RETIREMENT DINNER: Russell (7.8 Deons. ‘retirement banquet Sun- day by fellow workers, the general Lary and civic of- ficiols . EASTER HOLIDAY: The Castlegar N However, because of the Good Friday Easter Sunday edition wil be edivoneed by 24 hours. For di to 1} a.m. Thu hours stores ore keeping over the holidays. roy holiday ll Jeodhnes forte , the rsday from 11 a.m. Friday. As well, readers should check with various store advertisements in this issue to see what $5.8 MILLION EXTRA ollege to get more money post-secondary institutes will be able to get an extra $5.8 million if they come up with “innovative and imaginative training programs,” Education Min- ister Jack Henrich said Tuesday. “What we want to see is a number of riew ideas come from each of these places of education as to how they Castlégar Vol. 38, No. 27 would like to use the funds,” he told a news conference. ‘We believe that the colleges will actively reflect the needs of the community.” However, it's not known how the proposal will affect Selkirk College. College principal Leo Perra and board chairman Jack Colbert were both unavailable for comment this morning. College information officer Penny Freno-Link is on holidays. Decision on allocation of the funds will be made by the colleges, the Education Minister and the association of colleges and institutes, Heinrich said. The minister also said that colleges and post-secondary institutes will have their budgets chopped by only four per cent, instead of the five per cent announced last year — which means they will get an extra $2.4 million. As well, the interior-colleges will get News CASTLEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1985 an additional $1.4 million to help oper- ations of their satellite centres. The post-secondary institutions will get $3 million to help develop “new, high-priority programs and to buy equipment to improve productivity.” There is no provision for inflation in the $312-million budget for these in- stitutions, which is up slightly from the $308 million spent during the last fiscal year which ended Sunday. WEATHERCAST Mainly cloudy shies Thursday ond for most of the long weekend, with isoloted showers. Highs around 10-12 and lows neor freezing. 3 Sections (A, B & C) OT, ia wetit.< LOTTO LUCK . . . Teresa Patcheco buys Pacific Ex- press ticket for upcoming draw today from Albert NEW LOTTERY A_HUGE HIT IN CASTLEGAR By ADRIAN CHAMBERLAIN Staff Writer Paying a dollar for a three-by approximately four-inch piece of paper may not seem like a great deal But in Castlegar and the rest of B.C., the new Pacific Express tickets are selling better than pointed sticks at a wiener roast The Book Shop, Caldset Groceteria and Pharmasave Drugs all report a boom in Pacific Fxpruss ticket sales All say tickets for the lottery’s first draw tonight are sold out, and ticket sales for the April 10 draw are healthy A spokeman for the B.C. Lottery Corp. in Richmond said the 600,000 tickets for the April 3 draw have been sold out across B.C. The big attraction, said the spokesman, who asked not to be identified, is that the ticket is sold only in B.C. not the four western provinces like the Western Express, or throughout Canada like Lotto 649. This, of course, increases the ticket buyers’ chances of winning a big pay-off. Peter Popoff, manager of The Book Store, said another reason for big sales is the novelty of a new ticket “The main thing is curiosity right now,” said Popoff, ‘Calderbank, owner of Caldset Groceteria A | for tonight's draw were sold out three w who added that he’s sold 500 Pacific Express tickets for the first draw, while he used to average only 325 Western Express tickets per draw “The second thing is (they're sold) only in B.C., and the third thing is people want to see how they pay off. That is the main attraction,” Popoff said. “It's a new thing. People are sort of trying it out,” he added. “Anything new in tickets we've found people will buy just to try it.” The Pacific Express ticket replaced the Western Express ticket in B.C. April 1, although the Western is still sold in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Western offered three $100,000 prizes, two $50,000 prizes as well as merchandise and lesser cash prizes. The Pacific has three main prizes of $100,000, $50,000, $10.000 and lesser cash prizes. While there are fewer main prizes, Popoff said an attraction for Pacifie Express buyers is that only two of the last digits need match the winning number for a $5 prize. Three of the last matching digits were needed to win the same prize with the Western Express. Caldset Groceteria owner Albert Calderbank said “it is too early to tell” if the Pacific Express tickets will outsell Western Express. But he reports that his first batch of 125 sold out about four days after he got them three weeks ago, and 100 Pacific Express tickets for the second draw April 10 have been sold. The success of the new tickets is “partly because i\'s new, and partly because it's a B.C. lottery” with all the proceeds going back to the province, he said Pacific Express sales at Pharmasave DRugs are also good, with about twice as many being sold as Western Express tickets, said retail clerk Marg Babcock. Credit unions in good shape By CHERYL CALDERBANK Staff Writer The credit union system in B.C. overall is as healthy as ever, says the chief executive officer for B.C. Central Credit Union. James Thomson told 141 people who attended Kootenay Savings Credit Union's annual meeting Tuesday night that although it’s understandable for depositers to be a bit edgy — especially in the wake of recent problems plag- uing*financial institutions in Western Canada — credit unions are in good shape. (Two trust companies, one based in B.C. and another in Sas- katchewan, collapsed earlier this year an -based commercial ~ bank ‘vas on the verge of collapse before the provincial and federal