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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1979-04-26, Page 1114th year -No. 17 Thursday, April26, 1979 35 cents Weather 1979 1978 HI 10 C C 17 9.5 - 1 18 11 -2.5 19 13 -- 3 20 17 — 1 21 19 — 4 22 13 -- 3 23 19.5 — 2.5 Rain 38.3 mm Mt F 46F 5.5 11.5 7 5.5 9 13 Rain Foreign ownership no problem in township by Wilma Oke meeting on April 17, to ask for an in - Despite some concern voiced by crease in the Federation's annual members o -f th-e Tucker -smith grant, representatives Robert Federation of Agriculture, the local McGregor and Stanley Johns spoke on council is not overly worried about the foreign ownership issue. foreign land ownership in the township. After the request for $700, which While at the council's regular council did not discuss or come to any decision on, Mr. McGregor told council that the Federation at provincial and county levels is concerned about foreign ownership of agricultural land in the province. He said that he did not think it a problem in the township of Tuckersmith at this time but noted that Father and daughter escape A Goderich man and his six year-old daughter escaped serious injury or death on Friday night when the car they were travelling in suddenly burst into flames. William Forrest, Gibbons Street, Goderich, was treated for burns on his hand at the Clinton hospital and his sleeping daughter Tracy was rescued . from the back seat of their 1968 station wagon before the car was completely eaten up in flames. Mr. Forrest was travelling through Clinton when he suddenly smelled smoke in his car. He immediately pulled over by the Becker's Store on Princess Street and attempted to remove the wiring, which operates the powerseats. The wiring in the car, which had just been safety checked and taken , from a garage three hours earlier, had shorted. In Mr. Forrest's attempts to save his car his hand was burned. The sleeping child was taken from the back seat minutes before the entire inside of the car was gutted. A nearby person, who had a Citizens Band radio called the police and the Clinton Fire Department to the scene. While the police drove Mr. Forrest to hospital where he was treated and released, the fire department had the blaze under control within minutes. bI would say the car was pretty well shot," fire chief Clarence Neilans said. Clinton volunteer fireman Doug Cantelon quickly dowsed a fire in a car owned by William Forrest of Goderich. Although the Friday night fire was out in minute Ny the fire department the inside of the car was completely demolished. A short in the power seat wiring is blamed for the blaze. (Steve Cook photo) First come first serve The Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Authority will plant 124,497 trees' this year in its Reforestation Assistance Program. This number is down from 135,658 last year because of a shortage'" of available stock, according to an authority press release. The release said the purpose of the program is to promote reforestation on marginal lands, such as wet, poor soil, steep slopes or other land unsuitable for agriculture. It is avai'lahle to landowners within the Ausable and Bayfield River watersheds, but the release cautions due to • financial limitations and a limited tree stock, trees will be available to landowners on a first,- come, irstcome, first served basis. ,- The program is divided into three components. The mechanical tree planting assistance program assists Hix it's me again. Even though I'm still on holidays, it's pouring rain outside, and the resulting deluge has delayed the Fitzgerald deck, tem- porarily. Actually, I'm not supposed to be near the office today, and if my wife Lois finds out I'm in here writing this, I'I1 get you know what. We've certainly been busy here at the Fitzgerald household the last two weeks, and we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. I wonder if it has anything to do with me showing up at church two Sundays in a row? Anyways, the garden has not been planted y ; the latest ever for yours truly, but are enjoying onions and parsley planted last fall. We hope to get that done this weekend. This year, we're going to save considerable on our fertilizer bill, with the federal election in full swing, we're going to put some of their bull on the patch behind the house. +++ But, at least as far as I'm con- cerned, summer is here, because on Saturday night, we turn out clocks AHEAD one hour as Daylight Saving Time returns, and, oh, how glorious that will he. As many of you know, we have a three-year-old, and an 18 - month old pair of terrors at our house, and they figure that everyone should rise and shine at the same time as the sun does, which is about 6 a.m. the last few mornings. Also, you must have your 1978 Income Tax form completed and postmarked no later than midnight, April 30, so it's going to be a busy weekend, sharpening pencils and turnir g clocks. } } -f- All these holidays have made Fitzgerald very brave, so I'm going to step out on a limb and call the May 22 federal election. At the very least, according to Fitzgerald in- tuition, there will be a Conservative minority government, and at the very best a Conservative sweep. + + + "History," an old wag once `laid, "repeats itself because eao•h generation refuses to read the minutes of the last