Times Advocate, 1994-12-7, Page 2Regional
wrap ups
l'ase 2 Times -Advocate, December 7,1994
Armed
Goderich
man
threatened
traffic in
stand-off
GODERICH - Bill Smith, 41,
has been charged with threaten-
ing death and possession of a
weapon dangerous to the public
after a stand-off last Sunday
with about 50 police officers.
Smith, a Goderich salt mine
employee and active conserva-
tionist, held off police with a ri-
fle at a residence on Eldon
Street. The Goderich Signal -
Star reported that no shots were
fired and Smith made no specif-
ic threats to the family members.
The District 6 Emergency Re-
sponse Team, London and Bar-
rie Tactics and Rescue Unit and
the Mount Forest 'Canine Unit
were called to the scene. The
situation was resolved without
incident.
Serious
injuries
result of
Seaforth
accident
SEAFORTH - Eugene Scott,
19, and Sean Wayland, 20, both
of Goderich were seriously in-
jured as a result of an early
morning accident.
The Huron Expositor reported
Wayland was driving west on
Highway 8 and Scott was head-
ing east. Due to poor road con-
ditions, the vehicles crossed
over the centre lane and collided
head-on.
Amanda Young, 18, a passen-
ger in one of the vehicles also
sustained injuries. Young, Scott
and Wayland were taken to Sea -
forth Community Hospital and
were later taken to their local
hospitals.
No smoking
on property
at DCVI
ST. MARYS - Effective No-
vember 20, the tobacco control
act is law in Ontario. Bill 119,
Section 9 passed by Ontario leg-
islature in June prohibits smok-
ing anywhere on school
grounds.
Area residents are likely con-
cerned about the impact this leg-
islation will have on them. The
Journal Argus quoted principal
Terry Boyce as saying, "As far
as we're concerned, they can't
smoke on school property. That
means the area just outside the
school becomes the prime tar-
get." The school has formed a
committee comprised of student
smokers and non-smokers to
handle any problem which arise.
Town of
Clinton
receives
funding.
CLINTON - The town of Clin-
ton has received approval for
funding of three projects from
the Canada/Ontario Infrastruc-
ture Works program. Finding in
the amount of $363,488, will bo
spend on the installation of sani-
tary sewers and a watermain as
well as in the reconstruction of
Erie and Dunlop Streets, The
open ditch on Cowper and Mary
Streets will be enclosed in the fi-
nal stage of the project.
The Clinton News -Record re-
ported the project promises to
create employment.
New slow zones for schools
40 km/h will be the limit around the high school and public school
EXETER - A 40 km/h reduced speed zone was approved
by town council Monday evening to deal with traffic prob-
lems near South Huron District High School and Exeter
Public School.
Also planned are "school zone" signs for Gidley Street,
Senior Street, Victoria Street, and on Wellington street in
the vicinity of the two schools.
Councillor Roy Triebner said since the school board start-
ed charging parking fees, there has been an increase in ef-
forts of students to park on streets, and at the South Huron
Recreation Centre.
Consequently, the public works committee also asked for
a stop sign to be placed at the south exit of the Recreation
Centre parking lot. There is already a sign at the north exit,
noted Triebner.
Speed bumps on Gidley and Victoria Streets near the
schools were also considered, but were deleted from the re-
port due to the fact they are not legal on public roads.
Councillor Robert Drummond, however, said he doubted
the new speed limit would have much effect on problems
with speeding near the schools.
"If the hot rodders are willing to break the 50 km/h limit,
40 km/h only makes it that much worse," said Drummond.
"We need to enforce the laws we have now."
"I understand reckless driving is an automatic license sus-
pension,' said Drummond. "Perhaps a few of those handed
out would make a difference."
Triebner agreed "there are some questions that have to be
asked", to which Drummond replied "You're going to put
those restrictions on 24 hours a day, for a two-hour a day
problem," said Drummond.
Zurich re -hires parking officer
New reeve promises to see problems resolved 'once and for all'
ZURICH - New Zurich reeve Dwayne La-
porte named the village's parking problems as
one issue he would like "to see...solved once,
and for all" in his inaugural address to council
Thursday evening.
