CASTLEGAR NEWS, Friday, July 7, 1978 ° After Sales Service ics OEEE RCA ColorTrak The clarity of this television has to be seen to be believed. This 20” colour TV is now at the terrificly low price (Two only, so hurry!) ” The 1979's are coming soon, so the ‘78s must go to make ruom for our new inventory. This weekend you can receive low prices on high quality color TVs and stereos. Hitachi 20”’ Color TV © 100% Solid State full-beam color picture tube A terrific buy at Guaranteed by Gov't. Certified Technicians Three-Year Parts ond Labor Warranty on Electrohome ang Hitachi Color TVs All Stereo Components Less Come in and listen to our large selection of Yamaha & Hitachi. ColorTrak 26” Consoles © Quality cabinet in beautiful wood finish. One only. Reg. $949 e Free Delivery and Setup get Terms Available » Bud ° Many Other Models on Sale RCA 9” & 12° BAW Televisions AC/DC Model LeSS seedepsdeesses XL-100 Price Buster! © Luxurious Modern Styling Regularly Priced at $849. One only. Now Olly on essecsessscsecenees Castleaird Plaza © Quantity limited to floor stock only *849 y] 6’ f Electrohome kemote Control One only. Greatly Reduced Optional Remote $] 29 . » » Besides Incredibly Low Prices. “We now install and maintain RCA Closed Circuit Television Systems for: Security, Home, Business and Industry. Let our Government Certified Technicians discuss your requirements with you. Come in for a Demonstration! J © Shop in air-conditioned comfort © Chargex and Mastercharge welcome © Easy no-hassle parking ee Legistative Liovary, Parllament Bligse, CG. Victoria, Dy VEV 1X4 ‘CASTLEGAR Distributed Bright and Early Every Thursday Morning at “The Crossroads of the Kootenays” Shorea ; Slocan Valley ‘and City:. New Denver - Silverton ‘VOL. St, No, 28 TWO SECTIONS (A&B)

CASTLEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, URSD AL: JULY 13, 1978 Whe 25 CENTS “Three Men Charged in Uranium Blockade Genelle Water Pronounced Safe AIRING suscnoxs to exploratory driling near thet once Creek the access road to Citizens the drilling site to hear report from members of the Genelle Conenriaa y Lois Hughes Temporary Capture Not an Offence Bear Cub’s Two Hosts Found Not Guilty : By RYON GUEDES CasNews Editor ‘A provincial court judge keeping a small, orphaned black bear cub in captivity. Acquitted were Stephen Mark, 26, and Stan Nelson, 17, who appeared in court together on charges of keeping the 10-pound cub in Mark’s home without notifying fish and wild- life branch officials. Judge I. B. Josephson said he was satisfied the defendants had no intention of keeping the animal in captivity, although they admitted to keeping the bear for about 20 hours after it was found May 28 evening near the body of a female bear shot by Nelson. He disagreed with Crown counsel Lee Porteous’ agru- ment that the intent of Section 98 of the Wildlife Act, under which Mark and Nelson were charged and each faced a $100 fine, was to make capturing an animal as well as keeping one in captivity illegal. Reviewing testimony by the two accused, Nelson's fath- er and the two conservation officers who claimed the bear May 29 and laid.the charges, the judge noted Mark and Nelson were “legally entitled” to kill the cub but instead “took pity on that small creature and decided to find a proper home for it.” Testifying earlier in the trial, conservation officer D. W. Campbell told the court a wild animal such a8 a bear cub was “dangerous and unpredictable” in captivity and could become ill “very rapidly” if not fed prop- erly. Questioned by defence counsel Richard Spilker, he said the cub—Iater relocated at the Okanagan ( Game Farm—was in when he “should have reported the bear's capture to local RCMP or a former auxiliary conservation officer. living.in the area. The defendants also failed to apply for a “sundry permit" which would allow them to keep the cub temporarily,’ he. said. Campbell said a reasonable deadline for the fish contact, he said bear cubs did not have a good chance of surviving in the bush by them- selves and were cither destroy- ed or relocated to the Okanagan Game Farm or nursery facili- ties in Vancouver's Stanley Park. - Murray Nelson, who was ing his son and a and wildlife branch to report such a capture would be within 12 to 14 hours. Asked if con- servation officers would auto- matically press charges after the capture remained unreport- ed for over 24 hours, he said the decision to press charges would depend on such circumstances as how long the animal had been in captivity, how it was obtained, its condition and the friend hunting when they shot the sow bear and found the cub nearby, told the court he intended at first to shoot the cub but decided it would be a “chance ina lifetime” for some- one who wished to keep the animal as a pet. He said they later realized keeping an animal in captivity was illegal and discussed the ibility of : availability of the RCMP or other persons who could pro- vide information on proper procedure for relocating it. Questioned. about conser- ‘vation officers’ procedure after Tourist Info Booth Draws Steady Clientele The Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce tourist information booth is drawing at least 22 to 23 visitors daily, aceording to chamber president Searle Sheldon. Sheldon said Tuesday that the figure, based on the number of signatures entered each day in a guest book since it opened next to the Doukhobor Village June 30, represents only 75 per cent of the visitors served at the booth. He said the booth, manned