| amaranth oe " ren Nesiaseelpcod-peny = Meet Some of the Friendliest People in Town JOHN VANIN ASSISTANT MANAGER TERRY HUGHES ASSISTANT MANAGER TONY SANDRIN STORE MANAGER AMMY McEW. CUSTOMER SERVICE DAVE ANDERSON MEAT MANAGER “Working Hard to be Your Favorite Food Store” » SAFEWAY ese 2 OR PA ~ GD QL wry 1721 Columbia Ave., Castlegar L@2 NCL» —_~. DG 0000000 Aa ==" was a PCOOCHOHOSHOSSSHSHSSHSSHSHSHSHOHHOHHSHHHSHSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHSHHHHHHHHHHEHEBELLCE® alee aN atraemnspc, GE Re CREW . . . Members of the 44th Field Engineering Squadron from Trail were out in force Sunday preparing anchor and footing holes for the suspension bridge connecting Zuckerberg Island Park with the mainland. Ferry a heritage oa”? By CasNews Staff Castlegar: council is considering designating the Castlegar-Robson ferry a heritage site. “We've started to look into this,” confirmed Ald. Carl Henne at Tuesday night's council meeting. However, he added, “We haven't got all the facts” and will need to study the proposal further: The Castlegar heritage advisory committee raised the prospect of the ferry as a heritage site when it unani- mously passed a motion at its March 21 meeting that the ferry be an official heritage fixture. Meanwhile, there was good news Tuesday for shift workers living in Robson. The Ministry of Highways dis- closed it will operate the Castlegar- Robson ferry 16 hours a day instead of 14'4 as first announced. Regional Highways manager Roger McKeown said in a telephone interview the ferry will operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and not from 7:16 to 9:45 as an- nounced Friday by Highways Minister Alex Fraser. “When the hours were first an- nounced they didn’t take into consid- eration what it would do to people on shift,” said McKeown. By pushing back the ferry’s starting time from 7:15 a.m. to 6 a.m., shift workers at Celgar will be able to take the ferry in the morning. McKeown said one of the seven full-time ferry employees will be laid off. That will mean six full-time and two part-time employees will continue to man the ferry. A mixture of cloud and sun for tomorrow; Friday will be sun. Highs of 10 10 12 both days, lows eround freezing 3 Sections (A, B & C) From left are: W/O Jolin Woolridge operating backhoe, Capt. W. Van Beek, Maj. George Perkin and Pvt. Lyste Crispen. Work is continuing at the park and will be completed by May 2. CasNewsPhoto by John Charters FERRY CUTBACKS Staff Writer The community of Glade is fighting mad over the provincial government's decision to reduce the operating hours of the Glade ferry and plans to send telegrams to Highways Minister Alex Fraser and Premier Bill Bennett protesting the change. About 75 of the community's 350 residents showed up at a meeting Tuesday night at Glade Community Hall and voted to sent the telegrams asking for an immediate response. If the government's response is unfavorable, the community plans to hold a demonstration Friday at the provincial government building in Nelson. Fraser Friday announced a 3'/z-hour reduction in the ferry service. The services will be reduced from 21'/ hours to 18 hours a day, meaning the ferry will run from 6 a.m. to midnight starting Sunday instead of 5 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. are objecti to the because they say between 84 and 90 per cent of the employed residents work shifts and will have difficulty getting across the river to and from work between midnight and 6 a.m. Meeting chairman Steve Sears says residents af- fected are employed at operations such as Kalesnikoff Glade residents mad MINISTRY RULES OUT OVERPASS By RON NORMAN Editer Castlegar council and the Ministry of Highways are near agreement on the design for a new interchange at High way 3 and Highway 22, the Castlegar News has learned. The latest interchange proposal is much the same as the plan put forward in 1980, works and services committee chairman Ald. Carl Henne said. However, the Highways Ministry has adapted the 1980 plan to take into consideration some of council's con. cerns. Council hopes to have more meeting with Highways to clarify some minor details, according to city Clerk Ron Skillings. However, Skillings added that there's not a great deal of opposition to the latest plan. Under the plan, traffic eastbound on Highway 3 wishing to head south to Trail will exit off the existing ramp. However, the traffic light presently at the bottom of the ramp will be eliminated. The light will be relocated further south on Highway 22 at the inter: section of a new road connecting High- way 3 and 