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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1995-01-04, Page 111 you're not subscribing to The Wingham Advance -Times, you're missing out. Use this coupon below and subscribe today! Name: Address: City: Prov. Postal Code: Subscription rates Canada within 40 miles (65km) ad- dressed to non letter carrier address- es $27 plus $1.88 GST. Outside 40 miles (65km) or any letter carrier address $40 plus $2.80 GST. Ouside Canada $80 plus $5.60 GST USE YOUR CREDIT CARD Card No. ❑❑❑❑❑❑❑❑ ❑❑❑❑❑❑❑❑ Expi Date: Visa Li Master Card ❑ Cheque enclosed ❑ Return To; WINGIIAM ADVANCE -TIMES P.O. Box 390, 5 Diagonal Road Wingharn, Ontario, NOG 2W0 L Fire destroys poultry. barn A Tuesday evening blaze west of Wingham destroyed a poultry barn and claimed the lives of 7,600 birds. Fire fighters from the Wing - ham station re- sponded to the 6:32 p.m. call, and were sup- ported by the Gorrie Station tanker and Lucknow Volunteer Fire De- partment tanker. Wingham and Area Fire Depart- ment Deputy Chief Lynn Hickey said men were at the scene for ap- proximately nine hours that eve- ning, and returned Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. to extinguish some flar- ing hot spots. The barn was engulfed when fire fighters arrived on the scene. Hick- ey said part of the task was to pro- tect a neighboring poultry barn from drifting embers and a large propane tank, just a few feet from the burning building. The barn is owned by Tender Flesh, a division of Maple Leaf Foods and managed by Paul Hicks. Approximately $300,000 damage was done by the fire, which is, still under investigation. The structure is insured. 7,600 _birds Ioet Teeswater newspaper to cease monthly editions Advance -Times to begin publishing news from village The community of Teeswater is losing one of its regular publica- tions. The Tees -water Independent, a monthly newspaper for the past two years, will no longer publish its regular editions. In a front page sto- ry of the December 19 edition, owner/publisher Jerry Collison wrote that the time had come to make a decision on the direction of the publication. Collison, who owns Teeswater Printcraft in addi- tion to employment with Eveready in Walkerton, said it was time to concentrate efforts on other mat- ters. However, good news for their readers is that Collison and the In- dependent will continue to publish special editions throughout the year. In recent strategic planning ses- sions at the Advance -Times, the de- cision to report news from the om- munity of . Teeswater has n added to our agenda. Beginning shortly, the Advance -Times will cover regular happenings in Tees - water, including regular village council meetings. BIRTHS.............PACE 12 OBITWRIES PAGE 13 Wingham Town Council makes a decision on the future of waste managemenent for the town. It's a look back at the year that was...a 1994 retrospective. What happened, who did what, who said what. Mt CC CONTRIBUTED PHOTO • ocal lad works as page By MARGARET STAPLETON The Advance -Times A Turnberry Township boy has decided on a career path after six. weeks as a page at the Ontario Leg- islature. • Far from being put off by the ex- perience, 13 -year-old Mark Lewis, a Grade 8 student at Wingham Pub- lic School, says he wants to be a politician. Mark spent Oct. 31 to Dec. 9 of ,last year as a page at the Ontario Legislature, one of 24 young peo- ple working as pages in six-week stints. Being selected to work as a page in the Legislative Assembly is a prestigious appointment for a boy or girl. A letter was sent to local schools in the fall of 1993, asking for young people to apply. Mark says he thought it would be a great Please see TURNBERRY/2 Growing pains for DHC Facing long term health care, mental health issues By FRED GROVES Special to the Advance -Times SEAFORTH — Look for the new- ly established Huron -Perth Dis- trict Health Council to experience some growing pains. At a recent meeting at the Sea - forth Community Hospital, the members of the council seemed a little confused at all the terminol- ogy that was being banged around the room. Although the group has held several information meetings, the one on December 15 was the first regular session to which the pub- lic was invited to attend "Things are moving so quickly and it's new. We're working on hiring staff,' said chairman Jeff Wilbee. Several issues were touched upon at the meeting, including hospital restructuring, working with the Ministry of Health and where a temporary DHC office will be set up. Diane Aitken, a member of the site selection committee, said there were two potential tempo- rary sites: St. Marys and Mitchell. It was decided that since the per- manent office will Most likely be located in Mitchell, that is where the temporary office should be. Huron -Perth have been work- ing for nearly two years on trying to establish a DHC. It to' the last area- in the province to establish one. "We're at the forefront of some really interesting developments in health care." Cathy Chapman, Ministry of Health "(The ministry) is very pleased to have the Huron -Perth District Health Council set up," said Ca- thy Chapman of the Ministry of Health. One of the growing pains in- volves the ministry and its long- term health care office situated in London. As • soon as the Huron - Perth DHC is functioning fully, it will take over the responsibilities of long term health care. "It's just going through some growing pains. There's a new kid on the block and it's nothing out of the ordinary," said Chapman. As far as long-term health care is concerned, Huron MPP Paul Klopp is scheduled to be in Gode- rich on January 