TELEPHONE 365-5210 Brian L. Brown CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANT 270 Columbia Avenue Castlegar © 365-2151 Gordon A. Read & Co. Certified General Accountant Office 368-6471 Residence 365-2339 1250 Bay Ave., Trail BUY or SELL by AUCTION * Ronkrupiies* Estoes * Convgn USSELL neoavehe Nnane: UCTION : oren 2067-34 Thewms 399-4793 { Carpet Cleaning HORIZON COMPUTERS AND ACCESSORIES 24 wou Baers §©365-3760 Eaavutaan Sc vin tee Kootenay Computers Inc. For all your computer needs For Home & Business Use At the South Stocan Junction 359-7755 SANLAND CONTRACTING LTD. GENERAL CONTRACTOR 365-3033 ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR IN THE CASE OF AN ELECTRICAL EMERGENCY, WEEKENDS OR EVENINGS CALL 365-3033, 365-2973 or 365-6250 SANLAND CONTRACTING LTD. Castlegar, B.C. Morrison Painting & Insulation * Blown Insulation * Batts & Poly DUNCAN MORRISON 650-Sth Avenue 365-5255 y Gets more deep down soil than any other cleaning met! * 'U — SATISFACTION GUARANTEED — Why ot Call Us Today! FREE ESTIN ATES PHONE 365-6969 We're Back! EXACT Sows MOUNTAIN VIEW CARPET CARE Now Offering: Ya House Specia ‘4 House Special *%%, House Special Full House Special FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL ©@ 365-2112 SUE Eee SCHARF CARPENTRY * Contracting * Finish Carpentry * Closet Organizers Decks FREE ESTIMATES CALL CHRIS 365-7718 STEEL A Setter Way to Build © AGRICULTURAL For more information, call your Authorized Garco Builder Midwest Construction Services Ltd. 365-8410 Box 1633, Creston. B.C. Concrete DEWDNEY TRAIL STAGES “Charter for groups Anytime, Anywhere!" 1355 Bay Ave., Trail 368-5555 ~ WEST K CASTLEGAR FUNERAL CHAPEL Dedicoted to kindly thoughtiul service COMPLETE FUNERAL SERVICE Cremation, Traditional Burial and Pre-Arrangement Plan Available Granite, Bronze Memorials, Cremation Urns and Plaques PHONE 365-3222 Furnace Repair & REPAIRS COMMERCIAL — RESIDENTIAL REASONABLE RATES Denny's Furnace Service ARROW LAKES AIR CONDITIONING © Furnace Service & Installation ° htonen oh © Controls 24 HOUR SERVICE 601 A. Columbia, Castlegar LOCKSMITH Licenced and Bonded CALL 365-6562 2181C Columbia Ave., Castlegar CONCRETE LTD. PIPELINE PITT ROAD CALL PLANT 693-2430 CASTLEGAR 365-2430 Moving & Storage or call toll free: 1-800-332-0282 — Chimney Service Drywall SUPER SWEEP CHIMNEY SERVICE (Formerly Rumtord Place — Since 1961) CHIMNEY CLEANING — DEGLAZING — RELINING, REPAIRS, SAFETY INSPECTION W.E.T.T. Trained Technician LEAVE MESSAGE AT 365-5440 Computer ra Now Serving the West Kootenay »~ Boarding & Machine Taping Williams Moving & Storage 2337-6th Avenue, Castlegar Invite you to call them for o tree moving estimate. Let our representative tell you about the many services which have made Williams the most respected nome in the moving business Ph. 365-3328 Collect v Airless Spray Painting - Textured Ceilings « Commercial Residential Training Associate Systems Castlegor's Only PRIVATE COMPUTER TRAINING CENTRE Now toking bookings for DM L LeRoy 8.C. 0.0, OPTOMETRIST 1012 - 4th St., Costiegor PHONE 365-3361 T to Friday 9a.m. to 4:3 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m. to 12 Noon “It always speeds up when | take my clothes off.” Plumbing & Heating BOY SERVICE Sump & Septic Tank Pumping Phone 365-5013 3400-4th Avenue Castlegar COLEMAN COUNTRY Vacuum Systems BUILT-IN VACUUM SYSTEMS NO Bags to buy (NO Filters to Ha 4.1 peak horse power 140" water lift 10-year motor warranty $ COMPLETE With HAND TOOLS SILVER CREST PLUMBING 713 Tamarak St., Castlegar Call 365-3044 Bartle & Gibson The Plumbing & Heating Centre * American Standard * Valley Fibrebath © Crane © Gulf Stream Spas * Duro Pumps & Softeners * PVC Pipe Fittings © Septic Tanks © Electrical & G.E. Lighting Supplies 2317-6th Avenue, Castlegar Phone 365-7702 CASTLEGAR - PLUMBING & HEATING For all your plumbing needs and supplies © FIXTURES * PARTS ° SERVICE CALL 365-3388 TRAIL CUSTOMERS ONLY CALL Radiator Repair Window Coverings Blinds The Ultimate in Window Fashion VERTICALS PLEATED SHADES HORIZONTALS 613 Columbia Ave. Castlegar 365-6214 (Other Models I 365-5087 CO BEAM Built-in Vacuums Don't Luga Vacuum ...Plugina Beam! CANADA'S BEST-SELLING BUILT-IN VACUUM SYSTEM See Our In-Store Display! IG HOMEGOODS FURNITURE WAREHOUSE Genelle — Phone 693-2227 Open 9:30-5:30 Tues. to Sot. ITEMS INTO CASH INA FLAS ( CLASSIFIED RATES AND INFORMATION RATES First 15 Words $5.00 Add 1 Words 30¢ ike’s Radiator Shop 690 Rossland Ave., Trail 364-1606 All work conditionally guoranteed RENT... WASHERS & DRYERS 364-1276 Service BRIAN’S REPAIR SERVICE MECHANICAL 613-13th St., © 365-7233 Repair Window Coverings Z LEVOLOR VERTICALS HORIZONTALS PLEATED SHADES Our policy... 3 for Price of 2 7 insertions for Price of 4 Special Reduced Rates for 13x 26x, 52x, 104x are Also Available SPECIAL RATES ARE FOR CONSECUTIVE INSERTIONS BOLDFACING Add 20° ATTENTION GETTERS 25¢ tor each time ad appears (Minimum charge 75¢.) LEGAL ADS Word ads 28¢ per word for one in sertion. 