Consequently, debate about the cars -only
parking spaces consumed much of the time of
the first council's meeting when it reviewed
the two applications for the position of assist-
ant bylaw officer, the person responsible for
enforcing the parking zones.
One surprise development was that one of
the applications was from Chris Littlechild,
who resigned her position in October as com-
plaints about the tickets was mounting.
"The pot's been stirred pretty well," said
councillor Brad Clausius. "Maybe it makes
sense not to stir it any more."
However, Laporte suggested it might not be
a smart move for council to back off on park-
ing enforcement now, especially when acting
clerk Sharon Baker pointed out that some mo-
torists were ignoring the restrictions in the ab-
sence of an enforcement officer.
"There's people in London that know not to
park there," said Clausius, referring to the re-
cent publicity.
"There's people in Hamilton that know, ac-
cording to Paul Klopp," added Laporte.
"I would like to see Chris come back. I
think she did a terrific job," said councillor
Barb Jeffrey. Clausius seconded,.tlae-motion,
which council approved, with councillor Nick
Littlechild calling a conflict of interest.
Clausius agreed the present parking re-
strictions are often ignored by visitors to town.
"I see people read the sign and walk away
with their vans there," he said. "It's like 'no,
I'll never get a ticket in this little town'."
Laporte then asked whether or not council
should pursue further the idea of having traffic
lights installed at the controversial corner, to
further solve visibility problems.
"$40,000 can't be spent at that main corner
for lights," disagreed Clausius, who said lights
would create more problems than they would
solve. "We're going to have a whole batch of
problems again."
As an example, Clausius said a green light
would give motorists an opportunity to speed
through the intersection on Goshen Street,
where now they have to stop. He asked if a
four-way stop was a possibility.
Laporte said the ministry's response was
"basically, no way".
Clausius said if complaints about the cars -
only parking spaces continue, a simple solu-
tion was to make the entire area around the in-
tersection no -parking, and keep all trucks,
vans and cars out of the poor visibility area.
Jeffrey, however, noted that those spaces are
of value to the elderly and disabled.
Clausius replied that the Zurich Chamber of
Commerce was not very likely to be raising
funds for a traffic light, as council had pro-
posed in past months.
"If we could raise $40,000 it wouldn't go for
a stop light. I can tell you that," said Clausius.
Conservatives hold nomination meetin,
The five nominees all promised fiscal restraint under Mike Harris
*'Continued from front page
was made of the Progressive Con-
servative's platform aimed at
cutting government spending and
taxes under what leader Mike Har-
ris is calling the "Common Sense
Revolution". As one observer wry-
ly noted, it was somewhat ironic to
see a huge banner proclaiming a
"Revolution" at a conservative
event.
The newly -elected president of
the provincial party, Peter Van Lan
brought his message of revolution
to the crowd. But with most of the
hundreds of people engaged in the
hub -bub of the ongoing balloting,
few were listening.
Each of the five nominees was al-
lowed a 15 -minute presentation be-
fore the audience. The highlights
of the runners-up speeches are as
follows:
Howard Armstrong: The for-
mer reeve of Stanley Township
said a Conservative provincial gov-
ernment needs to work towards re-
ducing red tape and government
regulation and duplication of ser-
vices, while making assistance
available to new businesses.
A ' Harris government, he said,
would reform labour law to "restore
a balance between labour and man-
agement".
Armstrong was critical of NDP
grant cutting to Ontario municipal-
ities. Those cuts might have been
necessary, he agreed, but disagreed
with how its was done.
"They told us that 'we're going to
give you less money but more regu-
lations'....that must change," said
Armstrong.
He also criticized the jobsOntario
program for only creating a fraction
of its promised jobs, and for spend-
ing' 50 percent of its funds on ad-
vertising, administration "and mis-
use of funds".
Tom Tomes: As county warden
last year Tomes said he heard
"again and again that government is
no longer working".
Cutting taxes and balancing the
budget are priorities for four years
of PC government, he said.
"We need hospitals that are
open...we need schools that
teach...we need to allow our police
to police," he said.