by three students, has accom- modated visitors from as far away as Japan, Scotland and Germany as well as from seven arrived at Nelson's home to claim the animal. Campbell agreed the local fish and wildlife branch office was closed the Sunday evening when the cub was found, but he pointed out the two accused The chamber president said the highways ministry has not yet erected signs on the Castlegar-Nelson highway pointing out the location of the booth, but has assured they will be put up “very shortly.” Sunbathers are Pale,. Foresters are Pleased d with the trend may find th the weather has taken but it ae 't be better for the local forest service who, as of yesterday morning, hold a fire-free record— attributed largely to the wet woods. ‘A ccheck by the Castlegar News to the water bomber base also indicated activity on their part has been out of the immediate area. On the weekend the planes were active, but this was in the Revelstoke area. con- servation officers. Nelson Sr. said he told his son he was not willing to keep the animal in his home and Mark was not interested in caring for it but agreed to keep it overnight, 2 Asked by Crown counsel why he did not contact con- servation officers, Nelson said the fish and wildlife branch office was closed and he did not know where to contact them. He said he was unaware local RCMP also handled such re- ports, and did not consider the immediate reporting of the capture an urgent matter. Crown counsel Porteous questioned whether the dead female bear, later found to have been nursing young, was the mother of the cub the three hunters said they captured in a snag about 70 feet away. Stan Nelson said that although there were signs of bear around all the power lines running through the area, no other bear responded when the cub howled. Asked whether he was reluctant or hesitant to give the bear up when conservation officers claimed it the following day, Nelson said: “No way." Asked to explain why he did not attempt to contact conservation officers early May 29, Nelson said he was attend- ing school during the day. Mark, asked by Crown counsel why he made no attempt to contact the fish and ~ wildlife branch earlier that day, said he was “merely a baby- sitter” and was busy with con- struction work on his home. He said he felt the cub was Nelson's responsibility and he was ‘not willing to contact conservation officers without consulting him. In his summation Spilker said the two defendants were calling the Okan- agan Game Farm or the Alber- ta Game Farm when the con- servation officers arrived ito claim the cub, - “They were “making rea- sonable. efforts to find a new place for it,” the defence counsel said, “This is not a case of someone having a bear chained in the back yard for two or three years,” He said Mark's and Nel- son's efforts “within 24 hours” to find a new home for the bear could not be considered tardy, and the defendants “should be commended rather ‘than pe- nalized.” LEAVING COURT after being, found not guilty of keeping a wild animal In captivity are Winlaw residents Stephen Mark, left, and Stan Nelson, right. Provincial court In the Crown's summation Porteous told the court the efforts of the two accused to i find another home for the cub “were virtually nil.” She said both Mark and Nelson were aware keeping an animal in captivity was an offence but made no particular éffort to contact the appropriate author- ities, Porteous said the defen- dants may have intended even- tually to find a new home for the cub but they “were not ina hurry to do that.” She told the court the defendants’ reasons (Con't. Pg. A2, Col. 6) judge !. 6. Josephson ruled that thelr Criminal charges, wilful damage, and a clean bill of health from the West Kootenay Health Unit highlighted this ‘week's developments as angry Genelle residents’ struggle to halt exploratory drilling for uranium near their China Creek watershed, Scheduled to appear in pro- vincial court here on charges of intimidation under Section 381 of the Criminal Code are Genelle residents Herb Mc- Gregor, Eric Taylor and Brent Lee. After a confrontation of about five hours' duration Mon- day, the three men were ordered into a police vehicle, and handed notices to appear in court. The three were the only members of a group of about 50 area residents who refused to obey a direct RCMP order to stand aside to allow Manny Consultants, conducting tests on behalf of the China Creek Uranium Consortium, to use an access road to the planned drilling site. Of the 50, about half had formed a human barri- cade earlier in the day. Wilful damage reported to Castlegar RCMP 5:30 a.m. yesterday included a bulldoz- er's smashed gauges and dirt- filled radiator as well as a rented truck's smashed head- lights, taillights and rear view mirror, torn spark plug wires, missing air cleaner and dirt in the gas tank, brake cylinder and carborator, Cpl. Marv Gorill told the Castlegar News, Both vehicles were being used by the Manny crews, he said. In addition, he said, heavy rocks and logs had been placed on the access road, Gorill said the protesters manning. the. barricade; when police answered the report amounted only to about three persons. Asked whether the protesters were still prevent- ing equipment from reaching the drilling site, he said they were still blocking the road but all the equipment needed to conduct the tests had already arrived at the site. He said the detachment was reluctant to get involved in incidents at the site unless they were