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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-09-16, Page 1133 YEAR --37 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1981 50 CENTS PER COPY Police officer assaulted twice BY JOANNE BUCHANAN Goderich police officers were kept busy in- vestigating two assault incidents nn the weekend and one officer was assaulted twice himself. Shortly after midnight on Friday, a youth reported to police that he had been assaulted by two people. Constable George Lonsbary investigated, found the car that the youth told him had been involved and followed it to Saltford' where he stopped it. He was then assaulted by one of the car's occupants before another Goderich officer and the O.P.P. arrived to back him up. A male adult was arrested, charged and taken to the Goderich police station where he assaulted Lonsbary again. This resulted in a second charge of assault. A friend of the arrested man refused to leave the station and was charged with obstruction.'After being locked up in a cell at the station, he smashed the cell's light. In provincial court on Monday, this man was fined $250 for obstruction and $50 for mischief. The man charged with assaulting Lonsbary is still in custody until his court appearance. After the first assault incident on Friday night, two youths reported to police that they had been assaulted by two other people in aseparate incident. Police investigated and laid two charges of assault and lst/taaa' Alia nal. [LL 6.. .. '/ ml.ala. tnac vs. Lilt aJaduabtd y0Lebae.., reported to police that his car had been surrounded by approximately 10 people in the Victoria Street area and that two of these people had kicked in his windshield. The incident was investigated and charges will be laid. At 2:06 Sunday morning, police noticed a car driving erratically around The Square. They stopped the car and found that the occupants, two females and a male, were having a domestic dispute. While sor- ting out this dispute at the station, someone flattened one tire on each of the two police cruisers sitting out front. Noises were then heard coming from The Square. Three Goderich officers went on foot to in- vestigate. The 0.P .P. were also called in to help quiet down the 50 to 60 youths who had gathered in Court House Park. After police arrived, most of the youths went home but others stayed as late as 4:30 a.m. Police took pictures of those involved. Other incidents on the weekend involved some bicycle thefts, the theft of some cassette tapes from a car, a stop sign knocked over by a car at the corner of Albert and Trafalgar Streets, some minor car ac- cidents, several noise complaints, two domestic disputes and a report of a youth causing trouble at the arena. A water tap was also broken off in a washroom at St. Christopher's Beach and someone flattened all four tires on the by-law officer's car while.. it was parked in front of his house Sunday morning. Expand police force if loitering is big problem Chief says loitering -bylaw would help police If loitering in town parks is creating a large problem for police then the force should be expanded to handle the situation some members Of council argued Monday. The comments resulted from a. suggestion from Police Chief Pat King, who asked council for a parking ban on The Square from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. and restrictions placed on those who loiter in parks during the same hours. Chief King said that town parks are popular places for people to congregate at night and complaints are often received with regards to noise at parks, especially Bingham and Courthouse Park and St_ Christophers Beach. His desire to implement a loitering bylaw was simply for "preventative measures. Council refused to restrict use of town parks at any time but Chief Kings says such a bylaw would be a tool for prevention. "It is a preventative measure because we don't want to wait until someone commits a crime," he said. "There is no. need for people to be in parks between 2 and 5 a.m. and we, can't afford to watch them all night." INSIDE THE , SIGNAL -STAR Setting sail The 60 foot lugrig schooner, the Sven and its builders, the Fedor family set sail for a cruise around, the continent to Vancouver earlier this week. Allen and Kim Fedor and their five young children have lived on their boat in the Goderich harbor for three years. See the feature on page 1A. New teachers There are a total of 21 new teachers this year at GDCI, Robertson, Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, St. Mary's, Colborne, Holmesville, St. Joseph's, and Brookside. The Signal -Star has pictures of them on page lA and 3A. NHL Oldtimer Twelve years is a long time between hockey gi games'. -lorry Jeffrey of Goderich is one of 100 former NHL, players from six teams Who participated in an Oldtinners tournament in 6.1 Markham in August. The games will be aired 'flt*ring- intermissions of NHL garner, broad- casted by CHCH (Hamilton) this winter. {, Ts6;'�S0A,7"i4l.h1.:1 W.",niuic:;k'nil'riskiatNJMue°«+.a�u�:u2iW'tAm+r�ii Chief King explained that quite often, if a -car is pulled over by