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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-08-27, Page 1Cou tywiii1e a .r A three month undercover drug in- vestigation throughout Huron County _resulted in an early morning drug raid on - - "Friday, Aug. 22 when 33_ persons were ar- - rested and 71 charges, 32 of them for traf- ficking drugs, were laid. At 5 a.m. on Friday, 40 police officers from the Goderich and Exeter OPP sta- - tions and the Goderich, Seaforth, Clinton _ • - and Exeter town police departments raid- : ed houses throughout the county and con- fiscated quantities of cannibus marijuana, - cannibus resine, hashish, hash oil, LSD • and cocaine with an estimated value of $7,650. 'The investigation was a fairly major project. The number of trafficking charges alone is significant," says Corporal Vessey, off the Goderich OPP. Sergeant Jerry Hilgendorff, of the Goderich police agrees saying the project _ was the biggest operation in the county the since two similar drug investigations ap- proximately six years ago. Charges included 29 charges of traffick- ing narcotics, three charges of trafficking restricted drugs, 26 charges of possession, one charge of possession of restricted drugs, six charges of possession of a pro- hibited weapon, four charges of unsafe storage of a firearm, one charge of obstructing a police offii?er and one charge of escaping lawful custody. The undercover investigation was done by the OPP, the Mount Forest District Crime Unit and the London Drug Enforce- ment Unit. "Their work was very well done. It's good to see something done. It seems to have been common knowledge that there have been a lot of drugs available locally," says Sergeant Hilgendorff. "I hope parents take heed to what's go - ing on and not assume this is the end of it," he says. He adds that $7,650 doesn't mean a large quantity of drugs. "I think we've only scratched the sur- face here," he says. Of those charged, 10 are from Goderich. They include Betty Begeman, 24; Katherine F. Austin, 23; Pattie 1A19. Sholdice, 25; Kelly J. Steven McLean, 25; Randy N. Chapman, 20; Randall Richard Scholdice, 30; Nor- man -M=. Knapp, 20; Dale M. Jeffrey, 19 and Darren G. Creamer, 19. Four persons from Clinton were charged including Helen J.- Te r nka,, 27;Todd 1 and Moxam, 23; Andy Van Perry Daer, 22. From the Seaforth area, five persons were charged including Cheryl A. Mac- Donald, 19, of RR4 Seaforth; Roy J. Brown, 23, of RR4 Seaforth: Richard A. rests 33 Swirklis, 21, of Seaforth, William J. Racho, 19, of RR4 Seaforth and Jeffrey L. Elliott, 20, of Staffa. Five persons from the Exeter area were charged including Kenneth G. Denomme, 27; Eugene M. King, 26, of RR1 Exeter; Gregory K. Bell, 25, of Huron Park; Rowena Schaufler, 19, of RR1 Exeter and Kimberley L. Coleman. 21. Also charged were Paul M. McClinchey, 26, of Hensall; Thomas G. Cyr, 24, of RR1 Zurich; Darin Telford, 21, of Bayfield; Nancy M. Smith, 21, of RR1 Zurich; Wilfred Michael Mostrey, 23, of RR2 Zurich; Jamie Daer, 19, of RR1 Auburn, Daniel Stanley, 23, of RR1 Brucefield and Dale R. Reid, 18, of Varna. One person charged was a young of- fender and therefore cannot be named. The court date has been set in Goderich for Oct. 20. Accident claims second life KINCARDINE - Martha Curran, 19, of RR 1, Dungannon, has died as the result of a car accident near here last week in which another girl was killed. Curran died Sunday night in London's Vic- toria Hospital one week after the car she was in left Concession Road 8, west of Highway 21 in Bruce Township. The car struck a railway crossing sign and rolled several times. Curran was thrown from the car, driven by 26 -year-old Thomas Park, also of Dungannon. Tracy Hill, 19, of Bayfield, died. Another passenger, Ronald Kerr, 21, of Goderich, is in fair condition in Hamilton General Hospital.,t,Park was discharged from hospital after the accident. 138 YEAR - 35 GODERICH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 1986 60 CENTS PER COPY Extended hours make no difference say local bar owners • Armed robbery BY LIZ WILKINS -- While the tourism andhotel industries in Ontario say they should have the right to stay open and sell alcohol from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m., seven clays a week, most of the owners of bars, taverns, and restaurants in the Goderich area say extended hours are unnecessary. Some owners also say that raising the drinking age to 21 is not the -answer to drunk driving "You don't gain much by extending the hours and raising the age," says C.G. (Gus) Balkouras, owner of the Candlelight Restaurant and Tavern: In -fact; Balkouras says there should be no age limit at all. "If you're old enough to fight, you're old enough to drink. Goderich is not ready for extended hours, Balkouras says. "The taverners should make the decision. They should have their own choice to stay open until 1 a.m. or 3 a.m. Extended hours might create more local problems and it will be difficult for police who will have to watch bars until 3 a.m. g when they close." y� ..., y � a v ; , ,' ys.. e 3 iu.ni �� fir.,.,. s y. rN .P•° ��'<. mss. , ,, .;� .7^"1L Mike Tyrovolas, owner of the Goderich o ca in .,. .