Castlegar, B.C. 2 Sections (A &B) 75 Cents , ‘WEATHE Intervals, snow flurries near the lakes. with “David Green is off to the Penticton Knights Selkirk College receives $6,375 +2 A2 ~ - Castlegar OUR “<3 Injunction ends employee protest By DONNA ZUBER Staff Writer Bight former Johnson Matthey employees ended a 3241-hour protest New Year's Day after a second in- among about 75 members laid off last week, were protesting the com- pany’s offer of a severance package made shortly after the announcement that operations at the Warfield plant would be shut down and moved to Spokane, Wash. They locked them- selves in the administration offices at about noon on Dec. 31 ‘and left at about 7:30 p.m. on Jan, 1, Saare said. Two administrators inside the of- fices at the time of the take over were permitted to leave without in- cident, he said. “It was a very peaceful demon- not the company as was intended. Saare said the protest generated a lot of support for the employees and a better understanding of what was behind the plant shutdown. “It -was an action that drew a lot of focus and attention on Johnson Matthey and the: rotten things they’ve been doing,”’ he said. ‘‘(But) I don’t know if it was-able to grab the attention of the federal gover- mment to ‘say ‘you are doing something wrong letting this hap- pen’.”” Non-union employees received severance packages ranging from about $20,000 up to $115,000, he said, ‘‘but the highest they’re willing to offer our people is about $9,000, and some people have been there close to 30 years,”’ Saare said. Employees who transferred from Cominco Ltd., which sold the operation to Johnson Matthey about two years ago, took their seniority from Cominco to Johnson Matthey. However, money is no-longer the ors arse The company has been its employees since the beginning when they ‘‘coerced’’ them to give up-stable positions to go to a company that had full intentions of closing from the beginning, Saare said. **It’s obyious they came in with a mandate to close the Trail please see PROTEST page A2 Averages fall By CasNews December proved to be a Jekyl and Hyde month regarding weather. For the first 18 days of December, a deep low off the coast fed a westerly flow of moist Pacific air to Southern B.C. However, on Dec. 19 the weather turned ugly and cruel, bringing record lows to Castlegar and the West Kootenay in general. “We had normal weather right up until the 19th,”’ said Tom Wilson, officer in charge of the Castlegar “The cold Arctic in . . . and has stayed ring the remaining 13 days, not once did it get above zero.”" As a result of the severe change in weather conditions, the average maximums and minimums were below average and a low mean tem- of -6.2C was established, just -0.3C off of the low mean record temperature of -6.5C set in 1983. With the change in weather near the halfway mark of December, rain- fall was 78 per cent of normal with 26.1 millimetres, while the snowfall was 101 per cent of normal with 74 centimetres — 167.9 cm of snow was the record set in 1968. The weather office recorded 28.1 hours of sunshine in. December, with most of the daylight occurring during the last 14 days of the month, ac- companying the cold Arctic air, which still has an icy grip,on the West Kootenay. LOOK OUT “a pool New Vedr's Day. — coinews photo English native Peter Clark goes for a ride oni the old Tarzan swing at the Com Complex swimming Council leery of proposal By CasNews Staff Castlegar city council may have found a way to say no and yes at the same time to @ proposed gravel pit outside the city limits. ie Williamson Paving Ltd. applied to the Regional District of Central Kootenay to have a block of land heavy industrial process rip rap — boulders used to support river banks — and gravel. However, city officials are leery of the project because it would poten- tially affect city roads, have an en- vironmental impact on nearby wildlife and have an aesthetic im- pact, particularly for Robson residents living across the river from the site. Rezoning would prevent"the city from receiving compensation for Council members agreement that they. didn’t want to say no to the proposal, yet wanted to have some control over the project. “I hate to say a flat no,” Alder- Bite <0 Wead of rezoning. KAMLOOPS (CP) — Premier Bill Vandér’ Zalm: says he will start the New Year by meeting with as many Socreds as he can to discuss their concerns about his . While admitting some party members feel strongly that a change in leadership is necessary, Vander Zalm said they can’t tell him why. “When I ask why do you want a change or what it is you don’t like about Bill Vander Zalm, or what is it he’s done that you didn’t like or what is it he should have done that he didn’t do, I don’t get many answers,”’ he said in an interview with a Kamloops radio station. He’s already agreed to attend a special membership meeting today of the Esquimalt- Metchosin riding. He said he’s willing to meet other constituency groups whenever possible. More