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Clinton News-Record, 1979-04-19, Page 1Picture of - innocence Stacy Hicks was a picture of innocence as she stood on the big stage in front of a full house and con- fidently sang Jesus Loves Me. Stacy's song was only one of the entertaining numbers put on by the Clinton Early Childhood Education classes at their concert last Tuesday night. Over 200 people enjoyed the event and several draws were made. (News - Record photo) Two injured in crash Two cars were completely demolished and four people were taken to hospital, two with major injuries, after a Sunday morning accident on Highway 4 at Kippen. Peter Westerhout, 29, RR 1, Granton was taken to Clinton Public Hospital and later transferred to University Hospital in London after the car he and his family were travelling in collided with a second vehicle driven by Bert Mahaffy, 67, RR 1, Staffa. Mr. Mahaffy remains in Clinton hospital, suffering from major injuries, but is reported to be in fair condition. Two passengers in the Westerhout car, Joan Westerhout, 27 and Cindy Westerhout, 2, were also taken to Clinton hospital by the Seaforth and Zurich ambulance. They were treated for minor injuries and released. The Goderich OPP said that the 2 a.m. accident occurred after the Mahaffy car pulled through the Kippen intersection while the Westerhout vehicle travelled north on Highway 4, and the two collided. Damage to the Westerhout car was set at $4,000 and $5,000 to the Mahaffy car. Morris Flood, 19, RR 1, Walton escaped without injury but Kimberly Flood, 16, received minor injuries in an April 9 accident. The Flood pick-up truck was travelling along Sideroad 5-6, south of Highway 8 in Tuckersmith Township, when it hit a patch of snow, slid into the ditch and hit a tree. Damage to the truck was set at $2,000. The Clinton Police reported one unusual accident in town when Garry N. Cowie, 31, RR 3, Brussels, driving a 1972 Meteor was involved in three accidents within the span of an hour. The police reported that on April 13 at 2:25 a.m. an accident occurred between Mr. Cowie and Wayne Ducharme, 18, Joseph St., Clinton. The.) ,Ducharme vehicle received $1,00Cifrr'` damages after it was struck while parked in the Pizza Express lot. The Cowie vehicle left the scene im- mediately after the accident. C7 Bayfieli:wornan gets nomination by Alice Gibb Moira Couper of Bayfield, a freelance adult community educator, was acclaimed as the NDP candidate for the Huron -Bruce riding in a nomination meeting in Clinton Tuesday night. The candidate said one of her jobs in the upcoming election would be to "dispel some of the myths about the NDP party." Mrs. Couper, the mother of four children, now holds diplomas from Fanshawe College and Iona College, University of Windsor and is working on a degree from the University of Waterloo. In the past, Mrs. Couper has been employed by the ministry of culture and recreation in operating a series of campground programs. In accepting the nomination, Mrs. Couper told the audience one of her major concerns is equal rights and opportunities for, women, which she will make a platform in her campaign. She told the 35 people at the nomination meeting that it will be difficult to change the thoughts and ideas of many voters in the Huron - Bruce riding and to persuade them to consider the NDP party. In an interview following her nomination Mrs. Couper said she plans to run a "grass roots" campaign around the county. For example, in- stead of having one campaign office in the county, the party plans to operate mobile information centres which will tour the riding. Also, Mrs. Couper plans to aim her campaign at three main groups in the county, the small businessmen on tyre main streets of the towns where she is campaigning; the farm population and workers in fac- tories around the riding. Mrs. Couper said she hopes to "bring policy statements (of the NDP party) to the people" in her canvass of the riding. Mrs. Couper's campaign is being led Hydro up 10 percent by Frances Barrick Clinton residents and business owners will be paying an average 10.3 more for hydro starting June 1. Gus Bousse, manager of Clinton Public Utilities Commission (PUC) said Tuesday that the residential rates will increase by 9.3 percent, the general rate, which includes com- mercial and industrial will go up by 10.8 percent and the municipal street lighting will increase by 13.1 percent. For homeowners and apartment dwellers using 1,000 kilowatt hours of hydro per month, the increase means that their monthly bill will go from $28.13 to $30.98. And for general con- sumption at 1,000 kilowatt hours per month, the rates will rise from $32.48 to $35.13. Mr. Boussey said that the rates will increase because the cost of power from Ontario Hydro to the Clinton PUC has risen 19.3 percent over the past two years. In June 1978 the PUC power rose Turn to page 3. by Paul Carroll of Seaforth, campaign committee co-ordinator; Helen Tench of Clinton, official agent and Gwen Pemberton of Bayfield acting as the candidate's advisor. The party also plans a series of in- formal t=offee