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Home My WebLink AboutClinton News Record, 1981-04-02, Page 16PAGE 16—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, APRIL 2 ,1981 Don Stinson of Bluewater Cable hopes that laws governing the distribution of satellite signals will be eased so local viewers can take advantage of satellite programming. The company has been offering satellite programming, a practice that is unauthorized by the CRTC. (Photo by Dave Sykes) Is he a pirate Separate budget up 7.6% Ey Wilma Oke The Huron -Perth County Catholic School board ap- proved a 1981 budget of $5,820,716 on Tuesday, up $410,000 or 7.67 per cent over last year. Local taxpayers will have to pay 18.3 per cent of this budget amounting to $1,114,955, while provincial grantS-will-provide'79.5 per cent amounting to $4,627,148, and the remaining 4.1 per- cent or $78,613 will be raised by miscellaneous revenue k sack as tuition fees from ether board& . Theprojected tax increase will cost home owners in Huron and Perth counties an `+nayeiage 0415 based on an assessment.of $5,000. Ronald • Murray, board chairman, said, "It's a pretty good budget.'We have. cut as far as we could, especially the • property committee for the cutbacks made in maintenance." Jack Lane, superintendent of business and finance, explained the percentage of increases in expenditures, partly due to acatch-up in inflation. He said the maintenance program shows an increase of 23.6 per cent although it was cut by $15,000 leaving the amount to be spent in this program at $64,000. The cuts included reduction in the painting program, removal of fence projects and resurfacing of play areas. He said the painting program was in- dicated to be about five years behind. However, he said this was one area the. board could make cuts and yet not affect the education program for the students. Plant operation showed an increase of 12.2 per cent. One item here was a $4.000 conversion from oil to gas planned for the heating system at St. James school, Seaforth providing the government comes through with the promised grant in this program. Last year the board converted two schools for a total cost to the board of $8,000 as' no 'grant program was in effect in 1980. St.. des Tslhela"st eboaltobe converted as other schools are not in a,"gas;supply" area. ' A 11.1 per cent increase in transportation expenditures has been, set, Mr. Lane said but it could be that the budget ' in this area for $622,000 might not be suf- ficient to meet increasing. costs such as operators' salaries, and replacement of two buses at $45,000. Although there is sharing of busing with both the Huron County and Perth . County. Boards of Education it still requires 80 school buses total in the • two counties to transport the two-thirds of the school student body who require it. The increase in the in- struction budget amounts to 8.9. per cent. This part of the budget, which includes teachers' 'salaries and classroom supplies has been set at $3,936,969 which is 67.6 per cent of the total budget. The increase in ad- ministrative expenditures amounts to 3.79 per cent. Goderich Trustee Vincent Young said the board is spending just about at the maximum allowed by the ministry with expenditure per pupil at $1,959. If more had to be spent, it would have to come from the ratepayers. Mr. Young said. "It's good news for the local ratepayers," said Mr. Lane, "as $1,730 is the maximum allowed per pupil but that this is adjustable according., to the individual board due to such ex- penditures as special education costs which allows increases of $1,959." The board chairman said the average mill rate ' is lower than last year at 3.18 nails and this is due in part" to increased` assessment. Mr. Lane stated'the increase in assessment indicates the continued confidence in the catholic school board and the' quality of education main- tained. Mr. Lane said included in the budget is $10,000 to assist in the operation of a summer school program at St. Patrick's school in Dublin and a library program in Stratford. Ministry approval is required, but trustees hope assistance will be available to hire teachers and also college and secondary students in July and August for these projects. Following the meeting Mr. Lane was asked how the board ended up its 1980 year and he said with a deficit of $35,000. He said this was due to , costs not budgeted for such as salaries which were higher than expected. He stated that while in 1980 the board exceeded the maximum grantable ceiling, this year the board is right on ce fling. "We have re -organized the staff of 132 "full time equivalent teachers", and while enrolment is down by nine pupils in our system, we have 2475 pupils now," Mr. Lane said, "The ministry is recognizing 60 per cent of the decrease of the nine pupils with grants." NOTICE We will be CLOSED MONDAY, APRIL 6 for conversion to a new .on-line computer system. This new system will allow faster processing of your accounts to serve you better! OPEN REGULAR HOURS TUESDAY; APRIL 7 Clinton Community CREDIT UNION 70 ONTARIO ST. CLINTON 482-3467 374 MAIN ST. SOUTH EXETER 235-0640 Satellite illegal Feast may be over for c1e viewers BY DAVE SYKES For cable television viewers,who have been feasting sumptuously on satellite programming in the area served by Bluewater Cable, the feast may soon be over. While Bluewater Cable has been offering sample programming from satellite stations, that practice is a direct contravention of federal regulations and will cease. Don Stinson, manager