HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-07-21, Page 5R --
GODERICH S GlalAlw•S•'1'Pt1il,.;'I`1
*84 *"% *K' ** its hot!
Thousands . ,of people °`hays been
seeking relief from the current, heat
wave that is blanketing the. United,States
trarnrnuch of Canada and hopefully it will
end or at least . diminisb somewhat
tomorrow.
People live for the, summer months
and lofty visions of balmy temperatures
and holidaying in the sun carry us
,..through the everest.uf winters.,Summer-
is finally here and boy are we living at
the extreme end of the Fahrenheits.
But the chronic complainers who
cursed the wind and snow' last January
ironically turn upon the other side of the
scale when the temperature hits 95.
, There is just no cure, weather wise or
otherwise, for some -people and for
anyone who has' mildly suggested where
a weatherman could stickhis weather
board, just think back te.,January 18,
19%7 .when the thermometer' dipped' to a
refreshing -29C or -20F. ,
There are thousands of alternatives to
beating the heat and everyone has. his
own personal touch. The alternatives
range from lounging in a hammock with
a tall, cool comforting beverage.to visits
to pools, beaches or air conditioned bars.
In .fact., ,hero •,:are sevesaj..enjoyable..
methods 'of keeping cool during the
summer. But, for the chronic com-
plainers it is•only fair that a List of hot
weather disadvantages be' given some
recognition.,
One disadvantage of the hot weather is
cleaning your car after a two 'week
vacation and discovering that the kids
attempted to smuggle half of the beach
home in the back seat of the car.
It is definitely a disadvantage when
you learn that the children really
weren't that crazy about the ice cream
you stood in line for over a half an hour
to buy and later abandoned them near
the rear window of the car.
A disadvantage of the hot weather is
suffering from severe neck strain and.to
an extreme whiplash, an affliction
generally found among the male species
during the su,rnmer months contracted„.,
while trying to 'd'rive and watch girls in
brief outfits at the same time. Scientists
have yet to discover a cure for the
disease.,
A disadvantage of the hot weather is
standing over .a barbeque and trying
desperately to get; the coals to do
something when invariably the tem-
perature outdoors always seems war-
mer than the coals will ever get. And the
wife or other members of the family run
out every 30 seconds for an hour to find
out if the hamburgers side done yet'
A disadvantage of smeri
ulmits finding
out that the children have been secretly' ,
forming a bug collection in the un-
derwear drawer of their 'dresser but
conveniently forget about- it goon
questioning.
A disadvantage of summer is enjoying
seueta.1,4-camfortictg;...4eu4igsges-' in n
afrconditioned barr during the afternoon
and then stepping out ontd the street into
100 degree weather and blazing sun-
shine.
A disadvantage, of summer is putting
on a bathing suit or bikini and realizing
that perhaps you should have done some
exercising during the winter months. '.
A disadvantage of summer is that
during the winter months all we can
remember are the advantage's.
Quit complaining.
ee
WEEK AFTE
INFORMATION, BACKGROUND AND OPINION
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HEREIN.. HURON
fter just seven short months of charges for 'the theft of the files. She
ration in the county the Huron pointed out .that several people had
nteer Bureau closed its doors access to the office including custodian,
use of lack of funds and disputes Ed Layton, summer employee Bob
een the bureau staff and the ad- Phillips or Pat- Wheeler, Spence Cum-
rycommittee. things and Bob Taylor of the advisory
ormer volunteer bureau, co- committee.
inator, Mary Ann KOWbuz resigned The Volunteer Bureau began
her position July 7. Returning to operation in January under a Local
Ontario Street United Church office a° Initiatives Program grant of $12,000.
days later she discovered that files During its short :life span. the .bureau
confidential information had been offered°help and services to the needy of
oved from the premises.. the county. When the bureau funds were
owbuz immediately contacted the depleted in June,-Kowbuz asked the
ton Police and threatened to lay advisory committee to appy for legal
incorporation as a non-profit volunteer not be' paid even the phone was
agency. A successful application would, e(Isconnected which incensed Kowbuz
(k'(h'h
have meant that the bureau could'`sur- - and •meant that services were definitely
vive through- tax deductible donations cut off from the public.
from the public but no action was taken. "The only person to raise funds kr the
Committee member Taylor claimed bureau has been me." Kowbuz said, "We
that the bureau was in no position to received nothing locally, funds were
apply for legal incorporation since it had never given by the county or the towns,"
no base, He added that the advisory The only person now staffing the
committee was looking to Kowbuz for bureau is Bob Phillips, a university
fund seeking ideasand alternatives, student who has been _hired through the
Kowbuz claimed that she has been the Experience '77 program. Phillips will
only person • genuinely interested in now research possible future funding for
securing additional funds to keep the the bureau.
