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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-10-26, Page 66 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, October 26, 2005 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 inner-city streets. There are roughly three types of street criminals First, there are the real professionals, who are extreme- ly cunning yet very seldom violent. They are highly skilled and can outwit any defense system. But they go after big game—banks, businesses, and the rich—and they almost never bother with the rest of us. Second are the habitual criminals who aren't pros but are chronic lawbreakers. They know a few tricks of the trade and may commit dozens of crimes before being brought down by the authorities. By far the largest number of street criminals, are amateurs, but luckily, these are the easiest to deter. They are impulsive and opportunistic and easily discour- aged by simple security measures. They are usually young and naive about the world, but they can easily become vicious, so don't try to lecture or reform them on your own. The biggest threats to seniors are the legions of frauds, scams, ripoffs, and financial exploitations aimed at us these days. Better Business Bureau, federal agen- cies, and attorney offices are now flooded with cases of such crimes—more than they can even begin to deal with. It's as if somebody declared open season on us. And again, we can't rely on appearances. Swindles can come from acquaintances, blue-chip companies, and trusted professionals as well as heartless con artists. Criminals are not nice people; they are parasites and about as glamorous as doggie -do. They operate on the profit motive. In a sense they are the ultimate ruthless capitalists, who seek to maximize their profits with as little cost as possible and with no human compassion for their "customers." Happily, the criminals are still a minority—there are a lot more of us than there are of them. Food For All: Make Your Donations Count: Ideas for donating to local food banks; having a hard time deciding what foods you should donate to your local food bank? Here are some guidelines that may help you out. • Donate foods that your family likes. Chances are other families like those foods too. • Include healthier choices that are lower hi fat, salt or that are higher in fibre. • For chil- dren, donate non-perishable snack and lunch foods that are easy and safe to transport to school (fruit cups, juice boxes, granola bars, milk pudding cups, cracker and cheese snacks.) • Donate foods that contribute to healthy eating: grain products, vegetables and fruits, milk prod- ucts, meat and meat alternatives such as peanut butter, baked beans or other legumes. Food to Donate: 1. All non-perishable items such as: commercially canned foods, dry goods, (pasta, rice, crackers, cereals, etc.) 2. Fresh vegetables, fruit and meat ONLY if your food bank accepts these foods. Always check with your local bank before donating perishable foods. Good Choices: Grain Products; Include whole grain items in your donation! Dry pasta (including macaroni and cheese mixes); crackers (Triscuits, whole wheat, rice and soda crackers); hot and cold cereals; instant soup mixes/cups; pancake mix Vegetables and Fruit; Canned vegetables; canned fruit or fruit cocktail; canned juice and juice boxes; Tomato/pasta sauce; raisins or other dried fruit; extra fruits and vegetables from your garden if accepted Milk Products; Dry milk powder; milk pudding cups/mixes; hot chocolate mix; cheese spreads (i.e. Cheez Whiz) Meat and Alternatives Canned fish (salmon, tuna); canned meat (ham, chicken, stews), dried or canned beans, peas and lentils; peanut butter Why not in this instance? Dear E tor: At the last council meeting on October 11, there was a resolution requested by the AMO (the Association of Municipalities of Ontario). This resolution was not accepted by council. It seems that they are getting the message. This resolution was to state that this municipality wanted, like other municipalities (and I imagine most other pub- lic bodies) to be exempted from Bill 123 tabled in the Ontario Legislature. This bill would require all public bodies like our council (including committees) to hold only public meeting with a few exceptions. The minutes of these meetings would have to be made available to the public at the same time as they were distributed to the mem- bers of that body regardless of whether these minutes have been accepted by the members or not. When an exception arises, a motion to have a closed meeting would have to be held in public so that those presenting and supporting this motion could be held accountable by the public. What a novel concept - sounds democratic! This is a Private Members Bill and as such these rarely get passed. However, South Huron Council and its administration have been "ahead of the curve" in accepting and implementing proposed legislation. This one actually looks like something worth try- ing. On the other hand, the new act regarding building matters is not. Although the new building legislation is not due to be implemented until January 2006, it was implemented in South Huron in January 2005. The original intent of this bill was to simplify and speed up the building permit process. Prior to 2001 (amalgamation), this was rarely a problem. Since 2001 the problem has grown. The new legislation in South Huron has made the process exponentially longer, more complicated and more expensive. Maybe our officials could write the minister and the ministry and explain the problems encountered with it before January 2006. On another item of interest, we the shareholders of The Cooperation of South Huron have become the owners of an abandoned gas station, environmental liabilities and all, due to a failed tax sale attempt. The wisdom of putting this property on the auc- tion block was questioned on numerous occasions by councilor Harvey Ratz and he was dismissed by Mayor Morley and our Municipality's administrator. They stated that it was part of a "process". It has been my experience that the municipality fre- quently disregards due process. Why not in this instance? Yours truly, DEAN DUCHARME Huron Contractors Inc Registered Home Builder Other Helpful Items: Here is a list of additional items that the food banks in Huron County often need: Baking supplies (flour sugar), Condiments (mustard