as Castlegar News August 15, 1990 TEI PTI re wee vertebrate Forest handling criticized EDMONTON (CP) — Forestry Minister LeRoy Fj Alberta ten’s department tries to ‘‘perform its admits his department did not know everything it should -have known about northern forests before signing ‘agreements with pulp mill i with grossly inadequate information, per- sonnel and funding.’’ And it bases panies since Premier Don Getty declared Alberta's forests ‘‘open for business’’ four years ago. Dancik's panel was appointed after on guesses, and limited F new forest “There are some areas where we didn’t do enough work,"’ Fjordbotten told reporters. Inventories of forest and wildlife resources in the North are only now being completed, he said. ‘We are taking steps to make sure we have the inventory that is needed.”’ The minister was responding to criticisms in a report released Monday by a government-appointed panel that studied the way forests are handled in the province. The four-member panel, headed by Bruce Dancik, a professor at the University of Alberta, said Fjordbot- from other parts of the world,”’ the report said. Fjordbotten said staff shortages and budget cuts have led to inadequate knowledge about Alber- ta’s wildlife. ‘‘We need to do more."” He said the government wants to turn some of his department’s work over to the private sector. Tree farms for reforestation and fish hatcheries are two areas he is considering privatizating. Fish and_ wildlife, however, does not lend itself to privatization, he said. Huge tracts of northern forests have been promised to various com- in northern Alberta, including a 40,000-square- kilometre deal with Daishowa Canada. That’s about the size of Switzerland. A proposed forest management agreement with Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries would covey, about 100,000 square kilometres. The panel was intended to com- plement a review of a $1.3-billion bleached-kraft pulp mill proposed by Alberta-Pacific, Liberal Leader Laurence Decore said ‘‘the report proves the gover- nment has yet to balance resource ex- ploitation with development. World oil-price rise is good news for Wilson OTTAWA (CP) — The oil price rise may be bad news for consumers but it’s good news for Finance Minister Michael Wilson as he prepares to sell Petro-Canada, the government’s oil giant. Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and con- tinuing tensions in the Persian Gulf have driven world crude oil prices up by about $10 a barrel in the last few months. “There’s more interest and more confidence in the Canadian petroleum industry,’ said analyst Robert Plex- man of Dean Witter Reynolds. “‘It looks like Petro-Canada may be able to benefit from that increase in con- . fidence.”” Ottawa, which has been getting rid of Crown-owned companies under Tory reign, made plans to put Petro- Canada up for sale last February. The company has a book value of about $6.5 billion. But it’s selling price on the open market would depend on corporate performance, earnings potential, cash flow potential, debt levels and how it rates against competitors. Petro-Canada was born of the oil crisis in the 1970s and has since grown into one of the largest companies in the Oil Patch. Higher oil prices, if they last — and that remains the billion-dollar question — may offset disappointing financial results released by Petro- Canada for the first six months of the year. The company last week reported net earnings of $25 million on reveneus of $2.7 billion. Thafwas less than half the figure earned in the same period last year. “Clearly, the various strategies initiated in 1989 to achieve higher profitability have yet to bear fru: company chairman Bill Hopper said. Wilf Gobert, an analyst with Peters and Co. in Calgary, said the move in oil prices is ideal for Wilson’s biggest privatization project to date. Higher prices may also help force the issue of putting Petro-Canada in- to the private sector, he said. Big-ticket projects like a new oil sands plant in Alberta will start to make economic sense if prices don’t slip back and that means Petro- Canada will have to find money to bankroll such developments. But while the economics of privatization may make sense, the politics may not. Industry observers have noted that big oil companies are not popular at the best of times and become even less so during an oil crisis. Price increases at the pump have already led to complaints the industry is gouging the public and the New Democrats have suggested the gover- nment use Petro-Canada to keep prices in check. NRS enters agreement By CasNews Siaff NRS Mountainview Agencies of Castlegar has announced that the Vancouver-based National Real Estate Service has entered into an agreement with Royal Trust of Toronto to provide residential mor- tgages. Under the terms of the agreement, Royal Trust — Canada’s largest trust company — will act as the exclusive supplier of the NRS branded mor- tgage which will be marketed by NRS representatives across Canada, said Barry Brown of Mountainview Agen- cies. NRS president Oswald Jurock said the firm’s ‘‘finest and foremost priority is to provide our clients with the best possible products and services available,” and that by aligning NRS “with a corporation with the capabilities and reputation of Royal Trust both our agents and clients stand to benefit.” The NRS mortgage features com- petitive rates and a comprehensive package of flexible early repayment options unmatched by other financial institutions, according to an NRS news release. This includes the option of prepaying any amount up to and in- cluding double the regular mortgage payment each and every month with no fee or penalty who take of this option can also miss a payment at any time during the mortgage term without paying a penalty. The NRS mortgage also allows homeowners to pay off up to 10 per cent of the mor- tgage principal once-a year. In ad- dition, there’s an early renewal option and the mortgage is both portable and assumable. NRS is Canada’s third largest real estate brokerage firm. The company has in excess of 3,000 sales agents and operates more than 250 offices throughout Canada and the United States. NRS also has offices in the British West Indies and Hong Kong. 200 Sheet LOOSE LEAF REFILL Lined ¢ Special BINDERS Special 99° TYPEWRITER Brothers Electric . $1999°9 ° ‘Duo Tang Covers ..... Crayons Lourention. 16's . Special © Steno Pads Special Plus many more in-store specials! PS PHARMASAVE “In the Heart of Downtown Castlegar” OPEN THIS SUNDAY. 365-7813 “It is plunging ahead, allocating forests covering about a third of the province for commercial use, before it has a clear conservation strategy, or even an inventory of what exists."” In another development, Environ- ment Minister Ralph Klein turned down a request by a ition of '87 CHEV.) Va TON '87 HONDA PRELUDE 58,000 kms., native and environmental groups to recall an ecight-member panel to examine a revised Alberta-Pacific proposal. The review panel originally recom- mended a delay in thé Alberta-Pacific project until extensive studies are don the A Peace 5-Spd., Sunroof sy Castlegar News SPORTS and Slave rivers. Last month Klein appointed a second thi bei review panel, which will decide whether Alberta-Pacific can live up to its claim of reducing pollution to levels lower than any other pulp mill in the world. John Gill, a lawyer acting on behalf of the coalition, said his clients believe the scientific panel is looking at only one narrow aspect of the huge mill proposal. “This is an important enough issue that our clients are considering whether to take the matter to court,”’ he said. Coalition members, including the Metis and Dene of the Northwest Territories, are worried the revised mill proposal will add to pollution which could contaminate fish in nor- thern rivers, Gill said. ne Tune-Up SUMMER SPECIAL ALL MAKES $2925... Regular Price $40 Singer Trained Technician Selling and Servicing Sewing Machines for 20 Years Carter’s Sewing Centre S35 Towne Square Mall, Trail, B.C. © 364-1744 WE’R E OFFERING (For a limited period) 1 20 Chesterfield Suites and Sleeper Sofas! Pay ‘Red Tag’ Special Sale Price AND 6 months NO Down Payment, NO Monthly Payment and NO Interest Until Feb. 1991. (on approved credit Only) Don’t Miss This Outstanding Offer! AND We’ re Liquidating *60,000 of Deilcraft Furniture (they're out of business) at 25% Discount (Bedroom, Dining Room Suites, Living Room Table Groupings, Curio Cabinets, Ent. Centres and more) — High quality furniture. DON’T MISS IT! —__> HOME Furniture Warehouse = Located holfway be: Floor Covering Centre Genelle . tween Trail & Castlegor Open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Phone 693-2227 Tuesday through Saturday By ED MILLS Staff Writer ‘ Wendy Pilla doesn’t want anybody to know about her problem. And she’s done a pretty good job of concealing it all summer. “It’s no big deal,’’ said the assistant coach of the Castlegar Aquanauts Swim Club. Even th¢ team’s head coach, Tom Carew, doesn’t know the ex- tent of the problem. Neither are her team members aware of it and that’s the way Pilla wants it. “It’s a personal thing and I'm dealing with it, but it’s hard enough now as it is without a whole bunch of people asking me about it,” she said. Right now Pilla is trying to forget about the pain and discom- fort and concentrate on her mission Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Provincial swim- ming championships at the Wright Pool in Trail. She has two things she wants to do in Trail and neither involve making excuses. “I want to win the gold (medal) in the 50 (metre) free (style) and the 100 free and hopefull set a provincial record in the 50 free.”” Four days after that meet ends, Pilla will