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Times-Advocate, 1988-06-01, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, June 1, 1988 RIDE program in effect daily Three accidents on Highway 81 EXETER - Highway 81 was the site of two collisions and a car fire last week. Exeter OPP were first called to the scene Sunday May 22 when vehicles operated by Steven Miller, Dashwood, and Charles Dickens, Mount Brydges, collided. The Dickens vehicle then slid into another stopped vehicle being driv- en by Ann Maxwell, Hensall. There was no damage to the Max- well car, and moderate damage to the other two. The same day a vehicle being driven by Lorrie Parsons,. London, was notthbound on Highway 81 when the occupants smelled smoke. The Grand Bend fire de - partment was called to extinguish the fire, which caused moderate damage. At noon Monday vehicles operat- ed by Thomas McHugh, Newfound- land and Ross Dummer, Cambridge, collided on the same highway. McHugh was taken to South Huron Hospital. Dummer and passengers Kelly Elder and Richard Reece, both of London, were also taken to the Exeter hospital with minor injuries. Later on Monday the OPP were called to an accident on County Road 5 after vehicles operated by Leonard Ryan, Ailsa Craig, and John Simms, London, collided. The Simms vehicle lost control and skidded. Damage to the Ryan vehi- cle was listed as light, and moderate to the' Simms car. The Exeter detachment investigat- ed 30 general occurrences during the week. Officers handed out two 12 - hour suspensions, laid seven charg- es under the Criminal Code, one un- der the Narcotic Control Act, one under the Compulsory Automative Insurance Act, 67 under the High- • way Traffic Act and nine under the Liquor Licencing Act. The Exeter OPP wish to remind the motoring public that the RIDE program is still in effect in Huron County, and will be used daily to ' curb impaired driving. ENTERTAIN DISTRICT - Exeter PUC hosted,the annual dinner and meeting of District 7 of the Municipal Elec- trical Associations, held in the Exeter Legion on May 25.Talking together before dinner are (left) London PUC commissioner Charlie Ross, who is also 2nd vice-chairman of the MEA, Exeter PUC commissioner Murray Greene, chairman of. District 7, guest speaker Ivan. Fleischmann, president of Canadian Intercorp and Barry Pinch, an. Aylmer PUC commissioner and presid6nt of District 7 of the MEA. - Low hydro rates gone forever EXETER - The- days of low hy- dro rates are past,"David Drinkwal- ter. told the annual dinner meeting of District 7 of. the Municipal Electric Associations hosted by the Exeter PUC May 25 at the Legion Hall. Addressing -the -crowd of 95 PUC staff personnel and elected PUC and municipal officials from_ throughout District 7, the director of Ontario hlydro's western region said Ontario l lydro s_ recently -re- vealed corporate strategy for the '90s represents a major shift in em- phasis. • counsellors in corporate and govern- ment relations, talked about lobby- ing. Noting that: there is some talk of the relative merits of elected versus appointed commissioners, Fleisch- mann urged his listeners to let their wishes be made known. He de- fined lobbying as a matter of under- standing one's own issue, then forming a coalition of like-minded groups to ensure that one's .voice is heard and has an impact on lcgisla_ tion which may affect one's associa- tion. The giant power corporation has Fleischmann urged his listeners to lost thc Ability to reduce rates by establish regular contact with mini - continual a pansion, •as other, cost stries argragencies like the Ontario factors mustrbe takeninto account, Energy Bo ard. Then, when an issue Drinkwalt r explained. Ontarioarises w "ich could affect electric 1lydro is focusing on the user rath- utilities, you can react immediately er thaitthe°system.; and directing and make surc your case is heard its attention" to ensuring that cus- through -collective action"; _he ad- tomcrs feelheyare getting good viscd. value figr thr money. * * * "We arC adrry we lost sight of At the regular PUC meeting the the focus- of our existence...Wc followmg:iay, PUC managtrl:-lugh Davis warned commissioners that 1988 will be a very-cxpcnsivc_year. The amount of building._ going on will necessitate the purchase of "a lot of three-phase transformer banks -,'Davis said. A ndrnber of standard types arc kept in stock, but Eighteen water services have been Davis said the many different volt- installed -in Exeter so far this year. start with the customer...a recm- phasisii who pays all our salar- ies", Drinkwitcr said. Guest speaker Ivan Fleischmann, a lawyer who was chief of staff for former MP John Roberts from • 1980 to 