La source, 11 octobre 2000, Cahier 1

[" TEL.: 264-5364 Wednesday, October 11, 2000 FAX: 264-9521 COVERING HUNTINGDON, ORMSTOWN, HEMMINGFORD, HOWICK, CHÂTEAUGUAY, FRANKLIN, ST-ANICET, STE-BARBE, VALLEYFIELD AND SURROUNDINGS FOUNDED IN 1863 16 pages .87¢ 7% (off newsstand prices) when you subscribe to \"(LEANER : I 66 CHATEAUGUAY, HUNTINGDON I LL __ 264-5364 _ 1 PHARMACIST 4 BRIDGE STRÉET, ORMSTOWN, QUE.\u201cLes Galeries d'Ormatown\u201d \\__ OPEN7DAYSAWEEK || JEAN-PAUL LALIBENTÉ as ow pe - > re .ww Co .¥/ Checkpoints - Brief items from around the Valley ds Le ee Minor earthquake hit Valley Friday A minor earthquake shook buildings and rattled dishes on the shelves on Friday morning in the Ormstown- Huntingdon area.While no damages were reported, \u201cIt was definitely noticeable.\u201d said Ormstown\u2019s Peter Finlayson.Finlayson, who operates a weather- observation station on his Ormstown farm, called the government office monitoring such events and was told that the quake, which occurred at 9:59 a.m.Friday, measured 3.8 on the Richter scale.Its epicenter was 16 km southeast of Valleyfield.Earthquakes registering less than 5 on the Richter scale do not normally cause any damage.Several people called or dropped in at The Gleaner office shortly afterward the event to report they had experienced the tremor and ask for more information.gm Gault School has new playground On Friday Sept.29.some 266 students at Valleyfield's Gault School took official possession of their brand-new playground equipment, financed by $30.000 raised in the community over the past year.Before the youngsters could launch themselves at the new, safer pieces of apparatus, they watched along with their teachers and invited guests as the official opening ceremonies took place.Principal Lionel Cuccioletta and New Frontiers School board director-general Howard Simpkin were joined by school commissioner Abdul Pirani, and Valleyfield municipal councillor Derepentigny.representing mayor Denis Lapointe.Also present were Mrs.Phyllis Wood, head of the school's governing board, former principal Michel Paquin, local minister Jean Leboeuf and school care-taker Phil Wood.Huge effort Cuccioletta thanked the City and the school board for their sponsorship of the playground project, as well as the school staff He pointed to the huge fund-raising effort by school and community, which included a reunion of graduates last May.and several spaghetti suppers, dances, etc.during the course of the year.He mentioned the names of those involved in the project.including Marie- Andrea Bernier.Brian Brunet.Sarah Engelhardt.Debbie Rapin.Jackie Hayton, Germain Giroux, Mervin Hunter, Maureen Voyer, Gerry Butt and Réal Laprade.and thanked all the local businesses which had made donations.See SCHOOL page 6 Medal-winners \u2014 Phase | Zi Po Rg Ir we TT» 2 Huntingdon Academy has launched a new Olympic-style program to recognize stduents who show good social behavior and anger management in school each week.This first group received their medals on Friday Oct.6 during a special assembly at the school.See the whole story on Page 6.(Photo: JT) Jeän-sur-Richelieu Capitation system strengthens out-patient services: local brief The current pilot project on Capitation here in the Valley was the subject of a briet submitted September 29 to the Clair Commission by the heads ot two local hospitals and the CLSC.In à written.bricf submitted to the St- sitting of the Commission, which is charged with studying financing and re-organizing the province's health and social services, the administrators discussed how the new system works, and called for its wider use in other parts of Quebec.One week carlier in Valleyfield, the Chateauguay Valley English-Speaking People's Association had submitted their own brief, calling for maintaining sufficient services in English in a re-organized system, and advocating incentives for doctors to practise in rural areas.New services Huntingdon Hospital and CLSC director Guy Deschênes and his Barrie Memorial colleague André Morin said in their presentation that as of September, more than 700 people had availed themselves of new out-patient services set up in the area in connection with the Capitation plan, which calls for a different method of allocating health care funding.It allows institutions within a region to budget for providing a range of local services, while paying for services which must be obtained elsewhere.Their 14-page brief stated that the percentage of home-care