Trying to draw conclusions from last Saturday's municipal and school board elections is a little like investing in the stock market: it takes some common sense and a lot of speculation. On the one hand, voters retur- ned all three incumbent alder- ment, while on the other hand they elected two new school trustees. At the same time, it's difficult to read anything into results where less than one-third of the eligible voters cast ballots. As well, to say that voters were happy with the present city council would be misleading, because there was only one other candidate for alderman. However, it's fair to say that council is doing something right. After all, only éne voter was upset enough to challenge the incumben- ts, and that in itself is a telling statistic. The school board results are a little easier to read, if only because the issues and the positions of the candidates were more clear-cut. There's no doubt Castlegar ran for two positions and three newcomers received more votes than the incumbent trustee. That would appear to be a signal to the school board that the electorate is uneasy about the way school af- fairs have been run. it is likely ever’ more of a message to the provincial gover- nment, which directed the restraint measures now in place in the province's 75 school districts. The election of Kay Johnson and Gordon Turner — both of whom clearly favor retaining all school programs — also eppeers to to Letters to the Editor point up that the decided restraint in schools he gone far enough. Whether the two newly-elected trustees — along with the other school board members — can really make any significant changes remains to be seen. But on the surtace, it appears the provincial g has B.C. Tel service ‘poor’ Editer, Castlegar News: The change of seasons in British Columbia is both beautiful and pretty well laid out the directions for Castlegar school district and left it up to trustees to follow them. Westar a tourist resort? A guest editorial from the Nov. 21 Arrow Lakes News. Westar has done it again. Five families in Nokusp received a lovely Christmas present from the company with layoff notices and the announcement of the accoun- ting department. Westar is really missing a bet They've got a perfect opportunity to opnstruct a tourist resort in Nakusp ‘to bolster their sagging primary resource based industries They own real estate and buildings in Nokusp which are vir- tually empty. The half-dozen foresters and scalers rattle around the main office while four mechanics putter in the huge shop Think of the potential for a hotel complex. The main office could be converted into a hotel with rooms upstairs and a large pub and cocktail lounge down stairs The fire protection office could be converted into a restaurant and meeting room. The shop could easily become a covered swim- ming pool and tennis court com- plex. There is no other property in the valley which has such a large paved parking lot already com- pleted and paved heliport. During the summer months there is a wonderful bedch'in front of the “hotel” complete with a floating wharf and ample moorings for the boating travellers. The whart comes completely equipped with fueling facilities for a marina On top of all that, there is a pool of highly trained middle management people in Nakusp to take over the management and operation of the complex many with exactly the right training in accounting, marina operation public relations, switchboard operators, private secretaries and managers Fred Merriman At the risk of giving John Nais bitt’s Trend letter some free pub- licity, please accept a few capsule highlights the report dated Nov. 1, 1984 “What a dynamite company 3M is. The whole idea of entrepreneurs operating under the big tent of a corporation is more fully realized at 3M than at any other large company in the U.S.” The CEO, Lewis W. Lehr was quoted as saying, “Our concern for independent thinking and the en trepreneurial spirit is not just one approach among many. It is our only approach.” The letter gives details. Employ ees are encouraged to take an idea and run with it. Sometimes new products create entire new divisions — often headed by the inventor who came up with the idea The company includes more than 40 divisions and 52,000 employees. People aren't hired for specific jobs. Scientists are expected to be sales- oriented and salespeople science oriented. Promotion comes from within; al most no managers are hired from outside. Worker participation in corporate decisions is encouraged through the quality control circles. Another highlight referred to new business starts in the U.S.: “275,000 in 1977 and we are heading for 640,000 in 1984.” Megnwhile, here in potentially the richest location on the face of t4 the earth we wallow in 15 per cent unemployment and moan for the government to create jobs. Therefore, our