‘ a4 fAay 19, 1985 7 ESI ABLISHED AUG 7 1947 Lv. CAMPBELL PUBLISHER — Belong 10 te edvernose —. WNCORPORALING 1Hé MiD-WEEK MIRROR PUBLISHED SPI 12 1. PUBLISHER AUG. 7 1947 FEB 1D 19/5 MOTICE OF COPYRIGHT: Full, complete ond sole copyright in Sipe is ond belongs 10 Costie News Utd. provided. how py: teement prepared trom repro procis, engrawinge, etc. provided Oy the adver IWICE WEEKLY MAY 4.1980 AUG 27 10 Burt Campbell woduced by Conia News Lid. = 3 pas Only one choice Castlegar council's decision to join the provincial government's Partners in Enterprise program could mean more than tax con- cessions for local business — though the tax breaks are a major part of the program. 't could also signal a change in how economic development in this region will be promoted in the future. the provincial partnership program should look at banding together to form one economic development office for all the region's municipalities. It's a good idea. It doesn't make sense to have a separate economic office in Casth Trail, Nelson, Rossland, Warf: id, and so on. A single office could serve all the municipalities. Letters to the Editor Until now, develop. In addition, it would allow ment has left to regional municipoli to share the cost of districts. For instance, in the West the new office since i Kootenay the Central Kootenay ust pay at least $25,000. It's likely Regional District has its own economic development officer to look after Nelson, Castlegar, Creston and points in between. The Ri | District of K: B dary has a sep Castlegar taxpayers wouldn't mind chipping in $4,000 or $5,000, but they would balk at a $25,000 price tag. Of course, an economic devel. development officer serving the needs of Trail, Rossland, Grand Forks and that area. With the Partners in Enterprise program, that could all change. The province (which has wanted economic development taken out of the hands of regional districts) has offered to provide up to $25,000 in funding for municipalities which went to set up their own office serving West Kootenay municipalities would spell the end for both regional district economic development of- fices. Rural members of regional districts couldn't afford to pay for an economic development office by themselves. Besides, that office would likely duplicate much of what the municipal office would be doing. office. The offer is not open to regional districts. Rossland Mayor Gordon Jenks sees a unique possibility in the new provincial program and he wants Castlegar involved. He thinks West Kootenay municipalities which plan to join More consis it was just 15 months ago that the people of Robson along with concerned citizens and organizations on the Castlegar side of the Columbio River joined forces in a successful community effort that saw the Robson ferry service retained when its abolition was almost certain. Fifteen months,is not a long time, but already the crews of the ferry seem to have let thot suc- cessful effort to keep the ferry, and their jobs, fade into memory. At one time the ferry crews would never pull away from the whorts if a vehicle was ap- proaching. In fact, it was quite common for them to lower the ferry ramps if they were already lifted, or even pull back in 10 or 15 meters if they had already started across the riv: While this still occurs today, it apparently is more the exception than the rule. This results in people headed tor example, to south Castlegar, to just keep going and use the Brilliant and Kinnaird bridges. This is one less vehicle using the ferry; one less vehicle that can be coun- ted in ferry statistics Even on Sunday mornings the frustration of people headed for the weekly Robson Flea Market can be evident. And again, some . tural areas wouldn't be left out in the cold. They would have the option of participating with municipalities by contributing to the cost of the office. It's clear that Castlegar really has only one choice — to join tor- ces with other area municipalities in regional economic develop- ment. tent service choose to drive the further distan- ce over Keenleyside Dam. Yes, it's added expense for them (which they justify on the basis that “it's just once in a while”), but again it's one less vehicle using the terry system. The ferry system isn’t in jeopar- dy, and it’s unlikely the highways ministry or provincial government will again propose its abolition. But. . . doesn’t it mak: nse that those who make their living on the ferries would be more consistent about the level of service provided local residents? 