7 a2 __ Castlegar News _1orcn2, 1» WEATHER symoren. A weak Pacitic disturbance is poseing through the interior, giv A very worm flow continues to pump Koctenays and te change inne potern s expected through through Monday . Partly the rule with some sunny periods. By Canadian Press Cominco is laying off 92 ae veratis dev one said Ma- yor Jim Ogilvie of the effect worker in five will have been trimmed by Cominco in the past 12 months as the work force drops to 882 from 1,078. Ogilvie estimated that up to 1,800 mining, forestry and Steelworkers shop stewardat the Sullivan mine. And Cominco cautioned Bank optimistic about B.C. economy By CHERYL CALDERBANK Staff Writer The Bank of I is optimistic” about prospects for British Columbia's economy in 1986, says the vice-president of the bank's Pacific Commercial Division. Ron Leslie told about 50 people at a Castlegar of Chamber of C “That implies a range of 10.5 to 12 meeting Thursday that if several of the encouraging trends in evidence in 1985 — such as. the further moderation of wage demands and continuing empha- sis on productivity — continue through 1986, it seems likely that economic conditions in B.C. will improve stead- ily, if not spectacularly. On a national level, the Canadian economy will slow abruptly this year to about 2.5 per cent between the fourth quarter of 1985 and the fourth quarter of 1986 — well below the 5.3 per cent gain recorded last year, the bank's forecasters predict. Leslie said the pattern of growth over the year will be significantly af- fected by the timing of earlier an- drop in oll prices. unemployment rate in 1986 is expected to remain at about the current level through the rest of the year. The bank's forecasters also predict a RON LESLIE _ cautiously optimistic The bank also predicts an increase of between three and eight per cent in the forestry sector output, “in large part of the Canadian dol- the current FANTASTIC SALES KAMLOOPS(CP) — The B.C. Lottery Corp. described as “fantastic” the financial picture of the corporation over the past year. Spokesman Guy Simonis said total sales for 1985 are expected to hit the $320 million mark, up almost 20 per cent over what was projected. “We expected success but not quite what we got,” he said. “A real boost. to sales this year was the overwhelming public reaction to Loto 6-49's decision to go twice a week,” he said. Loto 6-49 is the corporation's flagship, pulling in close to $180 million in sales in the past year, he said. Seratch and Win is next with $60 million in sales, followed by Pacifie Express, SuperLoto, the Provin- cial, and Lotto West, at $20 million each. A BLESSING? KAMLOOPS (CP) — The economic recession in British Columbia was a blessing for the province, says former cabinet minister Bill Vander Zalm. Vander Zalm, speaking on behalf of the B.C. Chamber of Commeree, said the recession was so residents could better “appreciate the way things are now.” wan. Cones! SWEDISH LEADER KILLED Palme's widow, Lisbet, grazed by the shot her husband Friday night, told investigators resembled a man she said had been hanging around the couple's home. “She had noticed a man in that area of the town and she thinks he resembles the assassin,” said police Insp. Nils Linder. “She is not sure, however, whether the assassin and the man she saw near the flat are one and the same. person.” Meanwhile, police said they had found 4 plastic bag in eity subway station containing clothes that fitted eyewitness a blue jacket and a hat with earflaps. There was no word on whether authorities had found the gun used in the gh police disclosed they had recovered a nine-millimetre bullet at the scene. There have been conflicting reports on whether Palme, 59, was hit in the chest or the back and on whether the assassin firea one or two shots. Police said Mrs. Palme, 55,, who was released from ility in the “I think God sent it. It was needed. It was necessary and it had to happen when it did,” he told a meeting of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce. that more layoffs could be coming if lead and zinc prices continue to fall. “It's impos- sible to say that this is the end of it,” said general man. ager Ralph Hargrave. Cominco lost $97 million in 1986, including $11 million in Kimberley. The company has announced a cost- cutting shutdown in July and August and there are fears the closure could last longer. hospital a few hours after the attack, was still in shock but that they hoped to question her again today. She returned to the apartment she and her husband had shared in Stockholm's picturesque old town. MOURNS LEADER Officials said Palme would be buried March 16 following a service in the Great Church, the