As for the NDP's agricultural pol-
icy, Tomes criticized the closure of
the Centralia College of Ag-
ricultural Technology in one of the
province's most important farming
regions.
"Although the government cer-
tainly needed to make program
cuts. I don't believe any careful ex-
amination of the consequences and
the effects on the future of ag-
riculture ever took place when the
decision to close this facility was
made," said Tomes.
He said the legislatures' breaks
from December 7 to April 13, and
from June 23 to October 31 were
longer than ever before.
"Why are the New Democrats so
reluctant to face parliament? Why
have they imposed closure and time
limits on debate more often than
any previous government in On-
tario history?" asked Tomes.
John Schenk: The Wingham
lawyer said one of every six pro-
vincial tax dollars goes to service
the provincial debt - dollars which
could have gone to provide val-
uable services.
With welfare costs that "have
multiplied six times in the past 12
years,"and after 65 tax increases in
the past decade "people have lost
faith. Our society no longer makes.
sense. The rules of common sense
no longer seem to apply. Govern-
ment is seen as contributing to the
mess. They are part of the prob-
lem, not part of the solution," said
Schenk.
Government spending is not the
only issue, said Schenk, and said
people are rightly concerned the ed-
ucation system is falling behind,
and about the quality and avail-
ability of health care.
He said the PC's behind Mike
Harris will "ensure that government
puts the highest value on individual
issues, rather than trying to social-
ize every job and aspect of our
lives".
Lawrence Beane: The manager
of the Clinton and Community
Credit Union's Exeter branch said
he was proud of his accomplish-
ments since becoming chief fi-
nancial officer for the Huron PC
Association. When he took over
six and a half years ago, the as-
sociation was broke, and now it has
$38,000 in the bank, and has com-
mitted $51,000 to help the pro-
vincial party with its debt.
Conaervat/w rovoluticnafNa all, the four runners-up for the Progressive Conservative nomina-
, tion joined winner Helen Johns on the stage to congratulate her on winning last Wednesday
evening. FrOm left are Lawrence Bean, Tom Tomes, Howard Armstrong, Helen Johns, and
John Schenk.
"Higher taxes kill jobs...tax re-
duction is the number one issue for
the PC's in the coming election,"
said Beane, who applauded Hams'
plans to eliminate MPP's pensions,
the reduction of the tax-free al-
lowance, and even the reduction of
the number of MPPs.
The Conservative's Common
Sense Revolution has been pro-
jected to have the potential to
create 725,000 new jobs in the first
term and Beane joked that "some of
these jobs, of course, will have to
be taken up by civil servants that
will no longer be required in their
present positions."
Ontario pays 35 percent above
the national average for welfare
payments, which Beane said is not
an incentive for people to get back
to work.
He said he agrees with the party's
aim to cut welfare to 10 percent
above the national average, and call
on recipients to do work or upgrade
their education.
"We are talking about a hand up,
but not a hand out," said Beane.
`Grinches'
stealing
Christmas
once again
EXETER - The Exeter detach-
ment of the OPP are warning that
the Grinches are back. Thefts of
Christmas lights have already been
reported in Dashwood and Huron
Park, but police warn local residents
to take precautions against becom-
ing a victim of petty thieves.
Police are reminding local resi-
dents to make sure their cars are
locked when shopping or running
errands, and to ma4e male
away in a
locked trunk. The OPP are current-
ly investigating several thefts from
parked cars at various locations in
Exeter.
With the holiday season, also
comes a stepped up RIDE program
to help keep roads safe from drunk
drivers. Police say drivers on local
roads can expect to see check points
at several locations this season, and
are asking motorists to give them a
"brake" for a brief check.
The OPP also report that a pink
O.:ean Pacific fold -type wallet was
lost at MacDonalds in Exeter Sun-
day. The wallet contained all the
victim's identification and'esh, and
if anyone finds it, they are asked to
contact the OPP.
Correction
Last week's article regarding the
executive committee incorrectly
stated the committee has seven
members. The committee has five
members, and councillor Robert
Drummond is not a member, as
stated.
The Times -Advocate regrets the
error.
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