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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1995-11-15, Page 1If you're not subscribing to The Wingham Advance -Times, you're missing out. Use this coupon below and subscribe today) Name: f Address: I City: Prov.: Postal Code: Subscription rates Canada within 49 miles (65km) ad- dressed to non letter carrier address- es $27 plus $1.89 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. ❑❑❑❑❑❑❑❑ ❑❑❑❑m❑❑ Expi Date Visas Master Card ❑ Cheque enclosed ❑ Return To; WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES P.O. Box 390, 5 Diagonal Road L Wingham, Ontario, NOG 2W0 J Town Council and the Wingham Police Services coping with vandalism in the park. Page 2 Canadian Folk and Country Music star Murray MacLaughlan wowed the crowd. Page 3 The Wingham Silver Stick Tournaments celebrate 10 years; tourney schedules. Page 6 s Zhe Medical staff go to trial Feb. 1996 The case against a local physician and two nurses will go to trial on Febru- ary 20, 1996. After being sent back down to Provincial Offences Court by Huron County (Provincial) Judge R.G.E. Hunter earlier this fall, the case will finally be heard in Goderich. Assistant Crown Attorney Tim MacDon- ald said the case against the doc- tor will proceed prior to that of the two nurses. Depending on the outcome of the first trial, the Crown will proceed according- ly. MacDonald said he expects it to take one day to settle. The charges against the medi- cal staff were laid by Ontario Provincial Police acting on ad- vice from the Crown Attorney's Office in June following a child abuse incident. Since that time the case has bounced between Provincial Offences Court in Wingham to Provincial Court in Goderich and back to Provincial Offences Court in Goderich. Bruce Co. School Board 'on track' financially CHESLEY — The Bruce County Board of Education is financial- ly "on track" in 1995, in spite of unexpected grant cuts earlier this year. Finance chairman Frank Ea- gleson said that as of September 30, the budget remains balanced even though $88,000 was cut from previously -approved pro- vincial grants. The cut comes to $8 a pupil, and will he doubled to $16 each in the coming year. In an effort to control costs, the board is trying out a site- based management pilot project. The project means a team made up of school staff has a voice in how money is spent at that school. News Page 2 Editorial Page 4 Letters Page 5 Sports Page 6 T.V. Guide Page 13 Classifieds Page 14 Community Page 17 Horoscopes Page 18 Crossword Page 18 A LOOK AT. Wingham's Silver Stick Tournament celebrates 10 years of hockey. Page 7 The Wingham Advance -Times is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership 75C Wingham among heaviest taxed Residents in Wingham pay, per household, the most taxes in Huron County. In a recent reassessment update sent to town council by the county, it was revealed that residents in Wingham, based on property value of $100,000, pay $2,0 more annu- ally than any other community. The total annual tax paid based on the county figures is $2,143.53. Clin- ton is the next highest at $1,914.46 Town Clerk Byron Adams ex- plained to Wingham council that it is they who determine the tax level in the community by the budget they set, each spring. If council wished to reduce that assessment, 0 ® mor AP The steamy issue of horse muck on the main street of Wingham has been officially removed from town council's agenda. At last week's regular session of Lest we forget...Town of Wingham Mayor Don Carter lays a wreath at the cenotaph council, Councillor Archie Mac - Saturday during the local Remembrance Day ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the Gowan made the motion that the is - conclusion of the Second World War. sue be removed from future discus - they must determine which local services must be reduced or cut. Local taxes in Wingham, based on the 1992 county values using the 1995 proposed mill rates, are $1,094.89 of the total. This figure is $150 more than Clinton: Ironically, the larger urban cen- tres in the county, Goderich and Exeter, have lower taxes: $1,566.30 and $1,653.06 respectively. The cheapest place to live in Huron County: Goderich Township at $1,205.72 annually. Education taxes and county as- sessment taxes are uniform for all municipalities: $226.47 and $822.17 respectively. sion. Council has made little progress on cleaning up concerns regarding horse droppings on the street. After investigating the issue with other municipalities and the board of health, council felt it was time to move on to other matters. WinahamSilverStick celebrates 10 years By JIM BROWN The Advance -Times It was 10 years ago that six people from the Wingham Minor Hockey Association travelled to Mooretown to apply to host a re- gional tournament of one of the largest minor hockey tournaments in North America. Four of those six people are still involved in the running of the Wingham Regional Silver Stick tournaments, which mark its 10th anniversary this year. The six were Grant Currie, Jon Bateson, Bill Brown, Al Harrison, Bob Remington, and Paul McKee. Brown and McKee are no longer involved with the tournament. Currie, serves as the convener of