Wednesday, February 26, 1992 @ THE FAR SIDE oon By GARY LARSON They weren't the most evil people in the world — nor the best. They were the Village of the Darned. PolicCBEAT One adult and four juve- niles were arrested by Castle- gar RCMP for the armed rob- bery ofthe Maple Leaf Store in Crescent Valley Feb. 16. The five men will appear in court March 23. Two drivers were arrested over the weekend and charged with impaired driving. Two additional drivers re- ceived 24-hour suspensions, and one man was charged with failing to blow into a roadside screening device. Alex Shutek was treated for possible neck injuries Thurs- day, Feb. 20 after his 1988 Chevrolet was hit from behind by a 1991 Mazda driven by Ja- son Graig of Castlegar. Graig was charged with fol- lowing too close. Youri Tazuriaux of Winlaw lost control of his 1980 Ford on Feb. 23 while heading east on Broadwater Road. There were no injuries when Tazuriaux’s car rolled into the ditch. For theRECORD Third-year Brownie Steph- anie Tarasoff was not identi- fied in a photo of_the lst Brownies Pack in the Feb. 22 issue of The News. As well, Ara Hoddinott is a first- year Brownie, not third year. A survey commissioned by the B.C. Ministry of Environ- ment showed that five per cent of the province’s tin cans are recycled, not 50 per cent as was reported Feb. 19 in the column Recycling and You. Meeting. ART COME Official Oppositon Critic for Municipal Affairs, Recreation and Housing Official Opposition Critic for Finance this province faces. You are invited to speak to the OFFICIAL OPPOSITION (LIBERAL) CAUCUS About your concerns on the state of the Provincial Economy and the upcoming budget at an Open Forum and Town Hall THE FOLLOWING MLA'S WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE; ba We want to hear your concerms, views and ideas on the economic challenges WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1992 - 7:30 P.M. Terra Nova Motor Hotel, Encore Room presentation should contact HOURS Mon.-Thurs. & Sat 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m Fri. 9:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m Sun. 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m |__ BLACK |FOREST HAM| 100 g. Family Pack © Fresh CHICKEN BREAST Gov't. Inspt. ¢ Back Attach f 3.92 kg. Seediess. Imported #1 GREEN GRAPES 1.95 kg. Californa Grown FRESH BROCCOLI 1.08 kg. Long English CUCUM- BERS a HEINZ KETCHUP 1 Litre. Each | BATHROOM | TISSUE Limit 1. 8 Roll 1 Ply MUSH- ROOMS 284 mi. Each Foothills BUTTER Limit 1 with a $20 Purchase. 454 9. Nalley's POTATO CHIPS CHEDDAR CHEESE Mild e Medium e Aged - Cut or Whole COMMUNITY FUNDRAISER Buy a case of Minute Maid Juices 27- 250ml for $9.99 (reg. price $15.21) and $2.00 will go towards the purchase of a new scoreboard for the Sports Complex ‘For Best Quality Meats Shop Castlegar Foods 635 Columbia Ave., Castlegar _. RESERVE THE RIGHT TO LIMIT QUANTITIES, Prices Effective to Sat., Feb. 29 Open Sundays 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. @ Wednesday, February 26, 1992 4The News SecondFRONT |. CALL THE NEWS @General Inquiries 365-7266 @Classifieds & @aAdvertising 365-5210 OUR HOURS The News is located at 197 Columbia Ave. Our office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closedon’ weekends and - statutory holidays. SUB. RATES The News is published by Caste News Ltd. for Canwest Publishers Ltd. Mail subscription rate to The News is $40 per year ($44 in communities where the post office has letter carrier service). The price on newsstands is 75¢ tor each edition. The a dom Newspaper carrier for both editions is only 90¢ @ week (collected monthly). GST extra. Second class mail registration number 0019. News photo by Jonathan Green After presenting the government's side to the Robson Bridge and Ferry plans Monday night to some 300 people at the Robson Hall, Transportation Minister Art Charbonneau met with the media. © Vir. Minister Jonathan Green NEWS REPORTER With so many people to see in so little time, Art Charbonneau js a busy man. The Transportation and High- ways minister was in Castlegar early this week to attend several meetings regarding two area pro- jects: the Robson Ferry and the Robson Bridge. In 1988, the-then Social Credit government pulled the plug on the 69-year-old ferry, which opposition leader Mike Harcourt vowed to re- turn if elected. But in late December, Har: court’s newly elected New Democ- rats reneged on that promise, say- ing the money for the ferry just wasn't there. In