Huron Expositor, 2000-05-31, Page 1May 31, 2000
$1
(includes GST)
Local weather
•W.dnesday--Cloudy
with showers and
thunderstorms High 24:
Thursday --Cloudy,
showers. High 24. Low 440:1°. Friday --Cloudy, showers.
High 22:Low 13.
Saturday --Sunny with
cloudy periods. High 21.
Low 10.
• From Environment Canada
In brief
Mayor
scraps
:p1ans
for a town
celebration
A celebration • of
Seaforth's 125th
birthday and the
millennium will not be
taking place.
Mayor Dave Scott,
who has pushed for ai
celebration since last
fall, told council at its
May 23 meeting there is
too much going on
already to find enough
. volunteers to support an
effort.
Scott arranged, to have
the Seaforth All -Girls
Marching Band, who
tour across . North
America and are hard to
book, to be in a parade
on July 1st. After being
bogged • down in a "save
the school" campaign
this winter he could not
ger-anything else done
toward putting together
an event. -.
He had appealed to
community members.
and groups to help put
together a celebration
for the July 1 long-
weekend.
"This is a very busy
summer and we're pretty
swamped with
amalgamationand what
happened with the
school crisis," said Scott
of two major issues
developing in town.
The -first is the
ongoing municipal
amalgamation of
Seaforth with Brussels
and Tuckersmith,
McKillop and Grey
Townships.
The secohd Was the
effort to take the Avon
Maitland District School
Board tocourt to fight
the board's plans to
close the high school.
"My point is, I don't
want to do a half-baked
job on this. I'd rather do
a good job or don't do it
all," he said.
While Scott doesn't
want to discourage
anyone from planning an
activity, he didn't see
enough support for the
full-scale event he had ,
• hoped would take place.
"Maybe we just have
too many irons in the
fire," he said,. adding
efforts could be put into
next year's planned
Skunkfest.
By Scott Hilgendorff
Schools expected to stay open
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Staff -
Both Seaforth schools are
expected to remain open for
at least another school year,
Avon Maitland District
School Board education
director Lorne Rachlis said
last week.
But, the formal decision to
keep both schools open along
with decisions about where
students will -be placed and
how schools will . be
organized were expected be
decided during a special
school board meeting last
night.
A director's action report
offered trustees three options
includingkeeping the public
school as a Kindergarten to
Grade 8 school and the high
school as a Grade 9 to OAC
school, moving Grades 7 and
8 to the high school as a sell=
contained school within a
school and creating a Grade 7
to OAC school at the high
school.: •
The decision was not
available by press time and
comes following a special
• meeting called_ to deal with
the ramifcations..' of the..
board's closure process was
found unfair by a full judicial
review on May 19.
Tim Cumming photos
Bernie Kaufman, 11, shaved his head to have his hair made into a -wig andraised $500 for the
effort at last week s Cops For Cancer event.
Bernie sacrifices hair for wig
to -be given to cancer patient
a race to see who could grow
their hhir the longest." he.
said.
While his dad won the
race, Bernie decided to keep
the long hair, not caring
about being teased at school.
After getting the idea to
use his hair to help cancer
patients who lose their hair
during chemotherapy
treatments. Bernie also heard
about a local, program called
Se* STUDENTS, Ptrge 2
By Scott Hilgendorff
Expositor Editor
A hair growing contest
between a -son and father
grew into a gesture of
kindness for the Canadian
Cancer Society..
Bernie Kaufman, II.
shaved: off more than a foot
of hair to have madeinto a
wig for a cancer patient and -
raised more than $500 for
cancer research.
"1 was going to shave my
head just for a wig for chemo
patients." said Bernie, who
got the idea from a talk show
he saw on television recently.
Bernie has had long hair
for about four years now and
used to get teased by
classmates who said he
looked like a girl.
He grew it long when he
:was about seven as a game
between him and his dad,
Guy. - -
"My dad and 1 were having
OPP's han
By Days Sykes
Goderich Signal -Star Staff • •
Almost five years to the day that
Mistie Murray was last seen by her
family in Goderich, an independent
police service will begin a review of
the OPP investigation into her"
disappearance and the subsequent
acquittal pf her father. Steven
Murray, after a murder trial in
Goderich three years ago.
The Ontario Civilian Commission
on Police Services (OCCOPS) said
Tuesday, it has given jurisdiction to
York Regional Police Service to
review the files of the OPP and the
former Goderich Police Service.
The civilian commission had
received a number of complaints
concerning the investigation and
possible sightings of Mistie.
