a2 Castlegar News August 7, 1988 va t GRAN SAYS RESIGNATION ‘GOOD SIGN’ By DAPHNE BRAMHAM Canadian Press VICTORIA (CP) -- Heading into two days of losed-d with a d caucus, Premier Bill Vander Zalm may have averted a revolt by accepting the resignation of controversial aide David Poole. Poole, the premier's powerful principal secretary, tendered his resignation Thursday, three days before the start of a crucial Social Credit caucus retreat in Courtenay on Vancouver Island. Poole, who in his dual role of deputy to the premier was also head of the civil service, had been blamed by ANALYSIS some of the 45-member caucus and many supporters for the scandals and resignations that have plagued the government recently. But it remains to be seen whether the resignation will be enough for Vander Zalm to get his caucus members back on side and quash calls for a leadership BILL VANDER ZALM . .. fractured caucus She noted, however, that Vander Zalm had already made two attempts at restructuring the government in the past month. “People of the province are waiting for a signal that will be a positive one,’ she said. ‘‘They need to be review at the party's October in \. Beleaguered caucus chairman Carol Gran describe Poole's departure as ‘‘a good sign’ of the premier's willingness to change. She is optimistic that the removal of Poole, plus the establishment of a planning and priorities committee of cabinet, should help to ease some of the tensions. “I wouldn't want to give the impression that David Poole was all of the problem, but this is a good start and it was the right thing to do,’’ she said. But Gran said there is more repair work needed at the caucus meeting. “We need to get our credibility back because I believe it has been very severely damaged." SPY SCANDAL Vander Zalm’s government has been rocked by scandals ranging from a government investigation which resulted in the hiring spies to infiltrate a pro-choice abortion group to an RCMP investigation into the premier’s i with millionai Pp Peter Toigo. Adding to the uncertain atmosphere were the resignations from cabinet of Grace McCarthy, the 61-year-old party matriarch who helped rebuild the party after its defeat in 1972, and former attorney general Brian Smith. The two party veterans, who ran unsuccessfully for the Socred leadership in 1986, quit their cabinet posts earlier this summer in a flurry of criticism of Vander Zalm’s interference in their ministries and the influence of non-elected officials such as Poole. In the subsequent cabinet shuffle, two backbench- ers refused posts as parliamentary secretaries after citing differences with Vander Zalm's leadership style. McCarthy, who has showered criticism on Vander that the g is ling to what they truly want. With the potential British Columbia has and with the economy growing as it is . . . what people are wanting is some stability and credibility in govern—_ ment.”” But if Vander Zalm can't convince his caucus more changes are in the wind, some observers say there could still be a crisis POSSIBLE FLIGHT “*Unless the caucus comes out of this meeting truly united, there will be a bloodbath at the convention in October,’’ said one backbencher, who asked not to be named. The backbencher also suggested as many as five caucus members could cross the floor to sit as Independents if Vander Zalm doesn’t convince them that he is prepared to listen more to his cabinet, caucus and party. The Socreds currently hold a 23-seat edge over the NDP. Historian David Mitchell, who has written two books on B.C. politics, said Vander Zalm faces ‘“‘a monumental challenge’’ in uniting his caucus because “the has a backbench that can’t be bought by promises of a cabinet or parliamentary secretaries post."’ Adding to the premiers problems, said Mitchell is that ‘‘this is a very talented, very bright group and they probably, collectively, are more talented than the cabinet."’ He also speculated that without a unified Socred party, the entire political landscape could be altered with the emergence of a new party or the revival of one of the provincial Liberals or the Progressive Conser- vatives. But Mitchell and Rafe Mair, a broadcaster and Socred cabinet minister from 1975 to 1980, believe even IWA to settle on new contract By RON SUDLOW VANCOUVER — With the bitter 4%-month strike of 1986 in the back of their minds, negotiators reached a tentative settlement Friday that would three years of labor peace in British Columbia’s forest industry. The agreement, only the second three-year pact ever negotiated between Forest Industrial Relations and the International Wo°dworkers of Ainerica-Canada, is expected to be ratified in three to four months. The agreement, which will cost the forest companies $245 million, was reached without the union taking a strike vote. In the past, strike votes have been an almost automatic move for workers in the industry that is the of the pi ry. “The membership will be relieved to know there's a bit of labor stability down the road for them,” said union president Jack Murno. ‘‘They went through the hoops in 1986 and it takes a while to get over that so I think the membership will be pleased.”’ Industry negotiator Keith Bennett said a move by the union to be flexible on work schedules was key to the agreement. Under the contract that expired June 30, union members didn’t work weekends or longer than eight-hour days without premium day. ‘*Plus the fact that the two parties had a 444-month strike they’re pretty anxious to find an agreement in the next set of negotiations,’ Bennett said. “GET RAISES The agreement will provide increases of more than 16 per cent during its three-year length. Workers will get 8S cents an hour on the base rate of $14.48 in the first year and S.5S per cent in each of the two subsequent years. Munro said the total package of wages and benefits will be close to $4 an hour and the key tradesman’s rate will go to $22 an hour in two years. The agreement covers 18.000 workers in coastal mills and is expected to blaze the trail for an agreement between 8,000 woodworkers and Interior forest compan- ies. Those negotiations start Monday. The woodworkers’ settlement was similar to one reached last month with 11,300 members of two pulp unions. Forestry is the largest employer in B.C., directly paying more than $3 billion a year in wages to 25,000 workers in logging, 45,000 in manufacturing ood products and 16,000 producing pulp and paper. B.C. forest companies collectively reported record profits of $1.1 billion last year and first-quarter results indicate they will enjoy similar earnings this year. Civil strike ' JACK MUNRO . . . Stability down the road Both Munro and Bennett said they agreed to try to avoid, having the negotiations brought before the Industrial Relations Council, a body with sweeping powers to intervene in labor disputes damaging. the provincial economy. The council. was created under controversial P! labor i that pi iP’ a one-day general strike last year by organized labor. “*We got some of the fears out of the way right at the early part of the negotiations where the industry agreed they would not force us to use bad laws in this province so that took some of the nervousness out of it," Munro said. “‘We're getting settlements because the legislation is so bad that the employers are agreeing to not force us to abide by the law. You can’t operate in a society like that.”” Under the tentative pact, contracting out of work — the key stumbling block in the 1986 strike — and flexibility of scheduling will be permitted after the union at the local level agrees. inevitable" 8, avout 7.1900 Castlegar News 43 Zalm since leaving cabinet, was encouraged — if not totally placated — by the resignation of Poole. survive. if there is a leadership challenge, Vander Zalm will Nurses set to talk By CasNews Staff Negotiations between the B.C. Nurses’ Union and the B.C. Asso- ciation for Private Care which broke early in September,”’ Pat Van Horne, a union spokesman in Vancouver, told the Castlegar News. Van Horne said nurses in pri- off in late May have been to re-start in early September. The union — which is negotiating for 200 nurses in the province's 15 private long term-care facilities — is representing five nurses at the Rasp- berry Lodge for the first time. The Raspberry Lodge nurses certified with the nurses’ union in January 1987 and have yet to receive their first contract “Negotiations broke down in late May and are expected to resume ly d and long-term care facilities are not making as much as nurses in B.C.’s general hosiptals. The union hopes to bring the salaries of the long-term care nurses up to the provincial standard of $14.49 an hour. The nurses in private care facilities are currently earning about $12.50 an hour, she said “They're 13 per cent behind cur- rent industry standards,’’ she said. “We're looking to bring it (wages) up to par with general nurses."” VANCOUVER (CP) — a civil ser- vice strike in British Columbia is ‘‘in- evitable’’ if government negotiations aren’t given more room to bargain, union boss John Shields said while announcing that a strike vote will be held. The move to conduct a vote of the 29,000 British Columbia Government Van Horne said the will resume early September in Van- couver under a media blackout. “Both sides have agreed the talks will be held under-a media black- out,’ she said. The nurses voted 88 per cent in favor of a strike in April, but have stayed on the job. The B.C. Association for Private Care — which represents the 15 private long-term care facilities — has contracted out its collective bar- gaining to the Continuing Care Em- ployee Relations Association. The CCERA will be negotiating with the nurses’ union on