than 15 Socred con- stituency associations have called special membership meetings to discuss the leadership question. Meanwhile, Vander Zalm said the new year will be more challenging than 1990, and he's Premier to meet members “We would have more control in special considerations,’’ he said: Kenn Hample, director of engineering and public works, said the regional district could issue the permit with conditions that would offset the city’s concerns. “For example, if you’re concerned about the environmental impact, as a condition of granting the permit, you could say they have to handle the run off or make sure nothing gets in- to the water courses. If you’re con- cerned about aesthetics, in fact you can even take a security deposit, ask them to reclaim the land once they're done, or leave a buffer row of trees, that sort of thing.” Council agreed to reject the proposal with a suggestion that the RDCK consider issuing a temporary industrial use permit. hinting again about public sector wage controls. He says the government will annourice an economic plan later this month that will work to keep a balance between private and public sector wages. Vander Zalm also said the plan will be aimed at attracting new industry to the province. “*There’s opportunities during bad times and some of these op- portunities are already coming to us,’’ he said. ‘‘There are industries in the province of Ontario for example that are actually looking west.’” New generation starts school By DONNA ZUBER Memories of the first day of sctiool usually include a school yard surrounded by trees showing the first signs of autumn color, a slew of un- familiar faces, getting lost going to the water fountain, and generally a great deal of anxiety over everything. But there’s a new generation of students now. They will have quite a dif- ferent set of memories which will probably include snow banks as big as they are, a slew of familiar faces, a sense of comfort in not-so-new surroundings and very little anxiety. This new generation has been created by the dual-entry portion of the new primary program implemented in primary schools throughout B.C. in the 1990-91 school year. As part-of dual-entry, students whose fifth birthdays fall “vetween Nov..1 and April 30 will be starting school next wetk, joining Students who turned five between May 1 and Oct. 31 and started school in September. Having a new batch of students starting school twice in one year also created new challenges for teachers. Trudy Andrews, a primary helping teacher, said primary schools in the Castlegar school district have been working ‘since September to give the January entrants a sense of belonging when they join the September entrants. “*We wanted to assure parents of children coming in January that they won't feel behind or left out," she said. To do that, teachers and students took on a variety of projects, Andrews said, who is also i for helping the program in the Castlegar school district. To name a few, students and their parents were invited to Christmas con- certs, they received letters from September students, they attended interviews with teachers, they visited classrooms and they got tours of the school. And, on their first day, students can expect even more. Some will find pictures or hats made for them while others will find a classroom bulletin board decorated in their honor: All will find a school assembly being held to welcome them. District schools also adopted a theme.of friendship which in- cludes a buddy system. “We've tried to develop an atmosphere where everyone is involved in welcoming these children,”’ Andrews said. ‘Our considerations were blending the new children in the classrooms already established." ‘The new primary program itself should take care of the rest — students won't feel behind because they are meant to work at their own pace. ““‘Dual-entry fits into the concept of continuous progress,’ she said. ‘It the child is when that child comes to school and and we .. . while this Robson elementary student makes a hat like the one she's wearing for her “buddy”. She said in the will be to meet the needs of the students. For example, students who have, progressed to the inter- mediate level in the four-year primary program may still need some work at a first-year level. Andrews said that work will be provided to them im the inter- mediate level. + “*There’s no holding point."” ‘The new primary program is the result of the Sullivan Royal Commission hich iat on system to focus on ‘or falls ‘ “| think it’s wonderful that we will have children through the system who ‘Andrews said. “‘Grades in many sful learners. The way to do that, it said, was to let children progress and learn at their own rate in a classroom where individual needs are met. Dual-entry was developed to allow children to begin school closer to their fifth birthdays and to“give parents an option on when to start their child in ‘The Ministry of Education incorporated dual-entry into the School Act in July, 1989.