"We -ass some points made by the
Murr (Anne and Steven) that
The report recommended
the second option, moving
three classes (all of 'the
Grades 7 and 8 students) to
the high school as an annex
of Seaforth Public School.
"Elaborate or extremely
creative changes to status quo
school .organization are
simply not possible : to
accomplish for September."
said the report.
The first .optionwould
involve three portables at the
public school including one
for classroom instruction, one.
to relocate the school -aged
daycare program and one for.
custodial storage, at a cost of
$9,000 a year and a one-time
hook-up cost of $15,000.
The third option would
require "considerable
consultation" with teacher:•.
unions to _allow high school
Se* NEW, Page 16
Local water
safe tog drink
Four in Huron County
may have. Walkerton's E.Coli
By Scott HNgendorff
Expositor Editor
Four unconfirmed cases of E. Coli infection in Huron
County have been reported to the Huron County Health
Unit.
"These are not positive cases," stressed Klaus Seeger. a
senior health_ inspector, in light of the devastating effects
the -E. Coli bacteria has caused in Walkerton.
'Since contamination in Walkerton's water supply was
-made public May 22, five people have died and more than
1,006 people have become sick with symptoms from
diarrhea to •kidney 'failure. Eleven children were
transported to- a London hospital. at least three requiring
dialysis because their kidneys failed.
While the Huron County cases are .
not confirmed, .Seeger said they were
reported by people from the area who
were in Walkerton while the water was.
contaminated and showed signs of E.
Coli infection. •
Symptoms include severe abdominal
pain and watery diarrhea. -
The Walkerton situation. the worst E.: •
Coli outbreak in Canadian history. has
sent hundreds of Huron County
residents to the local health unit
seeking water sample bottles to have
their well and household water tested. '
Three hundred' sample bottles and instructions on how
to have water tested were given out on Friday and about.
the same were given out again on Monday. •
Seeger said on Friday. the health unit took 100 calls
from people concerned about the safety of their drinking
water and even more on Monday. a week after the E. Coli
contamination was announced in Walkerton, an hour's
drive north of Seaforth.
Walkerton's contamination occurred sometime after a
heavy downpour May 12 during a series of thunderstorms •
that passed through the region, dumping as much as 10
inches of rain in a three-hour period.
Runoff containing manure from fields is the suspected
cause of the coptamination. E. Coli is present in all human
and animal feces.
"We haven't had any contamination yet." said Tom
Phillips. Seaforth PUC manager.
Water is sampled once a week from points in the system
and sent to a London laboratory for testing. If any bacteria
is found. the PUC, health unit and Ministry of the
See WATER, Page t
Klaus Seeger,
. Senior Health
inspector
of Mistie case to be investigated
4.
we're just not clear about,"
said OCCOPS Vice -Chair
John Balkwill. "There are
no .allegations of
wrongdoing by the OPP but
you need quality homicide
detectives to review the
files."
York Region's police
service was given
jurisdiction by OCCOPS to
review the OPP files on the Murray
case and Balkwill said two key
detectives have been assigned to the
review.
Quick to admonish that York's role
was to review and not re -investigate,
Balkwill added that an independent
and detached look at the files, will
help in addressing concerns raised by
Anne and Steve Murray.
"Any complaint is looked at and
those launched by the Murray's have
1
Mistie Murray
consumed OCCOPS' time."
he said. "It's prudent to have
York (police) look at the files
and make an evaluation."
Mistie Murray was I6 -years -
old when she was last seen in
Goderich by her family on
May 31, 1995. Later that
summer, her father. Steven,
was charged with her murder.
Steven Murray was acquitted
in 1997 after a jury deliberation of
just 45 Minutes. The prosecution
failed to produce a body, motive or
weapon and continued a sonar search
of the lake for a body after Murray's
acquittal.
The Murrays contend they were
not informed by the OPP of key
sightings of Mistie by friends and
strangers in the months following her
disappearance. •-
Anne Murray has been pushing for
an investigationfor almost two years
now.
Balkwill indicated that if the
investigation had not already started, •
it would begin in the next few days.
He said the review is not under any
timing restraints and a report would
be submitted to the commission -
whenever it is completed.
"There are volumes. absolute
volumes of paper to go through," he
said. -
The police investigation was the
subject of a critical documentary on
the CBC's Fifth Estate news affairs
program on March 8.
Mistie was a member of the
Seaforth District. High School All -
Girls ,Marching Band at the time of
heidisappearance. Steve is from the
St. Columban area and Mistie and her
parents lived in that area for several .
years.
Your community newspaper since 1860