c2 December 30, 1987 Compiled by MARY PICTON January THE FIRST Castlegar area baby born in 1987 is Lisa, daugliter of Robert and Dale Letnick of Pass Creek and a sister for Michelle. Lisa arrives at 9:02 a.m. at Castlegar and District Hospital, weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces. THE FIRST snowstorm of the year hits Castlegar, dumping a record 20 centimeters of snow and is responsible for scores of power failures throughout the area. CASTLEGAR council earmarks $55,000 in its pro visional budget for landscaping, parking and paving at the Pioneer Arena property this year. Chairman of the parks and recreation committee, Terry Rogers, notes that the improvements are intended to “set an example” for the rest of the area. THE TOURING Soviet Union National Under-17 team and Team Pacific arrive at Castlegar airport where they are welcomed by a large crowd of well-wishers. Team Pacific is comprised of under-17 players from Alberta and B.C. and includes local player Travis Green. e teams attend a luncheon at the Brilliant Cultural Centre where local politicians and community leaders welcome them to the area. IN A SPLIT decision, Castlegar council gives the green light to a new $445,000 library to be built on the site of the present downtown branch. A construction contract is awarded to William Berg Construction Ltd. of Castlegar for $395,700. MORE THAN 200 people pack the Ootischenia Community Hall to debate the fate of the proposed water slide park in Ootischenia. Area J director Martin Vanderpol, who is chairing the hearing, will now take a week to reveiw the comments before he makes recommendations that the Regional] District of Central Kootenay either grant or reject a development permit for the proposed facility. CASTLEGAR SCHOOL trustee Doreen Smecher is one of only two B.C. trustees invited as an observer on the Ministry of Education's new advisory committee on teacher training. Smecher, a school trustee in Castlegar for eight years, says the committee's findings will play a part in the promised Royal Commission on Education. DOWNTOWN BRANCH of the Castlegar Library opens its doors in its temporary location in the basement of Pharmasave, as construction of the new library facility begins on its former site. CASTLEGAR Heritage Advisory Committee looks at moving the historic CP Rail station just south of the present site on 13th Ave., adjacent to the railway tracks. Pbruany THE REGIONAL district turns down a request for Castlegar-based CETAC Development Ltd. to rezone a 6.16-acre sandpit in Ootischenia. CETAC, which owns the land, has hopes of building a major tourist attraction on the site which would include a waterslide. COUNCIL agrees by a split 5-2 vote to Ald. Nick Oglow's request for a special audit of the city's industrial park. Oglow charges that council and Castlegar's residents have been “persistently misled” by suggestions the industrial park debt will be forgiven. COUNCIL receives a report from the B.C, Assessment Authority showing the city's assessment roll dropping 22.5 per cent between July 1, 1984 and July 1, 1986. As a result of the sharp decline, a tax rate increase is predicted. THE FIRST death of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is recorded in the West Kootenay. A medical community spokesman confirms that a Rossland man has recently died of the disease. CASTLEGAR schoo! trustees vote themselves a 25 per cent pay raise. Starting July 1, trustee indemnities increase by $1,000 a year to a maximum indemnity of $5,000 a year for each trustee. KOOTENAY West is back on the federal electoral map, with extended boundaries to include Revelstoke. The riding name is to be changed to Kootenay West-Revelstoke. Kootenay West MP Bob Brisco is pleased that his territory remains a riding, adding that an opportunity still remains for voters to “affect a change”. TRANSPORT Minister John Crosbie confirms that construction is to begin in June on the $3.5-million expansion of the Castlegar Airport Terminal. CASTLEGAR’'S heritage, cultural, recreation and tourism attractions are “nothing short of phenomenal”, according to provincial Tourism Minister Bill Reid, who is shown the local sites while on a brief visit to Castlegar. oe WW wa DMA ae A re A\ A . P 3. . ~~ uf oa AIRPORT EXPANSION . . . Work on a $2 million expansion to Castlegar Airport terminal building. However, he says that Castlegar would not be “thrown” any tourism ministry dollars at this time to promote the area. A CENTRAL American refugee is safe in a Castlegar home after being picked up by Jim Lamont near Christina Lake. Mario Escamilla, 28, had travelled by