of the cable cor(cupany, said the experiment was simply "to show people what's ava ilable in television programming and has been available for over three years." But the Canadian Radio and Television Com -1 mission and the federal government do not permit the distribution of satellite signals. Satellites hover over the equator and pick up television signals, tran- smitting them back in a wide beam across Canada and the United States. The signals are everywhere but the CRTC has maintained a firm stand against their distribution. Satellite television services have been kept out of Canadian homes mainly to diminish the competition armingr d networks available, a iidiee cesaview ng g.broadcasters - If mg Canadian stations could diminish substantially. Although federal regulations prohibit the distribution of satellite service, Stinson said many came operators are offering the service to sub- scribers to show them what they are missing. Cable companies cannot charge subscribers for the extra service but many are going against the federal regulations so Canadians will clamor for the satellite service. Over the past month, Bluewater subscribers have been treated to satellite programming from New York, Atlanta and Chicago. "In 1978 we applied to the CRTC for satellite programming and they just listened politely," Stinson said. "There is no agreement between Canada and the United States on satellites and the federal regulations just aren't keeping up." So it is technically illegal kat cable companies to give subscribers a taste of satellite programming. But the operators are hoping the viewer will like the programming enough to pressure the government into easing regulations. "We are not the only ones doing it. It's Canada wide and operators in every province are showing satellite programming," Stinson said. "The media has labelled us as pirates." The CRTC has maintained the philosophy that distribution of the signals is unauthorized rather than illegal and have laid charges against some operators. But the federal gayernmerlt_laas L turn been taken to. court in a fight over jurisdiction of the satellite signals. Satellite signals have been around for years and Canada has even been a leader in this respect. But Stinson says it will take pressure from the consumer before the government eases regulations on the distribution of signals. "The people haven't told the government what they want so the government hasn't acted," he said. "We started satellite programming on channel.9 a month ago and have had lots of calls since that time. It was probably the first time in this business that most of the calls were complimentary. Usually they just call to complain about reception." The public reception of the new programming has been encouraging. "The government is trying to keep the service out- of Canada and they're hurting the consumer," he said. "The Atlanta station we aired offered a good alternative to network programming and was good family viewing." The cost of satellite signals, Stinson explained, would be tacked on to subscribers basic rates and could be as little as 10 cents per month per station. Cable operators are not paying the supplier stations for the service now because there is no agreement between the countries. Many homeowners are tap- ping into the saltellite signals by installing their own receiving dishers. Costs are slowly coming down and dishes can be bought for $6,000. --A-Canadian can legally own what Stmson. referred. to as an earth station but is against regulations to operate it. In an effort to bring the situation to some sort of productive solution, Bluewater Cable is asking subscribers to write to Francis Fox, Minister of Communications, in support of satellite program- uung. Gy zehrs fine markets... of fine foods FRESH ONTARIO PORK SIDE RIBS SCHNEIDERS SLICED BEEF LIVER PREVIOUSLY FROZEN SCHNEIDERS SLICED BOLOGNA 6 VARETIES 500 g. *199 SCHNEIDERS SLICED CORNED BEEF THREE 57 g. PKGS. 1.79 SCHNEIDERS BEEF BURGERS 1/4 POUND PLUS• 9 500 g. PKG. FRESH WHOLE CUT UP CHICKEN 1.09 LB. FRESH ONTARIO PORK HOCKS 490 LB. MAPLE LEAF GOLDEN FRY SAUSAGE FROZEN $1 500 0. MAPLE LEAF NAM STEAK 175 g. PKG. 9 super special CANADA 66A 99 GRADE TOUNG TENDER ONTARIO CHICKENS IDEAL FOR ROASTING, BAR -B -Q, BROILING -FRYING REGULAR. 51.28 b. Ib. FRESH 3 ib. AVG. NOT FROZEN SCHNEIDERS REGULAR, MAPLE OR MELLOW KENT KINDLESS SIDE BACON MAPLE LEAF SWEET PICKLED BONELESS PORK BUTT COTTAGE ROLL 1S9.. PRDUCE OF CALIFORNIA PLUMP JUICY RED FRESH STRAWBERRIES CANADA NO 1 GRADE PT. PROD. OF CALIFORNIA NAVEL ORANGES '4 LB It 79 BAG '179 PRODUCE OF FLORIDA GREEN CABBAGE CANADA NO. 1 GRADE 10 oz. PKG. PRODUCE OF U.S.A. SPINACH 79° PRODUCE OF PRODUCE OF CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA CELERY STALKS FRESH LEMONS CATV. 69Lg:: NO. 1 PRIDE OF CANADA SMOKED FULLY COOKED VINTAGE NAM 500 gr PKG "900 ml. POLY BAG SCNNEIDERS SAUERKRAUT 1.19 SLICED ENGLISH STYLE MAPLE LEAF BACK BACON MAPLE LEAF SAUSAGE MEAT ROLL 500g $1. -4•• 17681.69 SLICE 6 FRY, $3.29 BURNS- BY THE PIECE SMOKED LEI. BACK BACON Ib. 2.98 STOCK UP! ��r••i AT THE DELI TRUE GREEN FERTILIZER 20 Kg. BAG PROD. OF CALIFORNIA CARROTS CANADA 68 # NO. i BUNCH ASSORTED TROPICAL PLANTS Pa: '16.95 SERVICE COUNTER PRIDE OF CANADA VINTAGE HAM STOREFULLYCOOKED #�, 49 E SLICED Ib. SCHNEIDERS MEDIUM ROAST BEEF Ib$4.98 STORE SLICED SHOPSYS PREPARED POTATO SALAD Ib. 8 OR COLE SLAW AT THE WHARF FRESH SEAFOOD COUNTER BOSTON BLUE FILLETS FRESH ATLANTIC Ib. . 6 9 aka SPECIAL PRICES IN EFFECT UNTIL CLOSING TUESDAY, APRIL 7 4 1