1982 and is now -president of Canadian lntcrcorp, a firm of ages makes predicting all needs im- possible. Another problem is the length of time between order and delivery, which currently averages 18 weeks. • Davis reported that the hydro de- partment has completed 18 accident - free years. Davis, a man who takes nothing for granted, had an independent anal- ysis done on the transformer and re- closure which had been filtered to remove PCBs. The highest reading was 32 parts per million, well under the allowable 50. Turning to the water department, Davis said his solution to the prob- lem at the recently chlorinated Hicks well had been implemented after receiving approval from the ece g ministry of the environment. The trickle of water through the analyzer was not being carried away through an engineer -designed dry well as the clay soil was not absorbent enough. Davis suggested routing the water into a nearby test hole. A -cross-section samp'.c of farm wells in Usbornc township will be monitored all summer to ensure that PUC pumping is not affecting neighbouring welts. REP board of CLINTON - A budget with ample funds for building projects was. passed last night at a special meet- ing of the Iluron-Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board. The board will be spending $17.6 million in 1988; about $13.9 mil- lion for elementary education and $3.7 million for secondary schools, according to Ron Murray, chairman of the.board's finance committee. The total amount budgeted has in- creased approximately S4 million over last year; a 33 percent increase. But, as superintendent of finance Jack Lane pointed out, the figure is severely inflated due to a $2.5 mil- lion capital projects works which is being 85 perccnt government. Mr. Lane added that without the capital projects figure, the increase would. .be closer to 13 perccnt. The building .projects in the bud- - . get include S400,000 for portable 'classrooms and $1.00,000 for fire ed budget passed marshal requirements throughout the system. Reassessment in Huron County. to 1984 market values -had delayed the completion and adoption of the 1988 budget. ''It's been a.difficult time for bud- geting because of the Huron Coun- ty reassessment. We would have normally had the budget adopted six - weeks ago," Mr. Lane attested. Iluron County has been the first in this arca to set a common mill rate for the county. Instead of equal- ization assessment factors and sep- arate mill rates, the county now has one mill rate for secondary school supporttrs and one for elementary, Mr. Lane said. Although Huron County was de- layed the board was required to set its mill rates in Perth County to as- sist the municipalities there in esta- blishing their budgets. Perth County elementary separate Exeter again hosts Special Olympics EXETER - Exeter will host the Special Olympics for the second consecutive year. More than 75 handicapped ele- mentary and high school age stu- dents from Iluron County wilLcon- vergc on the playing fields at South Huron District High school on Tuesday, June 7. Special flag raising and opening ceremonies will get underway at 10 a.m. and thcn the fun begins. Nowhere can anyone see athletes try harder than these. The motto for thc Olympics is ," Let me win, but if 1 cannot win, let me brave in my attempt." As one of the Special Olympic officials said a year ago, " For them, and' for us, it is the trying that matters: If you keep trying, You always win something, in drive and determination, in im- proved fitness,. in confidence and pride." The public is invited to come along to SHDHS next Tuesday morning and cheer the athletes on. Vocal support will spur the young people on to greater heights. school supporters will pay an eight percent increase on the mill rate. Its secondary school supporters will pay five percent more on the mill tate.. - As an example, a taxpayer in the City of Stratford with an assess- ment of $3,500 will pay $608 in educational taxes for both elemen- tary and secondary schools in 1988, an increase of $38 over that paid last year. Due to a change in the equalization factors introduced by the Ministry of Education, the rate of increase varies dramatically from one municipality to another from a low of 1.6 perccnt to a high of about 20 perccnt. Huron County, on the other hand, with the uniform mill rate will have substantial reductions to the amount otherwise required from cer- tain municipalities and quite sub- stantial increases from others. •The overall assessment revised to mar- ket value across the county is 20 times greater than it was under the old system. A taxpayer with an as- sessment of $65,000 will pay $608 in educational taxes for:both