hat will be tipped in admiration and respect for the entrepreneurs who ven. tured for the first time, or expanded further into the cruel world of busi ness these past several months: Castlegar Imports, Kootenay Hon. da, Riverside Video, Maloney Cadil lac, Mohawk Service, Rumford Place, Kal Tire, Loomis, Kootenay Lumber Brokers, The Sandwich Shop, Libra Music, KC Pet Mart, Riverview Motors, A&M Wheels, and Mallard Ski and Sport. There have been other equally brave souls who will not get their names and business mentioned. Please accept my apologies for not making the list inclusive. We salute you all The above mentioned names were the ones I i Spring follows winter, summer follows apring and 0 ca. Each year as they come and go they are greatly appreciated by all of us who live here, it’s an annual event. Regretfully, one of the other annual events, is the continual requests by B.C. Telephone for rate increases. In the 22 years that this writer has lived in our fair province, B.C. Tel has cited “improved service” as a justification of their requests. However, the service has simply not improved, and in point of fact the service by B.C. Tel must be rated one of the poorest in all of North America. One only needs to visit a neighboring state or province to find a vastly superior phone system. No only does EC. Tel's system not function properly (we achieve only 60 per cent com pletion on direct dialed long distance calls), but it generally lags far behind all other systems in placement of new system technology. While the litany of system defic iencies may vary from area to area, province-wide we are being duped Please address all Letters to the Editor to: The Castlegar News, P.O.Box 3007, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4, or deliver them to our office at: 197 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar, B.C. Letters must be signed and include the writer's fulh name and address. Only in very exceptional cases will letters be published without the writer's name. Nevertheless, the name and address of the writer must be disclosed to the editor. The Castlegar News reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality and grammar. = Fhink Editor, Castlegar News: As we are again approaching Chris tmas, we should consider how we can encourage peace and goodwill to all One of the things that all adults can do to help build a more peaceful world is to give careful thought to the toys and games that we purchase for our children. It seems ironic that this peaceful Christmas season has store shelves adorned with military machinery and personnel, strategic war games, star. fighters, and weapons of every des- eription and intention. The violence children are exposed to on television and within society is They are listed as typical of the hope and enthusiasm noted in Nais- bitt's Trend Letter. Since we are on the subject of enterprise — as usual — it was interesting to notice that the Trail Recreation Committee is advertis ing facilities for banquets and wed dings. Some most intelligent man or woman has fimally cottoned to the fact that the taxpayers are sitting on millions of dollars of capital plants and equipment which stand idel im the darkness. and re-enacted in the home by the use of these toys. If we give our children to the belief that fighting and killing is 2 normal way of life? It is interesting to note that the Swedish government has banned the sale of children's toy guns and war playthings, declaring that they “expose children to violence and thus per. petuate « violence-prone society.” And in West Germany there is a voluntary restriction on war toys. Here, toy manufacturers strive to when we accept the reasoning of asa j for rate increases. Perhaps for once, B.C. Tel should improve the service first, and then request an increase only after verifiable system improvements are made. While populations in other parts of the West have grown at rates equa! to, or in excess of British Columbia over the past two decades, their phone systems have kept pace and provided a far superior service to their customers. If’ you are not satisfied with your telephone service and if you are not prepared to accept a 15 per cent increase proposed by B.C. Tel, do something about it. Start by writing Mr. F. Beslisle, Secretary General, C.R.T.C. Ottawa, Ontario, K1A ON2. Make specific reference to system deficiency, their occurance, type, etc. and attend the C.R.T.C. hearings scheduled for spring. Let's make the next B.C. Tel rate increase justifiable. G.O. Maloney Castlegar Prayer in schools? The choice is ours Editor, Castlegar News: Why was there prayer in public schools in 19227 Obviously, the maj ority of public and the government wanted it. Why did we start to ignore prayer and Bible reading in schools? For one thing it was indifference and negiect of facts and revealed