travel to Vancouver to prepare for spinal surgery to repair a problem that has caused her to lose feeling in 90 per cent of her right leg. “I have a spinal cord com- pression. . . worn discs have cut off 90 per cent of the nerves to my right leg. It’s like it’s (the leg) asleep all the time,’’ she said. —— — a Pilla hasn’t swam the past two seasons because of the problem, which was undiagnosed until this year. But doctors told her she had nothing to lose this summer. “They said it couldn't get much worse so I might as well go for it, for the last time,’’ said Pilla. So the provincials are Wendy Pilla’s swan song in competitive swimming. After the operation, the one-time national level swim- mer’s career in the pool is over. “I’m happy that I can continue in sports recreationally but I’m hurt that I couldn't have gone to my peak in swimming.”’ For that reason she wants to leave competitive swimming on an up note, not complaining about injuries or making excuses. She admits that getting the medal and the record against the province’s best swimmers are tall orders for an ordinary swimmer, but especially so for one who wouldn’t move her leg if it was touched with a hot iron. “Yeah, but I've done it before so I can do it again,” she said. The provincial championships start today with water polo at the Castlegar Aquatic Centre from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Water polo, the Aquatic Centre’s only event of the provincials, ends with the cham- pionship games Thursday. Diving events also begin today at the Wright Pool at 11 a.m. As part of the championships, synchronized swimmers Christine Larsen and Kathy Glen will demonstrate their sport Saturday at the Aquatic Centre at 7 p.m. and at the Wright Pool at 1:30 p-m. Problem won't frustrate this swimmer's swan song CosNews photo by Ed Mills coach Wendy Pilla got the go ahead from doctors to swim this summer so she plans on making the most of it at the provincial championships in Trail starting Friday. It will be her last competitive meet. Lions get fat on Roughies REGINA (CP) — The Saskat- chewan Roughriders were all asking themselves the same question after their 32-30 loss to the B.C. Lions Tuesday night — what has gone wrong with the 1989 Grey Cup cham- pions? But the players shuffling around the deathly quiet Saskatchewan locker room didn’t have any answers. Slotback Ray Elgaard was the pic- ture of exhausted dejection_after the game, which dropped the Riders into the basement of the CFL's western division with a 2-4 record. “1 don’t know what it is, I really don’t,’ said the taciturn recejver, combing the tangles out of his bushy handlebar moustache. Elgaard came close to pulling the game out of the fire for the Riders, catching a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kent Austin with 28 seconds left in the game and bringing Saskatchewan within two points of the Lions. But the Riders failed to get the two- point convert that would have sent the game to overtime, and injury-ridden B.C. held on to earn its second win of the season. Saskatchewan’s vaunted offence moved the ball, but was unable to score a touchdown for the first three quarters of the game. The Lions held the lead until the final quarter, when Austin finally found a receiver in the endzone with a 17-yard pass to running back Lucius Floyd. But B.C. quarterback Joe Paopao fought back, marching down the field minutes later for the third Lions touchdown of the game. His lofting, 25-yard throw gave wide receiver Ray Alexander his second touchdown reception, and B.C. added a Tony martino field goal with less than two minutes left to put the game seemingly out of reach. IMOS 46 STAMPEDERS 20 Reggie Taylor ran wild Tuesday night and halted the Calgary Stam- peders’ unbeaten run in the Canadian Football League. Taylor romped for touchdowns of 81 and 16 yards as the Edmonton Eskimos overwhelmed the Stam- peders 46-20 in one of two games. Edmonton, which has scored a league-high 250 points in six outings, racked up 508 yards of offence. The win closed the Eskimos (4-2) within a point of first-place Calgary (4-1-1) and overshadowed an outstanding evening by Stampeders wide receiver Derrick Crawford. Stanley Humphries GIVING POINTERS a ROCKY runt o - tomas John Ritchie points out @ few things about good basketball Tuesday at the week long boys basketball comp at secondary school. Ritchie will start teaching classes at the school revived senior boys Hp this fall and is taking over the Duo eyestop . three finish By ED MILLS Staff Writer Getting there might be half the fun but this time the Verigins would like a little more than that. And this year the Robon River Ot- ters Swim Club’s brother-sister duo of Kim and Kristy Verigin are deter- mined to get more at the Provincial Friday at Trail’s Wright Pool. It’s not that the two are greedy, it’s just that they have got to this point