70 Years Ago
August 18, 1948
– A decision by the federal government to remove an embargo on beef exports was good news for farmers and difficult news for Canadians setting their budgets for grocery shopping.
Canada was expected to furnish the United States with 100,000 head of cattle by the end of 1948 where farmers were expected to command between 20-33 per cent higher prices than those on the domestic market. The move was expected to raise prices in Canada by 15-25 cents per pound. Some worried domestic consumers would be forced to buy lower-grade beef due to supply shortages.
– Town of Napanee property assessor Mark Graham advocated for Lennox and Addington County to hire its own independent assessor to ensure a uniform assessment across the county that allows each of its lower-tier municipalities are treated fairly in the equalization process for paying taxes for County services and schools.
– The Napanee Athletics were poised to host “the most novel baseball exhibition in the history of the town” with a team from Michigan’s House of David commune visiting. The barnstorming group wore long hair and beards (a rarity on baseball fields at the time) due to orders of their religious sect and played nearly flawless technical baseball.
40 Years Ago
August 16, 1978
– County councillors expressed their dismay about an apparent lack of interest local teachers have shown in taking their students to the county museum and made a motion urging director of education J. Collin McLeod to encourage more field trips to the local historical site.
Warden Ernest Marshall said he’d heard reports of children visiting Peterborough to learn how Big Macs are made and said he believed the museum to be a much more valuable resource.
– The Ministry of the Environment told Deseronto councillors residents could expect their water service charges to be reduced with the inclusion of water rates in base calculations for Ontario’s unconditional grants. Rates would rise from $62 to $111 in a five-year period, all lower than the $195 per year residents were anticipating after a $4-million project to improve the town’s waterworks.
– Napanee council’s decision to buy lands for an industrial park for $616,670 plus capital and interest costs were debated by politicians and members of the public who wondered how the town was going to pay for the land. Some also questioned the need for Napanee and Richmond Township to compete with one another to attract business, rather than working together toward that goal on a county-wide basis.