resting place of Swedish kinds. The more than two-week delay before the funeral is not uncommon in Sweden. More than 10,000 Swedes gathered Saturday in a central Stockholm square for a candlelight memorial service for the flamboyant, caustic politician, one of Western Europe's leading Socialists and best-known advocates of disarmament Industry Minister Thage Peterson, surrounded by red nounced tax increases. Income tax withholding rose on Jan. 1 as did the increase in the manufacturers’ sales Srinath yaw eu i tax the average product value of Saudi Another shock will be felt by many Arabian light crude to decline to $23 to households when they file their tax $25 a barrel from an average of about returns in April — sinee they will end $25.50 in 1985, reflecting a drop during up paying additional taxes in conse- the year of $1.60,” the bank says. quent of the federal income surtax that For British Columbia, the bank says took effect last July 1. real growth will be up in 1986 by The bank's forecasters expect that between three and four per cent consumers will make modest adjust- compared to 2.5 to 3.5 per cent in 1985. ments to these tax increases in the first The growth will leave the half of the year but will restrain their economy's performance somewhat be- spending more heavily later in the low, or just at, the national average. én prices, a strong demand in Europe P lar’s depreciation not only against the d and pr United States dollar but other overseas currencies as well,” Leslie added. The mining sector output will likely be unchanged in 1986 from a rather poor year in 1985, in large part because there is a worldwide oversupply of many primary resources in which B.C. specializes and intense price compe, tition from less developed countries anxious to meet debt obligations. The construction sector is unlikely to be strong in 1986 and may decline due . to the completion of construction re- lated to Expo 86. Committee given extension EXPO STAMPS VANCOUVER (CP) — Expo 86 will be the theme of four new stamps to be issued by Canada Post. The Canada Pavilion with its roof of white sails will be featured on a 34-cent stamp to be released March 7 along with a 39-cent stamp (the rate for first-class mail to the U.S.) depicting the communica. tions aspect of the world On April 28 two more stamps will be issued, one featuring Expo Centre and the other the transpor. Here John Paul Aussant reads to Mark Konkin while in background are Chris Dubord, Jody Deschamps and Donna Holowitz READING PROGRAM . . . Robson Elementary School is involved in a shoring reading program where younger and older students take turns reading to one another. ALCON ng iy Soviets respond to Star Wars DECORATING 2649 FOURTH AVENUE Kaslo resident CASTLEGAR 8.¢ vin 2s! 365-3563 Carol Magow Dianna Kootnikoftt ADVERTISING SALES é i 3! OFFICE 265-5210 orrison it, VU find itt” CHEVRON Jack M Dear Resident, Education is everybody's business, Castlegar and District! The School Board hopes that all taxpayers will make it their business to spend at least an hour in a school in March, EDUCATION MONTH. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES Open House (Visitors Welcome) KISS. ... . Blueberry Creek Robson Elementary Pass Creek Kinnaird Elementary Valley Vista . . Tarrys/Shoreacres Woodland Park Twin Rivers Castlegar Primary Ootischenia : a.m. | March 13, ines p im. - 2:00 S.H.S.S. March 18, 7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Other District Activities include: March § — Public Speaking Contest . March 5, Science Fair ... March 11 . is Ventriloquist . March 12, Reports March 13, Science Foir .. March 13 & 14, Artisans in the School . March 14, District Elementary Boys Basketball Tournament dies John Garnet Webster, 37, of Kaslo passed away Feb. 26, as a result of a car accident. He is survived by two brothers, Keith of 100 Mile House and David of Kaslo; two. sisters, Marie of Van couver and Yvonne of Ov- tawa; and 10 nieces and ttepliews. He was prede- ceased by his wife and par } ents. The funeral service will be held Monday at 1 p.m. in the chapel of Thompson Funeral Service in Nelson. Rev. Reg Brown will officiate. Crema tion to follow. In lieu of flowers, dona tions may be made to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. year. In all, spending in real terms will rise only about one per cent in contrast to the 5.1 per cent advance in 1985. Turning to the U.S., Leslie said the prime interest rate should remain in the 9.5 to 10 per cent range in the first six months of the year, before rising to the 10 to 11 per cent range in the second half of 1986. The bank's forecast says the Bank of Canada will probably be forced to