and he feels remorse and knows he must avoid confrontations of this kind in the future. To this, Judge Hunter replied, " Mr. Masnica, in the last 15 years you have had more confrontations like this than you can shake a stick at." Gets suspended sentence Judge Hunter issued a suspended sentence and a probation period of 12 months against Lloyd Lee of Dashwood after he pleaded to guilty to a charge of assault on his wife. The court was told that on September 28, 1995, the couple had gone to the Albatross Tavern at Huron Park and the incident occurred after they returned home. Lee was alleged to have kicked and tried to choke his wife, but duty counsel David Reid said his client denies any choking attempts. Through the solicitor Lee said although they have had frequent argu- ments in the past, things are now much better and his wife has her drinking problem under control. Lee was also ordered to do 75 hours of community service work within the next 12 months. Drinking, driving Sean Kyle ofBxeterwas Sentenced to 14 days in jail and had his driving licence suspended for two years after pleading guilty to a charge of operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content over the le- gal limit. As the result of an anonymous phone call, police were advised of a suspected intoxicated driver at 12.30 a.m. on August 21, 1995 and found the accused driving on William street. He was found to have bloodshot eyes and odour of alcohol on his breath. As Kyle had been convicted on a similar charge on January 9 of this year, his defence argued that this was not a second offence, but Judge Hunter replied, " I do not buy that theory." Prohibitive driver jailed A 45 day jail teen was issued against Keith Miller of Zurich after he pleaded guilty to a charge of operating a vehicle without a valid li- cence. A charge of operating a vehicle without insurance was with- drawn by the Crown. Miller was stopped by Constable McGregor of the Exeter OPP de- tachment at 12.43 p.m. on December 8, 1995. The accused while driv- ing northbound on Concession road 2-3 of Stephen township was clocked at between 120 and 140 kilometres per hour. He had been convicted for drinking and driving three times in the last four years. The latest conviction came during 1995. In his defence, Miller said, " I was only driving to work." To this Judge Hunter re- plied, "That's not a valid excuse. You are dangerous to society. You're driving privileges are hereby revoked for three years." Sentenced on previous charges Judge Hunter passed sentence on Mark Morgan of Huron Park on charges of unlawful entry into a dwelling house and failing to comply with a court dispositon. Morgan had pleaded guilty to the charges in provincial court in Janu- ary of this year. The sentence was three months for the unlawful entry and one month to run concurrently on the breach of probation charge. In addition, the accused will be placed on probation for 18 months and ordered to take counselling as prescribed by the probation officer. Defence counsel Paul Carter said his client is prepared to go back to school and "for the first time has his life back on track". Jailed for prohibitive driving Donald Wolfe of Exeter was sentenced to 45 days in jail after he ad- mitted to driving while his licence was suspended. After being stopped on Huron county road 21 in Centralia at 3.20 p.m. on August 31, 1995, Wolfe told police he was a suspended driver. In his own defence , Wolfe said, " I know 1 have a deplorable record and my only troubles with the law in the past 15 years were because of drinking. I have hurt only myself and this latest driving was a stupid thing to do." He went on to say he has not touched an alcoholic drink in the last 18 months since his last conviction in Kincardine in November of 1994. Gets suspended sentence Jason Kramer of Exeter was given a suspended sentence and placed on probation after pleading guilty to a charge of possession of stolen ProPer1y in Kramer's defence, lawyer David Reid said his client did have pos- session of bicycle parts, but did not steal the bicycle as the parts were purchased from another individual. Judge Hunter also ordered Kramer to do 50 hours of community ser- vice. Gets sit months Larry Niles of Grand Bend was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to charges of sexual interference and inviting of sexual touching. Judge Hunter placed a ban on publication of any of the details of the incident which is alleged to have taken place on March 31, 1994. Narcotic possession A -fine of $500 was levied against Robert McIntosh for possession of a narcotic. The cast teamed a vehicle being driven by McIntosh was stopped on July 7, 1995 by OPP Constable George Finch. When the officer opened the door he smelled a narcotic and found a small bag of mari- juana. The accused had similar convictions in 1991 and 1993. • Is 1•