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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-04-08, Page 1IIMPR the ..odeedt. 1GNAL OWNNAM STAR 133 YEAR -14 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8,1981 50 CENTS PER COPY The Goderich Fire Department responded to a call the harbor on Friday to extinguish a small dust fire. one was brought under control quickly. Here, from workers at the grain elevator at the east end of Mgt fires are potentially very hazardous,.but.this_.. workers survey the sIitll$1 n afterwards. (Photo. y, Cath Wooden) • Boards wants to retain strap BY DAVE SYKES If Huron County School Board trustees get their way, the strap will remain in the school system. At it's regular monthly meeting Monday, the board endorsed a motion stating its opposition to the' general abolition of corporal punishment in schools. A second, qualifying point, to the motion insists the use of corporal punishment should be left to the discretion of each board. A revision of the use of corporal punishment was prompted by a, memorandum from Minister of Education Bette Stephenson, who proposed an am mendment to the Education Act asking teachers and principals to refrain from -the use of physical force in disciplining a pupil, except to protect himself or another pupil. But the ammendment, according to Huron officials, wreaked of - ambiguity and was prone - to in- terpretation. The key words in the ammendment INSIDE T E SIGNAL -STAB Bus safety OPP Constable Eric Gross insists that only When a child is injured or killed will a new perpective be brought to school bus saftey. Dave Sykes talks to Gross on page IA about school buses and the uneducated car driver. First ship The first ship arrived in Goderich Harbor last Thursday morning to herald the arrival of another season. Town officials took Captain and Mrs. John McKenzie out to dinner to mark the occasion. See page 1A. Ride for Cancer Start gathering your sponsors now for the Goderich Bike Ride for Cancer which is corning up on April 26. This is the fourth year the Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs have organized the event See page 2A for details. Regular Features ( Tid Bits Pg. 3 Real E tate Pg. IR F:ditorialq Pg. 4 TV Pg. 2 Column.; Pg.4 ('hunch Pg. 7A Ohit.s Pg. 7 Farm Pg. OA Sports Pg. 14 C. Comet Pg. 10A Claagified.... Pg. 15-17 R. Board Pg. 9A were `physical force' a term which Director of Education John Cochrane said was ambiguous, adding that simply grabbing a child by the arrn and leading him to the office could be considered physical force. To properly evaluate the situation, Cochrane asked all county principals and teachers to submit opinions on corporal punishment. The response from schools was disappointing, (11 out of 27 schools responded) but the general theme of the responses indicated a willingness to retain the strap in the system. In the 'submissions from the county teachersand principals, Cochrane read pertinent quotes that said the strap "should be kept as a last resort," another said it "should be retainedand used with discretion," one submission said "it is not being abused" and another .read "it is a symbol of authority that deters deviant behaviour." Cochrane pointed- out that a major point for con- sideration came from the principal of a trainable retarded school who said, "there is a time and need in. a trainable retarded school to protect.the pupil from harming him or herself." Secondary school principals suggested that use of the strap wa'not a significant issue in high school and that it has not bee used for many years. The use of force, a report said, is sometimes necessary but infrequent. The elementary school principal's association said - the strap should be maintained only as a last resort • adding that there were several alternate methods for controlling students. • In the county's. elementary schools the strap has been used 14 times in the last 6'/2 months and the principals insist its use should be the perogatilve of the school board and not a unilateral decision of the Ministry. The report said the public views discipline as one of the most pressing problems in the system along with increases in vandalsim. Despite a direct plea 'to the public to offer sub- missions on the use of- corporal punishment, Cochrane only received one -letter from a Goderich ratepayer who opposed the abolition of corporal punishment and suggested it be left for individuals boards of education to make the decision. The motion passed by the board also requested the education committee to develop a draft policy and adequate set of guidelines on the use of corporal 'Punishment in the schools which will reflect the concerns of the board, the staff and the public. Board balks at free rent for fund raiser BY CATH WOODEN Goderich Recreation Board turned down.a request at its regular April 5 meeting from Frank Little for free use of the arena auditorium May 1. Little asked for the