in their young careers often enough now hat, for them, just getting there on’t do anymore. It’s an especially strong feeling for older brother Kim Verigin, 12, who has been to the provincial’s five times but has finished in the top three just once — a silver medal in 1987. “*He’s really determined. He really psyches himself up for his 100 (metre) free(style), he really loves that race,” said Kim’s mother and Otters publicity director Kathy Verigin. For Kristy Verigin, 10, who has been to provincials twice and moved up in the rankings both times, it’s a chance to inch her way closer to that top-three finish. Considering the two are up against the best swimmers in the province the goal is not an easy one, Kathy Verigin said. “+1 think they both definitely have a chance, but you never know. They’re all excellent swimmers at this level, some just have better techniques or are a little stronger and that’s the dif- ference,’’ she said. Otters coach Curtis Ready said he’s compared the Verigins’ best times this season against those from last year’s provincial championships and both have a chance to make top three in Trail. “Maybe with some hard training and some psychological preparation they might be ready to do some great things there. I hope so anyways,’’ said Ready. Neither coach nor mom downplay the fact that, regardless of whether Kim or Kristy reach their goal, they have both accomplished something just to be considered among the best swimmers in the province. And at such young ages, both have plenty of future left in the sport The Otters Lisa Woykin, who im- proved -her times consistently throughout the season but was still considered a surprise qualifer after she posted a second-place finish at regionals two weeks ago, could also contend in her first trip to the provin- cials, Ready said. Unlikely homer hero for Expos SAN DIEGO (AP) — Otis Nixon has to work on his home-run trot The Montreal outfielder went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and Dennis Martinez pitched his second straight complete game in the Expos’ 8-3 victory over San Diego on Tuesday night. Nixon’ first-inning homer to left off Dennis Rasmussen (8-11) was the out- fielder’s first since Sept. 1985 when he was with Cleveland, and just his fourth in 1,045 career at-bats. “| didn’t pull up until I got to second base,”* said Nixon about his first homer in nearly five years. ‘I was running the whole time.”” Let’s just say he hasn’t mastered the mannerisms of the home-run hitters — like watching the ball arc majestically out of the park before slowly trotting around the bases. “1 still don’t know where it hit,’ Nixon said. *‘I don’t try to hit home runs, and that’s why I haven't hit any. It was a mistake.”’ In fact, Nixon was grabbing at- tention for not hitting home runs. He was ready to become the first major leaguer ever to steal 30 bases without a homer for three straight seasons. “*It came at a perfect time,’’ he said. ‘‘USA Today and the papers in Montreal wrote today about the record that I could’ ve set -h OTIS NIXON . . running full out “Because of that, I took a lot of abuse in batting practice today from Tim Raines and Tim Wallach. They were on my case, and then in my first at-bat, I hit a home run George chimes — ChiSox's bell CHICAGO (AP) — George Bell was back doing what he does best Tuesday night — driving in runs and leading the Toronto Blue Jays’ at- tack Bell tied a major-league record with three sacrifice flies and also had a single and a double, as the Blue Jays routed the Chicago White Sox 12-4. Glenallen Hill hit a grand-slam in support of Todd Stottlemyre as the Jays beat the fading White Sox for the second time in as many nights. But it was Bell who got the Jays in gear with sacrifice flies in his first three at-bats “One of the best nights I've ever had,"’ Bell said. ‘‘l had three runs batted in before I had an official at- bat. It was lucky, too. You have to be lucky to come up each time with a man on third and less than two out. “But I concentrated.as a batter; | drove the ball and did my job.”" Bell became the eighth player to hit three sacrifice flies in a game. The last to do it was Candy Maldonado for San Francisco in 1987 and the last American Leaguer was Don Mat- tingly of the New York Yankees in 1986. . Toronto’s Manny Lee and Chicago’s Ozzie Guillen also bit sacrifice flies as the two teams tied the record of five. It had been done eight times previously, the last by San Diego and San Francisco in 1988 Stottlemyre (11-13) pitched seven shutout innings, giving up two hits, walking three and striking out five before leaving because of a blister on the middie finger—of his pitching hand - ~ ¢ GEORGE BELL ... tes record “1 felt it early and it got bigger as the game went on,”’ said Stottlemyre, who has never pitched a shutout “Shutouts are great, but this time of the year it’s more important to win."*