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 full 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. Quotable Quotes PETER POLLEN provincial leader of the Progressive Conservative party, says men need prostitutes because of their desire to procreate. Pollen, who favors the proposed federal legislation to ban street solici tation, said, “There is a need for pros titutes even with all the horrible social ramifications. It is the instinct of a male, particularly a young one, to procreate. And to not have that avail able creates a danger to society.” CANADA'S TOURISM minister says the country should be marketed like McDonald's hamburgers. “We need a Big Mac approach, zeroing in on the highly marketable products that can be marketed on a brand name basis,” Tom McMillan said this week. He added that Canada needs “a cohesive corporate image like MeDon- ald’s golden arches .. . we are seen in the U.S. as a country almost devoid of civilization.” B.C. RESOURCES has taken a beating this week on the stock market. It's share dropped to $2. The fall prompted Alix Granger, local director of F.H. Deacon Hodgson Ine. to comment: “There seems to be a general lack of interest in BCRIC now more than anything else. It’s hard to see any bright spots on the horizon. It certainly doesn’t look very positive for forest products and the company is probably doing as well as it can now in coal.” No more covering up restraint » Castlegar Ni 3 To this date, the public has been largely unaware of the erosion of services and of the overcrowding in Castl has not yet affected the “average” child's classroom in any substantial manner, but has adversely affected access to libraries, cultural events, field trips, and school supplies. Services to special needs children have been much more seriously af- fected; staff and programs have been cut drastically. However, teachers, ad- ministrators and trustees have taken up the slack and covered up the major consequences of restraint. In this third year of restraint it will be impossible to cover up the results of restraint. By September 1985, the Say no to Editor, Castlegar News: The Castlegar Peace Group's month ly peace vigil will take place Wed. nesday at 6 p.m. in the Castlegar courthouse parking lot. After the 10-minute silent vigil, people will have the opportunity to add their names to a cable which will be sent to Prime Minister Mulroney re questing that Canada not participate in the “Star Wars” development pro- gram. Several months ago the U.S. extend ed an invitation to Canada and other Western nations to take part in the re- search aspect of the Star Wars pro- gram and has set May 26 as a deadline for acceptance or rejection. The Castlegar Peace group, which is sponsoring the message to the prime minister, feels strongly that partici pation in the Star Wars program will only tie Canadian science and industry even more tightly to dollars allocated to military expenditures and will make Canadian jobs even more dependent on Castlegar School District will have lost a total of 25 teaching positions. This will be translated into overcrowding, loss of services, and low employee morale. Already in Castlegar, there are many classes with over 30 students, many split grades and many children not receiving the individual care and attention they need. In two months School District No. 9 will be losing another 10 teachers; this means another child in each already over. crowded classroom. Grade 1 and 2 splits may become Grades 1, 2 and 3 splits in the smaller schools which will double the added problems of the split grade classroom. Currently, Castlegar stands 31st in class size in the province and now the Star Wars large American and Canadian “de. fence” budgets. These large military budgets take away billions of dollars which could be spent on improved education, health and social services which are the most productive in terms of numbers of jobs per capital dollar invested. With a reallocation of these budgets, not only would the quality of life in North America be improved, but there would certainly be more funds available to eliminate world hunger and to draw Third World people productively into the world economy. The Castlegar Peace group members are also fearful that the Star Wars program will have a destabilizing effect on a world already threatened with total destruction and don't want Canada to be a part of that possibilit We invite residents of Castlegar and district to join us Wednesday to take part in the peace vigil and to help us to “make peace.” Anne Godderis for the Castlegar Peace Group government has dictated a further reduction of teachers in the district. Gifted and special needs programs, Russian Immersion, French, Computer Science, Art and many other subjects have been affected by restraint. More importantly, there are many Castlegar students who have been denied access to these programs due to lack of space and testing facilities. Outside of curriculum, support staff have also been cut drastically. Children at Kinnaird Junior Secondary School with home problems no longer have access to a Ministry of Human Re sources youth worker since she was laid off two years ago. Long after the restraint program has ended the problems caused by this government will still be with us. We will have a shortage of trained teach: ers, a young adult population whose needs were not met in school, and an aging teaching staff whose morale will continue to be at an all-time low. After three years of zero wage in creases (the provincial average is 4.5 per cent) and being singled out for special treatment, teacher morale has plummeted to levels of despair. This low morale is felt by the students when teachers no longer sponsor clubs, coach teams, arrange field trips, or offer extra help to students. Our children will be the hardest hit by the low morale of all employees in the educa. tional workplace. Even