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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1981-11-18, Page 1Weather 1981 1980 NOV Perched on her sister's shoulders, this young miss watched the Remembrance Day service at the Clinton Cenotaph last Wednesday. Ideal weather conditions brought out a good crowd to see the wreath laying ceremonies. (James Fitzgerald photo) LO HI LO 10 4 -6 2 -2.5 11 5 -1 0 -3 12 5 ,3 4 -4 13 10 -5 7 -1 14 14 -3 5 -1.5 15 16 0 2 -2 16 9 -2 2 -7 Rain 4.6 mm 116th year—No. 46 Wednesday, November 18, 1981 50 cents Board, teacherss stalled on talks by Stephanie Levesque Salaries are keeping Huron County secon- dary school teachers and the Board of Education from reaching a settlement for the Sept. 1, 1981 to Aug. 31, 1982 collective agreement. With the release of a. fact finder's report on Monday, Nov. 16, negotiations between the two sides are at an impasse. No meetings to continue negotiations have been set. - Shirley Weary, chief negotiator for On- tario Secondary School Teachers' Federa- tion (OSSTF) District 45, said, "there is no reason to believe a settlement can't be negotiated". When asked about the possibility of a strike, Mrs. Weary said any discussion on that topic is "extremely premature". In a telephone interview Monday evening, Mrs. Weary said the two sides would take a '"breathing space" for a couple of weeks and resume talks then. She explained both sides, have been involved in negotiations since last January and the feeling is both sides want some time before continuing talks. In the past four years, both sides have been involved in a strike, arbitration, mediation and fact finding. This is the fourth fact finder's report for Huron sec- ondary school teachers. A fact finder's report is a list of recommendations for both sides, but carries no actual weight. Trustee John Elliott, chairman of person- nel committee, said at a press conference Monday afternoon, talks would continue in mediation until the contract is settled. It is the board's opinion, Trustee Elliott said, the. fact finder's recommendations are a "reasonable compromise for the parties". The major issue of disagreement is salaries. Using maximum salaries, fact finder Anne Barrett, appointed by the Education Relations Commission, recom- mended $36,180 while the board has offered $36,200. For comparison purposes, Huron uses the salaries of surrounding counties of Bruce, Middlesex, Perth and Lambton. OSSTF's last request for a teacher's max- imum salary is $37,200, and have rejected the board's offer. Mrs. Weary maintains the provincial average should be used, as most Lost boy turns up at. father & son banquet While Ed and Linda Sparks combed the countryside for their young son, with the help of dozens of neighbors and volunteer firemen, John Sparks, 10, spent Saturday evening, November 7 enjoying a banquet. Perhaps if John had left a note for his parents, perhaps if the work -day had not been so long and tiring, perhaps if everyone remembered about the Father and Son Banquet at the Fellowship Bible "Trying year" 411 Chapel in Clinton, the Sparks would have enjoyed a quiet Saturday evening. Instead John's parents spent four frightening hours searching for their son. Mrs. Sparks and her son John had spent the day working with their neighbors Ken and Dorothy Williams at the Williams RR 4, Clinton home. By 5 pm, yqung John was quite tired and headed across the road for home. His mother followed shortly af- terwards to find her three young daughters safe and sound, but no sign of her son John. Mrs. Sparks thought that John could have crossed the road by himself but noted, "I couldn't find him anywhere around home and I was terrified that he'd ' been hit by a car on the highway." The worried mother called back to the Williams and in a short time a search party was formed and they combed the dark countryside for more than three hours. At last after wracking their brains for what seemed to be an eternity, it finally Farmers get field work done By Jim Fitzgerald "Things have gone along so well, that they (the fanners) will be able to spare a day or two off to visit the (Royal) Winter Fair," was the bright outlook Huron ag rep Don Pullen gave on the harvest conditions this week. Bayfield man seeks trial Former Bayfield Coun. Milton Van Patter chose to be tried by a county court judge on Nov. 24 on 10 fraud charges when he appeared in provincial court in Goderich last week Thursday. Van Patter previously had elected trial by judge and jury but changed his election Thursday, said Huron County Crown Attorney Garry Hunter. Van Patter, 53, a real estate agent, was charged in August, 1980, following an in- vestigation by the OPP anti -rackets squad. He had resigned from council about a week before his arrest. He has been arraigned on 10 counts of fraud involving about $100,000. The in- cidents are alleged to have occurred between November, 1978 and May, 1980. first column Warm, dry weather, more like late September than mid November, has enabled Huron's farmers to catch up on their field work, and as of early this week, some 95 per cent of the county's 200,000 acre corn grain crop was in storage, with much of the fall plowing done as well. "All that scrambling during the wet spell put everyone hi pretty good shape that when the dry weather came farmers weren't long in cleaning things up. I think that snowstorm on