the Midget tournament which will run this year from Nov. 20 to 26. Bateson is the convener of the Atom tournament which will run this year from Dec. 4 to 10. A midget hockey tournament has been held in Wingham for the past 34 years, but it was with the first Regional Silver Stick tourna- ment that gave the Wingham tour- nament more of a high profile. The Lions Club of Wingham hosted a midget tourney for 24 years prior to the arrival of the Silver Stick. He said the Lions are still in- volved with the Silver Stick, by providing `Welcome Packages' for all the players. "The kids just love it," said Cu- rie. "Even the older players." He said that before becoming a regional Silver Stick tournament, organizers of the local midget tournament found that it was be- coming tougher to fill -out the schedule. "Silver Stick gives our tourna- ment the distinction of having the winner advance to the internation- al finals," said Currie. "This is a very high profile tournament." He added that this tournament enables area teams the opportuni- ty to play other regional winners. But, he noted that it is not just the players at the midget or atom level who benefit. Currie said that the funds from both the midget and atom tournaments go back into the minor hockey association. Through the funds raised by the two Silver Stick tournaments, the local minor hockey association is able to hold an annual spring hockey school for players from the novice to the pee wee levels. • He said for the past two years, a portion of the association's insu- rance is paid from those funds. "The funds from Silver Stick allows local children to play hockey at a very low cost," said , Currie. "The cost of Wingham minor hockey registration is low compared to other centres." He noted that the local Silver Stick committee has received a lot of support from the Hockey Please see SILVER/9 Chief concerned Not all thrilled with plan with availability of Some councillors Bluewater's answer daytime volunteers By KEITH ROULSTON Special to the Advance -Times GODERICH — The president of the Bluewater Recycling Association spoke with the Huron County Plan- ning and Development Committee yesterday about the group's plan for a recycling plant to handle the entire garbage output of area mu- nicipalities. Craig Metzger, waste manage- ment masterplan co-ordinator an- nounced at the Nov. 2 county coun- cil meeting that Bluewater would present its plan to the committee charged with finding a solution to the garbage mess. He was respond- ing to a presentation by Rob McQueen of the Concerned Citi- zens of Ashfield and Area (CCAA), opponents of a plan to put a Huron County landfill site in Ashfield Township, who has pushed county council to thoroughly explore this alternative. McQueen said that the Bluewater plan would eliminate the need for a landfill in Huron. Bluewater, he said, will recover 75 per cent of the waste stream leaving only 25 per cent for disposal. CCAA promotes the idea of incineration to get rid of the'non-recycled remainder. But not all councillors were thrilled with the Bluewater plan. "I'm willing to listen to the Blue - water proposal, but I'm not sure the answer is sending our garbage somewhere else," said Jack Cole- man, Reeve of Stanley Township. He suggested that the 25 per cent left after sorting was likely to go to landfills elsewhere in Ontario or in Michigan. Bill Weber, Reeve of Stephen Twp., was also cautious about the plan. ``We'weren't 'willing to take the garbage from others," he said. Bluewater still hasn't made ar- rangements with its landlord, the local municipality`or the county for the facilities needed for their propo- sal, he said. But Bill Mickle, Reeve of Exet- er, urged councillors to keep an open mind and listen to proposals like McQueen's and Bluewater's. Things are changing quickly, he said, and "we've got to be prepared to 'respond to change in a positive way." By JIM BROWN The Advance -Times The availability of fire fighters during week days between 7430 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. has become crit- ical, according to Wingham fire chief Harley Gaunt. The chief told the monthly meet- ing of the Wingham Area Fire Board last Wednesday that they are down to six fire fighters during these hours and only one of those six will respond for sure. However, chief Gaunt said that individual is not available from noon to 1 p.m.. The chief added that there are only two fire fighters licenced to drive the fire vehicles. Chief Gaunt said that the situa- tion is not unique to the Wingham Area Fire Department. However, he added the situation is causing grave concerns. "We are in dire straits in the manpower situation." he said. The chief said that he lost two fire fighters to the Blyth depart- ment in the last six months, be- cause of their employment. Be- cause of these departures, there are now two extra turnout gear. Mery Baker of Turnberry Town- ship asked about getting assistance from the two major factories in town. Chief Gaunt said Wescast Indus- tries already has its own fire team in place, and he is not aware of what Royal Homes has. The chief said that the lack of qualified drivers situation has be- come so serious that he was not Please see FIREFIGHTERS/3