though the people of B.C. have been promised an end to restraint after three years, our children will bear the scars for a much longer period. Although Castlegar has been able to minimize some of the more destructive impacts of the government education policy, if School District No. 9 is forced to accept yet another restraint budget, the situation in our schools will inevitably worsen. Castlegar and District Teachers’ Association More Letters, AS Fred A few years ago, when the Mur. phy Creek Dam was big news, some of us were fortunate enough to at. tend a Castlegar council meeting where an ambitious project was presented for council's attention. As I recall, these several years later, the plan entailed a series of promenade walkways, islands and lagoons at Castlegar's Columbia River waterfront. Most of us in that meetings audience thought it was an excellent idea. The spokesman for the project had done his homework. His design accommodated the planned high water levels resulting from the proposed Murphy Creek Dam We have since been told that Murphy is on hold. We can also assume that funds for the water. front development would come from costs of constructing the generating facility. Nevertheless, that first class development concept should be placed on Castlegar’s front burner. The worthy Zuckerberg Island project should be the first in a series of waterfront projects which will Merriman culminate in the utilization of the all-important Columbia River as the final link Castlegar has with its neighbors. A long-time Trail resident re. membered the many launches and powerboats which entered Canada via the Columbia. The inland ar. mada tied up at Trail and took on supplies. In due course, the water. borne travellers reached Revel stoke. Why can’t a serious effort be made to awaken the Columbia to traffic? We all appreciate that es sentially water storage, flood con trol and irrigation are the prime uses of our major rivers. However, some serious effort should be made to add transportation to the list Joe Irving reminded a coffee shop group one evening that the native Indians made essential use of the Some critics would also quickly point out that water levels fluctuate and are sometimes so low that canoes or kayaks would be in danger. Like rocks in our way, the obstacles can be overcome through negotiation and education. There are good ship captains who will be able to navigate around those dangerous shoals. The success realized by those dedicated people who worked on behalf of the Zuckerberg Island res toration sets a fine example for those who would follow. Castlegar's waterfront should be recognized, developed and promoted We have not taken advantage of the Columbia and its great possibil ities. So fortunate are we, with one of the major rivers of western Canada flowing right past our door, that we have taken the old girl completely for granted In the not so humble opinion of this lowly columnist, it is long past time for us to cease wringing our hands in gloom and misery. Despite restraint and unemployment, young couples do like to walk hand in hand along a riverfront promenade on a warm summer evening. Others may prefer to paddle a silent canoe on serene waters by moonlight. Still others, could attend open air theatre on the project rivers in this area for ree and their livelihood. We now rely on highways of tar and gravel, or soaring silver metal birds, both of which are costly to maintain and subject to the vagaries of the wea ther. The project also proposed a trail or sidewalk along the western shore of the river to the bridge. I can see people enjoying the new Castlegar now, as the steadily flowing waters make their way to the sea Remember When? 35 YEARS AGO From the May 25, 1950 Castlegar News The crowning of May Queen Dawn Jenks and a colorful parade highlighted May Day celebrations in Castlegar. Prizes were awarded in several cate- gories, including bicycles — 1st Gale Seaton, 2nd Wayne Richards; tricycles — Ist Helen Kerr, 2nd Wendy Defoe; wagons — Ist Jimmy Smith, Alan Rob- ertson and Tony Dalton, 2nd Paul Plotnikoff; doll buggies — Dorothy Thring. Festivities ended with a dance at the Coronation Hall. * * * Kinnaird Improvement Society has launched a plan for improvement of the 18-acre community park. The society's plan calls for the addition of a large lodge containing showers and rest rooms, and possibly picnic tables in wooded areas of the park. The ball diamonds and kiddies’ playground areas are already in use. . . In one of the most important mining developments in the Kootenay area, Cominco plans to bring the old Bluebell Mine into full seale production and will spend over $1 million this year on the first part of a two-year program. When the project is completed, it will provide employment for approximately 250 men One of the oldest known ore deposits in the Kootenay district, the Bluebell is situated on the east side of the Kootenay Lake, about 30 miles from Nelson. Over 100 years ago, Hudson's Bay Co. trappers used the rich lead ore from the surface showing to make their lead bullets. 