TheFARSIDE By Gary Larson — —— = Hey! Rat race! My name is, Ernie Miller and tomorrow I'm Movi 16 an island in the South Pacific * where I’m going 16 sitona beach\ sip cocomit milk, and watch the 2 Sun go down! kiss My butt Goodbye human cess P00/L B\ Ha ha has ha hat: Cominco output up NEWS STAFF It’s been just under two , months since Cominco’s mas- sive layoffs. But you wouldn't know it by looking at the company’s pro- duction levels. ‘In May alone, 255 Cominco employees received their walking papers because of huge financial losses. “(Cominco) had record pro- duction for the month of June,” said representative Carol Vanelli. “A total of 10,160 tons of lead was produced, which is our best since 1989.” Vanelli said it was only co- incidental that a month of record production should fol- low sweeping layoffs. “There are so many factors involved in production,” she said. “You can’t say that be- cause you have more people you have more production, or vice versa.” PoliceCeBEAT An attempted break and enter was reported at The Castlegar Sun Monday as someone tried to gain access to the building by prying open a sliding glass window. eee A 20-year-old Castlegar woman was arrested for shoplifting from Castlegar Foods Monday. eee Acat died as the result of gunshot wounds Saturday on McPhee Road in Ootischenia. RCMP are investigating. eee Over $1,000 in camera equipment was stolen from a Washington State car as it was parked at the Communi- ty Complex Monday. eee Castlegar police attended the Greyhound bus depot Saturday where an intoxicat- ed male, who had been de- nied a bus ticket, was threat- ening an employee. No charges were laid. Castlegar police respond- ed to a tip that a man was acting suspiciously in front of the liquor store Friday and found the back door of Cohoe Insurance had been pried open and the safe tampered with. Lisa Rebecca Barry, 22, and Lorne Timothy Verigin, 23, both of Edmonton, were charged with intent to com- mit an indictable offense and appeared in court Monday. Verigin was sentenced to two years in jail, and Barry received one year probation. eee RCMP require public as- sistance in locating 29-year- old Aaron Christopher Vereschagin who escaped from Grand Forks police Thursday. Vereschagin is five-foot- eight, 165 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans. He was serving one year in jail for break and enter theft, and is considered to be vio- lent. Contact police if you see aman matching this descrip- tion. CHICKEN: LEGS Back attached ¢ 2.18 kg. Ib | EARLY POTATOES si Golden Boy PEANUT BUTTER Smooth ¢ Crunchy APPLE JUICE W.0.T. 95¢ litre 6 litre box 3 Varieties © 1 kg. A9 Plus Deposit ’ Plus assorted flavours Wednesday, July 22, 1992 m@ California NO. 1 1.52 kg. RIPE Castlegar Foods WHITE BREAD All varieties ¢ 200 g. Or Whole Wheat ¢ 570 g. SPRITE LAUNDRY 12-355 ml. cans 10 litre 1% © 2% * 4% © 500 g. Limit 1 per $20 purchase 1-4 Litre Pail of Good Humor Ice Cream FREE with a $50 purchase $5.99 Value |DETERGENT| @ Wednesday, July 22, 1992 3a dhe News SecondFRONT CALL THE NEWS @General inquiries The News is located at 197 Columbia Ave. Our office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on weekends and statutory holidays. SUB RATES The News is published by Castle News Ltd. for Canwest Publishers Ltd. Mail subscription rate to The News is $37.50 per year. The price on newsstands is 75¢ for each edition. The price delivered by newspaper carrier for both editions is only 90¢ mail registration number 0019. @ Slocan Valley group eyes legal action to have Bylaw 923 overturned Scott David Harrison EDITOR Austin Greengrass says the Slocan Valley has been betrayed. Despite mounting opposition, the Regional District of Central Kootenay approved third reading of Unsightly Premises Bylaw 923 for a second time. “They’re just doing whatever the hell they want,” the spokesperson for the Slocan Valley Concerned Citizens Forum said. “It’s a complete joke.” Greengrass said he’s amazed that the bylaw the SVCCF fought twice for some three months ‘passed with next to no discussion. “Before we even had the chance to go outside and get our people into the board room, it was passed,” Greengrass said. The SVCCF staged a 36-person protest outside the RDCK office, opposing the bylaw which prohibits Area H residents from stockpiling old cars, building supplies and