22. Eastbound traffic on Highway 3 wishing to head north into downtown Castlegar will head across the overpass into a clover leaf, merging with High- way 22 traffic heading north. Westbound traffic on Highway 3 wishing to head north or south on Highway 22 will turn onto the new Lumber, BC Timber, Nelson and Castlegar h B.C. Tel, Cominco, Slocan Forest Products and Selkirk College. As well, he says, the reductior will affect many loggers who leave around 5 a.m. to begin falling in the buekwoods. One of the alternatives suggested by Sears was the possibility of cutting back the ferry’s hours during the day rather than at night. “People that come off shift, what if they (the gov- ernment) take a month or six weeks to decide. It might be better off with alternatives shutting it down for two to three hours a day,” Sears said. “I'm afraid if we say we don’t want any cutbacks in the name of restraint they can do whatever they want with restraint,” he said. But one member objected: “This hg@ got nothing to do with restraint. This is essential services.” After the meeting Sears said “There are no alter- natives.” In protest, the ferry committee has contacted local Highways officials, Nelson-Creston MLA Lorne Nichol- son's office and MP Lyle Kristiansen's office. “It’s not only shift work (that will be affected),” one woman commented. “If you go to a show (in Trail or Nelson) you won't be able to get back in time.” continued on page A2 ng road that will run just south of the Valley Maid store. The new road will connect Hi However, Highways Ministry has recommended a traffic light for the controversial intersection with orange warning lights placed well before the intersection. Currently, westbound traffic wishing to head north or south on Highway 22 must take an off-ramp that runs just behind Castleaird Plaza In the latest plan, that ramp will be eliminated, to be replaced by the new interconnecting road The plan also includes a possible frontage road in front of the Sandman Inn for some later date. Also in the future is a plan to push 6th Ave. through to connect with the new interconnecting road. In other news, the provincial gov ernment has announced it is eliminat- ing driver examination services in Castlegar. But the council isn’t taking the decision lying down. Council agreed Tuesday to fire off a letter to the Ministry of Highways “complaining bitterly about the service we're getting.” Ald. Bob Pakula, chairman of protec. tive services committee, said first the province is trying to shift responsi- bility for court document service from provincial sheriffs to municipalities; “now they want to take away our driver examination services.” In a letter to council P.K. Jackman, acting superintendent of motor ve- hicles, said the driver examination ser vice will be eliminated effective April 1. a permanent examination reasonable distance of will 3 and 22. The biggest change in the plan is that the Ministry of Highways is not recommending an overpass to connect the new road with the Woodland Park area. Council recommended the overpass following last year's public hearing be- cause residents were concerned about safety problems where the new road crosses the highway. provide examination services,” he wrote. “Remaining services to residents of your community will include learner, duplicate and renewal driver's licences. Any new residents licenced in another jurisdiction will be able to receive an original class 5 or 6 B.C. driver's licence without travelling to the nearby ex- amination centre.” Jackman did not disclose where the new centre will be located. inside FLYING HIGH: Social Credit backbencher Jack Kempf told the legislature yesterday the government should turn its air service over to the private sec- tor or at least make better use of it. And Rossland-Trail MLA Chris D-Arcy agreed. D'Arcy says MLAs should be able to have more access to gover- nment aircraft but only if seats are available... AS UNION OPPOSES PROJECT By ADRIAN CHAMBERLAIN Staff Writer Castlegar school board gave permis sion Monday for a parent’s group to in- stall playground equipment at. Kin- naird Elementary School, despite the local school union's insistence that the playground is “volunteer labor” that takes jobs from union members. Board chairman Doreen Smecher ac- knowledged that at a meeting with Canadian Union of Public Employees earlier this month CUPE members said the board was encouraging volunteer labor. “We're not,” said Smecher. “We're only allowing taxpayers to install equipment on taxpayers’ property.” Smecher said the Kinnaird Elem entary/Valley Vista