25 YEARS AGO From the May 26, 1960 Castlegar News Castlegar gaped in wonder as hula skirted girls, beatniks, and Klondike gold miners wheeled through town in crowded cars and pickup trucks. They were Stanley Humphries High School students competing for the KRC trophy. Parade floats and skits of the school's four “houses” were judged on the basis of parade appearance, theme, band support, originality and general appearance. * Castlegar's traffic regulations and by-laws are being overhauled in prep aration for increased traffic after the opening of the Blueberry-Paul sen-Christina highway and the enter. ing into production of Celgar. . 8 @ Kootenay Builders were awarded the re-designing of the nurses’ station at the Castlegar and District Hospital. The project is estimated to cost about $700. Meanwhile, Kinnaird Transfer started working on the roads at the hospital in preparation for the laying of blacktop. + 2 «6 15 YEARS AGO From the May 28, 1970 Castlegar News The appointment of Lachlan Charles Farrell, formerly of David Thompson Secondary School at Invermere, as vice-principal of Stanley Humphries Secondary School was announced this week by the board of trustees of School District No. 9. * 8 «6 Missing link from Kinnaird to Salmo was assaulted recently when a party equipped with shovels and a power y, travelled the 17-mile course from the airport to Meadows, near Salmo. Gordon Brady, spokesman for the group, said he estimated that a basic gravel logging road, suitable for cars and trailers, could be accom plished without great costs. * . A.E. Soles, principal of Selkirk College, has been awarded a Nuffield Foundation Travel Grant for Teachers in Canadian Community Colleges. Mr. Soles was one of four recipients. He will be going to Britain for the summer to carry out research into the com. munity service or “outreach” activities of colleges “in England 5 YEARS AGO From the May 25, 1980 Castlegar News The timber supply to CanCel's Castlegar sawmill dropped sharply this week when B.C. forest service employ ees throughout the southern B.C. Interior set up pickets protesting gov ernment reorganization plans. The cost of rebuilding Kinnaird Elementary School represents most of the $2,527,086 capital expenses budget approved for this year by School District No. 9. The figure adopted by the school board provides $1,334,200 to replace the school, which was des. troyed by fire Dec. 17, 1979. * « (es Celgar Pulp has been named the safest pulp mill in the province this year by the Pulp and Paper Industrial Relations Bureau. The mill's 425 employees have not recorded « disab- ling injury since last November. BUSINESS MORE LETTERS Editor, Castlegar News: Your editorial comment of May 12 was timely tosay the least. The issue of openness in the conduct of public __ business has long been a concern of many people in this community. Call'for public debate If the director of instruction position is staffed, we will have a further re- duction in the services of the district resource centre coordinator and the computer coordinator. It elimination of the spoeiat Services co- Far too many important d are made “in camera” — away from public scrutiny or input. Unfortunate- ly, it would appear that little has changed. An example of this has oc- curred this week in the approval, by the board of School District No. 9, of a new administrative position for the district. ‘Phe essential debate to staff this ad- ministrative position was done in camera with no opportunity for public input or discussion. Any opportunity for public debate was effectively curtailed when a motion to table the approval of a dir- ector of instruction was defeated at the May 13 school board meeting. The District Parents’ Committee cannot support the addition of a new administrator at this time. We under- stand that the school board prop to and the ij French helping teac} These are all positions providing direct services to students or teachers. They have already been reduced by previous cutbacks and any further reductions are intolerable. It has been proposed that the dir- ector of instruction would take over the duties of four teachers. We fail to see how this is possible if he is to perform fully the duties of a director of in- struction. It is our understanding that an ad- ministrative position of this level nor- mally commands a salary of $60,000 plus, per annum. If this is correct, can we afford these kinds of salaries? The Ministry of Education has said that most school districts are already top heavy in administration. Any addi- tions to administrative staff, in a period of are support this director of instruction position by reducing or eliminating other student services that we believe should have priority. Editor, Castlegar News: Throughout the’ recent period of restraint and struggle with B.C. school boards and their budgets, I have become rather tired of hearing nothing but criticism for those boards who have complied with the guidelines. I would like to complement our local board for being good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars. While no one likes to have funding reduced, it is a fact of life that many small companies and many individuals are spending less today than they were several years ago. pprop- riate. H.R. Rourke, Chairman, <= - FURNITI Mon. - Sat., 9:30 - 5:30 China Creek “Drive a Little