Loading...
The Huron Expositor, 1995-08-16, Page 44—TNS MOON IXPOSITOR, Aiwa 111, teen Your Community N.wspopor Since 1860 TERRI-LYNN DALE . General Manager & Advertising Manager MARY MELLOR - Sales PAT ARMES - Office Manager PANNE McGRATH Subscriptions JIM C - Editor QREGOR CAMPBEIJ, . Repodv BARB STOREY , - Distribution A Burgoyne Community Newspaper LOCAL - 28.00 o year, in advance, plus 1.96 G.S.T. year, in advance, plus 1.75 G.S.T. • 28.00 a year, in advance, plus 7.28 postage, plus 2.4 Qubliatfig: 28.00 o year, in advance, plus 11.41 postage, plus 2.76 G.S.T : 28.00 o year in advance, plus $76.00 postoge, G.S.T. exempt Signal -Star Plblishinngg of 1.00 Main St., Seaforth. Publication moil regisl►ation No. 0696 held at Seotorlh Ontario. Advertising is accepted on on cdition that in the wont of e typographical error, the advertising space occupied with a reasonable l not be charge but the balancthe erroneous item, e al the advertisement w paid � asignatureppli Iceble rote. In the event of a typographical error, advertising goods or services at wrong pec., goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely on offer to sell and msybe withdrawn of any time. The Huron Expositor is not responsible for the loss or da+wgs of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materiels used for reproduction purposes. Changes of address, orders for subscriptions and undeliv- erable copies are to be sent to The Huron Expositor. Wednesday. August 18. 1995 Editorial and Business Offices - 100 Mein Stseet.,swiorlh ?T=ie (519) 527-0240 Pae (5191 527-2858 Address - P.O. Box 69, Sealer* OMab, NOK 1 WO Member of the Canadian Comm miy Newspaper Association; Oratorio Community Newspapers Association and the Ontario Press Council There was no justice Canadians young and old are feeling some- how vindicated now that Steven and Lorelei Turner have been convicted of manslaughter and are each serving a .16 year sentence in prison for their part in the death of their son John Ryan. For some reason, Canadians are more con- tent knowing that Steven and Lorelei Turner are paying a price for the unspeakable agony they allowed their little boy to suffer before he died at age three in their New Brunswick home. Young John Ryan, the court heard, was kept gagged, harnessed and tied to his bed during the last few months of his life. Four arm fractures had been left to mend on their own and he had diaper rash so severe that his genitals were scalded beet red. Doctors believe the child might have survived the physical pain had it not been for the emotional trauma of being unsupported, unwanted, unloved. In the end, John Ryan refused to eat and let starva- tion take him out of his misery. When sentence was pronounced on John Ryan's parents, courtroom spectators clapped and cheered because justice had been served. Justice for whom? 'Certainly not justice for John Ryan. Justice for John Ryan would have been if the authorities had been able to step in and rescue the toddler, taking him to someone who would love him, care for him, tend his wounds, heal his tortured mind. But that didn't happen. Nobody intervened. Everybody failed to be what the Bible calls "a good neighbour". There was no justice for John Ryan on this side of eternity. "Somewhere in heaven there must be a nurs- ery for battered kids like John Ryan Turner. A place where children whose bodies and spirits were bro- ken by the parents they were entrusted to, can at least find love." These lines are from a letter to the editor of The Miramichi Leader, John Ryan's home- town paper. Canadians everywhere pray this is true. - STK. Letters to the Editor Phillips excellent photographer Dear Editor, I felt rather slighted when the Bassett names were not men- tioned among the many types of photos taken by Prank Phillips! Besides those, Prank has another area of expertise. Not many know that Frank could have had a distinguished career as a Dog Show Photo- grapher hoto- giyonof the photos evidence, as u oree took for us in January, 1972, when we wanted one for an ad we took in the Show Catalogue of the Basset Houind Club of GreMer Detroit Dorothy P. Bassett Are you now, have you been in goat club? A month ago I had the pleas- ure of spending a couple of days in Goderich, Ontario where the citizenry lay rightful claim to: 'The Prettiest Town in Canada." Their welcome sign makes no mention, however, that they also have the largest roadkill in this country. You have to see these corpses to believe