gov- ernments bailed it out). Still, like most British Columbians, eredit unions have had better days, Thomson remarked. “Bat we are holding our own in hard times,” he said. “Deposits are safe just as they always have been. “Credit unions have done very well,” JAMES R. THOMSON . ‘holiday our own’ Thomson added. “Like your own (credit union), most have done alright. Some have had losses, a couple have been hard hit.” But Thomson said overall the system is in good health, especially when measured against other financial insti- tutions. “Your protection is our first and only priority,” Thomson stressed. He said that in the past few years, there have been troublesome areas for all financial institutions. But credit unions which tend to do business at the community level, have not put them. selves in jeopardy by lending “hun- dreds of millions” to organizations. He also noted that credit unions have set aside reserves in case of losses and now have $112 million to draw on in case of Thomson said. He also said that all deposits in the B.C. Credit Union system are insured against loss “to the last penny.” “We have had a tough year, but we will be prepared for everything we come up against,” he said. Thomson said the B.C. economy has gone through “the worst recession in 50 years.” The province has survived — but not without going through some transformations. continued on poge A4 Robinson’s store sold By CasNews Staff and News Services A Langley-based company has pur. chased the Castlegar Robinson's store, the Castlegar News has learned. Trade West Group Ltd. will operate the store under the Robinson's name, at least for the time being Store manay:er Richard Chorney said in an interview Tuesday that he doesn't know if the new owners will keep the Robinson's name. Chorney added that he also doesn't know if there will be any changes to the store. Chorney said Trade West Group took over the store on Monday and is in the process of taking over other Robin son's stores in B.C. However, he couldn't say which stores. Chorney said Trade West Group is “into a lot of things,” including aue tions. It has held auctions around the province, but not in Castlegar, he said. The purchase of the Robinson's store in Castlegar is the company's first venture into the retail market Chorney said Trade West Group will be rehiring former Robinson's em ployees. The store currently has four employees. Trade West Group is in association with E.F. Byskall and Associates Ltd. of Langley Meanwhile, at least 73 small depart ment stores of bankrupt Robinson Little and Co. Ltd., stretching from British Columbia to Northern Ontario, will be opened by F.W. Woolworth Co. Ltd. by April 15. The Foreign Investment Review Agency cleared the cash deal last week. The agreement includes Robin. son's name, goodwill, leases, inventory, . fixtures and equip a Woolworth spokesman said. The Winnipeg-based retailer, found ed in 1875, last year had 173 apparel continued on poge A4 Brothers buy local hotel Tourism group given $15,600 By CasNews Staff If the number of tourists to the West Kootenay increases by 10 per cent, and these tourists stay just one day longer a year, it could mean 700 new full time jobs for the area, says the president of the area's tourism asso ciation The Regional District of Central Kootenay granted the recently formed Kootenay Country Tourist Association $15,600 after president Chuck Truscott requested the funding at Saturday's meeting. Truscott told the meeting in a presentation that an annual tourism inerease of 10 per cent — or 80,000 visitors — would mean 230 more full-time jobs. And if these visitors extend their stays in the West Koot enay by one day, up to 700 new jobs will be created, he said He said the $15,000 figure is based on 30 cents for each person living in the boundaries of the Regional District of Central Kootenay, which covers Castle gar, Nelson, Creston, Kaslo, Nakusp, New Denver, Salmo, Silverton and Slocan. The grant will be matched with funding from the provincial gov ernment, Truscott said, adding that the Ministry of Tourism has already ac cepted the association's marketing plan. and has promised $50.000 for next year. Truscott said the 80,000 increase in visitors to the area is realistic “It's quite attainable in what we have here, and how little is known about this area outside. “We have possibly the greatest potential for increase than any region in the province,” he said “It is the one growth industry we have left.” Truscott said the tourism associ. ation’s advertising program will extend imto Alberta, Washington and the Lower Mainland. Truscott was questioned about the Kootenay Country Tourism Associa. tion’s chances for success, given that the old Kootenay Boundary Visitors’ Association — which the new associa. tion replaces — went bankrupt earlier this year. Although Truscott guarantee the same thing won't happen,” he added that the new association's accounting was to ba handled differently said “I can't By RON NORMAN Editor The Monte Carlo Hotel has been sold. John Postnikoff of Creston and his brother Nick of Oliver took over the hotel at the first of this month. No pur chase price was disclosed. The 48room hetel has been in receivership since March 1983. How ever, it continued to operate under ‘he receiver. John Postnikoff, also owner Pharmasave in Creston, said interview today that there will be major changes to the six-year-old hotel, though some areas will have to be up graded, including the indoor pool He said he and his brother intend to retain the present staff, “and hopefully the same customers.” Postnikoff said he and his brother have “bought things together before” and thought the Monte Carlo — built in 1979 — would be a good investment. “We thought Castlegar was a nice location,” he said. NEW oe two brothers from . The 48-room Monte Carlo Motor Inn has been sold to Oliver and Creston CosMew hore