to Save a Lot” WAREHOUSE Castlegar Commuatty — Annual General Meeting Tuesday, May 28 7:30 p.m. at the United Church 2224-6th Ave. EVERYONE WELCOME When the Heat’ , ' is On — SsTIHL® 038 K its GUEST SPEAKER . . . Gerry Frederick, past president of the B.C. Chamber of Com- merce, spoke to Selkirk Toastmaster Club at its dinner meeting on Wednesday about Doing Business in Tough Times. District Parents’ C: Reality, but no gold It appears that several of our local school trustees and many of the Vancouver school board are not inter- ested in being responsible board mem- bers. Lately, they are mounting a political campaign. Politics has no place within the school boards. It's about time that the public in general, and some teachers and board members in particular, realized that there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow — only reality. J.T. Wiekett Castlegar PAVES WAY FOR ROAD Cominco applauds bill By CasNews Staff Cominco Ltd. has applaud- ed a bill passed in Alaska legislature last week which paves the way for a road access from the state's coast to the Red Dog zinc-lead silver ore body in Northwest Alaska. The bill — passed May 8 — allows the Alaska Industrial Development Authority (AIDA) to issue bonds or notes up to $175 million to finance the state authority's de Long Mountain Transpor- tation project, says a Comin- co news release. When completed, the de Long Transportation project will include the road access, as well as a port to accom- Weekly Stocks TORONTO (CP) — The Toronto Stock Exchange scored its third record high in as many days Friday after traders sought to cash in on hopes of an economic turn around from lower interest rates. reached on March 1 of this year. By contrast, the Dow Jones utility average, with a 2.92 gain to 164.75, topped its previous closing high of 163.32 set on April 20, 1965. Volume on the New York Stock Exch: stepped up modate the shipment of lead zine concentrates. The Red Dog mine will be developed by Cominco and the NANA Regional Corpor. ation, Inc. — an Alaskan na- tive corporation. The Red Dog deposit has an estimated 85 million tons of ore con taining 17.1 per cent zine, five per cent lead and 2.4 ounces a ton of silver, ac cording to the release. The bill requires approval by the governor of Alaska before becoming law. As well, the issuance of secur- ities will be dependent upon Cominco agreeing with AIDA to pay toll fees on all or a proportionate share of operating and maintenance costs for the proposed road and port. “The provisions for AIDA The TSE 300 in. dex rose 89.06 or 3.38 per cent to 2723.23, its third con secutive daily record high and a weekly record high. Thirteen of the 14 major stock groups rose during the week, led by gold mining issues On Friday alone, the market rose 17.58 as 376 issues advanced, 304 declined and 312 were unchanged. In New York, the stock market posted a broad gain, riding an afternoon wave of buying. The rise was caused by news of a cut in the U.S. discount rate — the basic rate charged to private fi nancial institutions. Banks then began a round of further interest rate cuts. The Dow Jones's average of 30 industrials climbed 7.29 to 1,285.34, finishing the week with a net rise of 11.16 ints. That left the industrial average short of its record closing high of 1,299.36, to 124.63 million shares from 99.42 million Thursday. The Federal Reserve Board announced it will lower the rate it charges on loans to private financial in. stitutions from eight per cent to 7% per cent, effective Monday. New York's Citibank cut its prime lending rate from 10% to 10 per cent. clear a major hur. dle in Cominco's plans to de velop the Red Dog ore body,” according to the release. Plans for the road access, an agreement between NANA and AIDA for land use, and financing and mar. keting arrangement must still be made for the Red Dog project. At the earliest, the mine could begin operating in 1989. SOCIAL/ ECONOMIC ELOPMENT “Sharing Approaches That Work” Orgonizations, clubs, societies and enter are invited to join ranks in discussing viabl the Kootenay /Bounda FEE: $15 for employed, $5 for unemployed (includes lunch display space, seminars materials) Cl: Selkirk College, Costlegar Campus. Preregistration is individuals Iternatives that ry region's traditional Selkirk College CASTLEGAR CAMPUS Box 1200, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 341 — 365-7292 Cc local FROM LAST YEAR Bankruptcies down OTTAWA (CP) — A total of 2,357 businesses and in- dividuals declared bankrupt- cy last month, down from 2,645 in April a year ago. Stati: superintendent of bankrup- tey also said there were 9,692 individual and business bank- ruptcies months of 1985 — a drop from 11,701 during the same per- iod of 1984. 5 In Ontario, 734 companies ies released by the and individuals went bank- rupt in April, compared with a total of 668 in Quebec, 331 in British Columbia and 300 in the first four in Alberta. In Manitoba, there were 110 bankruptcies, 78 in Nova Scotia, 60 in Sas- katchewan, 25 and 22 in New Brunswick and Newfound- land respectively while Yu- kon had five. Prince Edward (G3 and the Northwest Territor- jes none. 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