Parent Group will raise funds for adventure playground equipment themselves. She said if CUPE employees were hired to do the job, it would take a week's wages for one worker (over $500 at union scale), or four days for two workers — which would cost about what the equipment was worth. School budget restraints haven't al lowed the installation of playground equipment this school year using board funds said Smecher. continued on page A2 PROBLEM SOLVED: Castlegar council and residents of Riverside Crescent/Connofs Road su! asphalt plant operation at the city works yard... A2 ion have agreed on a solution to the BUSY PLACE: Selkirk College's Castlegar campus will be getting a new administration building and other renovations totalling $800,000 GOOD YEAR: Kootenay Savings Credit Union reported another fine year Tuesday at its annual general meeting... A4 Province chops college programs By CasNews Staff The provincial government has chopped all funding for Selkirk College's community education programs for 1964-85, the Castlegar News has learned. This means the college will lose some $206,000 in ial funds and courses will have to be self-sufficient. The cutback in community sisesee prone! is a result of a change in g ince’s com- munity colleges, Selkirk College marries Leo Perra says. Perra told board members in a recent report that the government does not want any provincial funds to be used for the administration or support of general interest courses. He added in an interview that in the past, priorities focused on, things like vocational training. However, the phadabrrsird is phages the emphasis on redirecting students transfer now. Perra said the government, for example, has given the college an increase of almost 15 per cont over previous levels for wi ity transfer and courses. He said the increase is “fairly significant” although some part of the increase may be influenced by the closure of David Thompson University Centre on May 1. Perra said funds for the general interest program pay for staff and costs “ maintaining centres like Grand Forks and Nakusp. “This will require an adjustment in resources or expen- ditures,” he said. Perra said because of the government's cutback “gen. eral interest courses will definitely have to pay for them selves.” He said the college will try to increase vocational part-time and university transfer part-time activities to justify general interest courpes. He@aid the Nit won't be affected by the funding outback in general interest courses because those courses tend to be self-supporting anyway. At other centres, the college will be reducing the cost of administering the courses, ineluding laying off staff and early terminations. The college is currently looking at only terminating one or two positions, but Perra said other positions may be affected. In other college news, the college is still awaiting a formal response regarding closure activities at DTUC. Perra said in his report to the board that discussion with Ministry of Education officers indicate that personnel severance and student assistance will be Perra said that although he doesn’t have a financial statement from the ministry, the limit for students with dependents will remain at $3,000. But he said there may be a reduction for single students. He said a conference service at DTUC will not be sup- ported in view of the large number of cancellations since the closure announcement. Meanwhile, the government has decided to transfer some training to the private sector where such training is readily available. Perra said Selkirk College is not affected by this change. The programs deleted from other colleges includes hairdressing, cosmetology, barbering, driver and taxi train- ing, underwater welding, office administration and bank teller training. Perra said he doesn’t think the hairdressing program at the Rosemont campus will be affected because one of the ministry's major criteria is local access. If anything, the program will receive a funding increase, he said. Selkirk College will be one of the only institutions left with a hair- dressing program, Perra said. The number of apprentices at Selkirk College has de- creased by some 50 per cent in the past year. Further de- creases are expected during the current year, requiring a in ap ice training prog , Perra reported. At Selkirk College, the millwright and heavy duty mechanic programs will be phased out and the electrical program will be reduced by 50 per cent. Perra said the reduction in apprentices is due to the fact that they are being laid off from jobs. continued on page A2 \