October 23 really scared everybody," Mr. Pullen said. Although the price dropped about 30 per cent from last year, yields are up an averge of 15 bushels an acre to an average of 100 bushels to the acre. Some farmers reported getting up to 150 bushels of dry corn per acre. The warm, clear weather also helped the winter wheat crop, with the about 25,000 acres sown going into the winter in good shape, Mr. Pullen reported. That acreage is down from what farmers intended to sow, he said, because of the wet fields. In summary, Mr. Pullen said that although the 1981 crop year will go down as an above average one in terms of yields. it has been a very trying one, as farmers fought not only tough field conditions, but sky -rocketing input costs, and falling commodity prices. The cost -price squeeze is on many cash - croppers now as it is on the beef and pork producers, and some may not survive the winter, Mr. Pullen noted! Three share Lottario win Three Clinton people took the day off work on Monday to go down to Toronto and collect $116,044.70 that they ,, won in Saturday's, November 14th Lottario draw. Harold Fremlin, Jean Alexander and her da ughter Deb Alexander will each take home $38,681.56 as their share of the win. The Clinton winners were one-third winners of the total Lottario grand prize of $348,134.10 that was split between Clinton and two other Ontario towns. Their winning ticket was part"bf a group of five they shared in purchasing last week at Shiral's Department Store in Clinton. struck the Sparks where their young son could be. Mrs. Sparks remembered that John had mentioned a banquet being held at the Fellowship Bible Chapel, and an anxious drive into town found the youngster, safe, sound and enjoying himself. "It had been a long day," Mrs. Sparks explained, "We forgot all about the banquet. Someone came and picked John up, and he forgot to leave a note." It was impossible for the Sparks to be angry with their young son and Mrs. Sparks remembered, "I was so happy to see him, I just hugged him so hard and he said, 'Morn you're hurting me." The Sparks family, who moved from Peterborough to the Cinton area only a few months ago, met many of their neighbors last Saturday night in a very unusual way and under less than favorable cir- cumstances but Mrs. - Sparks gratefully noted, "We just couldn't believe how friendly the people were." of the surrounding boards are in second and third years of a collective agreement. She said the provincial average is more realistic because of the higher number of boards and some are in the first year of their agreements. The fact finder's report states, "the average maximum salary for the highest paid teachers is $36,581." This figure is has, ed on 45 out of 76 boards in Ontario having reached a settlement for 1981-82. Other areas which remain in dispute in- clude a staffing formula and working condi- tions. As of Sept. 30 of this year, the pupil - teacher ratio in Huron was 16.46 to 1, while the provincial average last year was 16.8 to 1. The fact -finder's report states, "teachers have a staffing formula and working condi- tions better than 80 percent of 10 com- parable boards and better than the provin- cial average as well". The teachers propose four ways to im- prove the situation which would require im- mediately hiring three additional teachers. The board's position is more than three teachers would have to be hired. Ms. Bar- rett states changes which further reduce pupil -teacher ratios should not be made, but a review of the staffing formula should be made. District 45 of OSSTF have also refected the board's offer of criteria for positions of responsibility, professional development Paper invites letters to Santa Hey kids, do you have a special request from Santa? Well, it's that time of year again when all the requests are being send into the jolly old gent at the North Pole. As an extra added service, the News - Record will publish some of those letters to Santa right here in our pages hi our special Christmas edition, which comes out on December'23. Just mail your letter into the News - Record, Post Office Box 39, Clinton, Ontario NOM ILO or drop it off at the of- fice at 53 Albert Street. If it's after hours, just put it through the mail slot input. front door. Rec. budget in red Additional, unexpected expenses has left the Clinton Recreation Department short of funds and this week the town council agreed to advance the department an additional $20,000, nearly 20 per cent over budget. The original $110,694 budget for the rec department has all been spent, but they are hoping that revenues will be coming in soon from arena skating and ice rentals. Rec committee member Councillor Ron McKay told council that the department was faced with several large expenditures this year that had not been budgeted for. He explained that an unexpected $4,000 had to be paid out this year for main- tenance repair on the compressor machine and noted that government legislation rules that similar checks must be carried ',Vith only 30 shopping clays left until Cnratmas, the panic is on as everyone scrambles to get into the Christmas mood, which this year has been hard, to do, what with all. the summer like weather of the past week or so. i.ast Sunday, with the temperature soared to 16 degrees (60 F) under a sunny, windless sky, it was more like a beautiful day in June than a short dreary