bureau operational. When the bills could One bureau employee, Reg Thompson
claimed that Phillips was actually doing suggested that perhaps a church or
a study on why the bureau didn't work social group could operate it.
when it actually did; He added that the Kowbuz ,claimed that the bureau
bureau was a success but the operatidriTtlped at least 45 agencies and groups
simply ran out of funds. • and assisted another 200 needy, han-
Advisory committee member Pat dicapped and elderly people. Thompson
Wheeler, who is also the co-ordinator of noted that some people could not do with
volunteer services at Bluewater Centre, out the services of the bureau.
said the bureau didn't work out as ex- ' County development officer Spence
petted and added that•it was difficult to Cummings, also a member of the
recruit volunteers and equ9lly as dif-• bureau's advisory committee refused to
ficult to run the bureau throughout the comment on the closing situation orthe
whole county. However she operation of the bureau.
acknowledged the fact that. there is a' 'It is not known if such a bureau will
need for such a service in the county and ever be operational in the county in
future years.
stomers of Ontario Hydro have
gingly become accustomed to
al 'rate increases and the only good
s to come from Hydro in a long time
cated that next year's increase may
e as high as expected. •
seems that our hydro system earned
uch money through rate increases
year that this year's increase may
ut by as much as half. The Ontario
rgy Board was told that a forecast of
ss revenue for Ontario Hydro this
will mean a reduction in the in -
se next year.
recasts for Hydro's revenue for this
PROVINCIAL
year indicated that the revenues will be
I0!) million more than permitted under
the province's anti-inflation policy.
Hydro originally proposed an increase
of 11.3 percent for power delivered to
municipal utilities. This proposal is
being reviewed at hearings of the OEB
which began last week.
Hydro claimed that more than a third
of, the revenue is attributable to in-
creased export sales of electricity to the
linited States, mainly the States of New
York and Michigan. The rest stems from
lower purchasing prices and generating
costs than anticipated in bringing new
uthors of a public opinion poll
fished in Le Devoir Monday say that
majority of Quebeckers favor
beec independence if this were ac -
plants into service.
However, there is now a dispute over
the 'method for returning the extra
revenue to the consumer. The Con-
sumers -Association of Canada, in-
tervening at the energy board hearings
wants the forecasted $109 million surplus
to be used against the 1978 rates. But
Hydro does not want to change its rate
proposal. Hydro wants to wait until the
end of the year until the exact surplus is
known and then rebate the excess
revenue through credits on the monthly
bills in 1978,
Then hydro rate changes would have
CANADA
The St. Jean poll said 47.9 per cent of
respondents backed Quebec in-
dependence when linked with an
economic association while 30.7 per cent
were against. The remainder were
But the poll claimed that given normal
patterns the majority of the undecided
would vote in favor of independence with
economic association bringing to 60 per
cent those in favor of such an option.
However 'faced with the choice of
independence without economic
association or the status quo, 63.2 per
cent said they were in favor of con -
POINTS
to be made by each municipality that
purchases electricity from Ontario
Hydro.
inflation policy. He said it would he his
objective to have any such forecasted
revenue from Hydro returned to the
customers in the form of a lower rate
• Hydro also thinks that any extra level in 19' 8.
revenue ropy be wiped out by unforeseen If the rate increase proposed is cut in
losses later in the year. One official half. the average householder without
pointed out that the cost of having one electric heating could expect an increase
nuclear generating station out of of *1.15 on a monthly/bill for about 750
commission for one day is $200,000, kilowatt hours. A residential customer
Ontario Energy Minister James using electrical heating could face an
Taylor, in a tetter requesting the energy annual increase of $3' .
hoard's review of hydro's rates, Hydro's rates increased by 30.3 per-'
specifically asked for a report on the cent this year, the highest increase ever
treatment in 19)8 of any forecasted permitted by the energy board. A boost
excess revenue from 197', under the anti-"ffIt rates of 2:' percent was allowed in 1976
IN SEVEN
tinuing ties with Canada while only 17.3
per cent wanted complete independence.
The poll identified economic issues as
the greatest concern and.,spid,the results
of an independence re:ferendum would
depend largely on the ability of the
Quebec government to convince the
people ,of the viability of a politically
sovereign Quebec.
It is rather, unlikely that Quebec
separation will lead to happiness,
security or prosperity for the people of
that province. Such a move holds no
merit for either: English nor French
speaking Canadians.