allow Canadian interest rates to inerease by about as much as U.S. rates. As well, the bank says the unem- ployment rate should continue to de- cline in B.C. as a whole, perhaps to 13.5 per cent in 1986 from the 14.3 per cent rate in 1985, with employment growth increasing by between two and 2.5 per cent. Retail sales are expected to rise between eight and nine per cent in 1986 after “impressive” growth estimated at about seven per cent in 1985 — sign that B.C. consumers have a re- newed optimism about growth and job prospects,” Leslie said. to still Housing starts will increase by only 1,000 to 2,000 units to about 20,000 due restrained income growth, rising mortgage rates and some con- tinuing excess supply. Expo 86 — the number one topic in B.C. this year — promises a banner ging. year for tourism and should have a major stimulative effect on service sector activity. “Much depends | on just how success- ful Expo 86 is,” liminary indicators are very encoura- Leslie said. “Pre- Students evacuated By CasNews Staff Woodland Park element- ary school students got a chance to practice their fire drill Friday morning when the school was evacuated after a small electrical fire broke out on top of the school. According to Castlegar fire chief Bob Mann the fire was caused by a short in the wire connected to the electrical mast. It was a matter of WKPL shutting off the power, in- stalling a new wire and turn- ing the power back on, Mann said. Mann said the fire was re- ported by a neighbor across the street from the school who noticed a fire on top of the school building. She alerted the school and sub- sequently called the fire de- partment at 11:30 a.m. The fire department ar- rived within three minutes. Six firemen — including Mann — went out on the first response vehicle. Let us do the driving while you sit back, relax & enjoy! bis Daye , 5 7 Days * holiday Hotel and Casino APRIL 7 Days — Holiday Hotel and Casino APRIL 12 ~ Riverside Hotel and Casino Reno Coach Tours $260 $250 $240 SENIOR DISCOUNT — $10 PER PERSON. 60 & OVER AND RETIREES. EXPERIENCE THE EDMONTON MALL MARCH 13 - 17 — $220 11 days & 10 nights. Departs March 27. 1986 inchsdes March 17, School Board Meeting, ... March 19, Public Speaking Contest . March 19 & 20, Spring Concert ... March 20, Public Speaking Contest . March 20 & 21, Artisans in the School March 21, Report Cards April 12, District Parents’ Committee. Sponsored Science Foir Other activities will be announced by school newsletter, notices and public announcements. School District No. 9 (Castleger) Call today... 368-5595, * Accommodations * Reno, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Ses World — 4 HENNE TRAVEL 1410 Bay, Ave., Trail June 27, July 18, August 8, Sept. 26 Tours (3-day Expo pess) Unt tickets * Accommodation WEST'S TRAVEL 1217-3rd St., Castlegor 365-7782 » Tuesday night 18 Robson volunteer firemen got some practice when a Westar double wide Raspberry afire. The doublewide was gut- ted by a fire last fall. Robson fire chief Dennis La Hue said the trailer was set on fire about 10 times be- fore it finally burned to the ground. La Hue noted firemen don't often get a chance to get training under actual conditions. Mining trailer near Lodge was set closes pit SpPARWOOD (CP) — tar Mining Ltd. closed its underground pit at the Bal- mer mine Friday, as a move to phase out its underground operations here. Westar announced two years ago that it would phase out its mine in this south- eastern B.C. community be- cause of the high operational costs. The underground mine ac- counts for only a small per- centage of Balmer’s output, the rest of which comes from open pit operations, said Gary Duke, B.C. Resources vice-president for govern- ment affairs. There won't be any layoffs, Duke said Thurs- day. B.C. Resources owns 67 per cent of Westar Mining. Nearly 90 years of under- ground coal mining in the Elk Valley and Crows Nest Pass will come to an end with the closure of the underground pit. The closure was to have jtaken place in early 1987 but has been brought forward because of depressed coal prices. Westar Mining has taken price and volume cuts for the coal it supplies the Japanese steel industry for the last three years. ANNUAL MEETING CASTLEGAR PENTECOSTAL BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION Mon., March 10 — 7 p.m. Castlegar Pentecostal Church 767 - 11th Ave., Castlegar GENERAL tation aspect of the exposition. Approximately 15 million of each of the four stamps will be printed. SETTLING PRICE KUWAIT (REUTER) — Kuwait's Oil Minister was quoted Saturday as saying the price of oil would settle around $18 U.S. a barrel for the rest of the decade once producers co-operated