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The Citizen, 2004-12-16, Page 4Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising, Heather Armstrong & Capucine Onn The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $30.00/year ($28.04 + Si 96 G.S.T.) in Canada; $80.00/year in U.S.A. and $100/year in other foreign countries. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the' advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. • Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 PUBLICATIONS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON NOG 1H0 email: norhuronOscsinternet.com We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. • The Citizen P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM 1H0 NOG 1H0 Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 E-mall norhuron@scslnternet.com Website www.northhUron.on.ca Member of the Ontario Press Council We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscrlpts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are C Copyright CanadU A9cna +1►CNA NOW, NOW, LOONIE! NEITHER SOARING NOR DIVING, REMEMBER? ALL THINGS IN MODERATION -- weve CANADIAN AFTER ALL. Looking Back Through the Years Dec. 18, 1969 The Brussels Squirt, PeeWee and Bantam hockey teams along with the Wingham Midget team travelled to Garden City, Mich. to play in a tournament. The students from Brussels Public School were in the process of adopting a child from a foreign - country and to raise money for the child, the student were selling candy bars. The directors and staff of Maitland Teleservices Ltd. held a banquet in honour of the Brussels telephone operators at the New American Hotel. Dec. 20, 1972 It was a cold wintery morning when Morris Twp. officials gathered at the Clark bridge to carry out the official opening ceremonies. The tender of Pounder Brothers of Stratford was accepted at a special' meeting of the Huron-Perth County Roman Catholic Separate School Board for the construction of an addition to St. Aloysius Separate School in Stratford. After considerable discussion, Brussels council agreed that the traffic violation fee regarding overnight parking on all village streets during winter months would be $3 per offense. It was rehearsal time for the annual Brussels Skating Club's carnival. Dec. 17, 1986 Brian McBurney, reeve of Turnberry Twp., was acclaimed warden of Huron County at the inaugural session of county council. Robert Bell, reeve of Tuckersmith was also nominated. For the eighth year in a row, the Blyth Festival ended the year in the black according to the annual financial statement delivered at the annual meeting of the Blyth Centre for the Arts. A record total audience and an extremely -suecessful fundraising campaign helped the theatre to- A -$5,261 surplus for the .4985 - 86 season. The Huron County Board of Education and its 265 secondary school teachers represented by the Ontario Secondary School Teacher's Federation reached an agreement for retroactive salary increases. Under the agreement, secondary school teachers got a 3.4 per cent increase in salary for 1986, followed by a 1.1 per cent increase in 1987. Principals and vice-principals received a four per cent increase as did the department heads and personnel with specialized qualifications. Conrad Bos of Blyth was the winner of the Blyth Vet Clinic trophy for showing the top pre-4-H calf during the 1986 season as well as placing second in the pre-4-H Showmanship class. Velma and Bill Stephenson were presented with a plaque for their many years of service as business owners in Brussels. Shirley Hazlitt and her committee had spent many long hours putting together the book Colborne Connection, and were praised by the township after the book was released. It was a special seasonal evening as residents and guests enjoyed the Christmas tree-decorating party at the Callandar Nursing home in Brussels. An gigantic sundae, prepared by the service representative of a magazine distribution company as a reward for the students of Grades 6 and 8 at Hullett Central Public School. The sundae had 24 litres of ice cream, six cans of whipped topping, two bags of nuts, two packages of cherries, two bottles of chocolate sauce and was 24 feet long. The 55 students of two grades devoured their treat in less than two minutes. It was their reward for selling the greatest number of magazine subscriptions in a fundraising campaign. Audrey Bos of Auburn was the winner of the coveted Congeniality award at the Hallrice 4-H Dairy Club's awards night. Long-time 4-H club leader Simon Hallahan of Blyth was honoured for half a century of service to the youth of Huron County at the Hallrice 4-H dairy club awards night. Kathryn Todd was sworn in as the newest elected councillor in West Wawanosh. Tony McQuail was hired as the landfill site operator at West Wawanosh. The resignation of councillor Vic Stackhouse dominated the Hullett Twp. meeting. Stackhouse was named worshipful master of Hullett Masonic Lodge A.F. and A.M. No. 568 at the annual installation ceremony. Lisa Boonstoppel Was named Top Senior Showman at the Hallrice 4-H Dairy club awards night. Dec. 16, 1992 There was little that Blyth firefighters could do to save the building when they responded to a barn fire in Hullett Twp. Al Teeft, owner of Brussels EMA store, notified police after discovering his store had been broken