patients has risen by 02.6 per cent, while an even greater reduction (66.6 per cent) has taken place in the number of short-term hospital beds being used by long-term patients.As well, an out-patient program for diabetics has worked so well that no one has had to be hospitalized for complications of diabetes since the program began.This area is currently the only one in Quebec using the Capitation system.Still some problems All is not completely rosy however, the brief stated: the perennial shortage of gen- cral practitioners means the doctors have less time to spend at clinics.Also there are not enough nurses in the hospitals to help with certain designated tasks which they perform in a private office setting.There is some confusion in administering the program, the brief admits, given the number of institutions involved.More computerized information systems are needed for integrated treatment.and to ensure confidentiality, Among the recommendations Deschenes and Morin urge is setting up a system of first-line services to coincide with the territory covered by an MRC or à CLSC, finane- ing on a per-capita basis for such services, See BRIEFS page 6 Marcil leading list of possible Liberal choices Although he says he hasn't made up his mind yet, former provincial Liberal MNA Serge Marcil this week is leading the pack of possible candidates to represent the federal Liberals in Beauharnois-Salaberry riding in a possible fall election.Marcil, who currently heads the Paul Gérin-Lajoie Foundation, was being cagey late last week, saying he was \u201cstill thinking\u201d about throwing his name into the running after long-time candidate Linda Julien announced she would not run again.\"I'm doing some serious thinking and using this time to consult with the people around me,\u201d Marcil said, adding that he hopes to announce his decision at the end of the current week, or perhaps during the week of October 16.In announcing her withdrawal, Julien had mentioned a fairly lengthy list of possible replacements, but several were quick to deny they intended to run for the Liberals in the riding currently held by MP Daniel Turp of the Bloc Québécois.Former PC candidate Dominique Bellemare.and mayors Gilles Bigras of See LIBERALS page 5 A À = 100th birthday Earl Bradley (right) of Ormstown marked his 100th birthday on October 6, while spending a few days in the Barrie Memorial Hospital getting his blood pressure regulated.Normally, he looks after himself at the Route 138 home which he built himself, but admits now might be the time to see about some help.He moved to Ormstown over 20 years ago, after living and working in Côte-St-Luc and Montreal West.BMH staff laid on the balloons and a birthday cake, while Dr.Greg Geukjian (left) kept an eye on his patient.(Photo: JT) MEUBLEUR Onlv@20 minutes from Huntingdon A visit at Ameublement Maheu [ZX Quality ; M Service M Competitive price ve À ES guéz-11101000 478, chemin St-Louis, St-Etienne-de-Beauharnois _ (450) 429-4303 Page 2 \u2014 THE GLEANER \u2014 OCTOBER 11 2000 FIRST WE GOBBLE \u2014 up the turkey, and then we waddle back to work, stuffed, again like the poor turkey, with harvest-season goodies.Such is the annual ritual of Thanksgiving, and we wouldn't change it for the world.WE LIKE \u2014 our Canadian October holiday much better than we would if it were moved to November, the choice of our neighbors to the south.We know they have a longer growing season in most parts of their country, but with only two months between their Thanksgiving and Christmas, it seems like turkey overload, to say the last.BUT NOW \u2014 the fluttering leaves of the calendar show us only Hallowe\u2019en (one of our favorite \u201ccelebrations\u201d) between us and Christmas.It's time to watch the advertisements in this newspaper, and also this space, for new of the many bazaars and sales offering hand-crafted and often ingenious solutions to the problem of filling up the stockings and ticking off the Christmas gift list.MEANWHILE \u2014 Culture et Loisirs Huntingdon, the local group organizing sports and cultural activities in Town, is collecting information needed for a Directory of community groups which it plans to publish in the New Year.If you or your group offers any kind of cultural, sports or leisure activity in the Huntingdon area, please call Alain Boisvert before December 12 to make sure your information is included in this reference booklet.His number is 264- 5656, or you can e-mail the information to >> matou@rocler.qc,ca