to stabilize the market. In an interview in the Arabic daily Al-Anba, Sheikh Ali al-Khalifa al-Sabah said it would take two or three months for producers to co-operate to steady oil prices, which have plunged by half imthe last three months. SHAKEUP CAIRO (AP) — Soldiers searched vast stretches of desert Saturday for mutinous paramilitary security police as the government announced a shakeup in the top echelons of Egypt's internal security apparatus. Cairo was calm as its 12 million residents enjoyed a 12-hour respite from a curfew imposed Wednesday after an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 conscripts of the Central Security Force began rioting. Public universities and schools, closed Thursday, will remain shut another week, officials said. COMMISSION PUNTA DEL ESTE, URUGUAY (REUTER) Canada, Western Europe and Japan will be asked to provide men, helicopters and vehicles for a civilian monitoring commission along the troubled Costa Rican-Nicaraguan border, a senior Latin American official says. The creation of the international border commis. sion was agreed upon at the end of a two-day minis. terial meeting of the eight Latin American countries comprising the so-called Contadora group and its support group. “We need logistical support (for the monitoring team) and we hope to obtain it from European Com- munity countries, Scandinavian’ nations and possibly Japan and Canada,” Colombian Foreign Minister Augusto Ramirez Ocampo, a key figure in the Contadora initiative, said in an interview EXILES RETURN MANILA (AP-REUTERS) Philippine Presi- dent Corazon Aquino retired 22 generals and pushed for the release of additional political prisoners Saturday as more exiles returned to support her fledgling government Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Rene Sagisag said the new government will not release four top Communists detained under the regime of ousted Ferdinand Marcos. Poised to strike valley landscape nursery | NOW OPEN Full supply of “Genuine |) TOKE S Seeds 4 Plant Tomato & Peppers Now. Hours 10-4 p.m. 1419 COLUMBIA AVE.. CASTLEGAR ‘South Side of Mohowk Stotion 365-2262 OTTAWA (CP) Post office letter carriers are poised to strike late next week for the first time in eight years unless they win a contract guaranteeing pro tection from layoffs. The 22,000-member union said that rotating strikes against Canada Post will begin soon after carriers can legally strike at 12:01 a.m EST Thursday, March 6 Local walkouts will become regional walkouts and ulti mately a national strike un. less the $3-billion agency sof. tens its stance at the bar gaining table, the union said. The unexpected threat to mail delivery arose when Labor Minister Bill McKnight ruled late Wed nesday that further concilia. tion procedures set out in the Canada Labor Code were un likely to help resolve the lin- gering dispute between the carriers and Canada Post. MOSCOW (AP) — Soviet leaders vowed an “effective ” to Washington's Star Wars space weapons program Saturday while pledging to-double the coun- try's industrial output by the year 2000. Delegates to the Commun ist party's 27th congress ap proved changes to the party platform that dropped the late Nikita Kruschehev's promises of a Communist utopia while adopting rules for party's membership and @rganization that stress im proved discipline. Delegates saluted with their red party cards once in a ritual unanimous vote for the programs, and again to signify their approval of the keynote speech delivered Tuesday by party chief Mik hail Gorbachev. The votes marked the end of five days of addresses by members of the governing Politburo and other ofificials, who endorsed Gorbachev's plan to revive the economy and read it into official Com munist party history. This is the first party con gress since the leaders that rose under Leonid Brezhnev relinquished power to Gor bachev's generation with the death of President Kon stantin Chernenko in March 1985. It provides an important forum for Gi he said in a speech. Sokolov said President Ronald Reagan's recent res- ponse to the Soviet Union's disar weave his economic strategy into party policy and to com plete the first phase of his personnel changes. The new menibership of the party Central Committee is to be announced next week. Many details of Gorba chev’s strategy remain vag. ue, despite his 5/-hour speech Tuesday and a series of news conferences for more than 2,700 Soviet and foreign reporters. But the speeches disclosed plans to give more autonomy to state farms, continue the modest decentralization of decision-making already un der way, and make the state price-setting system more responsive to consumer de. mand. On