ele- mentary and secondary schools in 1988. Since this amount is subject to some provincial subsidy directly to the municipality, it is possible to indicate the extent of the educa- tion tax increase over that paid in 1987. Other contributing factors to the increases in this year's budget are due to the extension of Catholic ed- ucation to Grade 11 and French im- mersion to Grade 5. Enrolment will. increase this September by about 160 students. There will be an in- crease in teaching staff of 10 teach- ers at the elementary level and tight at secondary. ti HONOUR PRINCIPAL -. An Open House was held Sunday at Stephen Central School for principal Don Fink- beinerwho has been transferred to J.A.O. McCurdy at Huron Park. He has been on the Stephen staff for 22 years, 20 as principal. Above, Finkbeiner receives a plaque from Doug Lightfoot of the Croditon fire department. At the right are teacher Jay Skillender and Ross Brown, a board member when the school was established in 1966. • STUDENTS OF THE YEAR - Principal Bruce Shaw presents students of the year Clark Adams and Leigh Sol- dan (right) to the students and parents present at midnight at the midsummer night's dream formal dance Friday evening. In the middle is last year's winner Lee O'Rourke. »;;. : `gaa:`;<r>x% :,:: *awsl.:r:.,Sh.;:x:4:a::3gs Shift in science curriculum HURON COUNTY - Some scien- tists have estimated that the amount of scientific knowledge we have is almost doubling every year. They theorize that in 1989 we will be twice as far ahead scientifically as we arc now. "Future Shock" and other such books talk about how mankind is to deal with all this new information and the change it ine- vitably brings on the wide scale, but the Ministry of Education is bringing this whole information ex- plosion into perspective and dealing with it in practical terms. The -Huron County Board of Edu- cation recently received "Science is Happening I-bere," whichis the in- troduction to a policy statement for science in the primary and junior di- visions, and is a new way of look- ing at how science can be applied in our schools. The trustees reviewed a package from the ministry outlining policy toward Ontario's goals in education, how the learner and the learning en- vironment will be dealt with, atti- tudes, skills and knowledge, assess- ment and evaluation, and the responsibility for the implementa- tion of the new curriculum. The trustees also saw a video about the new approach to science which will soon be viewed by all tcachcrs in the province. The video introduces the new policy, and the importance of educators preparing students for an uncertain future. The general philosophy is that science is all around us all the time. It isn't something that should be studied for 15 minutes a day as a single subject, but it is all around students and should be incorporated into other classes. The new science curriculum out- line in the policy statement will get rolling in Huron County in the fall° when specialists will be in the county to work with teachers on a one-on-one basis to introduce them to thc program. During the winter the program will be adapted to Hu- ron County, and in tlic spring a cur- riculum pertinent to the Huron County setting will be put togeth- er. There is something of a shift in focus in the science curriculum as compared to the focus in other sub- jects. The "Science is Happening Here booklet explains "it is the re- sponsibility of educators to provide experiences that will encourage chil- dren to develop attitudes, skills and knowledge that they can use both Child hurt in Tuckersmith TUCKERSMiTH - Five-year-old _Craig Traquair remains in critical condition in Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, after be- ing struck by a car while riding his bicycle on concession 14 in Tuck- ersmith township on Saturday. Godcrich OPP said thc boy, of lot 3, concession 14 in Tucker - smith just cast of Hensall, was in the middle of the road at about , .6:00 p.nl. when he was hit by a car driven by Suzanne Dallas, 19, of 46 Princess St. W. Clinton. The accident is still under inves- tigation and an OPP spokesman said charges are pending. today and in the future." Another ditterence in the new science curriculum is the emphasis which is placed on attitude in the primary and junior divisions. This emphasis is on information in most other subjects. Students of the science curriculum will be viewed in a manner which is cornmon is Ministry of Education policy today. "Each child should be viewed as "an active participant in education who gains satisfaction from thedy- namics of learning, and' as a self - motivated, self directed problem sol- ver..dcriving a sense of self worth