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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1995-05-17, Page 1g`d a'a t. NOON $4 111f f tq: tThe Wingham Advance.`times, you're miss, ttg; out ilea this coin fmbelow aunt subscribe tom. t Address: City. Pdstal Code: Subscrilpt(pn.rates" $ Canada within 40 miles (65km) ad- dressed to non letter carrier address- es $27 plus $1.89 OST. outside 40 mires (65km) or any letter carder address $40 plus $2.80 GST. cluWide Canada $80 plus $5.60 GST USE YOUR CREDIT CARD Card No. ❑ rn rn ❑ E [] ❑❑❑❑❑❑❑❑ Expl pate: • Visa Li Master Card ❑ Cheque enclosed [] Return To. WINDMAM ADVANCE -TIMES P.O. Box 390, 5 Diagonal Road Wingham, Ontario, NOG 2W0 Candida s :the June, 8 Provincial al Election are; hoping they will On �:. your support. Carnp'ligi update, Page 3. 1 ani t 1 nit Trial r Anglican : Church in tielgrave closed its doors for good on May 7. St.Pa.uts In. Wingham has a new name. Pg. '70 } F.E. Madill's Soccer teams • went to the Huron finals, Track cleaned up at H -P. ° See Sports Student arrested during school Undercover operation. ferrets out drug dealer at local high school From all accounts, it was an exciting morning at F.E. Madill last Friday as an undercover police operation led to the arrest of one young of- fender for dealing drugs. Wingham Police Chief Bob Wittig ,would only say that the youth was under the age of 18, thereby prohibiting publication of their name. The arrest of the youth came after a six week undercover op- eration at the local high school, conducted by a female officer 'posing as a student. According to the •police services press re- lease, the ongoing project was. part of the campaign to deter- ' mine the level of drug and a1Co= hol involvement within the stu- dent body. "We have a tremendously good school," Wittig said. "The kids are 99 per cent good, we just have to help that one per. cent get on track." The police conducted locker searches at the school on Friday on identified suspects. This in- vestigation resulted in the youth being arrested and charged with possession of narcotics and traf- ficking of narcotics. • cs Witting explained the situa- tion was more serious than just that of typical narcotics. He said the youth had also been dealing with fraudulent narcotics; or selling drugs to individuals that were not the drugs they thought they were buying. "Which is dangerous," he said. "Drugs are a problem no mat- ter. where youare," he said of the local situation. "It depends on your level of tolerance, and I have a very low level of toler- ance for illicit drugs." Wittig said the school and the police force will continue to monitor the level of drug and al- cohol use at F.E. Madill and the community as a whole. He added, anyone with infor- mation of illegal drug usage can help the police by contacting them or by calling Crimestop- pers of Huron County. Fire Dept. news Editorial Letters Sports New Business T.V. Guide Classifieds Horoscopes Crossword Page 2 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 9 Page 11 Page 12 Page 18 Page 18 A LOOK Local CKN)cradio personali- ty Barb McCornbie is shed- ding weight for charity. Th Back Page The Wingham Advance -Times is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, adve lasing and Information leadership 754 Face to face with the electorate...Teviotdale farmer Ben Berendson stopped Premier Bob Rae in the hallway of CKNX to question why the government has not ad- dressed his situation. Rae contends the matter has nothing to do with him personally. .%i • ,gai:Kl<?: <;. r'S`Wiry'-,,.y>r < :;•;'z: "z'"a5.s.°.' :<,.i;;. ORG continues anti -NDP campaign; Huron MPP challenges political agenda By CAMERON J. WOOD The Advance -Times While the lobby group Ontarians for Responsible Government has turned up the heat in their bid to get Premier Bob Rae and his New Democrat government unelected, Huron MPP Paul Klopp says it may just be a good omen. "They've been wrong about everything else. They were wrong 'They've been wrong on every issue so far' Paul Klopp Huron MPP about stable funding, wrong about the pensions, wrong about unioniz- ing the family farm," Klopp said in a phone interview last Thursday. What the Huron MPP was com- menting on was the ORG's latest billboard on Highway 86 suggest- ing Premier Bob Rae is on his way out of office. "They obviously have a political agenda, but they won't come out and say it. I wish they would be more open, but there is freedom of speech," Klopp said. Klopp said the NDP has worked hard to get the voice of rural Onta- Please see ORG/3 Angry farmer 'confronts Premier during recent visit to Wingham By CAMERON J. WOOD The Advance -Times Premier. Bob , Rae stopped - in Wingham last week to discuss agri cultural issues, boost local MPP Paul Klopp's re-election bid and his own .campaign. Instead . he found himself face to face with an angry Teviotdale farmer and more difficult. questions from the media. Ben Berendson, a Perth County farmer has been battling the provin- cial government for several years °"overtoxins found on his prtsperty-• that he claims came` fiouf dumped asphalt. Apparently the asphalt was dumped on the land when the High- way 9- was reconstructed in 1961 Tar and oil from the .discarded as- phalt is now leaking into the soil. The family has been drinking bot- tled water for about two years and Berendson livestock and their milk have tested positive for PCBs. The case has been tied up in the legal process for some time. Rae listened to what Berendson had to say in a cramped hallway of the CKNX building before turning to the microphones 'to field media questions. Rae handled the poten- tially embarrassing situation ' by pointing out that the farmer's com- plaints are not directly with him, but rather with the Ministry of Ag- riculture, Food 'and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Transportation. The matter has been ongoing for more years than the NDP has been in office, Rae said. Berendson con- tends the NDP promised in 1990 to look into environmental issues; but have ignored his plight. "The case is well known to me and to the ministry. It is not an is- sue personal to -me and we are tak- ing environmental issues serious- ly," the Premier said, to Berendson, - stopping at one point to request the farmer not, to shout at him. Berend- son promised to chase. the Premier on the campaign trail until he got some satisfaction. Following the confrontation, Rae told the media the ministry has•test- ed Berendson's products and that the results are in dispute between the two parties. 