foot or by hitching rides, from E] Salvador to Canada. He steals across the Canada/U.S. border and walks along Highway 3, cold, alone and penniless, when he is spotted by Lamont. March THE FIRST week in March is a record-breaker, beth for warm temperatures and rainfall. A new hgh of 12.7 degrees is set March 4, while a new daily record for precipitation is set March 2 with 23.6 mm of rain. CASTLEGAR school trustees agree to immediately implement an AIDS education program for senior and junior secondary school students. Supt. Terry Wayling says “When we are talking about the health and welfare of kids we get on it right away.” FORMER NDP leader and B.C. premier, Dave Barrett, is guest of honor at a roast at Maryhall in Nelson. Barrett, who is running federally for the NDP, tells the crowd of 400 party faithful his decision to return to politics is out of a “sense of obligation and commitment.” REGIONAL District of Central Kootenay board agrees unanimously to ask the provincial government to rename the Salmo-Creston summit Rick Hansen Summit. Kaslo mayor Jack Morris calls the renaming “appropriate”, saying “It's been a disabled highway for so long.” CASTLEGAR school board approves a provisional operating budget of $8.6 million, calling it a “bare bones budget” despite the 7.5 per cent increase over last year. CASTLEGAR council rescinds Ald. Nick Oglow’s former motion for a special audit of Castlegar’s Industrial Park, and agrees torhis proposal to present a list of questions to the city auditor in place of the audit. Ogiow points out that the financial statement itself fulfills one of his requests -— to have a separate financial accounting of the industrial park. SIX HOCKEY teams converge on Castlegar for five days for the 1987 Bantam Triple A Provincial Hockey Championships. A celebrity banquet is held at the Community Complex for players, team officials and the public, with BCTV sportscaster, John McKeachie, as the keynote speaker. THE FEDERAL government announces a $1.5 million federal grant for development of improved technology to reduce ordorous emissions and increase energy efficiency at the Celgar pulp mill. The grant covers approximately 40 per cent of the total cost of developing, designing and installing an improved combustion system for the recovery boiler at Celgar. REGIONAL District of Central Kootenay board un- animously agrees to proceed with a court case against B.C. Hydro and the provincial government over Hydro's special tax exempt status. Board chairman George Cady predicts a long legal fight, saying “It’s going to go all the way to the Supreme Court.” He justifies the legal costs by the potential tax return. MORE THAN 60 people turned out for a banquet at the Fireside Place to pay tribute to Alex Lutz, the 1986 Castlegar Citizen of the Year. CASTLEGAR queen candidates are selected and ready to meet their public. They are: Erin Finney, Miss La Maison; Tina Baker, Miss Gyro; Cynamon Carter, Miss Arrow Building Supplies; Lesley Price, Miss Legion; Vicki Thompson, Misa Rotary; Kim Lees, Miss CKQR; Christine Peterson, Miss Ginette’s Boutique; and Deana Holuboff, Miss Selkirk Lions. SOME 350 members of Lions Clubs from B.C. and Washington State converge on Castl for a district governor's conference. Castlegar Selkirk Lions Club hosts the two-day event. AT A SPECIAL Castlegar council meeting, longtime Castlegar resident Leo Bosse proposes an 82,000-square- foot mall on 13th Ave. between the city works yard and the old Castlegar Hotel site. Bosse says he would like First Commercial Management Ltd. of Winnipeg, the firm which proposed a $6 million mall on the eliptical site beside Castleaird Plaza, to swap city land for the eliptical site. Council unanimously approves in principle the mall proposal, but makes no mention of any land swap. A FEDERAL grant of almost $100,000 is awarded to a six-part job development program in such places as Zuckerberg Island Heritage Park and Scotties Marina. The grant will create a total of nine temporary jobs. THE MINISTRY of the Environment and B.C. Hydro reach a $4.5 million compensation agreement to help restore fish and wildlife affected by construction of the Hugh Keenleyside Dam near Castlegar in 1966. Hydro will provide $3 million in cash and another $1.5 million in land. ADVANCED Education and Job Training Minister Stan Hagen tours Selkirk College and tells faculty and staff involving - FT ni ete eae Apnrll (cod) that his department will be dismantling all existing college boards and reappointing members for one-year terms. “We are looking for geographical representation on boards and we want a cross-section