The Creemore
ECHO
Friday, August 7, 2020 Vol. 20 No. 32
www.creemore.com
News and views in and around Creemore
INSIDE THE ECHO
History Repeating
Remembering Spanish Flu epidemic PAGE 4
Staff photo: Trina Berlo
A 50 km/h zone on Concession 3 into Creemore now stretches to the 6/7 Sideroad. It is not an absolute, said Paterson, that the speed limit drops at the settlement boundary but in this case it made sense as more people were complaining about speed. “These people live in the settlement
area and they should be treated the same,” he said. Paterson said he has been talking with staff about refurbishing the trail along that stretch of road, and he (See “Councillor” on page 8)
Back-to-school plan in place by Trina Berlo The plan is to send students back to school on Sept. 8 but the details of that plan are still being flushed out. Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Charles Gardner said it is the opinion of public health officials that the benefit of being in school outweighs the risk for students and families. “In a sense, to me this is like having a fourth stage of opening up the province … It's another potential source of transmission in the community that we have to manage carefully together with the controls that are sited in [the province's] plan,” said Gardner. He said there is increased risk if
students aren’t able to maintain a physical distance, and teachers are also at risk, especially those who are older and have medical conditions. “It’s certainly the view of my colleagues across the province that it’s vitally important that schools commence and that they go back to being full-time for younger children, for their mental wellbeing, for their health overall, and for the wellbeing of families so that they can get back to work for their economic wellbeing…” said Gardner. Information presented to Simcoe County District School Board trustees at the August 4 board meeting is that elementary students would return to
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Road safety tops concerns by Trina Berlo The speed limit on Concession Road 3, between Creemore and the 6/7 Sideroad, has been reduced to 50 km/h in response to pleas for traffic calming from area residents. Dan Perrault said township staff has confirmed the urban boundary of Creemore according to the Township Official Plan is the north side of the road allowance of 6/7 Sideroad at the 3rd Line. He said, in accordance with the Highway Traffic Act Section 128, the rate of speed within a built-up (urban) area is 50 km/h, so there is no need for a by-law in this instance. Councillor Thom Paterson, who helped find the solution, said the 90-degree bend in the road poses a real problem at high speeds, especially in winter. Over the past few years, signage and road paint were used to try to deter speeders but that didn’t work, said Paterson. Then they started to see a change in use with young families moving in on the private road that is an extension of 6/7 Sideroad.
Food for Thought
August climate action items
school full-time on a daily basis to the classroom, and secondary students would return full-time, but with alternative timetables. Elementary school students will be cohorted with their homeroom while secondary school students will adopt a quadmester approach for the first semester, meaning students will take two courses at a time, instead of four. Students will take two courses from September until November and then two different courses from November until February. Students in Grades 4-12 will be required to wear cloth masks, while students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 (See “Students” on page 8)
Resident warns of scam by Trina Berlo A local resident is quite certain they have been the victim of a scam using voice cloning technology. The resident, whose identity we have agreed to protect, received a phone call last week The voice sounded exactly like that of a close relative. The conversation started out casual and then the caller said they had been in an accident and that they needed some money to pay off the other party. They asked the person to go to the bank and withdraw a large sum of cash in US funds and then send it by courier to a specific address. Another call came in from a man who identified himself as Mr. Fisher and implied he was a lawyer. He asked if he could send a Purolator label with a Montreal address by e-mail. After having sent $10,000 in cash, they called back and asked for another $9,000. During the second trip to the bank, officials there became suspicious and intercepted the withdrawal. The involved parties then met with police to report the scam and gather evidence. Community members are being warned that the fraudsters are very clever and use sophisticated methods to trick people into sending them money. The method is referred to as the emergency scam or grandparent scam and targets people who are willing to help their loved ones in crisis. The victim wishes to warn the community of the scam so they are less vulnerable. Report scams to the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501, or the Competition Bureau at 1-800-3485358.