auditorium free of the $190 rental cost because he is planning a fund-raising night for the Goderich Raceway.'"The raceway is in desperate need of a tractor and •maintenance equipment. I'm holding this fund-raising on my own, not on their behalf." he said. Board members mulled over several possibilities, including donating the rental from their budget, and scaling the rental cost with regard to the amount of money Little raised': They referred the matter to later in the meeting and Little left. When the question arose again, members decided to ("baron T i}fln +be, 'retire. rental encs of the arena auditorium if he chose to hold his fund-raising event there. Said member Jim Searls, "I have no objection to free rent for kids. but I strongly object to adults getting free rent at the arena unless they are involved in a charitable organization. or working with children." . Member Doug. Currie said he was a "little leery" of where the funds would go since Little said he wasn't - actually representing the Trotters Association in holding the event. "We don't really know if this fund-raising event has been requested or supported by the needy party in- volved," stated member Jim McDade. , Searls moved that the rec board refuse 1,ittle's request and it was passed unanimously. Plant expansion to begin BY CATH WOODEN With the help of a $784,000 grant from the Ministry of Environment, Goderich's pollution control plant will finally see a major expansion of its facilities. Through the addition of settlement ponds and mechanical equipment, the plant will experience a doubling of its capacity. Presently, one million gallons of sewage is processed daily and expansion will allow two million gallons to be processed daily. "This is the best news in a long time," said Clerk Larry McCabe of the ministry grant. For several years, the town has been urged to double the plant capacity and has been building up a reserve fund. The ministry grant of $784,000 will cover 70 per cent of the cost. "There's more than sufficient money in the reserve fund" to cover the town's 30 per cent, said McCabe. Apparently, the town could have expected ministry assistance anywhere from 15-75 per cent of the cost. McCabe said everyone involved was pleasantly surprised at the 70 per cent figure. 'It will be about six weeks before tenders will be called for the work, and $144,000 to $300,000 will be spent in 1981 with most of the remainder to be com- pleted in 1982. Two men injured in mine Two Goderich area men are being treated for multiple injuries at University Hospital London following an industrial aCeident at the Domtar Saito Salt mine Wednesday. Bruce Marshall of R.R. 6 Goderich and Lawrence Reinsma. of R.R. 5 Clinton were injured in an accident caused by a fall of salt and rushed to University Hospital. Company officials have not_r_eleased details otthe accident but it is under investigation by Domtar and Ministry of Labor officials. On Tuesday, Marshall was listed in serious con- dition and Reinsma was in fair ,condition. oderich crime rate up 16 per cent BY JOANNE BUCHANAN The crime rate increased by 16 per cent in Goderich last year, according to Police Chief Pat King's annual report. The report was approved by the Goderich Police Commission at a meeting on Friday. Commission chairman, Judge F.G. Carter said he felt the report was thorough enough, suggesting only that a sam- pling of penalties handed down for various crimes be added to the report next year. Chief King explained that some .of the crime rate increase is attributed to much more response from the public in reporting thefts and wilful damage than in the past. In many instances, crimes are minor but must still be reported as crimes, he said. He cited two main reasons for an increase in thefts. One was the dramatic increase in bicycle thefts 165 last year as compared to 73 the year before. Although most of these bicycles are `borrowed' for transportation purposes only and recovered later, they must still be classified as thefts. The other reason was an increase in thefts from motor vehicles -73 last year as compared to 59 the year before. Of these 73 thefts, Chief King said at least 70 of them could have been preventedahad the owners locked their vehicles when unattended. The Chief told the commission that during 1981 the police will be aiming at reducing thefts (and other crimes) with extra patrols during the dark hours and by encouraging the owners of property to take better precautions. The pr-oblem-of mischief or wilful damage will be - dealt with, impart, by holding public meetings to try and get the message across that this type of crime is everybody's business, he said. "Often we (police) get reports a day or two later when, if a call had been made to police at the time, the culprits would have, most likely, been caught," he explained. He said a school program aimed -at younger people would be carried out, to impress upon them the costs involved` in