parties held in homes around the county to introduce voters to Mrs. Couper and to discuss the party platforms. On May 9, Jane Bigelow, former mayor of London, will be the guest at an event in support of Mrs. Couper's candidacy which will be held in the south end of the riding. In declaring Mrs. Couper the official candidate, Mr. Carroll s, told the audience "we have a person with vision, creativity, imagination and lots and lots of drive." The guest speaker at the nomination meeting was Mac Makarchuk, MPP for the Brantford riding, who was once stationed at the Vanastra airrbase. Mr. Makarchuk said the upcoming election finds the country at a crossroads, facing stagnation in the economy. "At a time when we deserve leadership we do not get leadership from our prime minister, all we get is a shrug of the shoulders," the speaker said. Mr. Makarchuk emphasized the issue of foreign ownership of Canadian industries and said, "It is extremely important for us as Canadians to control what goes on in this country." He gave the International. Nickel company situation in Sudbury as an example of what happens when an industry is controlled by another country and said the strike situation there hasn't been resolved because "the decision not to increase wages 'JI'14th year -N At 3:05 a.m. police reported an ac- cident at Isaac and Mary Street bet- ween the Cowie car and Jeffery Gib- bings, 17, James St., Clinton. The Gibbings car was westbound on Mary Street and met with the Cowie vehicle as it came off Isaac St. Damage to the Gibbings vehicle was $400. The Cowie vehicle left the scene. At 3:07 a.m. a car driven by Gerald R. Armstrong, 20, RR 1, Zurich, received $400 in damages after it met with the Cowie vehicle at Mary and Isaac Streets. The Cowie vehicle then sped away from the accident. Damage to the Cowie vehicle in each accident was $200. Charges have been laid in connection with the incidents. Thursday, April 1 , 1979 35 cents3 was made in New York." He added, "No other country but some banana republic in South America would allow this situation to exist." He told the audience to look at the oil, pulp and paper and manufacturing industries in the county and asked, "Who controls them ?" Moira Couper Weather 1979 1978. April 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 041 LO c c 3.5 —6.5 5 —4.5 8 2 8 4 14 3 7 2 8 1 Rain 38.3 mm N1 55 53. 61 52 42 la 33 36 33 35 30 41 31 44 26 Rain .87" axi on streets...for now by Frances Barrick After a six-day shut' -down "6y town council, the Clinton taxi service will soon be back in operation. Council agreed at a special meeting Tuesday to renew a taxi license for Doug Howse, operator of the town's two -car taxi operation and only public transportation service. Last Monday council refused to renew the one-year license because Mr. Howse had failed to move his operation from his residentially zoned High Street house to a commercial area by winter as ordered by council. He also did not comply with the requirements of the town's taxi bylaw. But at a special meeting Thursday, council agreed to reconsider its decision if Mr. Howse agrees to move his operation to a commercial site by Bugs out of new radio By Frances Barrick • Clinton is now on the county -wide police communication system. "As of today we are 100 per cent operating," said police chief Lloyd Westlake Tuesday. The radio equip- ment was' installed in Clinton Friday, and since then its hugs have been ironed out," he said. by Shelley McPhee Is.'s now two hours past my in- tended deadline, but the fact that Editor Jim is away on holidays has no bearing on my lateness, or so we'll let him think. Between the fire siren on Wednesday morning and a neve dent in my car I am slowly losing control of the editorial office. However with the help of Frances Barrick, a free lance writer with the Kitchener -Waterloo Record, the girls in the front office and the ad- vertising department we'll whiz through these next couple of weeks. I think. + ++ The fire siren blared on Wed- nesday morning but fortunately it was only a false alarm at the hospital, set off by the electricians. Despite the fact that the Clinton fire department is on a new, more ef- ficient beeper system, perfection does not come easily. While many false alarms have been conquered it's doubtful that will ever com- pletely VP •'41. + ++ Any fires over the weekend would probably have been quickly dowsed with help from the sky above. If you didn't happen to look out your window, or step outside, buckets of rain fell on the area, making the Easter weekend less than pleasant. + + + Most of us are accustomed to nasty weather now and have to work our lives and schedules around it. Such happened with the annual Elmira Maple Syrup Festival on April 6 when it was called off because of the winter's worst storm. Strong reaction to the cancellation has re -scheduled the festival for Saturday, April 28. The sugar bush tours Will be replaced by tours to various farms in the Elmira area. + ++ With the warm weather on the way, tennis huffs will be digging their rackets and halls out of the closet for another season. The Clinton rcc