21¢ per word tor subsequent insertions. Minimum charge is for 20 words. Legal boxed ods: $1.18 per agate line for one insertion. 88's¢ per agote line for subsequent inser tions PAYMENT POLICY Payment may be mode by cosh cheque or Visa ond MasterCard credit cords. It is not advisable to send cosh through the mail Classitied Ads may be charged. but o $2 billing charge will be made if the - od is not paid for seven days atter it firat appears. (This $2 charge does NOT opply to Visa and MasterCard charges.) — Action Ads Deadline “Word Ads” WEDNESDAY CASNEWS 12 Noon Tuesday SATURDAY CASNEWS 12 Noon Thursday A “Boxed Ads" WEDNESDAY CASNEWS 11 a.m. Tuesday SATURDAY CASNEWS 1} a.m, Thursday ORDER BY MAIL Print your Action Ad on a sepordte piece of paper and mail to: Action Ads. Box 3007 Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4 The Costlegor News reserves the tight to classity ods under ap. propriate headings and to determine page location. Vol44; No. 4 Castlegar, B.C. 2'Sections (A & B) Penny 75 Cents Cast... ~~ — Team sets goals Keenleyside project not ‘abandoned’ By DONNA ZUBER Staff Writer Despite reports that B.C. Hydro is cancelling power projects, a Hydro spokesman and Mayor Audrey Moore maintain that the $800-million plan to install turbines in the Hugh Keenleyside dam north of Castlegar is still a viable project. “Hugh Keenleyside has definitely not been aban- doned,’’ Peter McMullen, manager of corporate com- munications, said Thursday in an interview with the Castlegar News. And Moore is equally confident about the life of the project, saying she still expects construction to begin in line with the wind down of Ceigar Pulp Co.'s nization and expansion project which is awaiting ap- proval from the federal government. She said she has two reports from B.C. Hydro and has spoken with Hydro officials which confirm that the commitment to try Project will be completed and that the Crown utility's to keep the project in line with the Ceigar project is still in place. The purpose of the project is to install turbines to convert the dam into a source of hydroelectric power. number of studies along with the Site moder- McMullen said an: engineering program with a associated with it has been com- pleted and that the project will be shelf-ready in March. “Then what we'll do is we'll take that project, C project, and have them available for when we need them."’ hat alth the project is not ul in B.C. Hydro’s 10-year-plan, that does not mean that construction will be delayed for 10 years. He said Hydro plans refer to the resources it has readily demand and projected growth of the province’s needs. With construction expected to take five to seven years to complete, both Moore and McMullen say that excluding the Hugh Keenleyside dam in the 10-year plan is not a threat to the life of that project. Changes in the past few years to B.C. Hydro’s ap- proach to power resources have reduced the company’s need to expand its resources through building major power projects. Now, McMullen said, the company looks first at the most cost-effective ways of pi power, which includes buying it from private large projects, we won't,"’ he said. *‘We'll use up all +++ Which are more cost ef- fective." McMullen said. shelf. However because ‘‘the world is always changing,” B.C. Hydro has started to give its 10-year plans major reviews every two years, as well as quarterly reviews, Reports in’ Vancouver's two daily newspapers last week said B.C. Hydro will let its megaprojects sit on the ing it ol and A story in Tuesday’s Vancouver Sun said Hydro’s A ‘ fai Chris owerSmart. “Until we have to get back into building really such as and newly i of resource management, Ken Epp, said Hydro will leave the controversial Site provements to-the Keenleyside dam. C dam unbuilt and delay im- Blaze hig need for fire protection By DONNA ZUBER ‘Staff Writer Residents of Ootischenia got a reminder of the need for fire protec- tion last week after a fire gutted a home Tuesday night and left a man homeless. Last August, residents of Ootischenia, Paulson Highway and Arrow Lakes Drive regions voted 91.8 per cent in favor of raising taxes to fire hlights Society which was used to get the proposal to referendum. As well, the commission already has possession of a tanker truck. However, it was not ready to be used, and won't be until the com- mission finds a warm place to store ite “~The only real delay to date has been the tenders, which came in for the Dec. 20 deadline well over what the for, protection services for those portions of Area J. “*The plans are going full speed,"’ said Larry Bosse, chairman of the fire protection commission, which was organized to get the services in place. ‘The (pumper) truck will be ready