The record, 23 décembre 1998, mercredi 23 décembre 1998

THE Thought of the Day Classifieds Sherbrooke: 569-9525 Knowlton: 242-1 188 The voice of the Eastern Townships since 1897 My hear! leaps up when I behold A rainbow In the sky.-William Wordsworth 60 CENTS Wednesday, December 23, 1998 Tills are jingling for Lennoxville merchants Turkeys, canes and kettles on Christmas lists By Sylvia Warden Lennoxville It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, much to the delight of local businesses.The streets are crowded, shops are bustling and snow has finally fallen.That’s welcome news to retailers who depend on Christmas sales to see them through the lean months of January and February.“It’s our busiest season,” said James Lewis, owner of Boucherie James on Queen Street in Lennoxville.With Christmas music playing and a Christmas tree to greet customers as they make their way to the butcher counter to pick out a Christmas turkey, Lewis said this year has been a good one.“It’s fine.Things are like last year,” said Lewis.Popular items on the menu include turkey, ham and roast beef.“We’ve sold about 300 turkeys.” A few shops down, Valérie Courch-esne is filling prescriptions behind the pharmacy counter at Essaim drug store.She said this Christmas season consumers are selecting gifts that are not only personal but with turn toward health.“Customers are choosing their gifts with care.” That means starting their shopping earlier and really thinking about what they are going to buy.See shopping, page 3 SYLVIA WARDEN "It’s our busiest season," said James Lewis, owner of Boucherie James on Queen Street in Lennoxville.City of Sherbrooke accused of expanding dump site illegally SNUGGLING WITH SANTA PERRY BEATON/CORRESPONDENT Marina Vidal took a break on Santa’s shoulder after opening a much cherished Barbie set during the presentation of gifts to sick children at the CUSE Tuesday.Permit should be revoked:Fleurimont manager By Rita Legault Sherbrooke Fleurimont is trying to have part of the city of Sherbrooke’s dump permit revoked in order to prevent it from expanding any further close to homes in the east-end suburb.Fleurimont’s town manager René Allaire said Sherbrooke is illegally operating part of its site much too close to some homes and that it unlawfully expanded the west sector of the dump sometime before 1993.Allaire said the town of Fleurimont has sent a letter to the provincial environment ministry demanding that Sherbrooke’s permit be modified to take into account its illegal operations and expansions.Allaire said that according to Quebec’s environment quality act, it is ille- gal to operate a garbage dump within 200 metres (about 600 feet) of a home.Allaire said that when Sherbrooke purchased lot 22-1 in 1970, there was already a residential sector located within the 200-metre buffer zone.See dump, page 3 Socks by | _____________ KOMBI à# 1% I A MJF the Art ml Science of Keeping Him DUR AY i.Ks tricots DtJVAt.ft Raymond tree I Wigwam NOW;| A% off OPEN; I y 1140 Panneton St., Sherbrooke • 569-2531 with ; coupon i on gloves, scarves, socks | Valid til December 31st, 1998 One coupon per customer.Cannot be combined with any other promotion .M HOURS Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m.Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.Sunday Noon - 5:00 p.m. page 2 Wednesday, December 23, 1998 RECORD Intriguing spectacle of‘justice’ Public opinion was manipulated I must admit that I was riveted to my television set for most of the twelve hours while Special Counsel, Kenneth Starr testified before the House Judicial Committee.My interest had little to do with any expected or potential surprise insofar as the facts were concerned.On the contrary, I wasn’t waiting for any new twist or angle.Between the Starr report, the mountains of exhibits, tapes, editorials, television interviews, spin-doctoring, political posturing there was really no valid reason to expect any new angles.Besides, the Court of public opinion had already begun drafting the final judgment.We had been warned, time and again, that even if the facts are all true, the American public doesn’t believe that they justify the impeachment of their popular president.The political pundits have excused this watered-down and conciliatory attitude thanks to a healthy economy.Clever slogans I for one, believe that public opinion was manipulated and reshaped by the staunch Clinton defenders thanks to a few slogans that were constantly injected into the minds of the American people via the media.