it. These are grain -fed roadkill. In Alberta, the boys would strap these prizes to the hoods of their cars and drive through town honking their horns. Please - when your rats begin to look like raccoons and your opossum are mistaken for polar bears - it's time to study the long-term effects Chernobyl is having on rural Ontario. Goderich's town square is in fact a circle and - this act'ialty happened - people there lun- vinced me it would be okay to sign my name on a live cat. Goderich the prettiest dysfunctional town in Canada. As I leafed through some of the local papers at the offices of the Goderich Single -Star (Motto - "Okay, Okay, We'll Correct ill") I came across an interesting item in the nearby Zurich Lakeshore Advance. The headline on this article read "Goat Club holds second meeting." I know. I know. Why in the hell weren't we told about the first meeting? Can we at least purchase a transcript of the. meeting? Did anybody video- tape it? As it turns out, this second meeting of the Huron County Goat Club was held .at Peter Hoonard's house and if you say Peter's last name slowly and repeatedly, you have the same sound goats make when they're aroused and attempting to mate with a sit-down lawnmower. Julia Finlay who is 13 years, old and the press reporter for the local 4-H Club, wrote the article for the Lakeshore Advance. She reported that attending members discussed the advantages of barns versus loose -housing pens. Then, said Julia: "We also looked at goats and judged eggs". Once again I must caution the people of Huron County that if you have a lot of four - legged farm animals being hatched from eggs, please for God's sake, have your well - water checked. What's more, if any of these creatures have off -set eyes, discharge around the nostrils and an urge to run for office, have them put down immediately. At the end of her article, Julia gave.a report on the third meeting of the Goat Club at Mike Lyon's house where they "judged horses, goats, calves and hiking boots". Knowing typesetters the way I do, this may have been a show of horses, goats and calves IN hiking boots. If in fact hiking boots were judged and happened to be • made of hide, I thinkmaybe the kids are sending the wrong signal to the horses, goats, and flashback calves. Summing up, Julia said, "We talked about what all the parts are on a goat. After the meet- ing we had a snack." Ah, I'm a little uncomfort- able getting into -this area in any detail, mainly because I've eaten Chicken McNuggets. 1 really don't want to know what the 4-H'ers had for their snack. I'm just hoping with my fingers crossed that it was cooked and not twitching. for us examining the goats parts, I have one word for the kids: consensual. Let's remember kids, kids...sorry...goats have rights too and "Nehhhhh" means No. Anyway, after the report was published, the next meeting of the Goat Club atJan Hayward's house was raided by the RCMP and all the. children are now living in Edmonton on the witness -pro- tection program. ("Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Huron County Goat Club?") Hey, .I'm kidding. I've actually been invited by Julia to attend a meeting of the Huron County Goat Club this fall. I will try to attend. Although a specific date has not been set. I've told the kids I will already have eaten. Thanks. This photo shows pupils of S.S. No. 2 McKillop in the year 1929. The class is (front row) Robert McMillan, Vema McFarlane, Charlie Storey, Elwood Storey, Bertha McFarlane, Dorothy McClure, Arthur Anderson, John Anderson, Elmer Scott, Bert McClure, (back row) Teacher Miss Olive Medd, Nelson McClure, Edythe McMillan, Margaret Storey, Isabel Anderson, Mack McFarlane, Orville Storey, Jimmy Moore, Sam McClure, James McClure, Eddie Storey, Margaret McClure. The photo has been graciously lent to The Huron Expositor by Edythe Coleman. Building in flood plains opposed Dear Editor, J We have read with interest the articles in the Huron Expo- Letters etter sitor (August 9) regarding the L 1 ►7 decision of the Mining and Lands Commissioner for Doug and Marilyn Dick. At this time, we would like to comment on the content of these articles. The Commissioner is like the judge that hears your case when you want to appeal the decision of a police officer who gave you a speeding ticket. When a person dis- agrees with the decision of the ABCA Board of Directors regarding building in a floodplain, .they also go before a "court" - the Mining and Lands Commissioner. In