TRANSPORTATION WORKSHOP HELD Residents urged to go for green SUNDAY DRIVE TAKES ON NEW MEANING Motorists `share the road' with cyclists CONSERVATION ADVOCATES RECOGNIZED Naturalized Habitat coordinator included See NEWS Page 3 See NEWS Page 7 See COMMUNITY Page 14 $1 "Serving Essex and Community Since 1896" .00 (GST included) See inside ad for details CALL FOR FURNACE CHECK-UP NOW! Whole Number 6208 Registration No. 08565 Volume 127 No. 42 Phone: 776-4268 Fax: 776-4014 519-776-4021 32D Arthur Ave., Essex Wednesday, October 25, 2006 http://essexfreepress.reinvented.net All-candidates debate set for November 2 BY DANIEL SCHWAB An all-candidates debate scheduled for early next month will bring a number of issues out to the public during a mayoral race that is already heating up, one of the event's organizers said Monday. "Instead of going back and forth between the candidates, we're bringing the issues out," said Mark Nikita of the Kinsmen Club of Essex and co-chair of the event. The debate will take place Nov. 2 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in McGregor. Kinsmen Club of Harrow member Mike Golden will join Nikita as co-chair of the event and the pair will be formulating some of the questions the candidates will face. The public will also be given the opportunity to ask their own questions, but Nikita says anyone looking to run down a candidate will not be tolerated. "We'll just throw their question out," he said. Nikita said the municipality's two mayoral candidates and 14 candidates running for council will be contacted this week and asked to join the debate. The event will begin with Nikita and Golden posing a series of questions to mayoral candidates Larry Snively and Ron McDermott. Nikita said the questions will stem from a number of key issues facing the municipality, but added that he would be unable to elaborate on them until he has consulted with Golden. The debate will then be opened to the floor and questions from the public will be welcomed. Candidates running for councillor in the municipality's four wards will then face a series of general questions and each will have one minute to respond, Nikita said. He added that he is considering extending the invitation to those running for school board trustees. A moderator is also being considered for the event. Nikita said before he and Golden began planning the debate, he received phone calls from another municipality and a local media outlet asking him if he was planning on chairing an all-candidates event. It was then that Nikita contacted the Kinsmen Club of Harrow and began arrangements with Golden. Essex Mayor Ron McDermott said during the debate, he plans to highlight the accomplishments of the current town council. "In this council we had four brand new members to local politics," McDermott said. "We knew what had to be accomplished and our first goal was to work together." SEE DEBATE, PAGE 6 Kingsville Fire and Rescue Service volunteer Dave Van Manen carries a commemorative rescue axe during a march down Fox Street in Cottam Oct. 22. Members of the service marched from the old fire station on Hill Street to the new facility to celebrate its grand opening. Cottam gets new fire station BY DANIEL SCHWAB COTTAM An uncoupling of a fire hose served as a creative ribbon cutting during a grand opening ceremony for the Kingsville Fire Department North Station Oct. 22. With Kingsville Deputy Mayor Katherine Gunning loosening one end and Mayor Nelson Santos on the other, the $462,000 station officially opened at its new location on Fox Street. "Our community is very proud to be investing in what matters homes and properties," Santos told the group of Kingsville residents, volunteer firefighters and supporters of the project. "This is your building this is for your community." The ceremony began with the station's 25 volunteer firefighters formally marching from the old station on Hill Street to the new facility. Volunteers from stations in Essex, Lakeshore, Tecumseh and Windsor were also on hand in uniform to show their support. After the march, Kingsville Fire and Rescue Service Chief Bob Kissner welcomed the crowd and thanked a number of key players who helped make the plans for a new station a reality. "We're ecstatic with the turnout," Kissner said. "When the concept came together, the firefighters worked as a team." Kissner said the "driving force" behind the opening of the facility has been North Station Chief John Krabbenbos. "I can't believe the amount of time he's spent here in the past few weeks," Kissner said. "I was expecting to see a cot here for him." Kissner also presented Krabbenbos's wife Cheryl with flowers for "basically being a widow while her hubby was at the facility." Kissner said the new 4800 square foot station gives the service more space and includes parking facilities, washrooms, showers and lockers. It also features a training room, which could potentially also be used as an emergency operations centre if the area faced a disaster situation. The Gosfield North Communications Co-operative Ltd. purchased the old station, and Kissner presented its members with a plaque for their dedication to the project. Essex MPP Bruce Crozier also addressed the crowd, saying the local fire service deserves the amount of support provided by the more than 100 people packed into the station. "Our firefighters are always on duty," Crozier said. "Even in a small community, there may be an event where they would all be needed, and I'm sure our volunteers would respond." Construction on the building was completed about three weeks ago by Marcovecchio Construction Ltd. SEE NEW STATION, PAGE 8