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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1986-12-03, Page 4(TIIE BLYTH STANDARD) Pae. 4—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1986 The Clinton News•Record 1, published each Wednesday at P.O. Bos 30. Clinton. Ontario. Canada, NOM 110. Tel.:442.0443. Subscription Rate: Canada 071.00 Sr. Citizen • 010.00 per year U.S.A. foreign 000.00 per year 11 is r0sletared as second class mall by the post office under the permit number 0019. The News -Record incorporated In 1024 theHuron News•Record. founded in 1041, and The Clinton News Ora. founded In 1041. Total press runs 3.100. Incorporating ANNE NAREJKO - Editor FREDA McLEOD - Office Manager SHELLEY McPHEE HAIST - Reporter DAVID EMSLIE - Reporter JANICE GIBSON - Advertising LAUREL MITCHELL - Circulation/Classified GARY HAIST - General Manager CCNA MEMBER A 81,11E RIBBON AWARD 1985 Display advertising rates available on request. Ask for Rate Card No. 15 effective Oc- tober 1.1444. Bravo Londesboro on a tremendous Jack Riddell, local MP and Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food, said it best when he noted that people in urban communities could learn a lot about spirit and support by visiting a rural community. The goal had not been reached for Back The Biter Days in Londesboro when Mr. Riddell made this comment, but the sight of an overflowing gymnasium, generous auction bidders and hardworking organizers pro- mpted him to say this. Londesboro is a small community, but under the guidance of the Lions Club, the people here pulled together in a giant effort to raise approx- imately $45,000, surpassing the $30,000 goal, for their neighbor, Ron Nesbitt. Ron lost the use of his legs as a result of a diving accident this summer. To help ons Club members came uon p with the dea of purchasing a fortaon in the ully equipped vhis fellow 1an. Thus, their goal of $30,000 was set. Although the Lions Club was the driving force behind Back The Biter Days, it was the community as a whole who rallied behind the cause. It was all those people who donated their time to participate in the variety show on Saturday afternoon. It was the Londesboro Church Women who baked pies and then worked in the food booth. It was all those who donated items for the novelty auction and the box lunch auction. It was those who played euchre and organized the fashion show and it was all those who made cash donations or purchased items that made Back The Biter Days the success it was. All those involved in Londe �eacommuniiggest ty that everyone should be d raiser to date should take a bow. Londesboro, you proud to be a part of. - by Anne Narejko Open drains potentially dangerous Dear Editor: Under the heading "Snowmobilers Beware" it was noted in the edition of November 19 that a cut had been made through the old railway embankment west of Erie Street to remedy some problems with the Mary Street drain. The open section of the drain west of Erie Street is no less dangerous than the new cut itself. Perhaps there is a program in process to tile to and beyond the railway embankment, but if there isn't there should be, for reasons given in the following. The drain emerges from under the west side of Erie Street in a steep -sided ditch with mud banks about six feet in depth approx- imately 10 feet from -t-he-edge-of -the .paved road. The shoulder of the road at the dram is of gravel, and its slope increases toward the tile from which the drain emerges. There are no guard rails or warning signs. A car that slewed off the road could plunge nose first into the drain. Slewing off the road, however, is only one scenario for a serious accident. The open drain is about 200 feet from home plate in the Optimists' Park, which means that small children are in the area. A small child would have great difficulty clambering up the mud banks if once he or she had slipped in. In loose wet snow such as we have in ear- ly winter and late spring, even an adult would have difficulty clambering out of the ditch. In winter the drain can become roofed over with snow but this does not mean that the water underneath is safely frozen. The drain was originally a natural stream on the Ltters Junk mail Shallay McPhQ Ilaist- The message didn't register at first. Shortly thereafter I yelped, "These women have no clothes on. These are porn It takes a good hour each morning to open movies." To which everyone in the office the mail here at the newspaper office. came running from all directions to my desk It's a time consuming job, but one which to see what all the fuss was about. I've always enjoyed. I find it mildly amus- . This glossy paged; full color brochure is a int to read through the press releases that classic piece of garbage mail. "Highest Quality Erotic XXX Video Movies," it proclaims. "Pure porn," says I. "You'll find your secrets and hidden desires in these super hot videos," the brochure reads. "Utter garbage," says I. This video brochure comes from a Van- couver based company that sells totally un- cut U.S. tapes. The movies bear titles like "Snat- chbuckler," "On Golden Blonde," "Ginger's Sex Asylum," "Between the Cheeks." Need I say more. For 80 bucks you can order "Pink Lagoon," a true adult epic, so the brochure claims. And, there's "New Wave Hookers" for $99.95, the best picture of 1985, according to Hustler. Where does this kind of junk mail comes from? I contacted Canada Post for some answers. Four telephone calls later I was in- formed that "junk mail" was improper ter- minology to use. It's advertising, I was corrected. "What I have here