Wednesday, November 27; 19918 THE FAR SIDE [evseromeia hee treecae By GARY LARSON SL-PC705 $3999 Technics Listen U The science ¢ * 5 ‘ovees MLLER FEATURED, TN a | sion of where to go with the project,” Hamilton said. Urban Systems Ltd. of Kamloops, hired earlier this year as the consultants, came t. “We hope to make a deci- up with a $3 million price tag for revitalizing the entire downtown core over the next five to 10 years. Hamilton said the city has a number of plans for local mer- chants to consider Thursday night. : “We have a number of op- tions prepared,” Hamilton said. She said the different op- tions are based on different costs, ranging from a Cadillac plan to a Volkswagen plan. “The latest version is a fast- tracked Cadillac,” she said. The plan’s first stage will cost an estimated $1.42 mil- City fix-up plan works @ Revitalization project making progress with full support of merchants and city NEWS STAFF Castlegar’s downtown revi- talization plan is slowly mov- ing ahead, Castlegar’s director of ee said Thursday. {t's coming along,” Jacquie Hamilton said. “But ihere is still quite a lot that has to be done.” The city has set up an open meeting with local merchants, members of the downtown re- vitalization committee, city council and anyone interested in the project for Thursday lion, with downtown property owners picking up 50 per cent of the costs and the city fund- ing the balance. The first phase would in- clude improvements to 3rd Street, 11th Avenue south of 3rd Street, 4th Street to Columbia Avenue, improve- ment of parking lots, a plaza and other decorative features. _ Merchants have also been given the green light to clean up their storefronts with fi- nancial help from the province. Five years ago, the same process got as far as voting on a bylaw to change the tax structure of downtown busi- ness owners when the mer- chants backed down. For theRECORD In the Saturday edition of The Castl sewage tr plants as the city's lone wa- News, the front page photo featuring cit; The regret t : yyem- ter treatment plant. ployee Mike Harrison wrongly identified a city ror and ap log paar sree 4 sound Change Your Mind! Change any four discs not in play. This top-open, 5-disc Rotary Compact Disc Chat Inger puts you in charge * MASH 1-Bit DAC provides unparatieled sound fg Digital Servo System adjusts to centre of each individual disc and automatically compensates for warping, scratches and dirt. SL-PC505 Same as above without remote SPOS virtually eliminates non-tinearity for the i MASH) MASH Multi-stage noise shaping Uninterrupted Play! A Rotary Compact 5-Disc Front-loading Design that lets you change the front disc without interrupting * MASH 1-Bit DAC * Digital Servo System © Full Random Play * Complete with Multi-Function Wireless Remote Control SL-PD607 Same as above without remote $329 p To Technics CD Players! Scale New Heights of Sound. $359° Write Your Own Program! a a aS er 27;1991"" to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. sed SANTA’S HELPER Santa and his elves can't be everywhere at once, So during the Christmas busy time local artist Robert Meredith helps out the big guy by decorating the display windows of local businesses. News photo by Ed Mills The News and Santa NEWS STAFF Ho, ho, ho... It’s that time of the year again for Castlegar’s kids. The Castle- gar News is pleased to announce the long-awaited return of Letters to Santa. It’s time to put pen to paper and let The News and Santa know what is needed to make your Christmas that much merrier. The News will make sure San- ta receives your letter in time for Christmas Letters to Santa should be ad- sed: c/o The Castlegar News P.O. Drawer 3007 Castlegar VIN-3H4 An even easier solution would be to have your Moms and Dads drop of your letters at The News, located at 197 Columbia Ave. We are open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Deadline for letters to reach The News and Santa will be Dec. 13. The News will run as many Letters to Santa as we possibly can in our Dec. 18 edition. Ten lucky letter writers will re- ceive two tickets each for an up- coming show at the Castle The- atre. So boys and girls, let’s get those pens working. Robson ferry ‘in the minister’s hands’ Scott David Harrison EDITOR Ed Conroy says he wants “ac- tion.” The newly elected Rossland- Trail MLA is making what could be the last gasp for the Robson fer- ry. Thursday, Conroy met with new Transport Minister Art Char- bonneau in an effort to have the ferry returned. The 90-minute, closed-door meeting produced no immediate result, but Conroy says he isn't calling it quits. “What I want is action,” Conroy said late Monday from his Van- couver hotel room. “I don’t know what more I can say to make the minister understand how impera- tive the ferry is to Castlegar.” The ferry was a mainstay for Robson residents until it was re- moved by the Social Credit gov- ernment in 1988. At that time, NDP leader Mike Harcourt called the removal of the ferry link “a mistake.” He said an NDP government would secure the ferry’s return. But Harcourt wasn’t the only NDP member to support the rein- statement of the ferry, according to Terry Dalton. The leader of the Robson-Rasp- berry Users Adhoc Committee said other influential New Democrats protested the ferry’s re- moval. Among them are new cab- inet ministers Dr. Tom Perry and Anita Hagen. Conroy, too, protested the fer- ry’s removal. In fact, the return of the ferry was one of his campaign platforms. Conroy says he has reminded Charbonneau of the promises made to ferry users. Now, it’s up to the minster. “Right now, we're still on hold,” Conroy said. “Everything (about the ferry) is in the minister’s hands.” However, Conroy would not predict what the minister’s final decision would be or when that de- cision would come down. “You have to understand that we are a new government and it takes time to get people in place,” he said. Conroy said no matter how long the decision does take, he’ll con- tinue to put pressure on his col- league. “All I am doing is my job as the MLA,” he said, “and I will contin- ue to push as hard as I can.” Dalton agreed that Conroy was doing as much as he could. “It means a lot to us to have Ed working so hard on this,” Dalton said Tuesday. “He’s being doing well and we do appreciate that.” Dalton said he wouldn't be putting pressure on Conroy or the new government to get the ferry up and running as quick as possi- ble. Instead, Dalton agreed to give Conroy needed space. “We want to give Ed every pos- sible chance to work for us,” he said. “We can't have it rushed.” 10-Key Direct Track Access and 20-Track Random Access Programming on Front Panel and Remote Control * MASH 1-Bit DAC * Digital Servo System automatically adjusts to disc eccentricities * Peak Level Board wonders whether reports worth time, money 18-Hour Series Playback! Search for level setting convenience when recording = $249 cammeninn) ant oe eynctro wtarvetoe Fra Lage Feather Touch Terapore = FL $s 95 (Etecoorn: Coureer ard Peat Une betas + Dealer may sett for loss, Now, Listen to What Your Authorized Technics Dealer Has to Say! PETE’S TV. .. Donna Bertrand NEWS REPORTER The lack of interest shown in past annual reports published by the Castlegar school board has trustees searching for a better, less way of prod the reports and more effective means of communicating in gen- “We still want to be published, but it’s the content and the price of it, and we never seem to get a reaction,” said trustee Joanne Baker, The board disagrees with the Ministry of Education requiring that information be in- Castl 4 interested in the heavy duty technical stuff that’s happening,” she said. cluded that es costs are also a concern, Baker Pp to other students in the province, particularly be- cause Year 2000 initiatives are based on the re- moval of competition. As well, Baker said people don't seem inter- ested in the business-related information in- cluded in the reports. “We asked the parent advisory councils and the only comment we got back was they want lots of pictures of their kids and they're not too Over the past four years, the board has spent between $2,000 and $6,000 on each pub- lication. ‘The ministry doesn't put a set limit on the amount the board can spend but trustees argue that if no one looks at the reports, any amount spent is a waste. please see Board page 5