Serving Lake Erie’s North Shore Friday March 18, 2016
INSIDE Letters Hi, Is the Lake Erie Beacon a publication that could get sent to my home … can I subscribe to this great newspaper? Thank you. Ps: a great read … full of local STORY PAGE 2 information!
U.S. Company Given Approval For Wind Turbines In Dutton Dunwich
Chili Cookoff A large crowd attended the Chili Cook-Off, held at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 410 Port Stanley on Saturday, March 12. The Port Stanley Lioness hosted the event, which included chili tasting by all. Judges were Dave Semple, Melissa Kempf and Central Elgin Mayor David Marr. STORY PAGE 3
A Trip to Port Stanley On Monday March 7th a tour bus filled with almost forty Secondary School students arrived in the village of Port Stanley for the afternoon. The bus had brought the students from Clinton, which is located north of London. STORY PAGE 3 Above one of the many farms in South Western Ontario that have already been impacted by Wind Turbines.
Andrew Hibbert
Port Burwell Report Port Burwell has no lack of assets. The web site Yummy Yummy lists Port Burwell fourth in a list of Ontario's best beaches, you might not know about. STORY PAGE 4
Port Stanley Report Several people have reported seeing these small boats that look like Tiny Tugs tied up in the Port Stanley harbour. STORY PAGE 7
Taylor Made We tend to see the global warming warning as a scare tactic. Well, some of us. Ever hear someone shivering in a whiteout say: Global warming? Bring it on! STORY PAGE 5
Karen Vecchio Promotes Women’s Empowerment Karen Vecchio, Member of Parliament for Elgin-Middlesex-London and Official Opposition Critic for Families, Children and Social Development has invited Canadians to celebrate International Women’s Day 2016. STORY PAGE 8
LOOK AHEAD Community Events
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Classifieds & Service Directory Page 7 Business Roladex
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The Municipality of Dutton Dunwich (D/D) is located in the western portion of Elgin County in Southwestern Ontario. Bordered by the Thames River to the north and Lake Erie to the south, D/D is primarily a farming community, with a number of villages and hamlets. With a population of 4000 and growing, many families use the peaceful villages and rural acreages as home base for their employment in the cities of London, Chatham and St. Thomas nearby. In 2012 our Council became aware that an Industrial Wind Turbine (IWT) company, Invenergy, was quietly optioning farm land in D/D for IWT development. A few miles to our west Chatham-Kent has over 500 IWT, and in eastern Elgin there are 66 IWT as well. We began to receive comments of concern from our citizens and businesses.
Left: Cameron McWilliam, Mayor of Dutton Dunwich newable energy projects this week, including one to Invenergy, a Chicagobased company, for a 60-megawatt wind farm project in Dutton Dunwich. Cameron McWilliam, the mayor of Dutton Dunwich, is frustrated by the situation and so are his constituents. licited public opinion through a formal survey. Contract offer comes after survey showed residents oppose hosting wind turbines in community Dozens of wind turbines may be coming to the Municipality of Dutton Dunwich, even though local residents have strongly rejected the idea.
Ontario's Independent Electricity We did our research, provided our System Operator offered more than a citizens with education on both sides dozen new contracts for various reof the IWT debate, and in early 2014 so-
He said the people living in Dutton Dunwich were given the chance to have their say on wind farms in a 2014 municipal survey and their preference was clear. "Eighty-four per cent of the respondents were not interested in having a wind farm in their area," he told CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive in an interview on Friday. The mayor said residents have a variety of concerns about the wind turContinued On Page 5
Accidental 911 Pocket Dials Compromise Safety PC Troy Carlson - OPP Media Officer The Elgin County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) conducted an analysis of the non-emergency 911 calls for service in Elgin County in 2015. In total, there were 636 unintentional/accidental 911 calls in 2015. Many of these calls were pocket dials made to 911. 911 "pocket dials" account for many unwanted calls to police. They tie up emergency lines and require police follow-up. Please make sure your phone is secure in your pocket so that it won't accidentally call 911. To reduce pocket dials, you can help by: • locking the keypad/home screen on your device • disabling the 911 auto-dial feature
• carrying your device in a holster or protective case • not letting children play with the device • confirming the number you have dialed is correct • removing batteries from phones not being used If you have dialed 911 in error, remain on the line and explain to the call-taker that you are safe, and that 911 was dialed in error. Officers will still respond to verify your safety. A reduction of calls to 911 for nonemergencies will result in cost savings for residents, and won’t tie up emergency resources. For non-emergency calls, the OPP 24 hour police service phone number is 1-888-310-1122.