“Starr is an overzealous and politically biased prosecutor,” “the issues only concern the President’s private life,” “.in any event his conduct never had any negative impact on his job performance,” “his lies were only technicalities,” “anyone would do likewise under the same circumstances.” “Paula Jones, Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky are hardly worthy of causing the downfall of the President.” Having also been bombarded by so many sexual details, thanks to a few major tactical errors of judgment by the Republican leaders, our American cousins want to get back to the business of getting rich and forget about this embarrassing affair.It appears that the Rule of the Law is about to recognize another exception.This time the beneficiary will be the Chief Executive Officer.From our Canadian perspective everything appears to be upside down.Contrary to our judicial process where the facts are gathered during the hearings, in Washington the Committee Members released the evidence before the hearings began.In fact, most of the Members have already gone public with their re spective opinions which, so far, depend entirely on their political stripes.The Republican members are divided between the conservative wing who want to impeach Clinton and those who would like to find a gracious way to bring their investigation to a speedy resolution.Shoot the messenger Censure appears to be a strong favorite.As to the Democrat Members their political mandate is to try and destroy the messenger.I was particularly interested in seeing how Kenneth Starr, 52, would stand up to intensive cross-examination by such experienced attorneys as well as Clinton’s arch-defenders on the Committee.After all, his public image has always been low key and dull despite a highly successful career both in the public and private sectors.With his many televised “no comment” replies to the media and that faithful cup of coffee in his hand he appeared more like a scholarly intellectual then a gunslinging attorney out to nail the President.Some of the interest in his testimony naturally resulted from my sympathy towards prosecutors, investigators and commissioners when they handle high profile cases and investigations.The classic one-punch response by those who are targeted has often been to try and attack the messenger, especially when the message appears to be rock solid.Another equally effective method is to try and influence public opinion through the media.Just about every group of individuals sharing a common interest and feeling attacked has resorted to such methods at one time or another, including, politicians, prosecutors, organized crime and police unions.After working with the defunct Commission of Inquiry into Organized crime for almost four years it became clear that its survival during the early tumultuous years was largely due to the media and public support despite the many efforts by some to denigrate its reputation and that of its personnel.Any attempt by the government of the day to pull the plug would have been a political error.SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET Political parties are also pros when it comes to such methods, on both sides of the border.After all, discovering a few scandals in an opponent’s closet has always been an effective way to attack even a powerful and popular candidate as well as his or her platform.Once a doubt is instilled in the mind of the public as to the credibility of the messenger it doesn’t take long before the message is destroyed.The media and public have always been receptive to such allegations especially when they concern public officials.It’s no wonder why so many potentially good candidates refuse to get involved in politics.Fewer and fewer are prepared to expose their families to the type of scrutiny and viscous innuendoes that even Mother Teresa would have a hard time coping with.Criminal trials are also a good example where such methods can be effective.Trial lawyers have all been Henry Keyserlingk by media reminded of the old saying, “If the law is against you, argue the facts.If the facts are against you argue the law.If both are against you then just argue like hell! When the evidence is overwhelming in jury trials, experienced attorneys will naturally try to deflect the attention of the jurors from the evidence.One way is to try and show that the police were sloppy in their investigation by not checking out all of their leads.Equally effective is the tactic whereby the investigators are painted like a bunch of gung-ho cowboys with no sense of impartiality.When such images are bought they can taint even the strongest evidence.POSITIVE IMPACT As to Kenneth Starr, I thought he testified calmly, methodically and with pondération and articulation.As expected the Democratic members went on the offensive.They attacked his methods, accused him of being anything else but independent but never dared to question the evidence.However he was never really shaken by the vigorous and frequent unfair cross examination despite efforts to the contrary.His interrogators were more interested in making speeches.His answers were methodical, articulate and for the most, low key and calm.Personality wise, he came across as a person with convictions, rather bland, certainly not charismatic and even a little self-righteous.The standing room applause at the end of his twelve hour testimony clearly reflected the positive impact of his testimony.As expected, the spin doctors had a field day and I am still wondering why the word “Justice" is included in the title of the Justice Special Committee.Henry Keyserlingk is a retired crown attorney and is reporting from the USA.He can be e-mailed, via tartantoine@hotmail.com Today’s Weather A' " * i Thetfoud.Mines * A A Richmond lAt-MÉCANTI^* Sherbrooke* * jCowansviuj» ?f | Stan stead REGIONAL FORECAST WEDNESDAY: Variable cloudiness.Chance of flurries.Low near -20.High near -7.Probability of pre-cipitation30 per cent THURSDAY: Cloudy with a few flurries.Low near -8 High near -7.Probability of precipitation 60 percent.Normals for the period low -14.High -5.BEN® by DANIEL SHELTON ( ereakapleTJ HE HE HE IS IT ANIMAL MINERAL OR VEGETABLE?WHAT IS m, IS THIS IT?LET ME FOR ME?