and confidence froma variety of ac- complishments." Play or "active learning" is viewed as a natural way for children to learn bythe new curriculum. "Through play children can explore, ask qucstious, seek solutions, in- vent, construct, and solve problems. Play contributes to the development of the attitudes, skills and knowl- edge prescribed in this document. Attitudes which the learning envi- •ronment provided by the new pro- gram hopes to provide for arc: con- cern and care for the environment, respect for living things, considera- tion for othcrs, open-mindedness, objectivity and accuracy, thorough- ness and perseverance, safety - mindedness, and curiosity and risk taking. At the primary and junior divi- sions science will not be a separate subject, but will.bc a component of a balance and integrated program. At the intermediate division "science emerges as a distinct subject, but the mosaic of biology, chemistry, physics and environmental science allows students to experience the re- ality that scientific processes -and. principles cross the artificial bound- aries between the disciplines." An exact date for the implementa- tion= of this program has not yet been given, but the last topic dealt with the policy statement is the Ministry of Education, the Huron. County Board of Education, and all board employees share thc'responsi- bility for meeting the expectations outlined in tide new policy. They are to bccomc thoroughly familiar with the policy, promote community awarcncss of the importance of the science component of the curricu- lum, and foster professional devel- opment and support in-service pro- grams. Hearings may be ahead for five Hay subdivisions IiAY TWP. - Five Hay township subdivisions may have to go through an OMB hearing before wa- ter distribution systems can be in- stalled to connect thcm with the I ighway 21 water main, according to a regular meeting of Hay council on May 16. Schadevicw, Cedar Banks, Bay- view, Highlands i11, and Elmwood cottage subdivisions along the lake - shore in the township each have one property owncr objecting to the respective watcr distribution bylaws passed by council earlier. While each case is different, most arc ob- jecting to the amount of assessment assigned to their properties: Clerk -treasurer Joan Ducharme explained that. the township will try to resolve the objections by meet- ing.with the objectors and the engi- neer to either explain or negotiate the assessments. However, should this not resolve the problems, council will have no choice but to got to die OMB for a decision, thus delaying water connections consid- erably. in other business, council opened tenders for spraying the roads of concessions 8-9 and 12-13 in the township. The Saugcen Road Spraying Company won the con- tract with its hid of $97,933 and ' will double treat the roads this sum- mer. The Flay township hall diamond located just cast of Zurich will now be operated by townshi(f council. The fundraising account in Bernie Denomme's name will be turned over to the township. At a special meeting held on Wednesday May 18, council agreed to help purchase a used fire truck from the Stratford Fire Department for use of with the Dashwood, Hay and Stephen Fire Arca Board. The 1974 International truck will cost $40,000 and will 'be refur- bished at an additional $7,600. Hay's share of thc total will be 39 percent, in keeping with the •town- ship's assessment. Another special meeting was held on Thursday May 19 to approve construction of a drainage outlet for Mr. Gowdy's residence in the La- porte subdivision south of St. Jo- seph. Steve Kadlccik will under- take the construction to assure proper drainage of the property, and Hay works superintendent Ross Fisher will be contacted to inspect the work. Council Briefs Council approved a rcqucst from the Bean Sprouts Nursery School who rent the Township Hall. At their request, the floor will be stripped, scaled and waxed, but the full costs will be paid by the school. ••••• George Kadlccik Construction inc. in Grand Bend will receive in- stallation of telephone Tines- from the Ilay Municipal Telephone Sys- tem for his latest development. • • • • • Deputy reeve Claire Dcichcrt will attend the Association of Munici- palities of Ontario conference from August 21 to 24. The conference will be held at the Royal York Ho- tel in Toronto. • - •••••• Water project inspector Dick Rau will now carry a pager leased from . MacLean -Hunter by the township to keep him advised of required in- spections to the distribution sys- tems from thc Highway 21 water line. The ministry of transportation will be conducting a stress test on the Black Creek Bridge on the township side road 15-16. •