170where he will talk about Bill 173 that involves long term health care. When asked how the two counties got along without a DHC, Chapman explained that it was because the area has very good service systems in place es- pecially those which deal with seniors and the physically dis- abled. "They are a very strong com- munity which work well togeth- er,' said Chapman. While some of those gathered around the table in Seaforth seemed a little confused, there are many health care issues which will be dropped in their laps in a" hurry. "There are many varied com- plex initiatives that the govern- ment is putting forward. It will be a real challenge. We're at the forefront of some really interest- ing developments in health care," said Chapman. Those include long term health care, mental health planning and cancer clinics. "It's a long process but hope- fully we'll be providing services more effectively and efficiently," said Wilbee. He explained that the main thrust of the DHC is to act as a consumer voice. The DHC will consult with the community on is- sues, gather data and be able to bring in expert advice. There are eight hospitals in the Huron -Perth area, five of those are in Huron County. Wilbee said hospital restructuring is one of the major agenda items of the new DHC. "We'd do a review using expert consultants and our own staff and in collaboration with the hospi- tals." The Wingham Junior C it. Ironmen and Brussels Bulls: holiday wrap-up and current league standings tints 75 UT Of GAS Bus rou Cha -Co drops 5 Huron County's reliance on the automobile 'will be virtually complete as of January 15 when Bus service disappears from the region Cha -Co Trails will run the last bus on its London -Owen Sound route that day. The company, in fact, is dropping five of its' six regular routes. The only one not to -be cut is the London - Kitchener route, which has re- maaped. m €man -.,z eially viable mainly due to the university stu- dent traffic flow at both ends, and connections with other bus lines. "We have to discontinue it be- cause of the costs," said line run supervisor Alice McKim at the Cha -Co (Chatham Coach) Trails office in Chatham. Faced with the fact that the routes continued to lose money, were drawing fewer rides than ever, and insurance costs were ris- ing 40 per cent, the company had no alternative, McKim said. "We've been losing money on lines routes for some time now," she said. Efforts to re -organize, re-route, `Some nights they comeln. -and they will have one passenger' to cut; Trails routes or cut to a "skeleton service" only resulted in making bus travel less "handy for all. At a guess, McKim said the London -Owen Sound route would "average five to eight (passen- gers) on the route". Unfortunately for those who have come to rely on it, there are few inexpensive alterative to bus travel. Putting smaller, less costly buses on the routes only brought complaints from travelers on the long ride to' Owen Sound. "People did not like the smaller bpses�"`said> un ., Despite. visions of a futaire,less. dependent on personal automo- biles and a strong public transit sector, there is no evidence Cana dians are prepared to leave their cars at home. "That's why we were hanging on," said McKim, adding that a kind of "moral obligation" to those dependent on bus transpor- tation held off the route cancella- tions for a couple of years. Cha -Co Trails dropped its Han- over -London route in 1991, leav- ing the Hensall to Lucan area without bus service. The, Owen Sound route was diverted to pass through Exeter after Labour Day Please see BUS/3 Rural Hospitals need co-operation to provide services By ,JIM BROWN The Advance -Times Due to a decrease in financial assistance from the provincial gov- ernment, man;• rural hospitals can no longer afford the luxury of pro- viding patients with all the same services that are available from the larger urban hospitals. However, Wingham and Dis- trict Hospital chief executive offi- cer Lloyd Koch said that hospitals situated within the same region are beginning to co-operate with one another in order to provide rural residents with the same services of thosein the cities. He said that hospitals in Huron,. County have been co-operating for some time. The eight hospitals of Huron and Perth Counties also co- operate with one another. However, Koch noted that even hospitals in large urban centres, like Kitchener, are holding discus- sions regarding "shared services, Or even the amalgamation of hospi- tals. He said with shared services, one hospital would offer a specific service, such as obstetrics, while another hospital would offer a dif- ferent service, such as pediatrics. Koch said that these opportuni- ties are not as apparent if there is only one hospital in town. He said it was more difficult to "look at shared services, when you have to drive for half an ker to get to the hospital that provides the service." "The concept the ministry is en- suring that hospitals work in co- ordination with other community agencies," said the hospital CEO. Please see WDH/2 Winter tourism inquiries .p • in Bruce WALKERTON Bruce County's tourism is claiming a 50 per cent increase in the number of inquiries for winter accommodation and ac- tivities in the county. The tourism office says three new initiatives account for the crease over last year, with snowmo- biling featuring strongly among them. the county as joined the Southern Ontario Snowmobile Part- ners campaign, is working on host- ing the Snowfest '95 provincial convention and has taken part in two winter travel shows, where in- dustry members and travel enthu- siasts can learn about the winter charms of the county.