/r ft * aiNK., Cl>K 1 In am Wednesday, December 23, 1998 page 3 RECORD Fleurimont wants Sherbrooke to remove garbage D\ IMP: ________ Continued from page 1 That lot is immediately adjacent to homes in the Dubreuil neighborhood which had to be evacuated repeatedly between the fall of 1997 and the spring of 1998 due to the migration of potentially flammable biogases from rotting garbage at the dump.Allaire said Sherbrooke’s permit to operate two sections - 22-J and 22-1 - was issued in 1981.“Environment Quebec should never have given them permission to operate in that area,” Allaire said.“They didn’t even respect their own law.” Allaire said the town has aerial photos and municipal evaluation documents proving the homes were there in the sixties, long before Sherbrooke purchased and operated that sector of the landfill site.Construction in the Dubreuil sector began before or around 1964.“That’s important because Sherbrooke is always accusing the town of Fleurimont of handing out permits to allow construction too close to the site,” he said.“This proves that the city of Sherbrooke was to blame.” “And the Environment Ministry al- lowed them to operate in total illegality,” he added.And that is just one of Fleurimont’s complaints.Allaire added that in 1993, the Environment Ministry issued an infraction against the municipal dump saying it had expanded the operating sector of the landfill by some 4.4 hectares (a little more than 10 acres) to the west near the St-Francis River.“That a pretty big mistake,” he commented sarcastically.“It’s not 10, 15 or 20 feet.” And, he adds, the Environment Ministry was aware of the expansion for years and said nothing.“There are Environment Quebec inspectors there every week,” Allaire said.“Don’t tell me they didn’t notice something was amiss.” “They are supposed to be a watchdog for the environment,” he said, accusing inspectors of being “asleep at the switch.” Worse yet, Allaire said the 1995 operation certificate for the dump includes the illegal expansion and lots 22-1 and 22-J, rectifying all of the irregularities.Fleurimont is now demanding that the Environment Ministry revoke Sherbrooke’s 1981 dump permit that allowed expansion onto lots 22-1 and 22-J.It also wants the ministry to force Sherbrooke to remove the garbage buried there.If not, Fleurimont wants ministry officials to make up for the illegal 4.4 hectare expansion to the west, by limiting its permit on the east side.That would prevent plans by the city of Sherbrooke to exploit the site on both sides of Des Pèlerins Boulevard which leads from the east end of Sherbrooke to the Dubreuil neighborhood.That, Allaire said, would prevent the dump from expanding closer to dump-weary residents of Fleurimont who are tired of biogases, smells, sand and ground cover migrating into their neighborhood and homes.Allaire said that if the dump had not been illegally expanded to the edge of the Dubreuil neighborhood, the biogas crisis would have been a less serious problem.“I’m not saying there would not have been a biogas crisis,” he said.“It would probably have happened anyway but if there had been a 200-metre buffer zone between the trash and homes it would have been very different.” While awaiting news from the Environment Ministry, Fleurimont is also seeking more permanent solutions to dump woes.Allaire said that mayor Francis Gagnon has been pressuring the regional municipal council (MRC) to do some long-term planning and seek a new site for the next 10 or 15 years.Allaire said the municipalities are the worse managers of landfill, because private dumps are watched much more closely.He points out that while the cost of dumping garbage is much more expensive in private sites and elsewhere in the world, the Sherbrooke dump lowered its prices to increase their profits for burying garbage.Meanwhile they have not been investing money in more effective garbage management which could have included a system to capture biogases before they became a problem.“Dumps are a necessary evil, but they cost a lot to maintain properly,” he said.“We have to stop burying our heads in the sand .” SHOPPING: Continued from page 1 “This year is different from the past.Shoppers are more organized.” As consumers shopping habits change so do the habits of shopkeepers.“We start advertising earlier, in October, for Christmas," said Courchesne.One thing that hasn’t changed, she said, is Townshipper’s reaction to the weather.