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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-04-29, Page 1Shriers sell printing®publishi Signa! -Star Publishing Ltd. of Goderich , web -offset printers and publishers of 'seven community newspapers and a bi-weekly newsmagazine, has been sold to St. Catharines Standard Limited, company president Robert G. Shrier announced today. While details of the sale have now been finalized, Shrier said the new owners will officially take over Oct. 1. A family owned company since 1891, the new owners are publishers of three daily newspapers, The Standard in St. Catharines, the Cobourg Daily Star and Port Hope Guide, and seven weekly newspapers in the Niagara Pennin- sula and Cobourg area. s g firm after 25 years in business The publishing company is owned and operated by the Burgoyne family under chief executive officer Henry Burgoyne. Signal -Star Publishing and the St. Catharines Standard have enjoyed a pro- sperous and amicable business relation- ship over the past 10 years as co -publishers of a 40,000 circulation newspaper in Newmarket and co-owners of a web -offset printing plant, Webrnan, of Guelph. While admitting that overtures had been made by several companies over the years. to purchase Signal -Star Publishing, Shrier, said he only seriously entertained the pro- spect with the St. Catharines Standard Limited because both the "timing and eI!iC buyer were right." "We have enjoyed a long and friendly association with the Standard and its management and I feel totally comfor- table with the sale," Shrier said. "I have always liked their business philosophy, the manner in which they treated their employees and the autonomy they have given people to run their operations," While ownership of the company will be distanced from the location .of. the newspapers, Shrier believes it will create -an even more autonomous situation for the company's community newspapers. "The general managers will, in effect, operate the newspapers like they were their own,",Shrier explained!. "We are leaving the company in the hands of people who will do as good a job, if not better than we have done and they will treat people equally as well. I feel tutally comfortable with the arrangement." 1n -speaking. about the company's association with the people • in the com- munities in which it does business, Shrier said the trust between community newspaper and reader and advertiser will be upheld. "The communities in which We've dorsi business are veryimportant to us," he said. "I hope we've Made a significant care Turn to -page 2- „' 17, 139 YEAR - 17 GODER.ICH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 1987 60 CENTS PER COPY Boat found, boaters still miLssing -A boat, identified as belonging to two area men missing .on Lake 'Huron since early Saturday, was found by searchers. at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, however the search for the missing boaters was still underway late Tuesday afternoon. The 3.6 metre (12 -foot 1 aluminum boat in which Bill Daters, 28, of Exeter and Doug McKay, 32, of Kippen, were last seen in when they headed 'out in the lake at 6:30 a:m.. Saturday, was discovered about eight kilometres south of Bayfield, 180 metres from'shore, according to Ontatio Provin- cial Police. Also found in the 'same area was second lifejacket from -the, boat: The previous day, searchers found a child's lifejacket, part of the boat's equip- ment, floating. 15 metres offshore near Grand Bend. An air, ground and ,land search for the two men, has been underway since they were reported mis§ing about 4 p.m. Sun- day, after.relatives discovered the men's pickup truck parked near Goderich Har- bour. .after they failed to return from a fishing trip. The search is being' co-ordinated by Canadian Forces Base Tenton search and rescue'headquarters, in co-operation with Goderich Police. Force and the • Goderich • OPP detachment, and'has included cover- ' ing" Lake Huron and the shoreline .frgm. Sauble Beach to Sarnia. Searchers worked full scale Sunday ano Monday, as long as daylight allowed, • however tl„e air search had to be grounded at night. Planes and helicopters were also' taken out of the search for about two hours Monday afternogli, due to'a thunder squall. . Involved in the search are two twin - engine "Buffalo" planes and two military helicopters from CFB Trenton and one OPP helicopter and a• number of private , and police owned boats and a Canadian Coast Guard plane and cutter. Some private light aircraft have also joined in the search, said. Ggderich Police Chief Patrick King. • While' the search continues, friends and relatives of Daters and Mckay; have been NHLers lined m up for dinner Plans are quickly firming up for the Goderich Kininens f'lub's first annual Sportsman's !inner Tuesday, May 12 and many head table guests have been confirmed. !)inner chairman Rub Sherwood saal that Ed (;iac•urriin, former great N. goaltender with the New York Rangers and Hall of Fame candidate will be at the event as well our own local NH1, great, Larry Jeffrey who toiled with the Detroit Reil Wings and was a part of the last Maple Leaf -team to win the Stanley. ('up. That was way back in 1967. Other hockey personalities include Ed Olczyk, a speedy winger with the Chicago I3lackhawks who also played junior hockey in Stratford. Lucal hockey prospects . 