Wingham Takes Game 4, Late

The Wingham Ironmen erased a 3 goal defecit in the third period and beat Walkerton 7-5 in Game 4 of the Western Junior "C" Semi-Finals.
Down 5-2 early in the third, Nic Carter scored just over 5 minutes into the period.
Travis Donaldson scored under a minute later to make it a one goal game.
League MVP Aaron Armstrong then picked up the pace and scored twice late in the game to make it 6-5, the winning goal was scored on a breakaway. 
Walkerton tried to press in the last 45 seconds but Wade Stephenson sealed it.
Walkerton's goals were scored by Eric Lekun (2), Andy Mitchell, Andrew Graham and Jordan Turcotte.
Wingham's goals were scored by Aaron Armstrong (2), Travis Donaldson (2), Blair Goss, Nic Carter and Wade Stephenson.
Walkerton outshot Wingham 44-38.
The Hawks were 3 for 7 on the powerplay and Wingahm was 1 for 6.
Game 5 goes Friday night in Walkerton at 8:30 with the Hawks still up 3-1 in Best of 7.

Lock Up Fuel!

A theft of diesel near Mitchell has police warning farmers to lock up tanks.

Police say the thieves likely backed up a vehicle with a tank on it, helped themselves to 100 litres of diesel from the tank sitting behind a hog barn, and took off.

Anyone with bulk tanks of fuel are being reminded to lock them up and if you see anything suspicious on your farm or a neighbour's, take the license plate down and call police.

Horse Race Supporters Rally at Queen's Park

About 500 people who support the horse racing industry rallied at Queens Park this afternoon.
A Director of the Ontario Harness Horse Association, Lee Watson, says the goal is to get the public's awareness that they aren't subsidized.

Click for audio

Both Huron-Bruce M-P-P Lisa Thompson and Bruce-Grey Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker spoke to today's crowd in support of their effort.

Peru Opens to Canadian Beef & Cattle

Another country is reopening their border to Canadian beef.

Starting immediately, Peru is allowing Canadian cattle imports.

Between Canada Beef and the Livestock Genetics Association, they estimate the Peru market will be worth about 2.5 million dollars for 2012.

All cattle born after August 1 of 2007 will be allowed to be shipped with the majority of that expected to be dairy genetics.

Closing Farm Markets - February 22, 2012

On the Chicago Board of Trade:

Corn Futures:
Mar up 8.6 to 6.38.2
May up 7.6 to 6.41.2

Soybean Futures:
Mar up 1.2 to 12.72.2
May up 1.6 to 12.78.6

Wheat Futures:
Mar up 11.4 to 6.44.4
May up 9 to 6.45.6

Oat Futures:
Mar down 1.2 to 3.19.2
May up 3.12.2Local grain quotes from London Agricultural Commodities:
OLD CROP CORN = 40 under MAR at 5.98 /BU
2012 CROP CORN = 65 under DEC at 5.00 /BUOLD CROP SOYBEANS = 57 under MAR at 12.15 /BU
2012 CROP SOYBEANS = 76 under NOV at 11.88 /BUOLD CROP SOFT WHITE WINTER WHEAT = 10 under MAR at 6.35 /BU
NEW CROP SOFT WHITE WINTER WHEAT = 40 under at 6.20/BUOLD CROP SOFT RED WINTER WHEAT = 15 under MAR at 6.30 /BU
2012 CROP SOFT RED WINTER WHEAT = 40 under JUL at 6.20/BU -> FROM DAUPHIN FEED AND SUPPLY, THE 48% SOYBEAN MEAL QUOTE, F-O-B HAMILTON = $385/tonne

-> CLOSING LOCAL GRAIN PRICES FROM SNOBELIN FARMS:

2011 CROP CORN = up 9 to 5.98/BU
2012 CROP CORN = up 1 to 5.00/BU

2011 CROP SOYS = up 1 to 6.30/BU
2012 CROP SOYS = up 2 to 11.89/BU

2011 CROP SOFT RED WINTER WHEAT = up 11 to 6.30/BU
2012 CROP SOFT RED WINTER WHEAT =up 8 to 6.20/BUOntario Pork Reports:The U-S CME price = 87.11 U-S per hundredweight, dressed weight.
That's up 30 centsTuesday 100% formula price = 156.95 per hundred kilograms, dressed weight.
That's up 1.03Quebec's average price on Tuesday
was 162.39 per hundred kilograms, dressed weight, 100 index.The opening lean hog futures price in Chicago for June
is 99.40
That's up 5 cents

Phone Scam Artist Targets Wiarton Woman

A 77-year-old Wiarton woman is the latest target of a phone scam.
Lucky for her, the bank noticed some irregularities in her account activities and intervened.
Bruce Peninsula OPP say the woman got a letter indicating she had won $2.6-million in a sweepstakes.
She called in to claim her prize, and the person she spoke with managed to get enough personal and banking information from her to access her bank accounts and change passwords.
That's when the bank intervened and called police.
Police again remind everyone not give personal details like banking information or your social insurance number to anyone you do not know.

Bluewater Board Debates Gideon Bibles

The Bluewater District School Board is having trouble deciding whether to allow the distribution of bibles in the schools.

The Gideon Society has always been allowed to distribute bibles in schools. But after recent complaints from a few parents, the Board set up a sub committee to come up with an official policy.

It came up with two options: either allow any group to distribute religious materials upon Board approval; or allow no one. The committee recommended the second option to the policy committee.

But the Bluewater Board's policy committee defeated the motion to eliminate religious material distribution altogether, so the committee will debate the two options again at its next meeting.

Goderich Disaster Claims Update

Damage claims from the Goderich tornado are working their way through the system.