•, •--g•.F estaurant, Steak House and Tavern, says An, interim day care centre started up last week at Knox provide day care intfor months when they, along' lots of people, especially those from the : Presbyterian Church two weeks after the K Day Care Centre was with the day care parents, hope Goderich council will have put their States, want to drink at 10 a.m. Nine o'clock evicted from the Kinsmen Centre on July 31. Cindy Austin and her support behind a municipal day care centre. (photo by Susan , it too l and 3 a.m. is a ba - staff Mary Lou Jansen and Shelli Berlet -Barlow are continuing to Hundertmark) is too early late, Tyrovolas says, especially for estaurat, "Why not try 10 a.m. till 2 a.m.," he suggests. Tyrovolas says raising the drinking age would make a difference in Goderich. "A lot of accidents are caused by underaged drink- ••ing in cars." He suggests raising the age for obtaining a driver's licence too. John MacKeigan, owner of Murphy's Lan- ding, says the drinkingage of 19 or 20 does not create a problem. "I find the young peo- ple more conscious of the designated driver program. More so than 30 -year-olds who have had 10 or 12 years of drinking. The younger kids have been educated through school. I find they are well behaved and very few are abusing alcohol." The extended hours would make no dif- ference in the Goderich area, MacKeigan says. "In some centrs it would be of great benefit at some times of the year but the habits and night life in the summertime here are different from the States and other cities in Canada." MacKeigan suggests letting the cash register dictate the hours. "Under the pre- sent legislation, I have to stay open until one o'clock. I like the ideaof opening if there's business but I'd like to use my own discre- tion to run my own business." So far, MacKeigan sees no demand for earlier hours. The increased revenue that would come with extended hourswould not be enough to pay for the extra staff hours, MacKeigan says. The owner of Robindale's, Rob McGregor, gres that extended hours would be a good is investigated Goderich police are investigating an armed robbery at Frank and Gus Pizza. The incident occurred when a male per- son wearing a mask and wielding a knife came into the pizza outlet at closing time (2:30 a.m.) on Aug. 24. The unidentified person jumped over the counter and scooped up the money which employees had just counted,and fled through a rear door. Approximately $450 was taken. No one was injured during the incident. During the early morning hours of Aug. 17 and Aug. 19, a number of licence plates were stolen from local residents, as well as three 1986 vehicles from McGee Pontiac Buick. Windsor Police arrested three youths and recovered two of the stolen vehicles. A third vehicle was recovered in Listowel but not before two more'vehicles were stolen from a dealership in Listowel. When recovered all three vehicles had the stolen licence plates on them. The matter is still under investigation. at least four Interim centre means day care will continue for four months An interim day care centre opened at the Knox Presbyterian Church in Goderich last week while Goderich council continues to research the possibility of opening a municipal day care centre in town. The church is available for a day care centre for only two to four months. "The interim centre has had everything approved but the fence," says Barb Allen, spokesperson for a group of parentswhose children used the K Day Care Centre which closed on July 31. The 100 foot fence which will partition off a section of the 'church parking lot so the children can play outside, was lent to the centre by a parent, 13i11 Henry. But, Ministry of Community and Social r Services officials will not approve the fence until concrete curbing is placed along an 18 inch deep ditch at the end of the parking lot. Allen says the committee will ask the town to provide the curbing. "It's a super spot and the church is being as accommodating as it possibly can. But, come September, programs like cubs and beavers have priority over the day care centre and all the equipment will have to be put away every night, meaning two hours more work for the staff every night," says Allen. Rev. Royal says the well at the church. centre is operating "I don't think we'd like to see the centre a permanent fixture at the church but we're glad to be of help at the present time, he says. The centre has kept the same hours of 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with as many as 12 children a day, a normal summer drop-off from the 20 to 23 children a day the centre has enrolled for September. "I'm sure we're going to be busy in September," says Cindy Austin, the cen- tre's coordinator. The centre also employs the same staff as it did at the K Day Care Centre minus Cindy's partner Cathy De Jong; "Like me, my staff were dangling on a string but they decided to stick it out with me. I was really impressed by that since a month ago, none of us knew if we were coming or going. It was, hard," says Austin. Day care was unavailable for two weeks between' the move from the Kinsmen Cen- tre on July 3'1 and the set-up of the interim centre at Knox Presbyterian Church. "The kids are so happy to be back. They really like it here and I've had nine calls for registration just this week," she