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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-09-01, Page 22 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, September 1, 2004 Regional wrap up Medical clinic GODERICH — There was good news and bad news last week for the Goderich medical clinic fundraising group. Fundraising co-ordi- nator Ken Dunn announced the commit- tee has secured over $800,000 in pledges from service clubs, businesses and individ- uals. The committee is getting ready to start its public campaign, as reported in the Aug. 25 Goderich Signal -Star. The bad news for the committee came when a $510,000 grant request through the Ministry of Health only yielded $46,000 to buy new equipment for the clinic. The committee is set to send additional infor- mation to the Ministry in hopes of getting addi- tional funding. Construction on the new clinic has already started. Tighten belts GODERICH — The Ontario Finance Minister wants Ontarians to tighten their belts. According to the Goderich Signal -Star, Greg Sorbara delivered the message at the Benmiller Inn Aug. 18. Sorbara said he and Premier Dalton McGuinty are working towards wiping out the $6 billion provincial debt. "Accountability is really about making sure that every single tax dollar that we allo- cate is well -used," Sorbara said. Sorbara also spoke of health care, and said greater emphasis should be placed on the use of nurse practition- ers. Lions' 80th SEAFORTH — The Seaforth Lions Club celebrated its 80th anniversary last week- end with a family day at the Lions Park. Seaforth Lions chair- person Cathy Elliott told the Huron Expositor, "We decid- ed this year we would do something a little different and try and involve the communi- ty. "All of our work is on behalf of the com- munity and our suc- cess is because of the community," she said. The Seaforth Lions help with a number of charities, including the Easter Seals and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Money raised by the club can also be used locally for people in need. Shoreline water pollution research GRAND BEND — Faced with visibly increasing levels of pollution in Lake Huron, a group of shoreline residents have initiated a program of formal water testing to provide evidence about their concerns. Pollution in Lake Huron is said to come from a variety of sources, including field run-off, sewage lagoon effluent releases and overflows, faulty septic systems and even from wildlife. One effective program was to test samples from four ravines along the Lake Huron shoreline in Bluewater municipality, and for each ravine, to test the water in the lake along the shoreline both North and South of each ravine. The test results led to the conclusion that because the ravines had Alzheimer Society looking for Coffee Break hosts HURON — Plans are once again brewing at the Alzheimer Society of Huron County as it pre- pares for the ninth annual Coffee Break fundraiser. The official date is Sept. 21, but any day in September is fine to host a Coffee Break event. The Alzheimer Society is starting its quest for enthusiastic and creative people to host Coffee Breaks throughout Huron County. Simply invite your friends, neighbours, col- leagues and clients to "take a break" and make a donation to the Alzheimer Society of Huron County. If you were a home host last year, or held a break at your place of employ- ment, we hope we can count on your support again this year. Last year 113 Coffee Breaks were held in the county, raising more than $15,000, a great success. Every new event means new people are being reached with the Alzheimer message. Ninety per cent of the money raised during Coffee Break stays in the county to help the Alzheimer Society provide education and support for people with Alzheimer disease, their families and caregivers. The remain- ing 10 per cent is desig- nated for research. For more information on how to host a Coffee Break, call Theresa Wilson at the Alzheimer Society of Huron County at 482-1482 or 1-800- 561-5012. a consistently higher level of E.coli than the beaches, the ravines were the source of the pollution and not lake- front residences. Another testing pro- gram is attempting to confirm the results of the first program and to compare year-to-year findings. The results of the cur- rent testing provide evi- dence of increased pollu- tion from the ravines over last year's tests. In two instances this year, much higher levels of pollution were record- ed, in one case 227 times the recommended safe limit and in anoth- er, 298 times the recom- mended limit. These unusually high levels of bacterial pollu- tion have not been explained, but they prompted signs to be posted at ravine mouths, warning of the health hazards of the ravine water. Another research pro- ject under way is to try to establish a "library"of the DNA of a number of E. coli strains found along the ravine course being studied. This is in order to determine where the E. coli bacteria in Lake Huron have come from. The shoreline residents who initiated these pro- jects, and the Municipality of Bluewater which is fund- ing the research, are looking forward to better understanding this pol- lution issue. For more information on the water testing, see www.bsra.ca, or contact John Gillespie, BSRA President, at 236-7285 U.0 a Cable Lite paCk3e t(0 A toe(44, `Hb Speed n �i� to Nitons . offer applies tion roes, subs�pfo��119! � -' o TV Cay en:on.� laluovater en came Ltd. �'.� -�� a,�481,gz33