The Disaster Relief Committee has reviewed 173 of the 373 claims received.

Committee Chair Duncan Jewell says 133 have been approved for payment; 26 were ineligible; and 11 files were closed because people had reached a settlement with their insurance company.

Jewell adds the 200 outstanding claims are the more complicated ones, ranging from 300 to 600-thousand dollars. They have hired an insurance adjuster to to help with those ones.

Wingham Gets New Brand

The Town of Wingham's new "brand" is about to make its appearance.

Community Development Coordinator Connie Goodall made a presentation to North Huron Council last night . She said branding is important to identify the character of the town.

The proposed new look has a gold outline of a skyline, including Wingham's clock tower.
Also, the word, Wingham appears with a stylized "H", which appears to have roots, and and green leaves above.

Wingham's new brand will appear soon on signs, websites and advertisements.

Gas Thefts in Perth

You can tell when gasoline prices are rising -- by the increase in gas thefts from farms and residential driveways.

A vehicle owner in Listowel reported yesterday that someone had siphoned gas from the tank. The vehicle had been locked and parked under a street light on Main Street West.

On Sunday a farmer reported the theft of diesel from a tank behind one of his hog barns on Road 170, southwest of Mitchell. Police determined that about 100 gallons of fuel had been stolen. The thief would have used a vehicle with some sort of fuel tank on the back.

Police are reminding rural residents with bulk tanks to make sure the tanks or dispensers are locked, and shut off the power to the pump.

Schedule for Wednesday, February 22nd

NHL
Washington at Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Boston at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
Los Angeles at Colorado, 9 p.m.

OHL
Sarnia at Owen Sound, 7 p.m.

GOJHL
St. Marys at London, 7 p.m.

Western Junior "C"
Semi-Finals Best of 7
Walkerton at Wingham, 8 p.m. (Walkerton leads series 3-0)

NBA
Detroit at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Boston at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.
Indiana at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
New Orleans at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
Sacramento at Washington, 7 p.m.
Orlando at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.
Atlanta at New York, 7:30 p.m.
Milwaukee at Chicago, 8 p.m.
Philadelphia at Houston, 8 p.m.
Utah at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Golden State at Phoenix, 9 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Dallas, 9:30 p.m.
Denver at L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.

Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Draw 11
Quebec 8 Canada 5
Ontario 12 HT/YT 2
Alberta 10 PEI 5
BC 11 Newfoundland 7

Standings:
BC (Scott), 5-2
Canada (Holland), 5-2
Manitoba (Jones), 5-2
NB (Atkinson), 4-3
SK (Englot), 4-3
Alberta (Nedohin), 4-3
Quebec (Larouche), 4-3
Ontario (Horgan), 3-4
NL (Strong), 2-5
PEI (Dolan), 2-5
NS (Smith-Dacey), 2-5
NT/YT (Galusha), 2-5

Draw 12
NB vs ON, CA vs NS, MB vs BC, SK vs AB
Draw 13
BC vs NT/YT, QC vs AB, ON vs NL, CA vs PE
Draw 14
PE vs NS, NL vs NB, QC vs SK, MB vs NT/YT

High School Hockey Playoffs

The Kincardine Knights beat St. Mary's of Owen Sound 5-0 in the BAA boys hockey semi-finals.
Sacred Heart of Walkerton beat OSCVI 8-5.
Sacred Heart is in Kincardine on Friday for the final.
It will be the fifth meeting between Sacred Heart and Kincardine.
The Knights won 3 of the games, with the fourth ending in a tie.
Kincardine is also hosting the CWOSSA Tournament which is set for March 6th and 7th.

In Huron-Perth, the F.E. Madill Mustangs girls hockey team beat St. Anne's of Clinton 3-1 to advance in their playoffs and will face South Huron of Exeter their next game.

Scores from Tuesday, February 21st

NHL
New Jersey 4 Toronto 3 (OT)
Dallas 3 Montreal 0
Edmonton 6 Calgary 1
Nashville 3 Vancouver 1
Chicago 2 Detroit 1
Philadelphia 5 Winnipeg 4 (OT)
Buffalo 2 N.Y. Islanders 1
Pittsburgh 2 N.Y. Rangers 0
Columbus 6 San Jose 3
Tampa Bay 3 Anaheim 2
Phoenix 5 Los Angeles 4 (SO)

GOJHL
Listowel 5 Kitchener 2

OMHA
Midget "CC" Quarter-Finals Best of 5
Hanover 4 Mount Forest 3
*Hanover advances to semi-finals versus Blenheim or Dunnville

High School
Bluewater Athletic Association
Boys Hockey Semi-Final
Kincardine 5 St. Mary's (Owen Sound) 0
Sacred Heart (Walkerton) 8 OSCVI 5
*Kincardine hosts final vs. Sacred Heart on Friday at 2 p.m.

Huron-Perth
Girls Hockey Playoffs
F.E. Madill (Wingham) 3 St. Anne's (Clinton) 1
*F.E. Madill advances to face Exeter

NBA
Cleveland 101 Detroit 100
Indiana 117 New Orleans 108
Miami 120 Sacramento 108
Memphis 89 Philadelphia 76
Portland 137 San Antonio 97

Bluewater Cancels Elementary Tech Programs

The Bluewater District School Board's elementary school technology programs are now officially cancelled.

The Board's business committee had recommended the move and it's now been approved by the full board. The province does not fund the programs and the Board axed the tech programs to save hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Trustee Kevin Larson says they had no choice, but he's not happy about it...

(click for audio)

Larsen hopes teachers with the Bluewater Board can find alternate ways to replace the hands-on learning style of the tech programs.