meeting." + +-1- And finally, the date today is Thursday, April A6, 1979, We seem to have got more than a few people confused in the last couple of weeks, but nobody's perfect. landowners in planting large amounts of seedling stock, such as 1,000 to 5,000 seedlings. There is a charge of $35 per 1,000 seedling, to cover the cost of supplying a mechanical tree planter and authority labor. The second section, the hand - planting subsidy, assists landowners in areas where mechanical tree planting cannot he done because of fences, slopes, corners or wet areas. The subsidy is paid one year after planting, provided there is a 75 per cent or better success rate. And the farm tree replacement program supplies landowners with a larger stock for the purpose of establishing or replacing windbreaks or shcl'tcrhelts. In addition to supplying trees to private landowners, the authority plants trees on its own lands. This program has been going on each spring for the past.several years. la F 26F 0 6 0 1 it was in other parts of Huron County. Mr. McGregor asked council if township clerk Jack McLachIan could inform the Federation of the sale of farmland to foreign ownership with the owner an absentee landlord. Reeve Ervin Sillery said there was more than one way to look at foreign ownership. "While that land is owned by an outsider, he makes it available to a local person to rent," he noted. Reeve Sillery added that sometimes a man can rent land but cannot afford to buy it or does not need to tie his money up in the purchase. Mr. McGregor replied saying that a farmer's son can go to agricultural college and then come out and can't afford the high price of purchasing land because prices have gone up due to foreign buyers. Council authorized Clerk McLachlan to notify the Federation of the sale of land to foreign investors. The clerk said that at the present time there is no land in the township under foreign ownership. Reeve Sillery i emarked, "I can't see the advantage of giving it (the in- formation) to the Federation, and I can't see the advantage of keeping it from them." After Kenneth Gemmell handed in a drainage petition, Mr. McGregor in- formed council that the drain on the McGregor farm is not working satisfactorily. He suggested that large drainage pipes or tiles be considered by council because of plowed fields with no fences, no pasture and to help slow down run- off of rain - waters. He noted that smaller tiles could not handle it. Council members agreed that this should be considered when each new drain is'put in. Mr. McGregor asked who was responsible for making sure municipal drainage work was stopped when weather was unsuitable for con- struction work in the fall. He noted that work w4. heron, his drain where the ground wa ozen�'itn&huge.lumps of- , frozen earth were dumped in the'drain. Councillor Robert Fotheringham said that Seaforth was having flooding problems as well. He said that the fire truck pumper was used on Sunday for the second time to pump raw sewage in the town. He added that this was done in spite of complaints by the township representatives on the Seaforth Fire Area Board. , He went on to say that it was pointed out to the fire chief after the first usage that there was a motion in the board minutes that said that a truck was not to go out to do any outside work except in emergencies where loss of life was involved. He said the truck should not be used on orders of a town councillor and the fire chief, but the board is in charge of the truck. The next fire board meeting on April 24 will deal with this problem. Council will be asking the engineers to bring a report in on the Crich Bridge, Bridge 14, which is considered to be hazardous. Flewitt's Bridge, Bridge 13, will be repaired with expansion joints at both ends. Two three-inch holes will be drilled to allow water to 2 e away. Now, when it rains, the water lies on the bridge. Along with other minor work the cost of the repairs will be $2,586 and cementing the top for $2,590 for a total cost of $5,176. Looby Con- struction of Dublin will do the work. Requests for building permits were approved for Clavin Bisback, Egmondville, new house; Peter Swinkles, RR 3, Seaforth, hog barn; John Van Miltenberg, removal of existing building and construction of an addition .to residence. Complaints were received from neighbors of old or wrecked cars being towed to the Leo Medd property in Harpurhey where they are considered an eyesore. Newspaper conference successful for students A high school newspaper conference, held in Clinton last weekend and billed as Ontario's first of its kind, was declared a total success. Rick Brown, editor of The Chronicle, the Central Huron Secondary School newspaper and conference organizer said for the participating 60 students from 23 high schools it was a valuable experience. He said it was decided to hold another conference in Peterborough late next October. The conference's main purpose was to discuss various aspects of jour- nalism and how to incorporate them into high school newspapers. Seminars dealing with writing, photography, production and ad- vertising were conducted by members of the Canadian University Press, Guelph and University of Western Ontario newspapers as well as ad- vertising and community relations personnel from The London Free Press and Toronto Star. On Sunday the students