of ints rests,” comments Hagen. AN ECONOMIC strategy plan commissioned for the City of Castlegar by the district development board suggests that outside of the Kootenays, not many people know the city exists. Other weaknesses, according to the report, include the lack of tourist facilities, a feeling of separation within the city limits and the absence of a resource base for the Celgar pulp mill. THE 11TH annua! West Kootenay Trade Fair opens its doors, with over 100 exhibitors taking part. This year's theme “Echoes of Time”, focuses on the past — specifically around the 1920s. A HEAT wave in Castlegar sends the mercury soaring to 28 degrees on April 27, tying a record established in 1980. The good weather continues since mid-month, with no measurable precipitation. May MORE THAN 2,000 people and a cheque for $23,000 greet Rick Hansen when he wheels his Man in Motion world tour into Castlegar. Former Castlegar resident and Selkirk College instructor, Tim Frick, who helped Hansen plan his world tour and travelled with him for eight months, accompanies his friend through the Kootenays. THE UNITED Steelworkers of America, which represents 3,200 workers at Cominco Ltd. operations in Trail and Kimberley, serve a five-day strike notice. A LETTER-WRITING campaign spearheaded by retired Castlegar teacher Alma McGauley, urges former account holders at the now-collapsed Teacher's Investment and Housing Co-operative to sue the provincial government for about $100 million. Former members of the co-operative contribute $205,000 to finance the lawsuit. A RECORD-BREAKING heat wave finally lets up on May 12, giving way to showers, but not before smashing five records — some nearly 20 years old — in the first 11 days of the month. The month is one of the hottest on record, with temperatures pushing the mercury past the 80-degree mark on two days. THE FIRST hearing of the B.C. Royal Commission on Education draws little interest, as only 20 area residents attend and only two formal commissions are presented. Castlegar and District Teachers Association members do not participate, following the furor over the Socred govern- ment's proposed Teaching Profession Act which would make major changes to teacher bargaining. THE CITY of Castlegar kicks off its first annual Municipal Awareness Week, with a variety of events and activities aimed at focussing attention on the role of local governments and the importance of participation. STANLEY HUMPHRIES Secondary School concert band captures a gold medal at Music Fest in Ontario. The band is the first high school band in B.C. to win a gold medal at the festival, which attracts more than 4,500 students musicians from across Canada. CASTLEGAR SCHOOL board and its teachers agree to a one-year contract providing for a pay increase of nearly three per cent. The district is one of only a handful in the province to reach a contract agreement without going to arbitration. CASTLEGAR now has its own beach, thanks to a federal job creation project. The beach, called the Neigh- borhood Beach, is located just the other side of Keenleyside Dam. at local schools. Dune APPROXIMATELY 5,700 people in and Nelson take part in the B.C. Federation of Labor's government's new » Prail and hotels. three-day celebration is held on the first weekend in June and events include a first-ever demolition derby, helicopter rides and hang-gliding demonstrations. Its theme is “Rain- bows and Roses” and everything from the parade, which features Erin Finney as Miss Castlegar, to the “Night of Murder” at the Fireside Motor Inn, includes the theme. AFTER months of restoration, the dream island chapel house of Russian immigrant Alexander Zuckerberg, who died over 25 years ago, is officially re-opened to the public. Finishing touches to the chapel house, along with further maintenance work to the island itself, continues throughout the summer. SUNFEST FUN .. . The 1987 SunFest was rejuvenated with a new theme of Rainbows and Roses and became one of the most successful in recent memory. THE CITY of Castlegar and its unionized employees sign a new two-year contract. City administrator Dave Gairns calls the bargaining “an excellent exercise in good faith.” FOUR UNIONS representing employees of CP Rail form a coalition to stop planned pesticide spraying of Spike 80W along rail tracks in the West Kootenay. To date, a total of 14 formal protests are filed with the appeal board. ONE HUNDRED and sixty Stanley Humphries Secondary School graduates are presented to the more than 900 people at the school’s commencement exercises at the Community Complex. Major award winners include: Geoff