committee will be giving tennis players some help this season. The west arena wall, where players often practice, will have its windows boarded over so the balls will have a nice surface to bounce off, and of course, so no windows can be damaged. virmirrirrierriorairommairommirmigiiell The system, based in Goderich, links the police forces of Goderich, Clinton, Seaforth, Wingham and Exeter under a central despatch system. Clinton residents now call 482-3435 to obtain police assistance, and a Clinton police cruiser will be dispatched from the Goderich call, said Chief Westlake. Previously, police calls were dispatched out of Marion Thompson's house. With new dispatchers, hired to man the system in Goderich, Mrs. Thompson has retired after working with the Clinton department for many years. Chief Westlake said the new system will enhance police protection in the 'town, police cruisers will be dispatched quicker, and it will be easier for residents. "I think it will be much better basically. We can get right through to tlse Ontario Provincial Police," he said. The chief said the town's share of the start-up and ongoing operation costs for nine months will be about $14,000. Start-up costs are $135,212, with the Ontario Police Commission paying 75 per cent, and the five towns sharing the remainder. The towns are also sharing operating costs, which include telephone line rentals, on a per capita basis. Goderich police ,chief Pat King said Tuesday all five towns should be on the system by Thursday. He said General Electric, whidh was tendered the job, is still installing and working on antennae in some of the towns, "to fine tune the sets." During last week's winter storm, lightning hit the Seaforth and Wingham towers, and Chief King said the con- trators ' have been working on repairing the towers, before com- pleting installation of equipment. "The bad weather set back the in- tallations," he noted, He Said when all tlhe antennae are p "excellent reception" is expected. 'Mil 31, 1979 and comply with the bylaw by providing certificates of road worthiness of his cars and adequate insurance. Town clerk Cam Proctor said later Tuesday council renewed the license because Mr. Howse finally complied with the bylaw. "He just wouldn't until tonight comply with any of the requirements." Mr. Howse said Tuesday it will be difficult to find a place that ac- commodates both his house and business in a commercial area. He said if relocation is too costly he might close his business. "There is a 50-50 chance I just might pack it in depending on the cost to relocate it." Council's reasoning for not renewing the license was their bylaws are taken "too lightly" but Mr. Howse said he plans to bring to public attention three other examples of broken town bylaws. "It is what the people want. Everybody talks about this is what should be done. I think it is about time somebody should speak out," he said. In talking with some members of the public Mr. Howse said he,has he, ,pd a number of complaints against council. On Wednesday morning he' gave some of these views. He explained that people feel that the bylaws should all he enforced, not just some of them. "The bylaws were made for the good of the people, according to the mayor," he said. "Some people feel that there is a conflict of interest on council with Rosemary Armstrong as a councillor and her husband Don working on the town police force," he went on. He continued, "The clerk sometimes voices his opinion without being asked. The common statement is, 'I don't know why we hired a council when the clerk runs the town'." These/ are not my personal opinions," Mr. Howse noted, "hut a combination of those most voiced by the people I've talked to." "If the mayor seriously wants to run things properly, that is a good place to start," he suggested. "Granted I made a mistake, but I don't want to he made an example of, J without doing some squawking about it," he said. Mr. Howse saidcontacted a lawyer to see what can be done about his situation!. "I don't intend to be made the scapegoat of this deal and be compelled to go with these regulations," he said, referring to the May 31 relocation deadline. He said he feels other people who have broken bylaws should also have to comply with his deadline.. However, he said he doesn't see council's initial decision as a vendetta against him, but rather as "small town politics." But during the shut -down,' Clinton was never fully without a taxi service, as Mr. Howse continued to transport "anybody who phones, we give the service as we have always." He said fares were not charged, but donations accepted. Now, back in operation, Mr. Howse will be operating his service as usual with the $1.25 rate for the first half mile and 85 cents for every mile travelled after that. After months of planning and some controversy, the county- ficient service. People needing police assistance in Clinton wide police communications system is now operating. In will still call the same phone dumber and their request will Clinton, Chief Lloyd Westlake is pleased with the dew ef- be quickly answered. (News -Record photo)