truth. Prayer and scripture remind us that there is an Almighty and we are accountable for our actions and lives. It's hard to be half-hearted in acad. emics when we know God wants us to do our best. Some people feel we're pushing when we include prayer and Bible reading in the class. We're only pushing when we use the point of the sword to say, “You must believe.” Every man or woman believes from his own free will. But it’s pretty hard to believe if you don’t know He's there. But, you say, people believe dif. ferently. Yes, they do. I have only one Archaelogy, science and history continually show forth the complete accuracy of the Bible. It has never been disproved. During World War II the leaders of Canada, Britian and the U.S. asked people to pray for divine intervention. It camel I talked with a returned soldier in Regina who was in France near the following incident. One day the Ger- mans began to shell an open piece of ground. The shelling was fierce and no Allied forces were in the immediate area. After a time, the Germans threw down their guns and ran. The Allied forces saw their advantage and cap- tured them. When asked why they fled, the Germans said, “Didn't you see Him? The man in white on His white horse, leading the white cavalry? We couldn't kill them.” (This report was also in the Legi ire paper around 1966). The major relig of the world have tombs for their prophets, the Christians have an empty tomb and a live Christ! Doesn't that qualify Him a hearing? The reasons teachers don't pray or read the Bible are varied. My concern is that one day they may wish to pray and wouldn't know how. Do we need God only in a pinch and the rest of the time throw mud in His face because of our ignorance? I'm told there were not atheists in the fox holes. If we deny Him, He will deny us. The choice is ours. Val Leiding Robson about war toys outdo each other in producing realistic war toys and exciting war games for young people, while television com mercials do their utmost to create a demand for these ive items. co-opera: tience, self-confidence and positive At the end of the Vietnam War era, with the heightened awareness of the horrors and helplessness of such an armed conflict, the sales of G.I. Joe and other military toys dropped markedly However, in recent years they are out in full foree on the front lines of our toy shops again. One would hope that the correlation between the abundance of military toys in the marketplace and our propensity to war is coin- cidental, or our world in this nuclear age is in serious jeopardy With one out of every four countries im the world presently undergoing civil strife or war, to maintain peace here and to spread the Christmas psirit around the world should be a Canadian objective. We often feel we have little control over such issues as war and other atrocities; yet peace does begin with us as individuals and if we can instill these values in our homes, we make that first step in the realization of world peace. In spending our hard-earned dollars on presents for children. parents creativity rather than aggression Rar destructiveness. If parents wished to take a more society of justice and peace for all. Marien for Slecan Citizens fer Peace More letters page AS Hospital administrator J. Bainbridge said that enough vegetables to last the hospital three months were donated. Men responsible for bringing in the produce to the hospital were Pete Rezansoff of Glade and Frank Watkin of Kinnaird. . 8 « Peter Dewdney, Cominco lawyer who carred the Progressive Con- servative standard in the last federal election, has again been chosen as candidate for Kootenay West riding. Dewdney was unopposed in Sat- urday’s nomination at the annual general meeting and nominating con vention held at Trail. *_ 28 «© New president of the David Thomp- son Stamp Club is H.J. Moor of Kinnaird. J.W. Dougan of Kinnaird is vice-president and Duncan Carter of Robson is secretary-treasurer. * 8 6 Four Castlegar and District women were among the 278 successful can- didates in provincial Registered Nur ses’ Association examinations. They were, from St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, Anita Fornelli of Rob- son, Regina Campbell of Castlegar and Margaret Clair of Kinnaird. Barbara Dower of Castlegar was successful as a Vancouver General Hospital school of Six new members were inducted into the Rotary Club of Castlegar Saturday night. The induction ceremony was con- Today has been designated the day for Peace: Biafra. In response to this day, two groups of young people have organized a starve-in. The HiC group of the Regional Ecumencial Parish and a young adult group call The Group are planning to take this weekend to raise funds for relief work in Nigeria/Biafra . ee -« CD official Red Warner this week released plans for a fan-out system of call which will be instigated from the local RCMP detachment when it receives notification. * ee « It appears the Town of Kinniard will have a year-end surplus of $848. This was reported by Ald. G.S. Rust at Tuesday night's council meeting when presenting the revised budget for the year ending Dec. 31. 