Clinton News Record, 2015-10-21, Page 5Wednesday, October 21, 2015 • News Record 5
www.clintonnewsrecord.com
letters to the editor
Reader encourages community to donate and volunteer for community support agencies
Dear Editor,
October is Community
Support month and this
provides an opportunity to
highlight Community Sup-
port Services (CSS), which
are critical in helping family
caregivers and supporting
seniors and persons with
physical disabilities to
remain in their own homes
and communities.
In our local communities
ONE CARE Home & Com-
munity Support Services
supports thousands ofpeo-
ple. We provide a wide vari-
ety of services which help
people live independently
in their own homes for as
long as possible. These ser-
vices include Meals on
Wheels and Dining, Trans-
portation, FriendlyVisiting,
Exercise and Wellness, Res-
pite for family caregivers,
Personal care and Home
Support, Adult Day Pro-
grams, Supportive Housing,
and others.
ONE CARE is a well estab-
lished, community based,
non-profit agency and we
have been helping people to
live at home for more than
40 years. We also work in
partnership with other
agencies and health care
providers to support people
in our communities.
The need for these ser-
vices is apparent when you
look at some of our results.
Last year, our dedicated staff
and manyvolunteers sup-
ported more than 4,700
individuals. For instance, we
delivered more than 38,000
Meals on Wheels, provided
76,000 rides through our
transportation program,
served 15,000 meals at din-
ing programs and saw more
than 260 people attend our
adult day care programs.
More than 1,700 people
took part in our seniors
exercise and falls prevention
classes and more than 550
attended our blood pressure
clinics.
By meeting these needs,
home and community sup-
port agencies improve the
quality of life of clients and
their families - and also cre-
ate significant cost -savings
to Ontario's health system,
freeing up desperately
needed funds and hospital
beds. We are a crucial part of
building the strong, sustain-
able health care system we
will all need in the future.
As our population ages,
community support ser-
vices will become even
more important. October is
an opportunity for people to
get to know, donate, volun-
teer and raise their voices in
support of community sup-
port agencies. We play a crit-
ical role in the health of indi-
viduals and wellness of our
communities. However,
there is a large portion of the
population that is unfamil-
iar with the vital services
that we provide. You can
help, by letting others know
about the services that we
offer, by volunteering at our
agency, by making a dona-
tion, or by keeping informed
about the essential work
that we do.
At ONE CARE our vision
is "The caring support that
people can turn to and
count on." Together we are
making this happen by sup-
porting our neighbours, our
family members and those
in need. Together we are
making a difference in pro-
viding a network of support
and care and helping to
maintain strong
communities.
Please contact ONE
CARE at 1-877-502-8277 or
visit our website - onecare-
support.ca for more
information.
011ie Henry
Board of directors chair
ONE CARE Home & Com-
munity Support Services
OPP BRIEFS
Traffic safety
campaign makes
an impact on
Ontario roads
OPP officers were kept busy
over the Thanksgiving weekend
during the national four-day
traffic safety initiative called
"Operation Impact". Enforce-
ment efforts appear to be hav-
ing an impact because prelimi-
nary statistics indicate that the
numbers of charges in two of
the four main causal factors
in motor vehicle collisions are
down over the same period last
year.
What is alarming to police after
this long weekend is that the
number of stunt driving charges
on Ontario roads are up 71 per
cent over the same period last
year.
Speeding and distracted driv-
ing charges are down, how-
ever police report the number
of seat belt and impaired driv-
ing charges are up. Across the
province, 478 seat belt charges
were laid, and 83 people were
charged with impaired driv-
ing. Four people lost their lives
this weekend in fatal motor
vehicle collisions; speed was a
factor in two of the deaths, and
in one of the fatalities, alcohol
was involved.
During Operation Impact Huron
County OPP officers charged
114 drivers with speeding, one
driver was charged with rac-
ing, three were charged with
impaired/over 80 and two were
served with alcohol warn -range
suspensions.
During the Fall seatbelt cam-
paign, which took place from
Sept. 23 to Oct. 9, Huron OPP
officers charged 54 people with
seatbelt violations.
