The Citizen, 2008-08-28, Page 1Close call
Blyth firefighters, OPP and Huron County EMS responded
to a motor vehicle collision that was initially reported as an
explosion just outside of Stickers Restaurant in Auburn on
Aug. 21. Police say witnesses estimated that Jacquie
Doherty of Toronto was travelling between 110 km/hour and
150 km/hour when she failed to negotiate the curve and left
Blyth Road. The car went airborne, collided with a car
parked outside of Stickers before hitting the roof of the
restaurant and landing. Doherty sustained minor injuries
and is charged with careless driving. Tracking the course
the car took, Doherty narrowly missed a hydro pole,
Stickers’ fuel pumps and the east end of the restaurant that
afternoon. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Those with headaches over the Brussels storm sewer project will have to
wait one more month for relief.
Lavis Contracting requested a one-month extension from the municipality
of Huron East, which council granted at its Aug. 19 meeting. The initial
completion date of Aug. 29 will not be met due to unforeseen delays with
water testing and unusually wet weather, to which the company lost several
days.
Public works manager Barry Mills insists that the project is still running
well and that there should be no further delays.
The new completion date is Sept. 19.
Mills said he is happy to work with Lavis on the extension because of the
assistance the company provided with the Jamestown Road project. Mills
said Lavis helped truck material excavated from the Brussels site over to the
Jamestown Road site, saving the municipality time and money.
The extension will have no bearing on the price of the project, which has
already been agreed upon and finalized.
A Toronto woman has been
charged with careless driving after a
single-vehicle motor vehicle
collision in Auburn left her car in
pieces and literally shook up a
restaurant.
Jacquie Doherty, 54, was
travelling westbound on Blyth Road
late Thursday afternoon when police
say she failed to negotiate the turn
just before Stickers Restaurant and
went off the road.
“After failing to negotiate the turn,
the car left the roadway striking an
embankment causing it to flip
several times before striking a
parked van and then the restaurant,”
says Const. Joanna Van Mierlo.
From the police report, compiled
of statements from several eye
witnesses, it is estimated that
Doherty was approaching the curve
at between 110 km/hour and 150
km/hour.
After Doherty was removed from
the car using the jaws of life, she
was taken to Clinton hospital with
non-life threatening injuries. She
was treated for a possible
concussion and multiple lacerations.
Kris Bjerg, 15, of Auburn was
sitting on his porch and witnessed
the collision. He estimates Doherty’s
car went 20 feet into the air, flipping
several times before striking a
Plymouth Voyager van parked
beside the restaurant.
The Voyager belonged to Deb
Stryker of Blyth, who was working
at the restaurant at the time.
“I didn’t know what was going on
when I called 911. I just told them to
send everything they had,” Stryker
said.
“There weren’t many people in the
restaurant at the time, maybe two
people at a table. We heard a bang
and then I went over to the window,
saw something coming towards the
restaurant and ran like hell.”
Police told Stryker after the
collision that had her van not
absorbed the impact, based on where
she and the restaurant’s patrons were
sitting, they would have almost
certainly been critically-injured, or
possibly worse.
When the car struck the
embankment, parallel to Blyth
Road, the car was propelled
airborne. According to witnesses,
the car struck the roof of the
restaurant before settling on its side
on the ground. This was confirmed
by Blyth fire chief Paul Josling
when debris was discovered on the
roof of the restaurant upon his
arrival.
“She hit the eaves of the
restaurant. There was some debris
on the roof of the restaurant when
we arrived,” Josling said. “She was
fully coherent when we showed up.
She had some cuts and bruises and
was a little shaken up. We had to use
the jaws of life to cut the roof of her
car off and then fold it down to get
her out.”
The initial call into the fire
department was to an explosion. It
wasn’t until the dust settled that
people knew what had actually
happened.
Stryker, who went back to work
the next day said it was difficult.
“It’s something you definitely
don’t want to have to go through
again,” she said. “I’m still having
nightmares.”
CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008
Volume 24 No. 34THEATRE- Pg. 33Youth involved inhome invasions WINNERS - Pg. 34Wawanosh 4-Hers Go forthe Gold — and win it!SPORTS - Pg. 11Wrapping up a season ofbaseball and soccerPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 PAP Registration No. 09244 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Earth’s rotation may tell a different story, but with
school set to open Tuesday, Sept. 2, Labour Day brings
an end to the lazy days of summer.
The staff at The Citizen will be enjoying the long
weekend along with everyone else. For this reason,
deadlines have been moved ahead to Friday for
inclusion in the Sept. 4 paper. Editorial and
advertising information must be into the Brussels
office by 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29 or 4 p.m. in Blyth.
Have a safe and enjoyable Labour Day weekend.
Offices closed Monday
Car slams into Stickers
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Street project extended
This week will mark the first of
three years that Huron County will
host the Canadian Professional Golf
Tour with the debut of the Seaforth
Country Classic.
After a suggestion from the
Seaforth Golf and Country Club’s
Carolanne Doig, the tour penned a
three-year contract with the course.
The tournament is underway with
the qualifying rounds taking place
on Monday and the Pro-Am on
Tuesday, wrapping up on Aug. 31.
Doig, who considers the Canadian
Tour a third-tier tour, just under the
PGA and the Nationwide tour,
suggested that smaller towns might
be more appreciative than one of
Canada’s larger cities, and the tour
agreed.
Earlier this year, the tour was
looking to expand to several more
Canadian cities to extend the
already-short Canadian golf season.
The tour has added several dates in
Mexico and California in the early
months of the year, effectively
extending the season. It begins its
Canadian run in British Columbia
and works its way east, going only as
far as Montréal.
Last week, in her final moments
A classic in Seaforth
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 8