Headlines from this weeks SPEC

August 18, 2002

New committee president speaks out about Murdochville
Charlene Eden

On August 25^th, the citizens of Murdochville will be asked to vote on whether the Municipal Council should start procedures to permanently close the town. As a consequence of the impending referendum, YES and NO committees have been formed. The President of the NO committee is Jean-Yves Bernatchez. He recently spoke with Spec about the committee’s stance and the present situation in Murdochville.

According to Bernatchez, the NO committee is trying to show the town’s citizens that Murdochville is worth keeping alive. "The meaning of the NO committee is to talk about Murdochville and to talk positively about it. Everything we’ve heard since Noranda closed has all been negative. Nobody wants to speak about our future. We firmly believe that there is a future for Murdochville and there are a lot of people who want to continue in Murdochville. We have a lot of things that are positive for us since Noranda left, including the potential new investors. We have a lot of advantages," he stressed.

Integrated professional and technical training centre to become a reality
Charlene Eden

The Eastern Shores and Chics Chocs School Boards, along with the Cegep de la Gaspesie et des Iles are working together to create an integrated professional and technical training centre. The project, which has a total cost of $5 million, will receive $3, 354, 105 from the Minister of Education. The three partners will foot the rest of the bill.

According to the partners, "this project consists of regrouping in our region the competencies and resources found at the secondary and collegiate levels in order to offer to the regional population professional and technical training in different industrial domains."

The Cegep will receive $1,552, 546 to enlarge and restructure the technical pavilion, with another $1 million being used to acquire equipment. The changes will enable the two school boards to offer the machining techniques program on a permanent basis at the Cegep.

Body of missing man finally found
Charlene Eden

The body of Romuald Lepage, who went missing almost a month and a half ago, has been recovered. Shrimp fishermen found the body near L’Ile d’Anticosti on August 6th. The Coast Guard was called in upon the discovery.

Lepage, a resident of Port Cartier, was brought to Fox River by boat last week. The deceased could not be identified by his face, but clothing, a fishing license and an inscribed watch enabled police to positively identify the body as Lepage’s.