Ball — Stanley Humphries Award: Denis Peregrym — Govern General's Bronze Medal and the K.T. and R.E. McGauley Memorial Scholarship; Eric Ommundsen — Leaders Award; and Dan O'Connell] — Aggregate Award. Tammy Harshenin is the class valedictorian. SELKIRK COLLEGE becomes the first in a line of institutions to adopt a no smoking policy in all of its facilities. A report from the college's policy committee says the college is obliged to provide a safe, learning environment which is sensitive to health concerns. THE FOUR MEN charged in connection with the Dixie Dee Powers pyramid scheme are found guilty in Castlegar Provincial Court of managing and operating a pyramid scheme. Sentencing is reserved until a later date, pending a presentence report outlining the past and present cir- cumstances of the accused. CASTLEGAR Post Office is behind picket lines as the Letter Carriers Union of Canada keeps up its strike against Canada Post. However, tempers fly as replacement workers try to get inside the post office to pick up mail. uly SOME 20 houscholds readily agree to participate in a radon ges survey over the next six months after a Central in the x December 30, 1967. - CA. WESTAR TIMBER'S Southern Forest Products ratify an agreement with the International Woodworkers of America that sees the present contract extended for one year. The contract affects more than 250 workers in both Castlegar and Nakusp. ALMOST every hotel, motel and campsite in Castlegar is booked to capacity with the arrival of more than 2,700 Jehovah's Witnesses \from across Canada and the United States for a three-day’ district convention. Held at. the Community Complex, the convention is only one of some 26 “international conventions” across Canada. CASTLEGAR plays host to a three-day B.C. Bantam Intermediate Provincial Softball} Championship held at Kinnaird Park. Twelve teams participate, with Castlegar placing fourth and Williams Lake taking the championship. STRIKING production and maintenance workers at Cominco in Trai] and Kimberley reach a tentative agreement in the two-month-old dispute, but another 650 office.and technical workers remain deadlocked. Nine cost of living payments and an unusual signing bonus are just part of the tentative agreement. AFTER weeks of public hearings and months of deliberation, the B.C. Utilities Commission approves the sale of West Kootenay Power and Light for $80 million to UtiliCorp United Ltd. of Kansas City, U.S.A. UtiliCorp also assumes West Kootenay’s $67-million debt. Opponents of the deal, however, say they'll fight on. AN ENVIRONMENT official recommends scrapping plans to spray pesticide along CP Rail tracks in the Slocan Valley, but recommends limited spraying along the rail lines between Nelson and Castlegar. Stuart Craig makes the recommendations after making a 15-hour on-site inspection of the tracks. WORK BEGINS on Shaw Cable's new Castlegar facility. The total cost of the building is expected to be between $100,000 and $176,000 and the facility will house a fully equipped, color production studio. ; CASTLEGAR Regional Transit system experiences $4,318 deficit in the 1986-87 fiscal year and Castlegar and area residents can expect a tax hike as a result. No. taxes were levied in 1986, thus 1967 taxes will have to make gp for the $4,000 shortage. in addition, the transit system fails to bring in as much revenue as officials expect. THIRTEEN Socia! Assistance recipients undergo a two-week training before being put to work in Castlegar for at least 16 weeks under the Forestry Job Trac FRIENDS, family and co-workers gather at the Sandman Inn in Castlegar for a retirement party honoring Castlegar RCMP Staff Sergeant John Stevens. Stevens is unofficially the detachment's longest-serving commanding officer, having been in Castlegar for seven years. VIC VAN Isle Construction Ltd., a non-union company from Revelstoke, is awarded a $2 million contract for the expansion of the Castlegar airport terminal building. But the decision angers a local union leader who says the project would have provided work for 15 local carpenters if it had been awarded to a Trail firm whose bid was less than five per cent higher. TWENTY-SIX Japanese exchange students and four instructors arrive in Castlegar for a two-week visit, marking the beginning of closer ties between the West Kootenay and Japan. The students, aged 18-22, are here on an English language exchange program. THE UNVEILING at the Doukhobor Village Museum ofa life-size statue of Russian author and humanitarian, Leo Tolstoy, highlights the Russian Canadian Heritage Festival in Castlegar. The unveiling commemmorates