5 YEARS AGO From the Nov. 28, 1979 Legal registration and pians for a provincial government-funded office are on the agenda of the r Chamber of Commerce aniudl general meeting Thursday. e oe Tie Sheen, res etn ‘It is clear that, although she spoke many times at the meeting of keeping ‘an open mind and not making decisions until she had all the facts, on this matter Mrs. Johnson has formed an opinion about the immersion program on what appears to be speculation, conjecture or rumor. When she says that children from Russian immersion kindergarten enter Grade 1 behind, she is indeed suffering from misinformation, Teachers in the Shoreacres, Woodland Park and Oot- ischenia schools — where the majority of the immersion children attend — confirm that the immersion children are doing very well. A commitment is made by the parents of immersion students to help the children with understanding Eng- lish at home by way of stories, learning the alphabet and such. The teacher's job is to instruct in Russian. This blend maintains the quality required by both languages. Contrary to Mrs. Johnson's belief, children do not read Russian coming out of kindergarten, just as they do not read English, French or any language for that matter. Reading is a skill developed later in a child's school life. In most Grade 1 classes, whether the students come from English or Russian immersion kindergarten, there is a percentage of the students who require learning assistance. Learning assis tants deal with various kinds of homes where Russian is not spoken. ‘The: afternoon sessions give the children the opportunity to use their command of the language and see it grow. Without these sessions all that was learned in kindergarten would be in jeopardy of being lost. Having no other avenue in the school system, the parents of these children have organized and funded the after. noon classes on their own. These parents have been responsive to the needs of their children and have acted accordingly, often in the face of much adversity, and I applaud their efforts. I truly hope that this may bring Mrs. Johnson closer to an understanding of the situation as it stands. Much information exists about immersion programs across the country, and if she so desires, there are many local people who exhibit vast stores of knowledge on the subject. Misinformation and generalizations made in public can severely damage any program, but particularly general izations about peoples’ children and a program that so many have worked so hard to develop. As she stated at the public meeting, we must have open minds and make objective decisions based on fact. I trust that the points mentioned above will help her to make a truly objective decision about a very worthwhile program. ° Rick Biller, Chairperson Parents for Russian Help ease tensions Editor, Castlegar News: Tam sending you this letter because I believe the Canadian government needs to respond to a deteriorating situation in Nicaragua and all over Central America. In the last month the American backed Contras have es calated their attacks on hospitals and schools in that country and the CIA has started spy flights over the capital A real war hysteria was whipped up in the American press over non-exis tent MIG fighter planes the State Department claimed were being deliv ered to Nicaragua by the Soviets. Destablization and eventually invasion ate the long range goals of these acts. Residents of Kootenay West MP Bob Brisco’s riding, have recently raised over $100,000 in tools and equipment for the Tools for Peace campaign. This is the largest aid drive ever conducted in thig area and , it is my understanding one @f the largest non-government aid ms ever mounted by the people of i cross the country, last year the Tools for Peace campaign raised over $1 million for this small Central American country. Joe Clark, as our new Minister of External Affairs, and Mr. Brisco, as a new member of a new government have the opportunity and the responsibility to push for a peaceful resolution of the crisis in the region. One way of easing tensions in the ‘area is for Canada to open an \mbassy in Managua. Besides shoWing our support for a peaceful solution, an embassy could co-ordinate aid and if the worst were to happen and the Americans were to invade, the em bassy could help in the evacuation of the hundreds of Canadians who are helping with the reconstruction there I urge Canada to increase our aid to Nicaragua as it is a country with an excellent record of getting aid to the people who need it most. I also urge Canada to continue with