into. Once inside, the thieves broke the door off the cupboards of the cigarette counter and stole about 130 cartons valued at $5,000. , Dec. 20, 1994 Dozens of local children got a chance to visit with Santa when he stopped by the Brussels Library. Seniors in Belgrave and surrounding area, gathered at the Belgrave and District Community Centre for a delightful Christmas feast. PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2004. Editorials Opinions Desperately seeking scandal News apparently isn't news these days unless the media can sniff out a scandal someplace. When two aircraft from the Canadian Forces Snowbirds precision aerobatic team crashed into each other last week, killing one of the pilots, the first tendency of the media was to suggest the age of the aircraft could have been a factor in the crash. It's a knee-jerk reaction when anything bad involving our military takes place to look for the possibility that government cost cutting might have played a role. From the Sea King helicopters to the jeeps used in Afghanistan, to the used submarines purchased from Britain, the media loves to suggest government penny- pinching is placing our soldiers, sailors and airmen in danger. So the 40- year-old Tudor aircraft used by the Snowbirds were instantly suspect. Evidence soon pointed to reasons other than an equipment failure, however, and that trail of scandal went cold. The opposition parties in Ottawa soon provided a fresh scent, however, suggesting the time taken for rescue crews to arrive at the scene of the crash was too long and blaming the government for cutbacks that removed the search and rescue helicopter from the Moose Jaw air base that is headquarters for the Snowbirds. That the surviving airman was picked .up by a civilian ambulance sooner than that helicopter could have been launched, and that the dead pilot did not survive the mid-air crash didn't matter. The scandal made a much better tale. This kind of "gottcha" journalism is tiresome and destructive. It's destructive to journalism in that when you seek the scandal in everything, you create a weariness and skepticism in the public that means they sometimes overlook more serious issues because they feel it's just another mud-throl;ving exercise by the press gallery. As well, when the shoot-from-the-lip early speculation proves false, the media loses credibility, its most precious possession. When news agencies want to be regarded as serious, they shouldn't put themselves in the positions of gossips who jump to quick conclusions without the facts. And when it comes to the media and the military, anyone with a long memory will also be cynical because the very media that now blasts the government for not spending enough on the military, created a scandal over the planned spending on the replacements for those Sea King helicopters that helped defeat the Conservative government of Kim Campbell and bring the penny-pinching Liberals to power. Undermining the credibility of the media is bad enough since it plays an important role in our democracy (just.ask people in Ukraine about the importance of free, accurate reporting) but scandal mongering also makes government an object of ridicule. We've already got three opposition parties seeking to make the government look foolish, if not dishonest, on any given issue and we don't need a media that sees itself as the unofficial opposition of government. What we need far more is a media that tries to give us a balanced, objective view of the issues, a view that we can put trust in because the reporters don't seem to have an agenda on any issue. — KR It doesn't add up NHL players have signalled they will not accept a salary cap, even if it means this season and part of next year is lost. Even though other leagues already operate successfully under a salary cap, the players are adamant they won't tie their incomes to a set percentage of the teams' revenues. It might seem logical to the rest of us that teams can only afford to pay so much money for player salaries and that negotiations should be about what percentage of the revenue that should be, but the players don't see it that way. They realize that in a business where the ego of some team owners in having a winner and being associated with the top stars will make them spend more than they take in, they've got a lot more to lose from tying salaries to income than • from their famous 24 per cent wage-rollback offer. Meanwhile many NHL players are playing in Europe, making far less money than they would under a salary cap, and taking jobs of players who can't make it to the NHL. — KR Letter to the editor THE EDITOR, and also the Liberals who refuse to Another $97 million allocated to represent the will of their the gun registry last week. constituents. How many hospitals could have Of course if you happen to belong used this money? Add this to the to a special interest group this must almost $2 billion already spent and be a wonderful country to live in. give it two the military and then our Just scream discrimination and the wonderful men and ladies in our Liberals will roll over for your armed forces could once again hold cause. their heads high. Unless of course you happen to be Take Quebec out of the picture straight or a legal firearms owner. and hold a referendum. You would Peter Steer, see Canadians dump all this waste Lucknow, ON.