A2

By Devon Judge

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Speak Up

The owner of a Temperance Vale logging company appeared in a Woodstock courtroom last Tuesday to admit to not obtaining a permit before altering a water course.

Stephen Seveck appeared on behalf of T&B Logging Ltd. to acknowledge his company was harvesting trees within 30 metres of a marked water course.

Crown prosecutor Ken Oliver stated officers from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) initially warned Seveck on Feb. 5 that his company was illegally cutting within 30 metres and skidding within 15 metres.

Oliver added an officer visited the site again in April, noting the harvesting continued and the stream was not buffered properly. On April 14 the officer went back again to find the operation was finished and issued a restoration order. By late May the debris had been removed from the brook.

The company was fined $1,000 plus a $200 victim surcharge.

Double the legal limit

A Skiff Lake man was pulled over by police after appearing to swerve into the lane of oncoming traffic.

Rodney Frederick Butler, 34, was arrested in Bedell on Feb. 9, 2008, on suspicion of impaired driving, a charge to which he later pleaded guilty.

In a Woodstock courtroom last Tuesday for sentencing, Butler disputed the Crown's claim he swerved at the oncoming police vehicle but did not dispute the fact he was drinking and driving.

"Both officers observed a vehicle travelling toward them cross over the middle line," said Crown prosecutor Ken Oliver. "The police vehicle had to swerve to the side of the road to avoid the oncoming vehicle."

Butler said it was snowing that day and he was in the process of turning onto the highway instead of swerving.Oliver noted Butler's blood-alcohol level was at 168, over twice the legal limit.

"I am guilty of drinking and driving," Butler said.

Judge Graydon Nicholas fined Butler $800 plus a victim surcharge of $120 or 19 days in jail in default of payment. He also pohibited Butler from driving for one year.

Sexual touching charges laid

A single count of sexually touching a person under the age of 14 has been laid against a 62-year-old Woodstock man.

Ronald L. Ginson pleaded not guilty last Tuesday to the charge and elected trial by provincial court judge.

The matter was set over to Tuesday, Sept. 2, to set a trial date.

Barely able to break the law

An East Newbridge dog owner was more than willing to pay the fine for allowing her dog to run at large, but said her animal was too sick to have killed a deer as witnesses alleged.

Jennifer A. Ross, 34, pleaded guilty last Tuesday to knowingly allowing her dog to run at large in a resort of wildlife, accepting the $100 fine and $20 victim surcharge.

But she said her 12-year-old husky could not have chased and attacked a deer near the Grafton Bridge, as witnesses reported on March 25 to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Ross noted the dog suffers from growths in its neck and belly areas limiting it to strolls next door for treats.

"It cannot go any further than that," she told the court. "There is no evidence it brought down a deer. She can barely go in and out of the house."

But investigating DNR officers noticed a red substance on the dog's neck and face when investigating the original call, noted Crown prosecutor Ken Oliver.

Ross's boyfriend Randy W. Kelly, 37, was charged similarly and pleaded not guilty Tuesday. His trial date is set for Nov. 13 at 9:30 a.m.

Changes plea to guilty

A Belleville man changed his plea to guilty on a count of impaired driving last Tuesday.

Crown prosecutor Ken Oliver said Jody Kendall Boyer was seen by an RCMP officer to be swerving from his own lane near Hartland on Nov. 17, 2007.

Oliver said the officer decided to pull the pickup truck over after seeing it cross the white line and the parallel rumble strip. The officer reported Boyer, who refused a breath test, exhibited signs of impairment.

Boyer was fined $800 plus a $120 victim surcharge. He was also prohibited from driving for one year.