to pick up next week, ironically.” He said nothing different could have been done to ensure the services were in place in time to fight the fire Tuesday. “The regional district (of Central Kootenay), in fact, said we were way ahead of what they had an- ticipated." He estimates the services will be up and running by June 1, about nine months after the referendum and at least nine months earlier than the RDCK had anticipated, he said. Since the referendum in August, the commission has been busy buying equipment, training volun- teers, reviewing tenders for construc- tion; organizing a lease with the Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ for the site of the firehall, and getting that site rezoned and taken out of the agricultural land reserve, Bosse said. Funding is in place he said, with a $160,000 loan negotiated by the regional district through — the i finance rity, a com- had Bosse said, adding that construction will- be going back to tender with reduced specifications. Meanwhile, Larry Dow, the oc- cupant of the gutted house, has lost everything and Mark Schicker, the owner of the house Dow was renting, is out about $40,000 worth of con- tents. Dow said when he came home af- ter getting a call at work, the fire was already on the roof. “I stayed for about 15 minutes, but I wasn’t going to stand around and watch my place burn, so I went back to work."’ With no insurance to cover his belongings, Dow, 42, is just trying to keep a positive attitude and take things one day at a time, he said. He said losing his belongings is hard, particularly his carpenter's tools, but that losing his independen- ce is even harder. “I've always been very indepen- dent,”’ he said. ‘Plans for me are always unplanned."’ Dow has been staying with a brother since the fire and friends have'offered their home to him while they're away on holidays. He said he’s “in awe’’ of all the support he's received — from the 35 to-40 people who gathered at the fire, to his friends at Oglow'’s Paint and ing who have set up a mittment from the GO B.C. lottery fund for $0 per cent, and a donation from the Doukhobor Historical donation box for him. “I really appreciate it,"’ please see BLAZE page A} he said. Unemployment rate declines residential streets. By SIMON BIRCH Editor You may not believe this if you've just shovelled out your driveway for what seems like the 100th time, but all this snow is just about normal for Castlegar. ‘What makes it seem like a lot of snow perhaps is the fact that SCRAPING UP THE SNOW temperatures have been colder than normal and none of the snow which has fallen recently has melted, said Jim Richards of Environment Canada's southeastern interior weather of- fice at the Castlegar Airport. So far this winter, the weather office has recorded. around 120 centimetres of snow. " Chuck Moser of the City of Castlegar takes a second turn around the block Thursday as he clears excess snow off CosNews photo by Donne Zuber Hard to believe: it's normal total was 74 centimetres — nor- mal is 73.2 — and January's totals are also normal so far, Richards said Friday. And Castlegar has a long way to go to beat the snowiest winter on record — 1968-69 — when the weather office recorded 490.5 centimetres of snow. to work crews who are con- tinuing to work two shifts and some overtime removing snow from city streets. “*We're coping with it so far,” said Kenn Hample, the city’s director of engineering and public works. That may be some please page Ad labor force of 37,000. Traffic plan steered by chamber By DONNA ZUBER Staff Writer reason, we want to get as much community input as we can."" of the d A short-term solutions to relieve traffic The were first made public at a Castlegar city Jim Pilla, a long-time Castlegar resident, said his greatest. concern with the proposal is that it doesn’t include installing a left-turn only signal at 18th Street and Columbia Avenue. He said he finds that intersection to be the most frustrating and the worst for accidents because drivers are either too cautious or too reckless. Hample said changes to that inter- section aren't included because it does not hamper the flow of traffic as it is now. However, Pilla’s com- ments were recorded and will be con- sidered when the city reviews all the public input it receives. Another concern, voiced by resident and businessman Jack Fowlie, is the elimination of the passing lane on Sherbiko Hill and the installation of traffic signals at the bottom of that hill at the 10th Street intersection. The -city is proposing to make Columbia Avenue a three-lane road with the centre lane used as a. left- turn lane by drivers travelling in both directions. The centre lane could also be used as a. ‘“'storage’’ lane by Grivers turning on to Columbia Avenue. But that means the passing lane on Sherbiko Hill would be eliminated. please see TRAFFIC page AS