Saturday, Defence Min ister Sergei Sokolov review ed foreign affairs and revived an anti-American theme fam iliar to the delegates. “U.S. plans to realize the so-called strategic defence initiative that provides for the deployment of space strike weapons in outer space constitute a special threat,” to three-stag plan “lacks the solution to the main, principled question — that of preventing an arms race in outer space. “The U.S. i vised in 1961 under then-pre- mier Khrushchev. It contains asummary of party ideology, its general foreign policy and its strategy for developing has assumed an openly nega- tive stand on the issue of the prohibition of nuclear wea- pons tests, and this cannot be regarded in any other way than Washington's desire to continue the nuclear arms race,” he said. “The U.S.S.R. has always found a fitting response to any challenge,” Sokolov con- tinued. “If we are compelled another time, an effective response to space arms, too, will be found on our side.” Sokolov did not elaborate on what the Soviet response would be. Soviet officials have previously said the Kremlin could deploy more long-range missiles and they would no longer feel bound by a unilateral pledge not to deploy anti-satellite systems in space. The Communist party pro- gram adopted by the con gress is a new edition of a lengthy document last re cal labor would be a relic of the past, everyone would live in “easy circumstances” and all farms would be profitable. By 1981, the Khrushchev- eve program promised free apartments and public trans- portation. Failure to’ keep these promises became an embarrassment, and Brezh nev announced at the last congress in 1981 that the program would be rewritten. The new document, un veiled in draft form last year, drops the utopian promises and scales back industrial goals to a more modest but still ambitious level — an overall doubling of industrial output by the year 2000. Labor productivity is sup- posed to increase between 150 and 200 per cent and production of consumer goods by 100 per cent. These are two key elements of Gor. achev's plan to modernize Soviet industry Revenge on Expo 86 VANCOUVER (CP) About 85 grim-faced mem bers of an East End asso ciation, some evicted by hotel owners seeking higher rev enues from Expo tourists, Friday vowed revenge on the fair they say has encouraged greed among landlords. They also promised con tinued attacks on the provin cial government, the chief promoter and financial back er of the fair, for not helping them. Downtown Eastside Resi- dents Association members agreed at a meeting to keep a high profile designed to em barrass Expo and the Social Credit. They later picketed the Patricia Hotel, where the association said 50 people — some of them long-time ten ants — were given eviction notices last week. Mayor Mike Harcourt has urged residents to defy the eviction notices and is seek ing provincial help to block them. Tenants in some skid row rooming houses, homes for many for up to 20 yers, have already been told they are being evicted so operators can renovate rooms and rent them at higher prices to fair visitors. Protest CHRISTCHURCH (RE UTER) — New Zealand police pounced on five peo ple, four women and a man, in Christchurch Saturday as they tried to insult Queen Elizabeth Maori style by showing her their bare buttocks, witnesses said. Witness Ron Robinson said the protest lasted “only seconds” as the royal couple arrived at the bota nical gardens in Christ church for a garden party “They (the police) seem ed to be expecting it.” Robinson said. “As soon as they started to drop their pants, police dragged them inst to the ground and held them there.” The traditional Maori insult, called whakapohane (pronounced farkapohar nee), has been used as a symbol by anti-royalist protesters during the Queen's week-long tour of New Zealand Police said they charged three women with offen sive behavior and a fourth with obstructing the po lice. The man was not yet was arrested Tuesday in the North Island as the Queen and Prince Philip toured Haw kes Bay. Veteran protester Queen Dun Mihaka has been con stantly shadowed by police after he pledged to give the royal couple a “21-bum salute.” Mihaka bared his bottom in front of Prince Charles during a visit in 1983. The protests revolve around the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi under which Ma ori chiefs ceded sover. eignty to Queen Victoria. The treaty was never rati fied but its provisions have become symbols for many radical groups. The Queen is scheduled to leave New Zealand to day to begin a tour of Aus tralia. “Poor people have every right to live in their homes,” just as much as rich people,” © said the | was only the first step in a lengthy process. 