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Times Advocate, 1993-02-03, Page 2Times -Advocate, February 3, 1993 ThLTHF NEW' Two youths die in crash BRUSSELS - A car accident near Wingham last Monday claimed the lives of two teenag- ers on their way to school. According to the North Huron Citizen, Stacey Hunter and Stephanie Henry, both 16, were passengers in a vehicle driven by Sheri Huether on Highway 86 on their way to F.E. Madhill Secondary School. Constable Carl Richer of the Wingham OPP, said that Huether lost con- trol of the car on the snowy road and travelled into the path of an oncoming truck. The driver, Ke- vin Hickey of Wingham was treated in hospital and released. Hunter, of Ethel, was pro- nounced dead at the scene while Henry, of Brussels, died at Wingham and District Hospital. Brad Beuermann, 17 also of Brussels, was another passenger in the car and is listed in critical condition at Victoria Hospital. Huether is in -fair condition in Wingham Hospital with a head injury, contusions and abrasions. Champion to become SuperPac GODERICH - Champion Road Machinery Ltd. of Gode- rich recently announced the ac- quisition of BNR Equipment Ltd: s SuperPac Compaction Di- vision in Kitchener. Art Church, president and chief executive officer of Cham- pion, said that the acquisition is a natural extension of business for Champion which will be re- named Champion SuperPac. According to the Goderich Signal -Star, Champion will con- tinue to sell compaction prod- ucts. Churcl> tsaid that the sales and manufacturing staff at the Kitchener location will remained unchanged. SuperPac employs about 60 people and reports an- nual sales of S5 -million. Boy gets royal I ette r EGMONDVILLE - Touched by the devastating fire that rav- aged Windsor Castle, 9 -year-old Jamie Montgomery of Egmond- ville took pen in hand to express his sympathy to the Queen. According to the Huron Ex- positor, the Seaforth Public School student did not expect a reply and was surprised to re- ceive a letter from Queen Eliza- beth Il's Lady -in -Waiting. "I am commanded by the Queen to thank you so much for your kind letter about the fire at Windsor Castle. Her Majesty has been very touched by the enormous number of messages she has received; the Lady -in - Waiting wrote. As he held the letter up to the light, Montgomery noted that it is written on recycled par He will keep his royal ' his "baby book" which . yearly mementoes and mile- stones. Police chief resigns ST. MARYS - St. Marys po- lice chief, Bob Dundas, tendered his resignation to the department more than two years after being placed on disability leave for a medical condition. Town councillor Bryan Shaw, a member of the Police Services Board, made the surprise an- nouncement at last week's town council meeting. The ultimate disposition of Dundas has been the centre of speculation for months sparked by controversy over the management of the po- lice department. According to the Journal Ar- gus, Bill Galloway, ehiir of the Police Services Board: stated that the parting was amicable. Dundas joined the police de- partment in 1967 and became chief in 1982. Deputy chief Don Oke took over as acting chief in September 1990 when Dundas went on disability leave. Four years on job Grand Bend office employee loses job in 'reorganization' GRAND BEND - Despite ex- panding .its boundaries to include parts of Stephen and Bosanquet Townships, Grand Bend has fired one of its office employees. Last Tuesday, Karn Thornton- Durdin was told, after four years she would no longer be working for the village. "We did an internal re- organization and that was the re- sult," said Administrator Paul Turnbull. Grand Bend recently hired a secretary who now sits in on council meetings and takes min- utes. At one time, Thornton-Durdin was the village's deputy treasurer and also the recording secretary for various committees. Turnbull would not elaborate on the situation and said the only rea- son for the dismissal was reorgani- zation. "That's the official reason and I didn't expand on it for her so I won't expand on it for anyone else," said Tumbull. Grand Bend is in the midst of re- shuffling its committees and at its recent council meeting, passed a bylaw which changed the name of the Waste Management Committee to Public Services Committee which means the committee will now also be responsible for the Public Works Department.. "We're going through a revamp- ing, heading forwards," said Grand Bend Mayor Tom Lawson. "It's not the physical bodies, but the overall structure." "We will try and support her and help her find another opportunity," he said. Not education. daycare Trustees oppose September '93 JK CLINTON - The sound of a sin- gle pair of hands could be heard ap- plauding when Bea Dawson an- nounced that the Huron County Board of Education trustees voted against the proposed implementation of Junior Kindergarten for Septem- ber 1993. At last month's Board meeting, Morris Township resident, Allan Dettweiler addressed the trustees and implored them not to give into the government and take a stand against Junior Kindergarten in Hu- ron County. The issue has sparked a great deal of debate over the necessity, cost and long-term implications of such a program should it be implemented. As the discussion heated up at Monday's meeting, trustee, Joan Van Den Broek outlined some of the • pros and cons of Junior Kindergart- en which, according to her list, the latter far out -weighs the former. She said that 52 percent of the population is in favour of Junior Kindergarten. It provides child care placement in the community and it gives the Board of Education an op- portunity to pick up the Junior Kin- dergarten students from the Separate .Board. On the opposing side, Van Den ;Brock stated that there is no strong ,local interest in implementing such a program. "The province has projected an additional $12 -billion to their deficit position in April," she said, ad- dressing the concern of cost. According to Van Den Broek, the Junior Kindergarten program is not an education issue, but rather a day care issue. "If it were an education issue, there would be Ontario research data and statistics to demonstrate that Boards that have Junior Kindergart- en have produced students that are better socialized and more effective leamers