'Trevor Erb of the Ontario Champion Strat- ford Cullitnns and Scott Garrow, rookie of the year with the St. Marys Lincolns of the Western ,Junior R League will be present. Bill Wilkinson, formerly of Goderich and now the coach of the Western Michigan Mustangs in Kalamazoo will return for the dinner as will former Goderich resident • Jeff Denunune who now works with Scotty •Morrison in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Other •confirm'ed guests include American League Umpire -in -Chief Marty Springstead, kick boxer Leo Loucks., ek Montreal Allouette lineman Glen Weir, • Komoka harness driver Dave Wall, Toron- to Blue Jays president Peter Hardy and Gerald "Ice • Cube" -McNeil of the Cleveland Browns of the NFL. The dinner will be held in the Goderich Memorial Arena Auditorium Tuesday, May i2 and tickets are available for. $30 or $25 for children from any member of'. the Kinsmen Club or by phoning 524-5316. • Sherwood said 'another hockey per- sonality could be made available for the dinner and that only 250 tickets would be , �sa Air search and rescue vehicles from Canadian Forces Base Tren- ton refuel at the Goderich Airport Monday, before continuing to scan Lake Huron for two area men, who have been missing since Saturday morning, when they set out on a fishing trip in a 12 -foot waiting anxiously for word at the Cana- dian Coast Guard station on North ,Har- bour Road, Goderich. • • When the boat was found Monday morn- ing, it was in•. "gpod shape, with no large holes," said .Sgt. Rick Turnbull, of the Goderich OPP detachment. However, an outboard motor which was on the boat boat. The boat was recovered near Bayfield, about -i80 metres off shore on Tuesday morning, but an air, Water and ground search continues for Bill Daters, of Exeter and Doug McKay, of Kippen: (photo by Patrick Raftis ) when the men set out Saturday was missing. The discovery of the boat without the missing men, combined with the cold temperature of the water, greatly reduces the chances they will be found alive, accor- ding to searchers. "The way 1 understand it," said Turn- bull, "if they were in that water they wouldn't have a very 'good chance of sur- vival after they were i'n there for about half -an -hour. "If they were out of the water, that's another story," he added, Crime rade in Goderich up by rine per cent 'Phe overall crime rate in Goderich rose 9,01 per cent during the past year, despite a decrease of 10.85 per cent in all types of theft, says, the Goderich Police Force an- nual report. The report was released by Chief Patrick King to the°Goderich Police Commission at their April 22 meeting. ' The good news is, the clearance rate for crime remains "quite high," at at 46.86 per cent, the report said. • incidents of assault, other than indecent, rose by 50 per cent, from 22 in 1985 to 33 in 1986. Break and enter's rose by 28.33 per cent, from 60 in 1985 to 77 in 1986. While thefts of motor vehicles, including unsuccessful attempts, , rose by 140 per cent from 10 to 24, incidents of theft under $1,000 decreased by 3.21 per cent and thefts over $1,000 decreased by 86.66• per cent, from 45 in 1985 to six in 1,986. However, the number of people charged with posession of stolen goods increased from nine to 21, up 133.33 per cent. There was a significant decrease in the area of criminal code driving offences ( im- paired driving, failure or refusal of breath test, dangerous driving), 35.13 per cent Police Commission considering single emergency phone number The Goderich Police Commission has asked Police Chief . Patrick King to in- vestigate the possibility of having a single telephone number for both police and fire department emergency calls. Although emergency calls for both deparments are currently handled through a single dispatching system, there are cur- rently two separate numbers for the two services: 524-8333 for police and 524-7211 for fire. The commission feels having a single number would simplify the process of dial- ing emergency numbers and also cut down on wrong numbers. It was suggested the 8333 number would - be simpler to use than the 7211, however the chief was asked to contact the telephone company ' to see if an even simpler number, such as 3333 or 1111 could be implimented. . The ideal situation, said Chief King, would be to bring in the 911 emergency number now in use in most large centres. "However, we're still quite a few years away from that," he said. T from 37 to 24. Liquor seizures ( down 36 per cent) and some other Iiquor-related offences are on the decline. There were only 96 liquor ,, seizures in '86, compared to 150 in '85. However, because the number of charges for suchoffences as being intoxicated in a public place, remained stable, King feels they do not represent a true decrease in local alcohol consumption levels. "We find when we're checking vehicles it (drinking of liquor otherthan residence) is not as prevalent as it used to be," said King. "It's not that they're not drinking, it's just that they're not carrying it • around." Although incidents of mischief and wilful! damage increased only 3.2 per cent, from 125 in '85 to 129 last