prepared a 20 -page tabloid called the Ontario High School Mosaic, and Rick said the paper will be for sale a week Thursday. A $30 registration 'fee from each student covered the expenses incurred in holding the weekend event. For entertainment, the students used the school facilities, Vanastra Recreation Centre, and movies and a dance were also scheduled. Female students were billetted at the Ontario Street United Church, while male students stayed at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church. Meals were provided by the ladies of the Ontario Street Church, at the high school and at Pizza Express. Nearly every play has some comical character and Randy Lobb successfully filled this role as Sidekick in the Clinton Public School's musical Going West. The students gave four performances of the play last week. (News -Record photo) Man walks away from crash A Komoka man escaped serious injury, but the van he was travelling in was demolished when he went for an unexpected ride on April 20. The Goderich OPP reported that Phillip White, 26, of Komoka was travelling along County Road 12, east of High ay 4 when he entered a,curve in the road and pulled onto the right shoulder. He struck a small hole in the shoulder which flipped the van onto its right side. The van then slid across the road onto the opposite shoulder before it came to a stop. .Mr. White was •uninjured. . •`j Four people were taken to Clinton hospital where they were treated for minor injuries, as a result of a two car crash on Highway 8 on April 18. John Sproul. 65, of RR 2 Clinton and two passengers in his car Paf Sproul, 45 and Deborah Sproul 17 ,lorig with the driver of a s,'cond car. 1' r ed booker-, 57, of Goderich were taken_ to hospital by ambulance and private car after they collided, at the Holmesville in- tersection. Damage to the Looker car was set at $1,200 and $1.000 to the Sproul veil -Me. Worst of deadly virus over The recent outbreak of a new virus has killed two dogs and affected about another 50 in Clinton and surrounding areas in the past six weeks. But Dr. William Schilthuis, of the Goderich Veterinary Clinic said the worst is over. "There was an epidemic for two weeks, and then it is all gone." The virus, known as canine Par- vovirus, seems to be a mutation of cat distemper. It attacks the intestinal tract of dogs and ranges in severity from mild to violently lethal. And because the virus is new, a vaccine has not yet been found or produced by drug companies to prevent dogs from contacting the disease. Symptoms of the disease, which is much like gastroenteritis, includes listlessness, or depression, vomiting, diarrhea and blood in the stools. It affects dogs of all ages and can cause death within 24 hours. The. virus, isolated only last fall, has turned up in Ontario, across Canada and throughout -the world, travelling across continents much like outbreaks of flu strains in humans, Dr. Schilthuis said Tuesday the disease is "very contagious" and it tends to spread during the mating season, damp weather and where dogs run loose. "I think we are pretty well over it now. Last two weeks no dogs have come in (with it)," he said. He attributes this to the dryer weather, end of the mating season and that maybe dogs have built up an., im- munity to the disease. 'Town dogs are affected most, he said, because that is "where you get the flux of dogs running around." Whereas, farm dogs may have developed an immunity to the virus because of the presence of farm cats, he said. He said a "fair number" of local cases came from Clinton. "I think that is where the original problem started." However, he said, only a few cases have been detected in Goderich, where there is an enforced bylaw to keep dogs leashed. Dr. Schilthuis said economics will determine whether a vaccine will be produced to prevent the disease. It costs between $3 to $4 million to put one on the market, and he said drug companies may not produce a vaccine if they feel there isn't enough demand for them to make a profit by investing the money to discover an inoculant. "I definitely think a vaccine should be made," he said, for the virus "will definitely reoccur" and if it saves one dog's life it is worth the cost. On a brighter note, he said an an- tibiotic medication given to afflicted dogs has been a successful treatment. "As far as we are concerned in this area we have had very good luck in treating them." And his advice to dog owners is "with a highly contagious infectious disease like this dogs should stay at home." Other items of advice include restricting the dog's exercise, keep them leashed, limit contact with other dogs and if there are signs of vomiting and or diarrhea, contact a vet. Dr. Brian Nuhn, of the Seaforth Veterinary Clinic said Tuesday they have had three confirmed cases of the virus. Two dogs died and one recovered, he said. "We are not into an outbreak." he said. "We have not seen a lot of cases in Seaforth." He called the virus "a severe disease" which hits dogs very quickly. "They either die within 24 to 48 hours or recover from it within the same length of time." \ t' Although the dangerous season is over, dogs should still be protected against a new deadly virus that has hit. Look for obvious signs of illness and keep your dog tied so it won't come into contact with infected animals. (Steve Cooke photo )