than our students, and that, ,quite simply is not the case," she said. Trustee Norman Pickell was also very adamant in his opposition to Junior Kindergarten In Huron County. "I don't care if the government says they're going to ram it down our throat. I'm not going to let the govemment bully us if we're not ready. Why not take time and begin the pilot program in 1994?" Pickell said. A number of concerns were gen- enu,ed throughout.the course of the discussion. Pickell stated that he did not think that all their questions had been adequately addressed by the government and that they were being coerced into making a deci- sion by way of incentive grants. "I have bounced from one side to another on this issue," said trustee Rick Rompf. "I have a major diffi- culty with this issue. Yes, we have incentive funding, but I feel as time goes on, it will disappear." After much discussion, and a mo- tion for a recorded vote, the trustees voted in opposition to the implemen- tation of Junior Kindergarting in Huron County in September 1993. Of the 14 trustees, 5 voted in favour of the program. Grand Bend couple sentenced for fraud charges EXETER - Ronald and Janice Kreuter of Grand Bend have re- ceived individual sentences for their pleads of guilty 10 charges of fraud over $1,000. The court heard that the fraud incidents, which took place on No- vember 18 and 30, 1991, involved a claim on a boat with Trans America Insurance Company. Ronald Kramer, guilty of two counts of fraud, was fined 55,000 or four months in jail for the first count, and 52,500 for the second count. He has five years to pay and was sen- tenced 12 months probation. Janice Kreuter was sentenced 12 months probation for her part in the fraud. (Vier 80mg. A fine of 30 days in jail was levied again$t,Michael Homer of Huron Park Coke charge of a blood-alcohol count over 110 mg. Police testimoy said that Horner was stopped on May 3 on a routine traffic stop when it was discovered that he had been drink- ing. Along with his fine, Horner faces a two year prohibition of his driver's licence. Ability impaired A Seaforth man, pleaded guilty to a charge of impaired ability and faces•14 days in jail. The court heard that Robert Patrick was stopped on Highway 83 by police on December 21 as they followed up on a report of un- safe driving. Upon noticing alcohol on his breath, police arrested Patrick. Possession of narcotic Timothy Bender of Dashwood pieaded guilty to a charge of nar- cotic possession and was fined 5100 or five days in jail. The court heard that on December 20 police, on a routine patrol, stopped Bender's vehicle and noticed a burning smell which was discovered to be marijuana. err GB Winter Carnival Continued from front page "There are places (cottages) being opened the two weeks of the carnival," said Ogilivie. The carnival is a community event in which local businesses also get out the tools and chip away to build their own snow sculptures. Just some of the events which highlight the carnival are the Sled Dog Derby, a Gong Show, a Monte Car- lo night and this year, a Dinner Caberet. "We have people with great imaginations," said Ogilive. WHAT: 7th Annual Grand Bend Winter Carnival WHERE: Grand Bend, Ontario NUN: Feb. 5-14. (A complete list of activities in a detailed program is available at many local businesses or at the Grand Bend Winter. Carnival Headquarters on Main Street. Demanding an explanation Council disappointed as two percent levy promise turns into13 percent shock EXETER - Town council were pleased when the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority announced several months ago they were aim- ing for no increase in the general levy to member municipalities for 1993. Council were still content when the final levy increase was set at two percent. However, they were less than pleased Monday evening when the actual bill arrived: Exeter's share of the levy went up 13 percent. "We went up big didn't we," commented mayor Bruce Shaw. In actual dollars, the ABCA is now asking the town to pay 534,935 in 1993, up 54,020 over 1992. Due to shifts in assessment, some municipalities' shares went up, some wont down, but the overall in- crease averaged out to two percent. Hardest hit is the Town of Clinton, with a 16 per- cent increase, while may of the Lambton munici- palities in the ABCA's watershed saw decreases in their levies. Arkona's went down 17 percent Reeve Bill Mickle called into question the "dis- counted equalized assessment" figures used by the Conservation Authority to distribute its general levy. Mickle said it seemed obvious the reassess- ment of Huron County last year wasn't fairly fac- tored into the equation, although he noted "Seaforth "Ifs not against the Conservation Authority, because they don't do it..." :goes down and they're in Huron t ,Theyreeve said that town -experi- eneed the "urban tax shift" like Exet- er did last year, but' has somehow seen their ABCA levy decrease by 0.4 percent. "It just doesn't make sense," said Mickle. Clerk Liz Bell said she was told by the ABCA general manager that the Toronto ministry was not able to fully explain the "equalized assess- ment" methods either. "It really boggles the mind when you see those kind of increases. I can understand a two percent increase based on last year's levy," said Hoogen- boom, but said he couldn't see how Exeter gained 13 percent assessment in a poor year for building. "I can't understand why Grand Bend dropped 10 percent on assessment either," commented Mickle. "'There's been a lot of building in Grand Bend," agreed Hoogenboom. Mickle recommended to council that the town not only ask for a clarification of the assessment pro- cess, but also to refuse to pay the increase until the government comes up with a better explanation _for the figures they gave the ABCA. "It's nothing against the Conservation Authority, because they don't do it," said Micklc. Taw .0. 1 of the Goderioh Ambulance Servloe, was amOr six ambulance atten- dants who *lived the chilly air last Wednesday to garner support for the Swimmer Re- port. Outside the Exeter Post Office, Bob Dinney signs the petition that ambulance atten- dants hope will influence MPP Paul Klopp to take immediate action and appeal the provincial government to regulate consistent ambulance service throughout the province.