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The Huron Expositor, 1995-08-16, Page 1SPORTS Seaforth hosts Ontario Legion lawn bowling event. see page 12. Briefly Woman in hospital after collision near Winthrop A Seaforth woman is in hospital and a Cambridge ,..an faces charges after a serious accident on Saturday near Winthrop, Goderich OPP reported. Florence Warnes, 64, suf- fered major injuries while riding as a passenger in a car driven by her husband Ralph, 73. Their car was struck while northbound on Huron County Road 12 by a car westbound on Huron County road 17. Jose Hurtado, 55, was the driver of the second car, which proceeded through a stop sign and struck the right side of the Warnes' car. Hurtado faces charges under the Highway Traffic Act. The accident occurred at 7:20 p.m. and the sun was setting at eye level, said Goderich OPP. Seaforth Fire Department was called to extricate people from the damaged cars. Maria Hurtado, 51, a passenger in the second car, suffered minor injuries. She and Florence Wames were taken by ambulance to Seaforth Community Hospital. The hospital reported War - .nes was in stable condition Tuesday. Car runs into restaurant A car left Main Street in Seaforth and plowed into the Bistro Restaurant at 5 a.m. Saturday, Seaforth Police report. Charges of careless driving and failing to remain at the scene of an accident are pen- ding. CAR THEFT A black 1987 Trans -Am automobile was stolen from a Goderich Street East residence on Friday, August 11 in Scaforth. Police are investigating the theft. LIQUOR CHARGE One charge was laid over the weekend under the Liquor Licence Act for a person under nineteen years having liquor. Few incidents at Homecoming, police report Seaforth's Homecoming was held with relatively few incidents of a serious nature, said Acting Police Chief Brad Sadler. Seaforth's Police Services Board will seek some clarifi- cation from the OPP about what kinds of phones are required for the police office. A phone system purchased for the Scaforth police depart- ment recently may or may not be useful. INDEX Sports...pages 11, 12 Theatre...page six Entertainment... page 13 Years agone...page 6 "Your community newspaper since 1860...serving Seaforth, Dublin, Hensall, Walton, Brussels and surrounding communities." PEOPLE A woman walks from Stratford to Goderich and back to support cause. see page two. This Space Could Be Yours Call Terri or Mary 527-0240 VISITORS Two visitors have different impressions of Huron. see page three. Mite poses threat to bees, crops, honey prices BY PAUL CIUFO Expositor Staff Huron County beekeepers are feeling the devastating sting of bee mites, a tiny parasite that kills bees. The insect is a menace to the honey industry, and indirectly affects many other crops. "It's like a chicken with the louse. I've lost three bee yards. They're pretty well wiped out. That's a lot of honey lost, maybe twelve thousand pounds. (The bee mite problem) is very serious and nobody has any idea what to do about it," said Bill Ross of RR 4 Seaforth. There are 39 beekeepers in Huron County, said Pat Westlake, business ad- ministrator for the Ontario Beekeeper's Association. They are not the only farmers feeling the effects of bee mites since wild bee colonies pollinate commercial crops like melons, legumes, and apples, said beekeeper Bill Ferguson of Hensall. Bees help boost production of self -pollinating crops such as soya beans and canola. While beekeepers can medicate their bees against the mites, wild colonies will be wiped out. There are two types of bee mites, varroa and tracheal. The pinhead -sized varroa is an external parasite with a sharp protuberance that it "sticks into a bee like a knife," Ross said. The tracheal crawls down the throats of bees less than eight days old. "Both are equally deadly. They suck the life blood out of a bee. The bee just crawls away and dies," Ross said. The parasites have been working their way northwards from the United States for several years and have just begun to plague this area. In Europe, the mites have decimated honey production and sent prices soaring. - Apistan (chemical) strips put in a hive can control the problem, but the pesky mites will not stay down. "If you keep it under control in one yard, it shows up in another," Ross said. The beekeepers agree fighting the mites is a large expense and has chased many people out of the business. Ross said he will spend roughly $36,000 this year on apistan strips. Such expenses, •plus a decreased supply of honey as frustrated beekeepers give up, are bound to driveup the retail price of he said. hone EYES ON THE ACTION - Three-year-old Kelsi Trotter points out some of the intricacies of the action to her father Terry PAtil. CI FO PHOTO WOOD INSTEAD OF WINDOWS - The Bistro Restaurant on Main Street in Seaforlh replaced broken windows with wood after the driver of a car lost control and plowed