police on the Square early in the morning, people hanging around the park quite often rcome over and make a scene. "You can't tell them to move, they arena committing an offence," he said. "I talked it o'er with the men and we felt it (a loitering bylaw) would be beneficial," he said. "We don't want to read the riot act or get charge happy, but it would help if we could move some of these people along." . Some municipalities have restrictions written into park bylaws and the chief claims it would assist the police if loitering was restricted during specific hours. "We are not trying to prevent people . from walking the dog at 3 a.m. but it would help to disperse groups who gather in the parks," he'said. On, a recommendation fromdthe parks committee, council agreed that no restrictions should be placed. on use of the parks. Elsa Haydon claimed that everyone should have use of the town's parks regardless of the hour. "There is no reason to close parks and it is ludicrous to contemplate restrictions," she said. "People work different shifts arid they should be able to enjoy the parks too." Mayor Harry Worsell asked Haydon if she had ever been uptown on Friday or Saturday night at mid= night. "On Saturday morning we had two in the cell here and two were sent 'to Walkerton," Mayor Worsell said. "An ice pick was put through the tires of the police cruisers and Dick Eisler's tires were flat- tened." .Councillor Jim Searls said'he sympathized. with the plight of the, pliceman in approaching groups in parks. ' Turn to page 2 . 4 Here's your chance to star in parade There's going to be a parade and you're the star attraction. That's right. On October 1 the committee raising funds for a new Intensive Care Unit at Alexandra Marine and General Hospital has planned a parade to kickoff the campaign and everyone's invited. The candlelight parade will form at Victoria School at 7 p.m.and make its way to The Square and Courthouse Park, where the fund-raising campaign will officially begin. Anyone can enter the parade and is encouraged to march with a candle or flashlight if the weather dictates. All Goderich school children and adults are invited to participate and while costumes, pyjamas and other parade attire isa acceptable, it is.normandatory. Participation is , however, mandatory. The parade may also feature the Laketown Band and Teen Tones choral group but organizer, Anna Melski, is just,a way to invlove children and adults, in the fun d -raising campaign. Also on Thursday, October 1 the committee will holder meetingat the -hospital. for atl.-can.vassers_in. volved in the October 15 house to house blitz. The meeting will be held in the auxiliary room at 8,30 p.m. Enrolment drops Enrolment on opening day was down from the projected figures in Huron County reported Superintendent of Education W.D. Kenwell of the County's Board of Education. At its September meeting Mr. Kenwell informed trustees opening day enrolment across the county was 10,696 students, while the projected figure was 10,776, down 80 students. He added if the enrolment figures follow the same pattern as they have in the past few years, the 80 students will show up during the year. At the elementary school. level, 6,633 students showed up opening day, while the board projected an enrolment of 6,721 students, . Contrarily, at the secondary schodl level, 4,001 students showed up, while the board projected3,992 would register. Atthe schools a for the trainable mentally retarded .62 students enrolled, while the board's projected figure was 63 students. Terry Fox is gone but not forgotten. His Marathon of Hope was carried on Sun- day as the nation observed Terry Fox Day. In Goderich about 100 people turned out to complete a 10 km route around town (any way they could). to raise over $2,000 for cancer research. At left, Casey Vanden Heuvel pays the price for run- ning the whole route and being one of the first ones to finish and at right, Monty the dog and owner Debbie Mitchelmore do their part. (Photos by Joanne Buchanan) OOrunonTerryFoxDay The memory of Terry Fox, the indomitable one - legged runner who'died of cancer in June, lived on as thousands of Canadians around the world par- ticipated in Terry Fox Day. Sponsors for the event estimated that at reast 800 communities across Canada, including Goderich, organized 10 kilometre runs to raise money for cancer research. The first Terry Fox Rum was a resounding success and the Canadian Track and Field Association estimates that' as many as 400,000 people ran in sponsored events and millions of Canadians par- ticipated through donations and pledges. The money will be added to the fund started by Fox, who raised $24 million for cancer research in an at- tempt to run across Canada.' He displayedan in- domitable spirit in the relentless pursuit of a personal' dream -to find a cure for the disease that claimed his limb and later, his life: Millions of dollars was raised in the effort Sunday and locally, Goderich runners, numbering about 100, raised over $2.000 for the research fund. . According to Dianne Armstrong of the Kinette Club it was a "family day" with many families