other articles defined as “unsightly.” “I’m just shaking my head,” Greengrass said. “This is a flagrant disregard of the democratic process. There was never any discussion on this bylaw. We were never consulted.” Third reading of the unsightly premises bylaw was first approved by the RDCK in March. However, it was later rescinded when the board asked Area H director Bob Barkley to fine tune the bylaw. “They’re rewriting the Municipal Act,” contends Greengrass. “They have no right RDCK passes unsightly premises bylaw to do that.” Greengrass said the SVCCF is exploring legal action against the district. He said Valley residents will also petition Municipal Affairs Minister Robin Blencoe, hoping he refuses to sign the RDCK bylaw. “This bylaw hasn't had a public airing or discussion,” Greengrass said. “It’s just been rammed through. “This is really frightening, because whether you are in favor of the bylaw or not, this is a smack against the democratic process. This is more like a dictatorship.” The bylaw will be sent to Victoria for Blencoe’s approval. If approved, it goes back to the RDCK for fourth and final reading. Director Barkley and RDCK chair George Cady declined comment on the HOWDY STRANGER RN = B.C. Hydro Tescinds’ Spill order Scott David Harrison EDITOR A source with the provincial goveyriment says a Castlegar News story has forced B.C. Hydro to abandon plans that would see more water released from the Hugh Keenleyside Dam. “The order was rescinded in time for Monday morning,” the unnamed source said Tuesday. “And was as a direct result of the story.” Published Saturday, the story quoted a source saying that B.C. Hydro would increase its water flow to as much as 4 100,000 cubic feet per second. The source said the release was being made in compliance with the Columbia River Treaty News photo by Glen Freeman As the students from Japan’s Aoyama College came to Castlegar Monday, student Fumie Kyakudo (right) was happy to meet her host mother Lynn Cassidy. Nineteen-month-old Sara was a little too shy for words. which allows the United States to draw water from Canada. An angry Peter McMullan Glen Freeman Electrical workers hit bricks IBEW representative Brian Robson agrees. disputed the story, saying “it’s absolute bullshit.” The B.C. Hydro spokesperson said the Crown corporation had no intention of releasing more water from the Hugh NEWS REPORTER If local residents are in the dark about the current West Kootenay Power strike, it’s for good reason. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers walked off the job Friday after negotiations short circuited. “The employees representing Local 213 withdrew their services and are now on a legal strike,” said WKP Human Resources Manager Greg Fowler. “We’re endeavoring to maintain essential services, but we recognize that we can’t provide everything that our skilled technical staff can.” Fowler admitted that power outages occurred in the Okanagan, but said he didn’t “have a clue” if there would be such problems in Castlegar. “I just hope we can resolve our differences. Nobody likes a strike.” “We were bending and trying our best to get an agreement,” he said, “but it just wasn’t there.” Robson said the union is seeking an improved pension plan, better wages, higher in-charge premiums and increased statutory holiday pay. “True parody with B.C. Hydro, that’s where we're headed,” he said. Neither union nor management would comment on recommendations tabled by mediator Don Cott on July 13 which could have prevented the walkout. Cott, who booked out of negotiations on July 14 at the union’s request, thinks the two sides aren’t that far apart “There isn’t a great distance between the parties right now,” he said. “Hopefully they'll come together soon.” ; Robson said he’s optimistic a deal can be reached, but cautioned that the 180 IBEW members are “preparing for a long one.” Keenleyside Dam. “The Americans have asked for nothing,” McMullan said Tuesday. “There .is no request from the U.S. for increased disch: es McMullan said the Keenleyside is discharging water at normal levels this week — some 60,000 cfs. He said discharges will be reduced next week to 50,000 cfs: Despite McMullan’s claims, the source remained adamant about the information leaked to The News. “Let everyone know that your source was correct and your story was correct.”