year, the total value of damage done was up significant- ly. Total cost estimat'for all damage done in 1986 was $26,141, compared to $14,696 the. previous year. Vandalism damage costs, however, vary according to type• of damage done and increases in costs of labor and materials to repair them, so' comparisons can be misleading. In 1980, for example, the total cost was $24,332 and in 1984 it was $27,460. The average -cost per incident in 1986 was $202.64, while in 1985 it was $177 and in 1980 it was only $120. The total number of motor vehicle, ac- cidents increased 16.6 per cent, from 169 in 1985 to 197 in 1986. Personal injury ac- cidents decreaced 24.4 per cent, from, 41 to 31; while accidents involving only proper- ty damage increased from,128 to 166, up 29.7 per cent. There were no fatal accidents handled by the Goderich policeleither last year or • in 1985. -A study on police and dispatch response times indicated a slight improvement in the time taken to get officers to.the scene. In order to determine the average time it took dispatch personnel and Goderich police officers to respond to calls from citizens, a total of 500. incidents were checked. These were taken at random dur- ing two winter months (,January and February 1, spring ( April) and summer (July) so as wide a survey as' possible could be taken. The average time it took the dispatcher to relay the call to police was 53.25 seconds ( compared to 54,15 in '85 I. Over 73 per cent of the calls were relayed to police withing the same minute of time recorded on the master recorder ) this figure was the same as 1985). . The average time it took the police of- . ficers to arrive at the locality of the call was three minutes, six seconds ( three minutes, 16.2 seconds in 1985). Of these calls, 18.34 per cent were responded to at the scene by an officer within the same minute of time thedispatcher relayed the call to the officer ( this figure was 9.6 per cent in 1985). es to rise around $70 for most residents The average residential public school supporter in Goderich, based on an average assessment of $3,000, will be pay- ing an additional $64.71 in taxes for 1987. The average separate school supporter, based on the same assessment, will pay an additional $71.46, Goderich Town Council passed a bylaw setting the final 1987 mill rates at their April 27 meeting, after receiving requisi- tions for Huron County and county school board apportionments. While the Town of Goderich kept their mill rate increase for general municipal . purposes to four per cent, the largest in- crease came in the county apportionment which increased by 11.5 per cent. The putlic elementary school rate went up by 10.2 per cent and the public secondary rate by 4.3 per Cent. The separate school secondary cducti•- tion rate, in the first year the county Separate school board set their own rate, rather than simply using the county secon- dary rate, increased by 10 per cent. The separate elementary rate increased by 8 percent. The dollar increases break down this way: Of the $64,7.1 increase for the average residential public school supporter, an ad- ditional $35.04 will go for secondary and elementary education; $16.47 for general municipal purposes and $13,20 for county apportionment. Of the $71.64 increase to the average residential separate school supporter, an additional $41.97 goes to elementary and secondary education, while the general municipal and county increases are the same as for public school supporters. sold." Local resident t receives .award Two Goderich. residents will be among five members of the Huron County Historical Society to recieve Volunteer Service Awards from the Ministry of Citizenship and 'Culture. at a special ceremony in Owen Sound, May 6. ` • - Lillian Turner, of Montreal Street, joins local Reeve Harry Worsell in receiving a 15 -year pin from the ministry for her ser- . vice to the orgafhization. . Turner, wife.of'the late Harry S. Turner, a former president of•the society, has been • a member of the organization for•20 years. She has served on the society executive since• 1969 as a •council member and• Con- vener of Constitution -and Bylaws, turning in a perfect record of attendence at council Meetings.' She's a • brilliant lady," said society representative Doris Batkin.'"She always has a concrete solution to any problem." Other society members to recieve awards at the ceremony are Isabelle Campbell, of Clinton, 15 -year pin; Joseph Hogan, • Exeter, 10 -year -pin; Andrew .:Y. McLean, Seaforth, 15 -year pin. A[ STAR Bike-a-thon The annual bike-a-thon ' for cancer, sponsored by the Goderich Kinsmen and Kinettes, • was -held Sunday afternoon with 50 people participating in the 20 km ride. For more pictures and story, see in- side this section. YCW banquet Former Toronto Maple Leaf Bill Har- ris addressed the annual Young Canada Week Hockey Banquet held last Thurs- day evening at the Candlelight in Goderich. For story and picture, see the Sports front, Home -garden show The annual Horne and Garden Show was held at the Goderich Arena over the weekend. About 4,000 people viewed the more than 60 displays downstairs while fashion shows and karate and aerobic demonstrations took place upstairs. For pt tures, see the Community front. .