into the front of the restaurant Saturday. Charges are pending against the driver. The restaurant is still open for business. TIM CUMMING PHOTO as they watch provincial Legion lawn bowling competition in Seaforth. In the last five years, the number of hives in Ontario have dropped from 100,000 to 80,000, Ferguson said. Ferguson is involved with efforts by the University of Guelph and Agriculture Canada to breed mite -resistant bees. Since some bees are better housekeepers and clear out the mites, they are selected for breeding. "We'll never get rid of the mites. We'll just have to learn to live with them," Ferguson said. Motocross nationals return to Walton The roar of motorcycle engines will be heard loudly this weekend as the Canadian professional and amateur motocross championships return to Walton. The Trans Can Grand Nation- al Motocross Championship event is growing every year, according to its organizers, the family of Chris and Judy Lee. Their son Mau, a pro- fessional motocross racer, says about 500 people had pre -regis- tered to race by last week and more are expected during the event. "Each year we've grown by a third," he said. This is the fourth annual event at the Walton farm. The professional event runs only on Sunday. It is the fifth and final race in the pro series. It is very important because the final race, consisting of two `motos', is worth double points. The amateur races run every day of the four-day event. It runs Aug. 17-20. Thousands of spectators arc expected at the event. The professionals competed on the weekend at a national event in Ulvcrton, Quebec. Landfill water poses no threat BY TIM CUMMING Expositor Editor Water which was in contact with waste material was found at the northwest corner of the former Seaforth landfill site and at othet► isolated areas in the site. The water poses no signifi- cant threat to local water sup- plies, says Frank Vanderloo, engineer with B. M. Ross. "It's not leaving the site, it's not a concern," he said. "If it started flowing off the site it would be a problem." There are two ways water (contaminated by leachate) could affect groundwater, according to Vanderloo. One is if water left the site on the surface, another is if the water seeped through the bedrock in contaminated form. Vanderloo says the water would not rcach the bedrock Without being filtered by the clay top. The water would not leave the site across the sur- face, he said, because town staff are covering the water with soil. "This surface -water breakout of leachate is very small," said Vanderloo. "As long as they cover it with clean soil it can't go anywhere." Although the leachate -con- taminated water will not be tested, tests are taken annually at three monitoring wells around the old landfill site. The water which is tested is potable water which meets the Ontario Ministry of the Envi- ronment drinking water objec- tives. "Based on the testing at the wells it's not a hazard," he said. "It's still potable (drink- able) water in the bedrock based on the Drinking Water Objectives." Additional fill and regrading of the areas is required, accord- ing to a report of Seaforth's Transportation and Environ- ment Committee. "There are also some bare areas and the town should establish a catch of grass in these areas," said the public report, released with council's information package. The report recommended annual inspection at the site to insure the landfill site, which was officially closed in 1990, is in good shape. "Any noted deficiencies should be immediately cor- rected, including repairing erosion of the final soil cover and maintaining an adequate vegetative cover." The report also recommends the annual collection of water samples from three monitoring wells and the two Silver Creek sampling points. Works superintendent John Forrest suggesting the planting of grass in bared areas but said it has not been completely successful because the soil is clay and shaded by the trees. The former Seaforth landfill site was closed in 1989 and a clay soil cap was put in in 1990. No refund for dog fine A local man said being waken up by the Seaforth animal control officer knocking at the door felt like the 'Gestapo' had arrived. Brian Smith said that in his work he works late at night and the 9:30 a.m. knocking at the door was bothersome. Smith asked if there was any chance of receiving a refund for the $15 late fee he was charged for not having re -regis- tered his dog. He said he never received a notice in the mail. Town administrator Jim Crocker said notices had been sent out in the mail and a notice was also published pub- licly in The Huron Expositor. He said the penalty is part of a town ylaw and town staff have no discretion in applying the legislation. "We try to use everybody fairly," added Mayor Irwin Johnston. The deadline for registering a dog was June 16. The $15 penalty was in effect after that time.