an exclusive interview with The News Monday, Charbonneau said the ferry decision was strictly from a dollars and cents point of view. “There’s been a change in cir- cumstances since Mike’s promise,” he said. “We just don't have the fi- nancial resources to spend in this manner.” Charbonneau said the $220,000 spent annually on the ferry would go against his ministry’s thinking. “T believe in fiscal responsibili- ty,” he said. Some two years after halting ferry service, the Socreds proposed a bridge connecting Castlegar and Editorial, page 6 Letters, page 7 Robson. Since taking office in October, Charbonneau said the bridge idea has become a priority, though he admitted that work on provincial highways is needed all across B.C. “This year is extremely tough. We’ve been given very tough marching orders.”’ -Art Charbonneau “It’s relatively high (priority- wise),” he said, “but there’s a pressing need to improve trans- portation from one end of the province to the other.” The provincial government is looking at spending $150 million for an island-mainland ferry at a time when they say $23.5 million cant be found to build the Robson Bridge. But Charbonneau says that un- der the Ferries Act the money bor- rowed to pay for the new ferry could be paid off over a long period of time. He said amortization payments for this year would fall in between five and 10 million dollars. Under the Highways act, though, Charbonneau said money borrowed to build the bridge would have to be accounted for in the year of building, something the government can’t afford. “Under the Highways Act, the entire amount has to be written off the year of construction,” he said. And, because of that, the bridge won't be built this year. “This year is extremely tough,” Charbonneau said. “We’ve been given very tough marching or- ders.” But the minister said the gov- ernment has every intention of building the bridge, it’s just a mat- ter of finding the money. Charbonneau said that funding could be available as soon as next year. “We anticipate a modest in- crease in government revenues this year, which may allow us to proceed with it next year,” he said. Reacting to Rossland-Trail MLAEd Conroy’s statement about his visit being like ‘stepping into a hornets’ nest’, Charbonneau said his decision could not be made from Victoria alone. “There are a lot of people who care about this community,” he said, acknowledging the need to address the area residents up close. “(My decision) is not just pic- tures and paper. It’s people.” Missing mann remains mystery News Staff Some six weeks later, Dennis Perepelkin’s disappearance still has Castlegar RCMP officers scratching their heads. “Right now we're at a stand- still,” Const. Al Brown said Mon- day. “We don’t have any indication as to where he might be.” The 42-year-old Nelson man went missing Jan. 16 on his way to work in Castlegar. His Esso fuel truck was later found intact at the east side of the Kinnaird Bridge with the keys still in the ignition. Subsequent searches of the Co- lumbia River and surrounding area failed to uncover any details, as did any leads the RCMP had to work with. Brown said that even though nothing new has happened with the case, it has not been closed. “It’s still open,” he said. “It will be until such time as he is found.” Perepelkin’s family and friends set up a three-day information booth in Castlegar earlier this month, asking for the public’s help in finding the missing family man. But Brown said what they learned hasn't helped shed any ad- ditional light on the case. “Everything’s led to a dead end,” he said. Castlegar RCMP are asking anyone with information about Perepelkin to come forward as soon as possible. Students wanted News Staff Students who attended Selkirk College prior to 1990 are wanted, though the police aren't involved. The Selkirk College Foundation is in the process of developing an alumni base for the college, now in its 25th school year. Foundation Executive Director Dale Schatz said the idea for an alumni has existed for some time. “We've been working on it on and off for a number of years,” he said. Because the student turnover at a college is so high an alumni base isn’t easy to establish, said Fae Lee, the Foundation’s devel- opment officer. “Because we're a two-year com- munity college, it’s awfully hard to track down those people.” In addition to helping students interested in establishing re- unions, Lee said an alumni base would also help develop funding for the college.