says. Austin says the staff and parents went to the trouble of finding an interim centre because her supervisor, Judy Cooper of the Ministry of Community and Social Ser- vices, told her it would be harder to close it and reopen when a municipal centre was established. She says she's frustrated by the amount of time Goderich council is taking to research and decide whether it will back a municipal centre. Things are going very slow with council. I'm sure they're looking ,Into it with great depth but I don't think they realize the great need for day care in town," she says. "Not knowing what's going to happen is the hardest part. Even if the town would give us a definite answer (about whether it supports a municipal day care centre), it would be so much easier to wait for a per- manent centre to open." If council has not committed itself to a municipal day care centre by the end of the four months the centre has been granted by the church, Austin says she'll give up on -a day care centre. "If this collapses, it collapses. I'm not going to go through what I went through when the K Day Care Centre closed again," she says,' Allen is equally resigned. "If the church asks us to leave at the end of the four months and council has not sup- ported a municipal centre, that will be the idea for the hotels, "but not for me. 1 don't end of it," she says. want to work that late." Robindale's opens Turn to Pagel - from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. and McGregor sees no demand for longer hours. Bluewater neighbors can use a defence Several of the neighbours of the Bluewater Centre of Young Offenders have written in letters to the editor to the Signal - Star that it is their impression they cannot defend themselves or their proper- ty if an escapee from the centre breaks in- to their homes. . According to the Criminal Code, the law reads that a person can only use as much force as necessary to protect oneself and , his family and property. "It's the reference to 'as rrluch force as necessary' that is open to interpretation," says.:Corporal J. C. Vessey- of the Ontario Provincial Police detachment in Goderich. Corporal Vessey says he explains it to peo- ple this way: If he comes at you with fists, you can defend yourself with fists. If he comes at you with a baseball bat, you can defend yourself with a- baseball bat. A judge is not likely to interpret the use of a gun as only that much force as necessary to protect oneself unless the assailant has a gun. Human error causes two elevator fires BY LIZ WILKINS Human error caused two fires at the Goderich Grain Elevators Thursday night says Spokesman Ivan McConnell. Trucks unload grain into two pits at the elevators. The pits operate independently of each other. Once the truck at the front pit ° had emptied its grain, the weigh man went down to check the bins. The operators of the side pit were still running grain and had shifted to a new bin which they thought was sealed but in fact was partly open. Grain began pouring onto the conveyors of the front pit and kept running up to the top of the workhouse until it plugged the lofterhead (the top of the vertical conveyor which is called a "leg"). This burnt the V- belt drive of one"leg"and caused the first fire. McConnell said the Goderich Fire Depart- ment responded instantly and cleangi that up. But then another fire began in The se- cond "leg" when the grain plugged it up and the head pulley burned through the "leg" belt. "This was a much more dangerous fire," McConnell said, "because it was contained inside the leg Firemen took three hours to contain and eliminate the second fire. McConnell said that the fire department was excellent. "The fire department got water coming down through the head and up from the bot- tom and then cut holes hi the sides to pump water through. They were excellent in the co-operation they gave us." McConnell estimates that then'damage to machinery and grain will come to about $200,000. He says raising the drinking agewould not affect Robindale's either. "We wouldn't lose a lot of clientele," he says, "but personally, I don't think there should be an age limit. It's a little bizarre. At 18 you can vote and at 16 you can quit school but you can't go into a bar and have a beer." Bill Gibson, owner of The Court Restaurant, says that while there's no necessity for extended hours, the drinking age certainly should be raised to 21. "It keeps those who are younger from drinking. It keeps 17- and 18-year-olds out of the hotels." A recent Gallup poll showed that 62 per cent of Canadians favor 21 as the drinking age. Among the °senior population, aged 50 and over, 76 per cent want it. raised. NS DE THE S GNA'_ -STAR Squirt Tourney Seven teams, including one from as far away as Ottawa, competed in the OASA squirt baseball tournament ' held in , Goderich over the weekend. The Goderich Squirts fared well, but eventually lost in the final game. For the complete wrap-up, read the front page of today's Sports section. Sailing adventures Boats are the main attraction on the Com- munity front page. Read Liz Wilkins' ac- count of a Kincardine youth's adventure while sailing, and then enjoy Paul Hart - man's interview with Goderich native Pat O'Brien, captain of a large yacht.