Several years ago the late Senator
Charles G. Power predicted that the
FTench-Canadian issue would surface
after the Second World War and that
resentments and discontent, regardless
of' their origin, would remain with
Canadians untilthey were dealt with on
a rational basis.
, The climate , of Canada is uncertain
and the uncertainties of emotions,
politics, personal pride, unemployment
and other socio-economic conditions
provide a poor barometer in measuring
whether or not Canada will stay intact. It
is difficult to centralize the problems to
individual provinces, and there can be
no blames laid. There is a definite need
for a new perspective, to view Canada as
a whole.
It is said that Canada's development
peaked during the Second_World War but
has. since declined through a network of
weak governments. National unity has
since been fractured by inflation,
soaring unemployment and welfare
costs, greed, and our lofty visions of
more pay for less work.
The provinces of our country are
clamouring - for different reasons and
needs.' The weStern provinces- may be
after an energy board recommendation
of .'9. percent was modified by a special
select committee of the Ontario
Legislature.
There are 11 interveners at the
hearing -and each will have a-chanceto
challenge Hydro's policies and figures
hut only the consumer's association
seeks to represent residential
Customers.
Mr. Taylor expressed disappointment
at the apparent lack of citizen interest in
the review hearings and stated that even
though he encouraged such participation
there was not one ihdividual who was
actively participating in the hearing. 'i
primarily concerned with trade, oil
prices and natural resources. Quebec is
concerned about language, culture
recognition and a type of freedom. The
Maritimes, and Ontario to a lesser
degree, are concerned about unem-
ployment and faltering economic con-
, It is"now difficult for Canada, to catar
to the concerns of a troubled province
like Quebec. The whole country has its
problems and each and every province
has its problems. Those problems can
only be solved when all the provinces
pull together.
Thu
od
lent
Iso
< bo
Go
ler
er 3,500 people arrested in New
City last week for looting and other
alism during a blackout in the city
now complaining of inhumane
tions at the jails used to house the
wer was disrupted for 25 hours
g which time police arrested more
3,500 looters and vandals and of -
Is also estitnated that 439 policemen
injured. It was one of the worst
s in New York history in which
e were called to make more than six
8, the nortnal arrests during tIA
d blackout in 12 years.
Along a one mile Strip of Bioadway the
streets were lined ' with glass from
smashed in jewellery store windows and
in Harlem the damage was even more
-widespread as looters simply ignored
police. '
In most cases the looters openly
carried pieees of. furniture, including
bulkier items as chesterfields and chairs
through store windows and ,onto the
street. In one section clf the Bronx,
looters drove 50 new ,,ears from a
showroom. Harlem police reported that
they were frequently attacked by
looters, Most of whom were well,armed,
Most storeowners tried to remain in
their premises during the blackout but
their efforts were futile for the most
p rt. One of the stores looted, a
bo tique, had its two floors of goods
pi WI clean ineluding counters and
chairs. Police attributed inost of the
looting and vandalism to roving bands of
kids and other local gangs.
New York city police talked of their
battle with looters in terms of reference
usually reServed for war an,.d they
agreed that it was the worst nights in the
city since the shoos Ing death of Dr.
Martin Luther King.
Now a controversy is brewing over the
jail conditions being inflicted upon the
jailed looters and vandals. A spokesman
for the legal aid society, whose lawyers
started a slowdown Saturday, said the
prisoners were denied proper medical
attention, received spoiled food and
were forced to sleep on floors.
Prison authorities in Manhattan where
the closed Tatribs jail was reopened to
accommodate the unusual number of
offenders during the blackout, denied
Court authorities are now worrietilEla
conditions may worsen and blame the
lawyers for further slowing down the
already clogged process. To complicate
matters New York's political leaders are
calling for heavy punishment of looters
and arsonists.
New York Mayor Abraham Beame
called for tough justice on the looters
and said he had no sympathy for those in
jail. Manhattan borough president,
Percy Sutton, said persons charged with
-crimes must not be excused because
they are poor„because the poor are as
moral and honesePs any other people.
Judges were attempting to handle the
large caseload by condutting court
arraignments in as little ds four to five
minutes. Lawyers deliberately tried to
stretch the arraignments into 15
minutes.
The heat has been blamed for much of
the lawlessness in New York and now the
city is on a water alert because of
dangerously. low water pressure caused,
by thousands of New Yorkers turing on
fire hydrants to cool themselVes off:
barrage of criticism after the blackout
but they have already 'presented a plan
that should speed Alp restoratiop, Of
power should another blackout occur.