acs•ofrvandalism•whicltsometof them regard merely as "pranks". Chief. King also said he would try to reactivate the town's vandalism committee to deal with the problem. He reported that a revised system of patrolling by police had already begun and would be evaluated after a . six-month period. The new system entails more man-hours during the dark hours and more patrolling on foot in various sections of town, in - "eluding The Square. ° . In his report, Chief King devoted a special section to The Square which has been a source of several critical comments by commission members and others in the past He said crimes, incidents and complaints are not centered around The Square as some would image but rather, are occurring all over town. "A map of our incidents would look like a shotgun blast–scattered everywhere," he said. "If we con- centrate on The Square we are criticized by those who live or maintain stores elsewhere in town. The Square does get more than adequate police patrol despite the fact we do not have a constant foot patrol." Chief King said:he has maintained a more mobile type of policing because those committing crimes are very mobile themselves. Turn to page 20 Canoeist drowns in accident near Port Albert' A Brights Grove man drowned in LakeHuron near . Port Albert Saturday after a canoe overturned near the mouth of the Nine Mile River. Paul Chapman, 31, of Brights Grove near Sarnia drowned just north of the mouth of the Nine Mile 'River after • a four -metre canoe overturned as • Chapman and a friend, James Traxler, of Brights Grove. attempted to turn around in the choppy lake water. The two men were not wearing life jackets and Goderich OPP said witnesses placed the canoe about altl fieetfromsbore,y,. ;. . ' liraalet M ovas` i to swim nest shafe - *hate- a" ' number of. people helped him out of the water. Chapman was unable to negotiate the choppy water. His body was recovered less than an hour later. Goderich OPP reported that a number of people were on shore and tried to help but were unable to reach the men. Jane Netzke is new recreation director Jane Netzke Goderich Town Council Monday night approved the hiring of the town's first woman recreation director, Jane Netzke. Miss Netzke, .26, will be taking over the post. vacated by Jim Moore who now is director of parks and recreation in St. Thomas.Netzke has served as program coordinator for Goderich since October of 1976...• In a salary grid set up by the recreation board, Netzke will earn $20,090 this year. On her first an- niversary, she will receive a $1,500 raise and another $1,500 increase in salary after two years to bring her salary to $23,000. Netzke's home town is Teeswater and she attended Connestoga College majoring in recreation. Her hobbies are martial arts; Dance Fit, swimming and skiing. Presently, Netzke is "swamped with spring program preparations" and feels it will be all she can do to maintain a recreational status quo her first year. Her promotion has left the recreation depar- tment without a program coordinator and she and secretary Marilyn Aubin are handling business alone. The Goderich Recreation Board, under the chairmanship of Bob Cornish, has not yet announced that they will be. seeking a replacement for the program coordinator. Press leading board astray in changing meeting date Board of education trustee, Frank Falconer believes the board is being led astray by the press in consenting to change the monthly meeting to a Thursday from Monday . Subsequent to a meeting with editors of the coun- ty's weekly newspapers in March, the board endorsed a motion changing the monthly meeting to the first Thursday of the month from the traditional Monday meetings. The press submitted that coverage of Monday meetings was surface reporting due to time limitations and deadlines. The meeting day virtually ruled out the possibility of exploring background information and left little time to seek opinions from educators on board decisions. The press intimated that more in-depth reporting would assist both the public and the board. Falconer opposed the motion claiming the board was being led astrav by the press. Vice-chairman ,Bert Morin argued that a change would facilitate a more complete reporting job and chairman Donald MacDonald said it would help the board to maintain a high profile with -the ratepayers. Trustee Joan Van Den Broeck reiterated those statements claiming it would be good for the board if the press was given more time to research stories and explain the rationale behind board decisions and policy. Falconet replied that the reasoning was "non- sense" adding "if they had a week to print the Lord's Prayer they would still make a mistake." Director of Education John Cochrane said the day change would not interfere with the administration process and said it would actually give them more time for preparation of reports. Beginning in May the board meet on the first Thursday of the month.