is complete junk," I replied. . A brief description of the brochure brought a note of familiarity from the fellow on the other end of the line. "They're at it again," he noted. He said that last year the Canada Post Security Investigations looked into a similar brochure that was sent in the mail. It was determined that the brochure itself was not pornograhpic, thereby not illegal to send in the mail. Closer inspection of the brochure shows that little black dots have been discreetly placed on the model's bodies. Do a few black dots turn porn into art? That in itself is a topic for another column. These companies know what they're do - come to the office. The steady stream o garbage mail that is send to the News - Record contains fascinating material from companies promoting new ideas and pro- ducts. There are umpteen press releases, everything from vacation plans from the Austrian travel bureau to upcoming events at the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. There are glossy paged reports from government agencies, survey question- naires and survey results. Free magazine subscriptions of all kinds, from Angler and Hunter to The Compleat Mother. Now and then we get some honest to goodness decent junk mail - the kind that sends along a free sample of a product or a new poster to hang on an office wall. This week we received a lovely Christmas card from the Guinness brewery people, com- plete with a voucher for a free six pack of Guinness Ale. Naturally, the editor snatch- ed that freeby up. You. never know what you'll find in the mail these days. - • Some people have the knack of picking out the good junk mail from the no-good junk mail. They can rifle through their mail, pick out the important envelopes and toss the rest directly into the garbage basket. Not me. I leave no envelope unopened. I'm a sucker for flashy envelopes that shout "Open Me First" with their catchy phrasing and gimmicks. And so I did. Another form for a magazine subscription I thought as I tore across. the envelope fold with my historic letter opener. The relic of a letter opener comes with the job at the News -Record. It's a basic model as far as letter openers go, nothing fancy about it. It must be well over 12 years old now, working its way through the hands of three editors. It does the job well. So, I pull this full color brochure from the envelope and begin to peruse its contents. side of the town, and it flows the year round. It can be found flowing as a unfrozen stream even when roofed over with snow. The steep slope of the railway embankment is used by children for sleighing and tobogganing. A toboggan or sleigh plunging through the snow -roof of the drain into the water beneath is another scenario for an accident. The new cut through the embankment com- pounds the danger. The cut creates steep slopes of 20 or so feet leading directly into the stream, and it is very probable that deep snow will accumulate in the cut forming a treacherous roof. The new cut has another undesirable ef- fect. The railway embankment has for many years formed a pathway for walkers, cross-country skiers, and snowmobilers. It was recreational asset valued by many peo- ple; it created no charge on the recreational budget, and now it is ruined. The remedy is clear enough. The open sec- tion of the Mary Street drain should be tiled, and the embankment should be sufficiently restored to allow safe crossing of the stream. A quick and permanent remedy for this problem is all the more urgent because a number of new houses are slated for con- struction in the immediate neighborhood. Sincerely, Gerry Fremlin. Country folk say thanks Dear Editor: As a helper on the pie making for the Back The Biter Fund I would like to express thanks to the News Record for their coverage on the pie making day. The response has been overwhelming. The dona- tions of money, pies and help have been more than we had ever dreamed of. This has a 2 mg. 'They're no dumbies. They know the angles. They know how to bend the rules. gir In this case, the video tapes themselves are sent directly to the purchaser's home by courier. The tapes come in plain, brown wrappers. It may sound like a nice added service. In all likelihood the movies are pornographic and cannot be legally send through the Canada mailing system. Canada Post has managed to bring some restrictions onto this type of business. Last year similar brochures went through as householder mailing. They went out in- discriminately to everyone - senior citizens and ministers, children and nuns. This year, so it appears from the mailing to the News -Record, the brochures are be ing sent out to businesses. Where do these companies come up with our addresses? Canada Post had two answers. In the case of the newspaper here, our mailing address is listed in numerous national periodicals and information ser- vice booklets. Too, some companies buy mailing lists directly from businesses' that deal ' specifically in developing these. We do have limited control over the junk mail we receive. The Canadian Direct Mail Association in Willowdale works to maintain high standards in the mail service. If you want your name to be removed from a mail- ing list you may contact this association. The only problem with this is that the com- pany in question must belong to the Cana- dian Direct Mail Association. Anyway, for more information you can write to the Canadian Direct Mail Associa- tion, 150 Consumer's Road, Suite 405, Willowdale Ave., Willowdale, Toronto M2J 1 P9. Somehow I find it hard to believe that Playtime Video belongs to any mailing association. So