turning the fund raiser into an- enjoyable outing. Fox's spirit offered inspiration to all Canadians and that was much in evidence as many handicapped people also participated in the events of the day. In Goderich, • the runners, walkers and joggers ranged in age from four-year old Brad Phelan to 67 - year old Arnold Zonneveld of Benmiller. Also, two five-year olds in wheelchairs, Shawn Thomson and Crystal McPhee, completed the 10 km. course Sun- day. The contingent of local participants also featured a Toronto runner and organizers reported. that a Windsor couple, noticing an event unfolding in the malt parking lot, stopped and dropped off a donation to the. fund. The Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs organized the run and food and refreshments were offered to all par: ticipants at the Kinsmen Centre on South Street. Roberta Stemp of Goderich was the top runner with $147 in pledges. The fund got a boost last week as Zehrs .manager Ray Hurd presented the organizing committee with a cheque for $156. The money was a straight donation to the fund and was not used for expenses as indicated in the paper. Council will meet with recreation board Town council has agreed to meet with members of the recreation board in 'an attempt to amicably resolve a dispute that has shown signs of a bitter fued. While'a date has not been set for the meeting, it was agreed at the, council table Monday, that the two groups need. to clear the air over responsibilities and areas of jurisdiction. The controversy began at the August 17 meeting of council when a request from the'Legion Branch 109 to hold a food concession at the Goderich Industrial Fastball League Tournament, was dealt with and approved by council. Subsequently, at its August 27 meeting, the recreation board expressed concern over the action of council and asked for clarification on the matter. The motion from the board stated that the recreation board expresses confusion and deep concern with regards to the motion passed by council, allowing the concession at the tournament. The board claimed the action was in conflict with iDs responsibilities for the operation of the facilities in question; that it picked some groups for preferential treatment and that the loss of revenue had a bearing on the recreation budget. The motion also asks for clarification of the system and.for explanation as to its (the board's 1 mandate, responsibilities and budget. The matter was further complicated by a letter of formal complaint, from the Goderich Industrial Fastball League and addressed to town council, that appeared on the recreation board agenda August 27. While the league was simply registering a formal complaint- againsLthe derision of council, .they also asked for a response to the letter. Deputy -reeve Bob Allen suggested that since the league wanted a response they should be informed, in a letter, that other applications for concessions at Agriculture Park will be considered by council. Stan Profit agreed that questions in the letter should be answered adding that council has the jursidiction to act ona matter or refer it to rec board. "The letter got to the recreation board and it should not have been there," he said. "The protest was shabily done." Councillor John Doherty asked that the matter be tabled "forever and a day" after raising questions about the validity and authenticity of the letter. "The fast ball league has no jurisdiction over food in Agriculture Park. The Legion has supported ball,: hockey and recreation in this town," he said. "We didn't have to be subjected .to controversy but the letter appeared under the order of Haydon and dealt ' with August 27 at rec board and wasn't received by the clerk until August 28. The letter was not -signed by the GIFT, president and he hadn"t even seen it." Doherty's motion to table the matter was defeated and council voted 5-3 in favor of a motion to send a letter to the fastball league informing them that Turn to page 2 Union applies for conciliation in contract negotiations Members of Local 1863 IAM have applied for conciliation to the Ministry of Labor to resolve a contract dispute with Champion Road Machinery Group Limited. Iain Bain,. Corporate Vice-president, employee relations, said the union has applied to the Ministry for the conciliation process and the company was awaiting the appointment of an officer to meet with the two sides. The Ministry of Labor has acknowledged the ap- plication and Bain indicated that a conciliation of- 'ftt r could be -appointed within die' Yuext week. Both office and plant workers are coming' off a two-year agreement and while the office workers have been with a contract since June'23, the union agreement expired August 15. The membership ently held a vote on a company contract offer and while Bain would not, release details of the offer, it was soundly rejected. "A company offer was made. taken to the mem- bership and they have applied for conciliation." he said, Union officials would not comment on the compary offer. -`Plw new rtirittratts. tncrolc^e- a-botr4 fs499 af€iee- 1 - plant worke rs at the grader manufacutring plant