“Christmas always depends on the temperature.Weather is always a big factor." When it snows people tend to shop more, and when its green, like a few weeks ago, consumers tend to stay away from the stores.This year’s unseasonably warm temperatures and lack of snow had some shopkeepers worried.But Mother Nature came through, dumping just enough snow to dust the streets and get people into the stores.“It’s a nice time to work because you get to visit with our customers and inquire about their families.” Helping people pick out gifts often leads to discussions about relatives and the year’s activities.“We’ve sold some blood pressure monitors and walking canes so they are gifts that can be used through- Jacques Hallée owner of Le Meubleur furniture store in Lennoxville.SYLVIA WARDEN out the year,” Courchesne said.Furniture may be practical but its seldom put under the tree as a gift, said Jacques Hallée owner of Le Meubleur furniture store in Lennoxville.“Christmas is not the busy season for us,” said Hallée who’s worked 34 Christmases at his store on Queen Street.“Our busy season is March to July.Hallée said slow sales during December won’t be felt in the same way as many electronic stores, who depend on Christmas sales to stay afloat.The week between Christmas and New Year’s is traditionally a good one for Hallée who speculated shoppers like to buy things for their homes after the 25th.“It was different 20 years ago,” Hallée said, with a laugh.“Husbands would buy tea kettles for their wives and they would be happy to receive it.Now it would be sent back.People want personal gifts.” Courchesne concurred with Hallée and hopes the next two days will be fruitful.“The next few days could be busy.But if it’s icy people may stay away." RÉSERVATIONS CANTONS-DE-L'EST CHALETS CONDOS AUBERGES HOTELS SKI GOLE New central reseruation office and secondary residence management seruice in the Eastern Townships (condos, chalets, houses).Looking for new properties for rentals.For more info or reservation call us at (450) 538-0007 Toll Free CANTONS 1-877-226-8667 Fax: (450) 538-0279 54 B Principale N., Sutton ?page 4 Wednesday, December 23, 1998 Season’s greetings to all Sign up now for the annual ski loppet Get ready to strap on your skis, haul on a tuque and hit the trails, as Townshippers hosts its third annual cross-country ski loppet on Feb.6, 1999 at the Round Barn in the Coaticook Gorge.*The loppet is a fun-filled fund-raiser for the Association.It is a low-key cross-country ski event open to skiers of all levels and ages organized in collaboration with the Gorge.There are 10, 25 or 50 kilometre distances, with ribbons going to the winners in the different age categories.Following the outdoor exercise, entrants will be able to relax over a delicious lunch.Anyone with any energy left over can take part in the Round Barn’s fun tube slides and the other available family activities.Entry cost depends upon the distance skied.For the 10 km race, the price is $20, for the 25 km it is $25 and for the 50 km the cost is $30.There are special family rates available as well.Early birds get a $5 discount off all of the fees if they sign up before Feb.1.Keeping in Touch Townshippers’ Association The day begins at 9 a.m.for last minute registration, and the skiing gets underway at 10 a.m.Come out for some fresh air, plenty of fun and a healthy dose of socializing following the event! Everyone must register to enter.Call (819) 566-5717 or (450) 263-4422 for more information.See you on the trails! Operation Nez Rouge The Christmas season often involves a whirl of parties and get-togethers.Enjoy the holidays responsibly, and please don’t drink and drive.Until Dec.31 Operation Nez Rouge will be in effect throughout the Townships.This service is a unique way to allow you to enjoy the fun of the holiday season, without the spectre of drunk driving.Simply call any of the appropriate numbers listed below, and Nez Rouge will be there for you.Two volunteers will pick you up anywhere in the Townships.One will taxi you home in your own car, while the second volunteer will follow in a Nez Rouge vehicle.The service is free and they ask only for whatever donation you can spare.In the Brome-Missisquoi area call (450) 266-4011, or 1-800-363^011, in the Granby region call (450) 777-2611, in Waterloo call (450) 539-4011 and in the Sherbrooke area call (819) 821-4646.Please use this service over the holidays, and help avert tragedy.Office closed over Christmas Townshippers’ Sherbrooke and Cowansville offices will be closed from noon on Dec.24 until Jan.4.If you have any questions, or need information on any of Townshippers’ many activities, please feel free to call either office, and leave a detailed massage.We will respond to your query as soon as we return on January 4.Happy Holidays! From all the staff and volunteers at Townshippers’ we wish you and your loved ones a happy and healthy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous new year.Keeping in Touch is a weekly column presented by Townshippers’ Association cernber ^ Kerry chr|strr^ • Vast choice of balloons Hats - flutes - plates glasses - utensils - tablecloths, etc.• Balloon bouquets Reserve tuxcuf Santa suit Mrs.Santa suit Elf suit WHILE \ trn -BD put TUI