Thieves are taking
the opportunity
OPP officers continue to investi-
gate a recent spike in the num-
ber of stolen vehicles. Just in
the last couple days Huron OPP
has had an additional three
vehicles and a trailer reported
stolen. In each of these latest
stolen vehicle occurrences the
vehicles were left insecure with
the keys inside the vehicle.
On Oct. 15 at approximately
2:15 a.m. a sleeping Moncri-
eff Road resident was alerted
to his barking dogs. He looked
outside and saw both of his
pickup trucks leaving his prop-
erty. The owner attempted to
follow the trucks however he
lost sight of them at Newry
Road. The thieves made off
with a blue 2003 Dodge Ram
valued at $3,000 and a grey
2004 GMC Sierra extended cab
pickup valued at $3,500. The
GMC Sierra pickup truck has
a large roof rack with a ladder
on it. In addition, there was a
trenching machine valued at
$5,000 in the back of the truck
box.
Huron OPP is also investigating
a theft of a white 2005 Chev-
rolet Avalanche that was sto-
len from a nearby commer-
cial property located on Liv-
ingstone Line. The vehicle had
been on the property overnight
as it was scheduled in for ser-
vice the next day. The vehicle
was stolen sometime between
6:00 p.m. on October 14th and
10:00 a.m. on October 15th,
2015. The Chevrolet Avalanche
had "771" written in pink camo
on the sides of the cargo box.
The vehicle is valued at approx-
imately $10,000.
Huron OPP officers are also
investigating the recent theft
of a utility trailer and diesel
fuel stolen from farm property
located on Plugtown Line in
South Huron. Officers believe
the theft took place sometime
between 5:00 p.m. on October
14th and 7:00 a.m. on Octo-
ber 15th, 2015. The trailer is
described as a two axle 2014
AJJS model 821, aluminum
utility trailer. The trailer has a
flat bed with raised sides and
two attached ramps. In addi-
tion to the trailer theft those
responsible siphoned a quan-
tity of diesel fuel from various
machines located on the prop-
erty.
Anyone with information
regarding these incidents is
asked to call the OPP at 1-888-
310-1122.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
15 years ago...
• LeBeau accident was set to be the topic
of an investigative documentary scheduled
to appear on the Discovery Channel,
Exhibit A - Secrets of Forensic Science. Four
of Sara LeBeau's friends were killed in a
one -car accident and she was seriously
injured. She was found guilty of criminal
negligence causing death for the 1996
crash. Many of the factors that cause the
accident were a mystery to police. The OPP
attempted to determine the driver of the car
through an imprint which was left on the
vehicle's airbag.
• A flood rising in the south that would
deeply affect Huron County farmers. The
U.S. government had been assisting its agri-
cultural producers and the effects of the
policy had spilled over onto Canadian
farms and eroded market -balanced crop
prices. Money given to U.S. and Europe
farmers by their respective governments
had thrown off balance the supply -versus -
demand commodity prices that was usually
dictated by the global market.
25 years ago...
. Huron County was the leading corn
producer in the province. More than
160,000 acres were planted in com. Wet
weather was wreaking havoc with the fall
harvest
• No explosives were found after a bomb
threat was called in to Sifto Salt's Goderich
mine. It forced a shut down of operation for
over a day. By the time police had arrived at
the scene, management had already
moved to take precautions as workers had
been evacuated. The OPP bomb squad was
called from London when a lunch pail was
spotted under a conveyor belt in the load-
ing zone.
35 years ago...
• A fire was intentionally set to the his-
toric, three-storey Clinton Hotel causing
$500,000 in damage. The blaze broke out
just after 2 a.m. sending four guests and the
owners and their daughter fleeing. No one
was injured as everyone was awoken by a
smoke detector. The hotel was burned to
the ground also in 1907.
• Quick action by crewmembers of coast
guard helped save the lives of four men
whose boat had overtumed in Lake Huron.
Two of the men were from Vanastra. The
men were on an outing near the mouth of
the Maitland River when the vessel cap-
sized where it was spotted by another ship.
. A citizen warned council that Clinton
would face a "very fast demise; urging it to
make a final decision to purchase industrial
land for the town. The citizen said there was
a concern that foreign investment would
snatch up all the land and the town would
have nothing to workwith. Council had
been looking at a parcel of land to purchase
but were waiting on word on how much it
will cost to service the proposed industrial
site.