4 said association spokesman / Jim Green. “They don’t want to be relocated. “The tension is so great,” Green said at the meeting, where people, many wearing faces chiseled by a tough life in mean areas of town, sat hunkered over their styro- foam cups of coff BATTLE CONTINUES “The Expo battle will con. tinue through Expo. People will still be getting evicted during Expo.” _He said some hotel owners in the area were motivated by greed and were like “sharks in a feeding frenzy.” “We're not going to go away.” Green said. “When the Americans come up in their tour buses and they see people evicted picketing out side the hotel they're stay ing in, they won't go in.” Green said the association might picket Expo during the fair to keep the issue from being forgotten. “We're going to use poli tieal pressure, you bloody well better believe it.” Joseph Paul said he was evicted from his hotel almost a year ago because the own ers planned to refurbish the building for Expo visitors. F sort of-duty or surcharge to the Canadian industry, it | other roofing and siding materials caused by changes in I fire and building codes fF the increas — manufacturers. * said. : t é protectionists e by a shrinking timber base, banners of the Social Democratic party, told the crowd: “All Palme did was to walk as a free man in the streets, every man’s right.” Sweden's flag, a yellow cross on a blue field, was lowered to -half-mast and Stockholm church bells rang in mourning under a crisp and clear winter sky. Leaders of the Social Democratic party, which has been in power almost continuously since 1932, met in emergency session and nominated deputy prime minister Ingvar Carisson as new party leader and prime minister. Carlsson, 51, a veteran politician little known outside Sweden, automatically heads a caretaker government until parliament, called the Riksdag, meets this week to vote on his nomination. Approval is considered virtually certain. Sweden, whose last major political murder was nearly 200 years ago, launched what authorities described as the untry’s biggest manhunt ever for the lone gunman who ‘Struck without uttering a word. CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY Police cordoned off parts of the city and mounted stringent checks on everyone leaving ports and airports. Denmark, Norway and Finland also tightened border security Investigators said they were not excluding any possibilities, but that they had no reason to believe the claim by an anonymous caller who said the assassination had been carried out by a West German terrorist group. In London, an anonymous telephone caller told an international news agency that a group called the Holger Meins Commando had carried out the attack. The caller refused to give a reason for the attack Holger Meins, which has links with the West German Baader Meinhof and Red Army terrorist groups, claimed responsibility for a 1975 attack on the West German Embassy in Stockholm in which two diplomats and a guerrilla were killed st SHAKES continued from front poge Hadikin is in his second Brilliant shake mill Meanwhile, the Council of Forest Industries of B.C. announcement by the U.S year of operating the’ Trade Commission President Canadian forest Mike Apsey the industry against the efforts of the threat of U.S. measures would’ be “renewed and § redoubled The council and the shake and shingle mill operators} E said the commission's decision ignored information that, E the U.S. shake and shingle mills’ problems were caused production inefficiencies and shrinking demand “The trouble with the U.S. mills is that a lot of them! | are obsolete and they don't have timber base anymore,” E said Tom Jones owner of a mill in suburban Surrey. “When we were putting money into our plants to get! e them modernized, they (the Ame ns) were just driving} around in their Cadillacs and going on good holidays. HURT BUSINESS Other mill operators said a surcharge or duty would hurt their business. “Basically if they go all the way and impose some: would be Watkins. Apsey and devastating,” said Mission mill owner Ed other mill operators restrictions would probably accelerate said border the switch to; Asked if the commission ruling was a surprise, Apsey said: “We had hoped that our arguments were: strong enough to carry the day, but after seeing the way that an injury type case is run, we weren't totally surprised The six member trade disputes panel voted 4-2 that d imports from Canada are injuring B.C commission spokesman Hal Sundstrom It will announce March 17 what remedy it plans to! recommend to Reagan by March 25. He then has 60 days to accept, reject or modify the proposal