behalf of the private care association. ALC review announced By CasNews Staff An agricultural task force will be reviewing the Agriculture Land Com- mission in the Kootenay Develop- ment Region The task force, which is under the regional economic diversification group, will look at: * criteria used by the ALC to evalulate land-use issues and the appropriateness of the criteria to the regional land land base; * processes available to he ALC and local governments to respond to land-use issues; * and access by the general public to the ALC. “We are making a formal request to municipalities and regional dis- tricts anda large number of interest groups associated with the agricul- tural community in the region,"’ said Court news In Castlegar provincial court this week, Philip Graham received a two-year suspended sentence and probation with conditions for assault. Graham also received a two-year pended and_ probati with conditions for mischief. oe Michael “Sarton received a con- ditional discharge with one year's probation for assault. Howard Dirks, Minister of State for the Kootenay Development Region, following an announcement of the review “We are soliciting written sub- missions from the general publc,’’ he said When all submissions have been received and reviewed, the agricul- tural task force will submit a report and recommendations to the Re- gional Ecohomic Diversification Group. Last October, Premier Bill Vander Zatm, in his press release outlining the regionalization initiative, an- nounced that there would be a province-wide review of the ALC by region to determine whether its pro- cedures are appropriate given that land use requirements and needs differ throughout the province. Examination shows coyotes not rabid CALGARY (CP) — Five coyotes shot by wardens after several attacks on people in the Rocky Mountains last week weren't rabid, a prelim- inary examination of the carcasses shows. But Keith Everts, assistant chief warden of Banff National Park, said further tests are being conducted at a provincial lab and the final results won't be known until the end of the month. The five coyotes were captured and shot Saturday on Tunnel Mountain near the town of Banff, about 150 kil- ometres west of Calgary. Five people were attacked by coy- otes last week. One man required 53 stitches above his eye The victims had been sleeping outside their tents when they were bitten or nipped by the animals. Everts cautioned campers to sleep inside their tents or trailers, not out- doors. “A human in a prone position looks like easy pickings," he said. In a separate incident, police also shot the coyote that attacked an 18-month-old Edmonton girl in south- eastern British Columbia on Sunday. The coyote also tested negative for rabies. The girl, Jolynn Kimball, needed 200 stitches to close her wounds. ployees’ Union follows a strong endorsement of the negotiat- ing team at 42 meetings held across the province. Voting will begin Wednesday and tun for three weeks. The results will be announced Sept. 2. Shields said he hopes a strong strike mandate will force the govern- ment to negotiate seriously. “‘We are prepared to negotiate as long as necessary if there is any sign that a settlement is possible,’’ Shields said in a statement. ‘‘It is Spraying protest planned West Kootenay residents opposed to CP Rail’s plan to spray the herbicide Spike 80. plan a demon- stration at the Nelson provincial government building at noon on Tue- sday. Fifty people met last Tuesday evening at the Tarrys Hall to counter plans by CRP to spray the herbicide along the railway line between Nel- son and Castlegar. CPR has indicated its intention to spray beginning this Tuesday. The provincial government has given the CPR approval to proceed after the company indicated that it would abide by the restrictions rec- ommended by Stuart Craig, regional manager of the pesticide control branch, in his on-site inspection report prepared last year. Residents voiced their concerns that federal chemical testing and licencing standards are suspect; that the provincial review procedure de- termined only where the herbicide could be sprayed and not whether or not it was needed; that the Envir- onmental Appeal Board procedure does not address fairly the concerns of the people who are directly_af- fected; and that the Regional Distriat of Central Kootenay has declared by referendum that the regional district attempt by the CPR contractors to spray the herbicide. now up to the premier to avoid a strike. “If he gives his negotiators a man- date to reach a then a government is offering 13 per cent over three years — and the govrg ernment’s refusal to negotiate any serious protection for workers against strike can be avoided. But if he stubbornly persists and digs in his heels then a strike will be inevit- able.’’ Contract talks broke off July 28. Shields said the main issues are wages — the union wants a 17-per- cent wage hike over one year; the pr and out. Government spokesman Tim Pad- more said the union’s decision to conduct a strike vote is not sur- prising. “We are disappointed but not sur- prised,’’ he said. ‘‘We are still anxious to go back to the table and continue bargaining.’’ First highways contract sold VICTORIA (CP) — The British Columbia government will save at least $1.1 million through the award- ing of its first highways privatization contract, says Highways Minister Neil Vant. Victoria Highways Maintenance Corp. was the successful bidder for the three-year contract to provide bridge and road maintenance on southern Vancouver Island. Vant said the $29.9 million price is $1.1 million less than the min- istry’s projected maintenance and district overhead costs. Additional savings will accrue, he said, through further reductions in overhead at re- gional and offices. they're not saying what the contract covers and what it leaves out,”’ said Lovick. “‘Because the contract has come in under estimate after confirmed re- ports of overbidding, #’s reasonable to assume that some areas of main- tenance have been cut by the gov- ernment."” He said Victoria should halt the sell-off of highways maintenance “rather than jeopardize safety and standards."’ Vant said the Highways Ministry will monitor the work of the private Victoria firm — a five-partner ven- ture — to ensure safety and service are met. But Dale Lovick, the NDP’s privat- ization critic, said the contract raises serious questions about possible tam- pering of maintenance standards. He says the initial bids were S50 to 70 per cent higher than the govern- ment expected and the standards set down then must be compared with those included in the first contract. “The government is claiming cost savings on this first contract, yet All 88 regular highways employees in the contract area are receiving written job offers from the new com- pany at their present position, salary and union status. In addition, shares in the company will.be made avail- able to the employees. While materials and supplies have been sold to the company as assets, the company will lease heavy equip- ment from the ministry. COYOTES continued from front poge morning and intended to search the area and destroy the coyote. However, Heyland said the officer was called away to a sus- pected poaching incident in the Grand Forks area and never did get back to looking for the coyote. _ Instead, he was conducting a fisheries enforcement patrol on Christina Lake with RCMP the next day when he was informed of the attack on the Kimball girl. The coyote was eventually track- ed by Creston RCMP and des- troyed. Heyland said the conservation office carried out an ‘‘intensive investigation’’ into why the The investigation revealed that ‘‘for quite some time people in the area have been befriend- ing the animal . . . everybody was feeding him and he had no fear of humans,’ Heyland said. pi fl 15-year-old charged NEW HAZELTON (CP) — A 15-year-old boy has been charged with first-degree murder after the body of a young girl was found in the Kispiox River, about 20 kilometres north of this northwestern B.C. community. The juvenile boy is charged under the Young Offenders Act. The body of the dead girl, a six-year-old resident of the Kispiox Indian reserve, was found early Thursday. Police have not said how she died. Beaches open again VANCOUVER (CP) — Beaches at the suburban municipalities of Surrey and White Rock were open Saturday after being closed all week because of a sewage spill in Blaine, Wash. The beaches south of Vancouver were closed because of a leaking high-pressure line under Drayton Harbor that feeds Blaine's secondary treatment sewage plant. The leak started last Sunday and was sealed Tuesday but more than two million litres of sewage were spilled. Poll shows support TORONTO (CP) — Most Canadians would support a policy of exporting water to the United States as long as the practice was tightly regulated, says a poll released Saturday. Fifty-seven per cent of those surveyed in a poll conducted by Angus Reid Associates for the Toronto Star and Southam News, said water exports ‘‘should be permitted, but only under close government regulation.”” But 31 per cent of Canadians surveyed would prefer a ban on water exports. Only seven per cent said Canadian water should be exported to the United States ‘‘without restriction."’ Matol warning issued OTTAWA (CP) — Federal health officials are warning consumers for the third time this summer not to use a liquid mineral supplement called Matol because some lots are contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria. The bacteria ean cause serious illness, particularly among the elderly and those with chronic illnesses. The federal Health Department is recalling all lot numbers beginning with 261 up to and including 344, and followed by the letters BE, BF or BG. They are contaminated with enterobacter cloacae bacteria. Two alerts were issued late last month after lots 331BF, 332BF, 333BF and 334BF were found to be contaminated. Matol is sold in plastic bottles and carries the drug identification number 652008. It is not available in retail stores but is sold mostly by mail order or door-to-door. Anyone who has Matol from the contaminated lots is advised to return it to their supplier. Turner rejects NDP OTTAWA (CP) — Liberal Leader John Turner has ruled out the possibility of a coalition with the New Democratic Party after the next federal election. However, in an interview with the New York Times to be published today, he said he would work with NDP Leader Ed Broadbent to kill the free-trade deal with the United States if the next election produces a minority government. 38 killed on ferry NEW DELHI (AP) — A passenger ship carrying at least S00 Hindu pilgrims capsized Saturday in the Ganges River in eastern India, and 38 people were reported killed and hundreds missing. Accounts issued by police and Indian news agencies differed on how many people were aboard and how many were killed, missing or rescued. J.M. Qureshi, director general of police, told reporters in Patna, capital of Bihar state, that the privately-owned, steam-powered launch was carrying 500 pilgrims when it capsized in the rain-swollen river. He said 100 people were rescued and that divers were looking for bodies and survivors. Quake shakes India NEW DELHI (AP) — A major earthquake shook eastern India, Bangladesh and Burma early iggeri i d i ings and sending published reports and witnesses said. No deaths were reported immediately, but at least five people were reported slightly injured when buildings collapsed in Manipur and Assam states in India. Both areas are hilly but are heavily populated in valleys. fleeing from their homes, Soviet soldiers brawl MOSCOW (REUTER) — Former Soviet paratroops at a reunion in central Moscow, some apparently Afghan war veterans, fought drunken street brawls, stripped off their medals and tried to march on Red Square, Tass reported Saturday. ‘Most people had never before seen such scenes of ugly, mass hooliganism in the centre of Moscow,"’ the official Soviet news agency said in an account of last Tuesday's disorders. Gorky Park, site of the 8,000-strong reunion, was made to look like ‘‘a city under siege,” it said. Tass said six militiamen were taken to hospital after clashes with the soldiers, some of them members of the elite Blue Beret parachute regiment. Paris train crashes PARIS (AP) — A passenger train rammed into a barrier at the end of the line in Paris’s Gare de L’Est station Saturday, killing one person, injuring 57 people and trapping some victims for more than two hours, authorities said. It was the second major train crash in the French capital in six weeks. Fifty-six people died in a two-train disaster at another Paris station June 27. Rescue workers used electric saws, hammers, pliers and cutters to extract those caught in Saturday's wreckage. Doctors standing by administered local anesthetics. Raoul Vigier, a spoke man for the Paris fire department, said nine victims were in serious condition. He said all nine spent 2% hours trapped in the wreckage before rescue workers could free them. Heroin complex seized BANGKOK (AP) — Authorities seized near the Burmese border what is believed to be the biggest heroin refining complex uncovered in Thailand in the last decade, a senior police officer said Saturday. About 50 policemen armed with M-16 automatic rifles exchanged fire with guards before seizing the complex Friday in the jungle hills of Chiang Dao district of northern province Chiang Mai province, said Maj.-Gen. Kovit Wattana. Kovit, commander of the regional border patrol police, said no policemen were hurt in the gunbattle, after which the 40 to 50 workers in the complex fled into the jungle. No arrests were made. PEACE VIGIL . . . Many diffe int people gathered at the Castlegar courthouse and Zuckerberg Island Saturday evening to reflect on the dawning i @ 4 Spray permit quashed VANCOUVER (CP) — The British Columbia Supreme Court has quash- ed a permit authorizing a logging company to spray herbicide on land occupied by 5,000 Nisga’s Indians in the Nass Valley of northwestern B.C, Mr. Justice William Davies said that flaws in the spraying notice violated the principles of natural jus- tice. If the project is to proceed, the administrator of the Pesticide Control Act now must reconsider the permit and issue new directions regarding notice. The dispute concerned the admin- istrator’s decision in 1987 to author- ize Westar Timber Ltd. to spray the herbicide Roundup on 81 hectares of land occupied by members of the Nisga’a. The proposed spraying, intended