15th Berendson-s grie:Vance is against a whole bunch of people," Rae said. "It has nothing to do with the NDP. There is a variety of ways these issues can be solved. Rae then turned to answering questions On his reason for being in Wingham. Previously he had told the media during a press confer- ence that he would not make any promises or drop any "goodies" along his way. In fact, his cam- paign has been more of pointing out that he is not making promises than that of debating certain issues. The Premier told the Advance - Times in a separate interview that the 1995 campaign is based on ex- perience in government. Rae said he knows some difficult decisions have come down, but he has found the position to be very rewarding and a great honor. Many political pundits have pointed out that Rae's approach is remarkably different from his race in 1990, one where the former Premier, David Peter- son, underestimated his opponents and the voting public. Rae's campaign has been solid, Please see RAE/3 W A -T columnist Eric Dowd: "Rae is trying to win an election on the claim Chretien is treating Ontario unfairly." Page 4 Parties advised to take second look GORRIE—Following a five- hour Onario Municipal Board hearing held at, the Howick Town-, ship Council Chambers on Mon- day, the parties involved were ad vised by the chairman to take another look at an offer which had been made just prior to the hear- ing: "You are not going to get an oral decision," said OMB member D. W. Middleton. "I want to think about this one. My mind is in no way made up." Mr. Middleton said he would delay sending out his decision for two months. He advised the appellant, Thomas Miller of Wingham, and Howick . Township Council to further explore an offer the town- ship made to Mr. Miller to pur- chase two lots he owns just south of the ball park in the Village of Wroxeter. "'You've seen the cut of my jaw, and heard the tone of my ques- tions." Mr. Middleton, said. indi- cating his decision might be one that neither party would like. The offer made by the township to Mr. Miller on Friday, May 5. was to . purchase the lots for S15,000. Mr. Miller bad until 9 a.m. Monday, the day of the hear- ing, to give council his decision. He did not respond to the offer. When the offer was disclosed by Mr. Miller during testimony. Mr. Middleton said it is just the way business is done these days. Had Mr. Miller accepted the offer, he said, then the hearing would not have been held and the parties would have saved the cost of law- yers and some anxiety. "1 don't say it`s goo& or bad," Mr. Middleton said: "That's just the way the cookie crumbles." Mr. Miller was appealing the decision of Howick council not to approve his applications for an Of- ficial .Plan amendment and rezon- ing of Lots 18, 19 on Registered Plan 316 in the Village of Wroxet- er. The two lots, each 66 ft. (front- age) by 165 ft., are zoned Open Space. Mr. Miller applied to have the zoning changed to Village Residential so. he could develop them as building lots. Although, there were no objec- tions raised at the public hearing Ott the matter, council turned down the applications. It was noted two -members, of the Wroxeter Parks Board raised some concerns; however, Mr. Middletonsaid a "concern" is not the sante as an "objection." Hilton County Planner Brian Treble was on record . as ireeco'mmetxlitg the lots be com- bined to farmn one lot; Nis recom- mendation was based on guide- lines contained in the county's Rural Survey Study, and on "maintaining the low density char- acter of the village." "Could I take that to mean two lots, two bungalows?" asked Mr. Middleton. "No, responded Mr. Treble. saying he believed it was more in character to have one house on a larger lot. "You don't think one bungalow on one lot maintains the character of the village in this small torah hamlet?" replied Mr. Middleton. "Maybe Pd better go back and took at the houses again, maybe I missed something." Earlier in the day another OMB heating set for the morning had "collapsed" when: the appellant. withdrew his. ease. Mr.. Middleton advised the hearing he had used the time available to tour the site of the properties in Wroxeter. POSITIONS At the hearing, the County of Huron, represented by lawyer Patrick Murphy of Godericb, took the position the properties owned by Mr. Miller and his wife Joyce, and by Mrs. Miller on her own, should be rezoned, but on the con- dition the properties be joined to form only one lot. • The Township of Howick, rep- resented by lawyer George Brophy of Lueknow, was opposed to both an Official Plan amend- ment and rezoning. Mr. Miller represented himself at the hearing. He subpoenaed all his witnesses, calling Howick's zoning administrator, Wray Wil- son; Huron County health inspec- tor, Paul. Dawson; Mr. Treble, Howick Reeve Norman • Fairies, and his own lawyer who handled Please see COUNCIL/2