November day. It's hard to believe that on the same day back a few years ago, the temperature was minus 13, and a howling wind whipping snow into six-foot drifts would have easily frozen those who last Sunday ventured out in only shirt -sleeves. Such is this country of g reat contrast. Why we could easily be out cross-crountry skiing this weekend. + + + The PUC is putting up the Christmas lights this week, the stores are nicely decorated and the kids are engrossed in all those toy catalogues that arrive daily in the mail boa. + , 4 - Usually Usually it's news when a local person gets some achievement or wins something, and seldom do we print it when somebody loses something. But there is one exception to that rule around here and that is our own Russell Bolton, who for the second time didn't -sin the prestigious World Hay King tite at the Royal Winter Fair. That is ............. news. Apparently some guy iron Alberta (we didn't catch the name ) beat Russell to the straw, so to speak. + + + Gee, it's hard to complain about not being able to afford that trip south this winter, or not getting a new car this fall after reading the plea from the youngster in the letters to the editor in today's edition. It seems hardship is a relative thing. + + 4 - "We're "We're living in a land of plenty," says the Main Street Wit this week, "that's when everything we want costs." + + + . Why even the tooth fairy is feeling the effects of inflation. For instance our little six-year-old, lost her first baby tooth last week and was informed that if she put it under her pillow the tooth fairy would visit and leave her a nickel. She became quite indignant at the renumeration and suggested that when the fairy had been in on exchanges at her friends' houses, a dollar bill was the corrimon currency left. Now that's inflation! + -+ + We haven't any news to report on our other small friends that had taken up residence in a few human heads in town, and hopefully, this will be the last mention of the subject for quite some time. out every two years. "They tore it (the compressor) apart, to findnothing wrong," Councillor McKay stated. He also noted that additional expenses included the engineering costs on the proposed addition to the dressing room facilities at the arena, and utlities, especially hydro, had increased more than expected. As well, the rec department was forced to purchase a tractor this year and Councillor McKay noted, "We either had to buy it or flood the ice by har;d." In past years H. Lobb anu Sons Limited had provided a tractor for the arena, either free of charge or for a low rental rate, but no tractors were a''ailable this year. Councillor McKay also noted that the rec committee plans to cut their budget "thread bare" next year to make up for the loan. Council agreed to give the department the advance, but Mayor Chester Archibald said, "It's shocking to see them 20 per cent over budget. But there's not much you can do about $4,000 bills." House canvass going well Hats, mitts, aprons, socks, pillows, scarves, doilies, afghans and many, many other handmade articles filled the knitting room at the Ontario Street UCW Bazaar on Saturday. Many long hours were put into creating the articles for sale, and in a short time, the year-long efforts had been turned into profit for the church ladies. Here Rosamond Garrett looks over the warm, winter items and receives some su; estions from Donna Tyn.r. O. (Shelley McPhee photo) funds, fringe benefits for maternity leaves and night school pay. The fact finder ex- pects the maternity leave issue to be resolv- ed following salary settlements and made no recommend- ions. Trustee Elliott said negotiations have been handled in a "fair and equitable man- ner" and in the board's opinion the offer is fair. He said attempts would be made to con- clude negotiations this year, and all items that could be agreed to are agreed to. He ad- ded a successful elementary settlement had been reached without a third party. Salary settlements for the secondary school teachers has not been the "most smooth process", said Mr. Elliott. The fact finder noted "the relations between the par- ties this year are not unduly strained and both parties demonstrated some flexibili- ty." There are 245 secondary school teachers in Huron County. r CLINTON HOSPITAL BUILDING FUND. C> \Ps 350 Z O Z The door-to-door canvass in Clinton for funds for the new addition to Clinton Public Hospital is going very well, cam- paign chairman Steve Cooke reported this week. Mr. Cooke said the canvass, which started late last week, has been very well received in the district, and will continue, until the end of the month. Mr. Cooke said he hoped the volunteer canvassers would try to reach every house, but there could be a few missed, so if you haven't been canvassed by the end of the month, and haven't given a pledge. contact the hospital and they will arrange for a volunteer pick-up. With the funds coming in, the "ther- mometer" rose another $10,000 this week, and now stands at $145,000. There are still many fund raising projects underway, and one will be a speci,:l variety night next Wednesday. November 25th at the Blyth Memorial Hall. More details can be found in a store on the entertainment page in this week's paper. Here are more names to add to the list of donations: Turn to ring(' :t LU 325 300 275 250 225. 200 175 150 125 100 75 50 25 1 1