to control the growth of white birch, cottonwood and aspen, caused the Indians to fear the chemical would contaminate berries and fruit, and damage fish habitats. Shaw expands NEW GLASGOW, N.S. (CP) — An E based cable-TV of a nuclear age. Those gathered to observe 50,000 ATTEND Hiroshima remembers HIROSHIMA, JAPAN (AP) — Bells rang out across Hiroshima on Saturday in memory of 78,000 people killed 43 years ago in the world’s first atomic bomb attack. In a ceremony attended by 50,000 people, black-clad mourners placed wreaths on a black granite cenotaph which contains the names of bomb victims on pieces of paper. They ladled water over the cenotaph in a common Buddhist practice showing concern for the deceased. Many of the victims of the U.S. atomic bomb cried out for water as they died of severe burns. The cenotaph is in Peace Park, across the Motoyasugawa river from the bombed-out dome of Hiroshima’s Bells rang out at 8:15 a.m., the instant the United States dropped the bomb Aug. 6, 1945. The uranium bomb, which had the power of 20,000 tonnes of TNT, exploded at a height of S85 metres almost directly over the promotion centre. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped over the city of Nag- asaki,. leading to Japan's surrender and the end of the Second World War. NEVER AGAIN “‘As the only country to experience the calamity of nuclear weapons, the tragedy of Hiroshima must never be repeated,” said Prime Minister No- boru Takeshita in a statement read at former industrial centre, left as a symbol of the bomb’s fury. It also contains the names on pieces of paper of all Hiroshima sur- vivors who have since died. On Sat- urday, officials added the names of 4,476 people who died during the past year, raising the total to 152,650. Zo . Takeshita, who was unable to at- tend because of a tax reform debate in Japan’s parliament in Tokyo, pled- ged that under his administration Japan will not manufacture, acquire or allow nuclear weapons into the country. Hiroshima Mayor Takeshi Araki Hiroshima Day thought of the first atomic weapon used on the city of Hiroshima Aug. 6, 1945 and prayed for peace and disarmament. CasNews Photo by Bonne Morgon repeated the city’s motto of ‘‘No More Hiroshimas’’ and said world- wide public opinion now favors nu- clear disarmament. He praised the recent nuclear arms agreement signed by the United States and Soviet Union as ‘‘a worth- while historical first step’’ but said it left too many nuclear weapons in world arsenals. He also criticized the United Na- tions for refusing to adopt a resol- ution calling for comprehensive glo- bal disarmament. Many bomb victims stayed away from ceremonies, preferring to mark the occasion in private. Dr. Itsuzo Shigematsu, chairman of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, said many victims don’t want to remember the day the bomb was dropped because it is too pain- ful After nightfall, relatives of people killed in the blast wrote the names of vicims on paper floats, then sent the floats down the city’s river. PTL park to go secular VANCOUVER (CP) — The PTL amusement park created by fallen teleyision evangelist Jim Bakker for born-again Christians will lose its solely religious focus, says the new owner. “If you do a theme park, you know, it’s got to be for everybody,"’ said Peter Thomas, the Vancouver real estate executive who said the U.S. government has accepted his offer of $113 million U.S. for the assets of the Praise The Lord minis- try. “I see having people of all faiths, creeds and colors to the site,’’ said Thomas, best known as head of the Century 21 real estate franchising empire. The bankruptcy trustee for PTL confirmed on Friday from Fort Mill, S.C., that he has tentatively agreed to sell PTL’s theme park, satellite network and 700 hectares of prime real estate to Samoth Capital Corp., the Toronto-based company of which Thomas is chairman. “*We'll sell it to them unless some- body else comes in at the last minute with a better proposal,’’ said M.C. “*Red”’ Benton. The ‘sale is perhaps the final chapter in the ruin of Bakker, who fell from grace when it was revealed he had a tryst with church secrétary Jessica Hahn. Further revelations that hush money had been paid to Hahn to keep Bakker’s sexual es- More than $20 million US must be pumped into the 200-hectare park in North Carolina before it can be fully operational, said Thomas. But before that investment is made, Thomas said he must determine if the park can thrive without its PTL affiliation. Instead of a place to find the Lord, Heritage USA will apparently be a place to find prime property. “We like the idea of a theme park with traditional family values,’’ said Thomas. ‘We are real estate people who see the theme park as being an engine so to speak to bring and attract people to the area to further develop the thousands of acres of land that we have." The role of the PTL ministry in the park and its use of the satellite network is yet to be determined, said Thomas. But he said he has no knowledge of the PTL or the plans of its disgraced leader Bakker. Group “At this point, no, we don’t have any indication from him (Bakker) or anybody else (with PTL),” said Thomas. ‘‘I don’t know the inner workings of PTL."