ketchup), Jam, Coffee/Tea, Salad Dressings, Cooking oils, Baby foods and infant cereals, infant formula, Toothpaste, brushes, Dental Floss, Margarine, Seasoning mixes (taco, chili), shampoo/conditioner, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, soap/dish soap/laundry detergent, toilet paper, diapers What Not to Donate: • Any perishable food that has not been pasteurized (i.e. honey, milk, cider) or that comes from an un -inspected premise (homemade sausage) • Foods that have been exposed to any possible sources of contamination (insect, rodent, chemical) • Home canned foods • Damage store-bought canned goods (dented, label off) • Food items that are out of date • Open boxes or cans of food Information from Huron County Health Unit (519) 482-3416 Knock on Wood! Three sisters ages 72, 74, and 76 live in a house together. One night the 76 year old draws a bath. She puts her foot in and pauses. She yells down the stairs "was I getting in or out of the bath?" The 74 year old yells back, "I don't know. I'll come up and see." She starts up the stairs and pauses. Then she yells, "was I going up the stairs or down?" The 72 year old is sitting at the kitchen table having tea listening to her sisters. She shakes her head and says, "I sure hope I never get that forgetful." She knocks on wood for good measure. She then yells, "I'll come up and help both of you as soon as I see who's at the door". Invitation to attend meeting Dear Editor: We appreciate your support in the past and once again ask that you help us to spread the word about our program. Huron County for Children of Chernobyl is looking for loving families to host a child from Belarus in the summer of 2006. Our charitable group was formed in 1998 for the purpose of bringing children here to Canada for a respite visit. They are still suffering from the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Their homeland is affected by the toxic pollution found in the soil, plants, food, air and water. Our fresh air and nutritious food helps to improve their immune system and reverse the ill effects of radioactive contaminants they are exposed Letters to on a daily basis. Our tender loving care gives them a to the reason to smile and a fighting chance. Editor The children are accompanied by an interpreter who helps with any translating and is their legal guardian. Most children learn English at their schools starting about Grade 4. We fund raise as a group to cover all travel expenses to bring the children to Canada. Donations come from individuals, corporate sponsors, service clubs and events like auctions, barbecues and plant sales. There are many benefits and rewards to be gained from hosting a child and a won- derful learning experience for our own children. Host families may request a child, boy or girl, who they think would be best suited to fit in easily with their family life. They are invited to attend an information meeting Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Central Huron Secondary School library in Clinton to learn more about the program. For more information please call Lynn Dawe at 527-2060 or Jack Bender at 565- 2243. Sincerely, LYNN DAwE, CHAIRPERSON Huron County for Children of Chernobyl Pass on any comments or concerns about reporting methods EXETER — Last week we had a good turnout for par- ent -teacher interviews, despite the fact a number of par- ents had not yet received the interim report we had mailed out the preceding Friday. The decision to mail this report home was a central decision by the secondary principals, a decision intended to ensure parents received the report before the first round of parent -teacher interviews. However, we learned a valuable lesson, that being we have to allow a few more days between the mailing and the interviews. I would like to remind any parents unable to attend the interviews last week that you may con- tact teachers at any time to discuss your son or daughter's progress in school. One of the goals of JEFF the school and of the Avon Maitland District REABURN School Board is improved communication with PRINCIPAL'S parents and the community, and we are happy to MESSAGE meet with parents throughout the school year. Parent -teacher interview sessions like the one held last week are simply the most expedient way for large num- bers of parents to meet with our teachers. Individual interviews can be arranged at any time simply by con- tacting the teachers, either by phone or e-mail. The next parent -teacher interview evening will not be until the last week in March, but there will be a number of report cards issued between now and then. In the sec- ond week of November we will be issuing the first formal report card, which will report on student progress in Semester One classes. Classes that are year-long (Grade 9 and 10 only) will be reported officially for the first time in December, followed by the Semester One Final Report in February, a second report on year-long courses in March, a Semester Two report in April, and a final report in June. In total, Grade 9 and 10 students will receive six official report cards, while students in Grades 11 and 12 will receive four. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to mail out all of these reports, so we will have to rely on students to bring these reports home to show them to their parents. However, we would be happy to provide parents with the dates on which each of these reports will be issued so they know when to expect them. These dates, by the way, were included in the red student planner students were given at the start of the year. The purpose of all these reports, of course, is to keep parents informed of student progress and to do so in a timely manner. With a blend of semestered and year-long courses, we felt it was necessary to send report cards home more frequently. If you have any comments or concerns about our reporting methods, including any thoughts on the progress reports we have just issued, please pass them along to me and I will be happy to share them with my secondary colleagues and with the supervisory officers at the board office. On a completely separate note, I would like to inform parents and the community that we need to dispose of a number of drafting tables. These are well -used tables, with a tubular steel frame and an adjustable wooden top, and we are selling them for $25 each. Anyone inter- ested can contact me at the school at 235-0880.