emergencies. temporary capture of a small, orphaned black bear cub did not constitute an offence under the Wildlife Act. —CasNewsFoto by Ryon Guedes “There's not much we can really do,” Gorill said. “We're just leaving it alone unless we're called about a certain problem or complaint,” he said. “The only time we're going out is for a criminal act.” Ina letter yesterday to the Genelle Improvement District Mike Harnadek, chief public health inspector for the West Kootenay Health Unit, said recent tests of the Genelle watershed for alpha radiation activity, including radium, showed the domestic water supply is “safe and well within Canadian drinking water stan- dards.” “The actual figures showed such activity to be less than one picocurie (unit for measuring radlation) per litre of sample.” the letter said. “The above standards set a maximum fig- ure of 10 picocuries per litre.” Harnadek said in the letter ground and surface water in such mineralized areas as Gen- elle has some natural radium activity. The letter said the health unit will monitor the China Creek watershed on a weekly basis “as long as uranium ex- ploration activity continues in the Genelle area." ‘As soon as results of the tests are available health unit director Dr. Nick Schmitt, in consultation with Dr. M Greene, head of the provincial health ministry's radiation pro- tection service, will evaluate them ona continuing basis, the letter said. Harnadek said in the letter that Dr. Schmitt will forward his recommendations to the im- provement district office, and stressed there was no cause for * alarm about: radiation contami- nation of Genelle's drinking water, 2 Genelle resident Gordon Rutley, chairman of the ad hoc committee opposing explora- tion in the area, said between 20 and 30 residents were at the barricades yesterday morning. He said he did not know how long the barricade could last. “Its at the point now where women and young peo- ple are becoming involved,” he said. “When you get house- wives out before 7 a.m. they * must be mad at something other than housework.” The road was carved out of the rock mountain last year by the China Creek Uranium Con- sortium, a conglomerate of four small mining firms. Doing the exploration for the group are Manny and ‘Kootenay Drilling and Exploration, both under Manny Amendolagine, of Van- couver, The teams have been ex- ploring in the Genelle area for a year, and first met a concerted blockade effort early last week. The scene opened Monday with 40 residents arriving at the base of the exploration road near their community. They knew there would be an at- emp to run their barrier that da; Con’ 't. Pg. A2,. Col. 1) THE INSIDE 2,4-D: Regional directors consider seeking a mora- torium on it. Page B1 « EXPERTS: The real ones are in the street. Page B11 e@ BEDS: Changes in this year's racing regulations, One Man's Opinion ° Ann Landers ... BillSmiley .... Classified Ads, Real Estate, and Automotive. .. Pages A10-A11-A12-A13 Pages A4-A5 Sports . . Pages AG-A9-A14 Telenews . . . Pages B3-B4 Weekend — Weathercast SUNNY this morning and warmer. This trend will continue through the week-; end. For convenient home delivery' of the Castlegar News, call 365-7266. ¢ Group Calls for Halt To Uranium Testing The Kootenay Nuclear Study Group has endorsed a report calling for an immediate halt to uranium exploration in the China~ Creek area near Genelle and a judicial inquiry with public participation into uranium mining in B.C. In its support of a report prepared by James Terral, KNSG research director, the study group agreed that cau- tion must clearly be taken before any uranium expl tion about underground water- courses and assurance that these will not be disturbed,” said Terral's report. It points out that there are no provincial regulations for uranium exploration and de- velopment and that the Atomic Energy Control Board—the federal government agency re- sponsible for issuing uranium exploration and mining per- mits—has indicated that even its own ie are not is allowed in the China Creek watershed. “Apparently, surface ex- ploration should not be allowed to proceed until adequate pro- tection can be guaranteed both for workers, the public and the surface waters of China Creek,” the report states. “It would seem that under- ground exploration should not be allowed to proceed without reference to detailed informa- Kootenay Discussed Two B.C. Hydro officials were scheduled to speak on the proposed ‘Kootenay River Di- version at a Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce- sponsored luncheon forum yes- terday. Expected to explain their positions abd field on stringent enough. The report concludes that uranium exploration, mining and milling in B.C. should not proceed and that instead an intensive program to establish background radiation levels of, domiciles, workplaces, public areas and water supplies al- ready in existence should be undertaken along with a mas- sive program of: public educa- ‘tion. Diversion at Lunch engineer responsible for the project, Contacted earlier this. week, chamber president “Searle Sheldon said although the luncheon meeting was open to all members of the com- munity it was set up specifically to allow local businessmen to the proposed diversion of the Kootenay River into the Colum- bia Rivér are Charles Nash, Hydro's corporate affairs man- ager, and Nigel Grant, the on the prop di- version, The outcome of the meet- ing, not known at press time, will be reported in next week's Castlegar News.