how does one get off a mailing list that sends out this kind of junk? Easy. Simply take the garbage mail, tear into tiny pieces and throw it into the round receptacle bear- ing the same name. It may not be the best answer, but at least it's better than having to look at "Gorgeous Ginger Lynn and her lusty friends." helped make the lunch booth a success and all pies were sold and thanks again to all and especially the News Record. Your paper does a lot for a small country community. Sincerely, Burns and Londesboro United Church Women Helen Lee Gift of Life appreciated Dear Editor: On behalf of the Red Cross and the Kinette Club of Clinton 1 would like to convey our thanks to everyone who helped to make our Blood Donor Clinic a success. We had 238 people attend and collected 217 pints of blood. Thank you to Central Huron Secondary School for the facilities, the custodians for setting up and cleaning up, and to the students who assisted in unloading the truck. High fashion in Hullett Thank you to the Beta Sigma Phi for telephoning, Huron & Erie Beverages for donating the Coke, and Clinton Public Hospital for donating the ice and Dixie Lee for the use of their sign. A special thank -you to the ladies in the afternoon, and the Junior Farmers in the evening for their help and especially all those who donated the "Gift of Life". With sincere thanks, Kinette Club of Clinton, Cheryl Hohner Got an opinion? Write a letter to the editor byShelley McPhee Haist ack Riddell, MPP Many people in our farm communities continue to suffer from the effects of this fall's adverse weather conditions in addi- tion to low commodity prices for some crops. Even established producers need some support to bridge this unusually dif- ficult period caused by factors beyond their control. That's why I announced last week, as Minister of Agriculture and Food, a new $96 million OFFIRR Plus program to help the many suffering farmers. OFFIRR Plus is an augmented version of the popular Ontario Family Farm In- terest Rate Reduction program (OF- FIRR) first introduced in 1985 and later revamped as a three year program in 1986. OFFIRR provides rebates of up to seven percentage points in farm loan interest rates. This new program has two parts — one reflecting increased economic hardships on the farm and another to address the situation facing farmers who suffered crop losses from adverse weather conditions. OFFIRR Plus increases the amount of debt eligible for interest rate reduction assistance from $260,000 to $360,000. It also provides additional benefits to some farmers by raising the net worth level, at which benefits begin to decrease, from $500,000 to $750,000. The program provides additional help to participants in the Beginning Farmer Assistance Program (BFAP) by eliminating the reductions in maximum eligible debt for those participating in BFAP. 4 For producers who suffered a crop loss in excess of 30 percent, OFFIRR Plus pro- vides special assistance for adverse weather damage. This can reduce interest by an additional eight percentage points on debts equal to the value of crop losses in excess of 30 percent up to $250,000. This provision is for 1986 only. In most cases, this would reduce interest costs to zero. The adverse weather provision means an eligible producer can receive up to $20,000 in benefits in addition to the OF- FIRR rebate if more than 30 percent of the crop has been lost. Taken together with the amendments I announced earlier this year, OFFIRR Plus is expected to pay out an additional $96 million to bring the total to $246 million over the next three years. We expect 18,000 farmers to apply for the OFFIRR Plus program. The weather provision benefits do not af- fect crop insurance coverage and par- ticipation in crop insurance programs is not a factor in determining eligibility or • the amount of assistance. Crop losses will be assessed by a crop in- surance adjuster. Producers who are not enrolled in a crop insurance program can call a toll-free number to arrange for an adjuster to assess the crop losses. Information about the OFFIRR Plus program is available from the Farm Assistance Program $ranch (416) 965-7661 ( collect calls will be accepted) and from local offices of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. TRUCKING REFORM LEGISLATION Last week, Transportation and Com- munications Minister Ed Fulton introduc- ed legislation to reform the trucking in- dustry in Ontario. These new reforms are designed to pro- vide increased competition, more respon- sive and flexible trucking services and lower transportation costs. In addition, the reforms will improve safety on Ontario's highways. "Trucking is crucial to Ontario's economic survival; it services virtually all our commercial sector to some degree," Mr. Fulton. expained. "At the same time transportation costs are becoming in- creasingly important as a cost of doing business." For the average consumer, one third of the cost of merchandise can be at- tributed to transportation costs. ENTREPRENEURS GET COIN Entrepreneurs with ideas and investors looking to apply their capital now have a way to get together, thanks in part to a $100,000 grant from the Ontario Liberal Government COIN IA the Computerized' Ontario In- vestment Network -- will match Investors and entrepreneurs in ventures in the $5,000 to $500,000 range. COIN will be operated by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Major corporations. The computer itself has been donated by Xerox Canada. The cost to investors is $250. En- trepreneurs pay $150 and Chamber of Commerce members pay $50 less.