the suspension of aid to El Salvador and Guatemala. West Kootenay res idents are aware as is the rest of Canada — of the systematic and extremely brutal violation of human rights that exist in those countries. For the same reasons, and particularly for allowing its territory to be used as a staging ground for aggression against Nicaragua, Honduras should not ree- eive Canadian aid or money I applaud Mr. Clark for supporting the efforts of Contradora, athe region's most logical initiative to resolve the conflict in Central America. I hope Mr Brisco also comes out in favor of this group, as strong Canadian support is crucial at this time in light of international efforts which seek to undermine them. Richard Bell Castlegar Sheraton-Spokane’s “Holiday Shopping Package” Even A Scrooge Would Love. Plan your shopping trip now Only $49 per hight. single or double occupancy Downtown package pickup Tropical Indoor Pool Stick-it-to-the- Sheraton and earn credit for FREE night's stay Children under 17 stay free in existing beds 15°. Discount on Room Rate to Canadians For Reservation, call your local travel agent tn er ae eee ae Sheraton-Spokane Hotel —. ad Saeed PORE SOG 3 River and the Arrow Lake who have boats that could be used in the event of a boat or plane accident. LaHue noted that a plane compelled to make a forced landing in the area would probably land in a body of water. +t boat list * site has mo choice (but) to available for emergencies. A motion was also passed to send a letter to the Re gional District of Central Kootenay expressing concern about how private houses are numbered in rural areas. According to Alec Lawre- now of Tarrys Volunteer Fire Department, the regional dis triet is in the process of as signing house numbers, some of which are confusing in an emergency because in some areas the numbers are being Misuse the cause of toy injuries WASHINGTON (AP) — The government, placing the responsibility for toy safety with consumers, says most toy-related injuries occur be- cause the product is misused. Launching the Consumer Product Safety Commission's fourth annual holiday toy safety campaign, chairman Expert says rain is healthy SEATTLE (AP) — Health statistics show Washington state residents are healthier than most other average Americans, and at least one expert says the often rainy weather may have something to do with it The statistics shaw Wash ington residents are less likely to die from heart at. tacks, cancer or stroke and aren't as likely as the aver age American to die prema turely Floyd Frost of the Wash. ington State Public Health Laboratories said there is no single clear reason why the state's health profile looks better than the national av erage. But he said it may be because Washington resi dents spend more money on health care John Milner, a University of Washington professor, has another idea why Washing ton residents are in better shape. He said the region's clouds and rain might be protecting people's health Milner said the most com mon known carginogen, other than cigarettes, is ray of sunlight, which have been known to contribute to skin cancer. A study by the U.S National Cancer Institute shows that skin cancer is less likely under cloud cover However, any improve ment in health may be can celled out ty Washington's high suicide rate, which is also partly blamed on the weather Nancy Harvey Steorts ad. vises parents to “buy the right toy for the right child at the right age.” Toys were factors in 16 deaths and 118,000 injuries reported in the United States last year, down from 17 deaths and 123,000 injuries in 1982, the said. duplicated on roads. that “We could have four or five 1270s, or something like that.” The association will sug- gest in their letter that the area of a residence be repre- sented by some of the num- bers in the sequence. The Castlegar and District Fire Chief's Association is gar airport and Westar Tim- ber. emes Is Your Name in ( LOOK Now! gone $17.95 0 Spat °11.88 w= seetiai 11.88 on. Spoeiai 219. 99 w. FT IDEAS GIFT IDEAS TAPERED VASE 6" Tall Gonaion 24% lead crystal inwheel design Genuine 24% lead crystal SALAD SET pinwheel design Fine Glassware co $18.96 oa. Sacer $37 96 Steorts especially cited the choking hazard that unin- flated or popped balloons pose to young children who put them in their mouths, and asked a group of 10- and ll-year-olds from a local school to bring that message home to their parents and their friends. Noting that fully inflated balloons posed no problem, she later distributed a helium-filled balloon to each child. More than 80 children have died in balloon-related inci dents over the last 10 years, including five last year and two thus far in 1984, she said ay ae Stoo fire #4 3.88 Special compartment t lo hold photos. #4055 i800 °7.99 00 Avoilable at. 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