this case, Doug and Marilyn Dick decided to take this next step and travelled to London, Ontario to present their case. As you know, the Commis- sioner ruled in their favour. We provide professional and technical services to land- owners and potential land- owners regarding lands which are subject to flooding and slope instability. Provincial policy says that there should be no development if the access road is subject to flooding. The ABCA is flexible and realizes that a few inches of flooding will not prevent vehicular .traffic but three feet will. The public may ask the ABCA about a piece of prop- erty before they make the purchase. Had the landowners asked the ABCA before they purchased the property they would have learned that it was a) in the floodplain, b) that they could not get ABCA approval to build in the floodplain and c) that their course of action would be the Mining and Lands Commis- sioner. Building a house and living in a floodplain is a very serious endeavour; one that merits more ' than just dispensing information as Mr. Scott would like us to do. Police officers do more than just dispense information on speed limits. They enforce regulations because property and life are at Homecoming was wonderful Dear Editor, Thank you, Homecoming Com- mittee for a wonderful reunion. It was great. Your hard work in planning and carrying through was much appreciated. All Mose who helped in any way are to be commended for Homecoming committee thanked Dear Editor, organized. Congratulations to the Home- John and Marjorie Moore coming '95 Committee. The RR2, Dublin great weekend was sure well- • a job well done. It was won- derful seeing former classmates and friends we hadn't seen for many, many years. Thanks again. Joyce Jewitt Dowson Varna risk. Similarly, the' ABCA enforces provincial regulations to ensure that development is protected from flooding. We need to do more than just give advice to protect people and property from flooding. • Since the • Fill, Construction and Alteration to Waterways Regulation came into effect in 1984, over 800 development projects • have received the benefit of the ABCA's techni- cal and historical knowledge about floodplains and slope stability. Because of the ABCA's flexibility, less than one per cent have been denied permission. Communities and watersheds cannot always co -exist. Living in a floodplain is not • always the safe, ideal lifestyle that often comes to mind. Just ask people living south of Bayfield about their experiences on June 2 and 3, 1995. Or the people who lived in the Dicks' neigh- bourhood in Bosanquet in 1984 and 1985. Or the residents of the south part of Exeter in 1969. Or people living in Brandon, Manitoba or China in 1995. The floodplain is the living space of the river that it needs when there is more water in the river that the river can carry. The Commissioner wanted a local compromise to be reached between the Dicks and the ABCA. Unfortunately, there was no compromise available to the ABCA or the Dicks. Either the house was built or it wasn't. The ABCA denied permission to build a house based on the facts that the Dicks' lot is on the floodplain and the access road floods to a depth which would prevent pedestrian or vehicular traffic. In the event of a fire or medi- cal emergency during a flood, emergency vehicles would not be able to access the Dicks' lot. We are your local delivery agency. We are available and accessible to the public with a Board of Directors appointed by the local municipalities. The other option would be for a provincial ministry with minimal local accountability to deliver floodplain management. We're not sure how happy Mr. Scott would be with that option either. Yours truly AUSABLE BAYFIELD CON- SERVATION AUTHORITY Tom. B. Prout General Manager. Town hall renovation considered As the old site of the Seaforth Police Department becomes available . Seaforth may look at renovation options for the Seaforth Town Hall. Public input may be sought on possible changes to uses of the building. In a report to the Finance and General Government Commit- tee, Town Administrator Jim Crocker reported that if the council chambers were moved to the first floor it would eliminate the public use of the second and third floors. The size and layout of the chambers on the first floor would be less than satisfactory, according to the report. A feasibility study and an open house would help give public input, according to the committee report. 1