* OFFERS REJECTED In accepting Thomas’s $113 million offer, which will be divided amongst PTL creditors, the U.S. Department of Justice’s trustee rejected an un- specified bid from Bakker. Another bid from North Carolina businessman George Shinn, owner of the expan- sion Charlotte Hornets of the Na- tional Basketball Association, was also rejected. Shinn’s lawyer, Spencer Stolpen, told the Charlotte observer on Friday that Shinn is still talking with the PTL's trustees and lawyers about a last minute deal. Stolpen confirmed that Shinn ori- ginally offered $75 million for PTL, but has increased his offer. to fight WKPL gas turbine PENTICTON (CP) — A consumers group has vowed to fight West Koot- enay Power and Light Co.'s plans to put a $36-million gas turbine elec- tricity-generating plant in an indus- trial park at Oliver, just south of this o a capade secret caused from the faithful to dry up and brought the PTL to its knees. The sale, however, may not guar- antee the future of PTL’s Heritage USA amusement park, once the jewel in the crown of the glitzy PTL television ministry. Bury! Slack, local president of the Electric Consumers Association, said her first reaction to the proposal was “over my dead body.”’ She said evidence gathered by her group shows the natural-gas-fired turbine would produce noise and heat that would damage the surrounding area and could affect the whole valley. Earlier this week, Oliver council and West Kootenay signed an -in- terim agreement that would allow the power company to buy 12 acres of unserviced land if they get approval from the B.C. Utilities Commission. Oliver's five-member council sign- ed the agreement after returning from a three-day visit to turbine plants in Tampa, Fla., and Austin, Tex., as guests of West Kootenay. has its holdings in Nova Scotia. Shaw Cable Systems, the third largest cable-TV network in Canada, has agreed to buy K-Vision, a New Glasgow cable company with 11,000 © subscribers in Pictou County. The purchase, confirmed Friday by a K-Vision official, is subject to approval by the Canadian Radio-tele- vision and Telecommunications Com- mission. The purchase price was not revealed. Shaw Cable operates a cable-TV system in Lower Sackville and Bed- ford, two communities near Halifax. KSCU continued from front page The certification covers tellers, loans officer and office supervisors at the credit union branches. How- ever, the loans officer and the office supervisor at the Castlegar branch were not certified. Local 9090 of the United Steel- workers of America now represents KSCU employees in) six of nine branches: Trail, Waneta, Kaslo, Sal- mo, Fruitvale and Castlegar. KSCU's three other branches in Nakusp, South Slocan and- New Denver, have not been certified. The 23,000-member credit union made $741,000 in the 1987 fiscal year before taxes and dividends compared with $75,000 the year before. LAKE continued from front pege “*We have to be very sensitive in this area especially in the summer,” she said. ‘‘We have to take a stand on it.” Moore said “anything B.C. Hydro can do to mitigate the flow’’ of water down to the United States will be greatly appreciated by local boaters, fishermen and beach enthusiasts. Although Hydro has enough water stored behind its Mica Creek dam to meet its power requirements, the reservoir is 10.5 metres lower than in an average year. “*We haven't got our fair share of precipitation since October,’’ said Mike Kwok, Hydro’s power schedul- er at Burnaby Mountain. Kwok said Hydro predicts that the week following the increased water flow to the United States it will release SS-65 cfs, which is within the normal amount for this time of year. Kwok says forecasts are made weekly and that is only an estimate at this time. Rossland-Trail MLA Chris D'Arcy also voiced concern about the drop, noting that it's important from a recreational and a commercial point of view that the lake level remain stable. “It's most unfortunate that the treaty gives the Americans the right to demand water at this time of year especially . . .,"" he said. D'Arcy said that after the 1.05 metre drop tte lake level will be at about 2.4 metres below normal. “That's what we're stuck with, I ppose."* D'Arcy added that under the Col- umbia River Treaty the Americans have the right to demand water when their reservoirs are substantially lower than ours, as is the current situation. But, he said, Hydro has indicated it will try to maintain the lake level at least for the next month.