The Citizen, 2002-12-11, Page 1W E Lp.o
<EAY'i
ESTABLISHED 1877!;
Christmas cherub
Bundled against the cold and decked out in festive finery on a bitterly cold, but clear winter
night, this little one brought an angelic look to the annual Christmas parade in Blyth this past
Friday. Prior to the parade, visitors had the opportunity to warm up a little with the business
association's chili cook-off. (Vicky Bremner photo)
RIDE off to a bad start
1 NORTH HURON PUBLISHING COMPANY INC
Inside this week
Pg. 2
Pg. 8
Legion Comrade
honoured
Atoms compete in
Silver Stick
Community people Pg. it) get recognition
Huron County 4, Pg. I7 Hers get awards
Blyth presents
Pg. 27 'Nutcracker'
e Citizen
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 18 No. 48
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2002
75 Cents (70c + 5c GST)
Hours
change
for
holidays
The Christmas season is going to
make life interesting at The Citi.-(11.
as because of the holidays we will
be printing two issues in less than
week.
With the ink hardly dry on the
Dec. 18 edition, staff will be busy
gathering news and information for
the final Citizen of 2002, which will
be printed Mcaiday, Dec. 23 to be in
the mail Dec. 24. Deadline for
advertising and editorial copy must
be in the Brussels office by 2 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 20 or 4 p.m. that day in
Blyth.
As well the Brussels office will be
closed from 2 p.m. Dec. 20 until
Jan. 3 at 10 a.m. The Blyth office
will be open until Monday, Dec. 23
at 5 p.m., then will also close until
Jan. 3 at 9 a.m.
The first paper of the new year
will be mailed Jan. 8.
May the staff at The Citizen take
this opportunity to wish our readers
and advertisers a safe and happy
holiday season.
Man
gets jail
The man responsible for a rash of
car thefts was sentenced in Sarnia
Dec. 2.
David James, 19, of Morris-
Turnberry pled guilty in an earlier
court appearance to one count of
dangerous driving, three counts of
theft over $5,000 and three counts of
theft under $5,000, relating to
incidents which began Aug. 2.
According to OPP Sr. Const. Don
Shropshall, James was sentenced to
20 days on each charge, some of
which are to be served concurrent, as
well as consideration given to time
served, for a total of 57 days.
James was also placed on
probation for two years and is
prohibited from driving for two
years.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
The results of the first week of
Huron's RIDE program have shown
a somewhat disturbing change.
"I am a little shocked," admitted
OPP Sr. Const. Don Shropshall of
the statistics.
Since beginning the program on
Nov. 28, police have charged 11
drivers with drinking and driving-
related charges.
"In the five years I have been
doing this, this is the highest number
we've had and we're only two weeks
into it," said Shropshall.
Last year only one impaired driver
was nabbed over the five-week
initiative. "That was excellent and
thought then that people were
getting the message."
Drunk driving charges could be
for impaired, driving with over 80
mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood or
refusing to provide-a breath sample.
As well there were 32 other people
charged with criminal code,
Highway Traffic Act and Liquor
Licence Act offences.
What makes the increase seem
even more shocking said Shropshall
is the Interlock program. Since Dec.
23 of last year, any person who has
been convicted of a drunk driving
charge must, when their licence is
re-instated install an Interlock
device on their car at a cost of
$1,400.
This stays in the vehicle for one
year after. It will not allow the car to
be started if the driver blows above
.02.
After it starts it will randomly
request a breath sample and after
two warnings if a sample is not
given alarms sound. These can be
heard outside the vehicle said
Shropshall.
Also, drivers must enter a
remedial program which is eight
hours of education or 16 hours of
treatment. The cost is $475 plus
GST.
The closest centre for installation
of the Interlock device or for the
remedial program, which takes six
months to complete, is London.
"Can you believe this is going to
affect 5,448 people in the province,"
said Shropshall.
"We are urging people to stop
drinking and driving.. -There's no
excuse. We've got friends, taxis,
families who are there for us so we
don't put ourselves in that situation,"
said Shropshall.
Officers have also investigated
several collisions during the past two
weeks.
Drivers need to slow down, he
cautioned. Speed is one of the
primary causes of collisions
Shropshall said. "Already the
number of crashes is up from last
year and we still have three weeks to
go."
Driver inattentiveness is another
problem. "The car is not the place
for multi-tasking. Attention has to be
focussed on the road."
Car/deer collisions continue to
occur across the county with
regularity, said Shropshall and
winter conditions also cause
problems. "You can only go as fast
as the road in winter dictates," said
Shropshall.
Also, he stresses that drivers keep
a counting distance of 1,001 to 1,004
between themselves and the vehicle
and not allow a speedy driver behind
them to intimidate them into driving
faster.
"Don't allow yourself to be
fooled."
BMG
revenues
down
By David Blaney
Special to The. Citizen
Huron East Treasurer Brad Knight
presented his year-to-date financial
report to council at its Dec. 3
meeting. The report was the first
generated directly from the financial
software used by the municipality.
Knight said that the new process
will allow for better financial control
by municipal officers as reports can
now be produced more quickly and
with less staff time. He said the
reports that are now possible would
allow staff to more accurately assess
a department's financial situation at
any time.
The current report was for the
period ending Nov. 30. Knight noted
that factors, not within the
municipality's control, such as late
billing for services and receipt of
revenue meant that . some of the
figures reflected the position at the
end of October.
Investment income is below
estimates at this time but Knight
indicated that several items from
various accounts would not be listed
until the year-end and that he felt that
in the final analysis this revenue
would approach expectations.
Revenues from the BMG ice pad
were shown as below expectations at
this time. However he felt that as
December was a heavy-use period
they would rise significantly by the
end of the year.
Revenue from the Lions Pool, both
lessons and admissions, was about
25 per cent below expectations and
the pool as a whole showed a deficit
of nearly $11,000. A significant
portion of this deficit is more
apparent than real however as a
significant portion of the cost of the
new pool heater was paid directly by
the Lions Club and was not included
in the donations section of -the
budget.
Knight concluded, "For the most
part I am fairly happy with the
Brussels recreation budget. There are
some extra expenses to look at but
there are increased revenues to offset
them."
The recreation centres in Vanastra
and Seaforth have not faired as well.
' In Vanastra revenues from lessons
at the pool are under estimates by
$17,000. This is partially offset by
significant increases in revenue from
pool rentals and centre memberships.
Further, provincial grants towards
the cost of capital improvements
have not yet been received.
The centre benefited to the amount
of $13,000 from a special
fundraising project, a draw for a new
Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Knight noted that salaries and
wages would be over the budgeted
amounts and particularly commented
on heating-costs which are going to
be significantly over estimates by the
end of the year.
Knight said that even with the
provincial grants. "the Vanastra
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