Wednesday, February 19, 1992 By GARY LARSON t+! T's Atlase ras » Bich you wanna bet © sits right in frontof me? Theater of the Gods Armed robbers hit Crescent Valley store NEWS STAFF Armed robbers stunned the village of Crescent Valley Sun- day. The pair made-their get- At approximately 6:50 p.m., away in a small hatchback- two men entered the Maple typevehicle. ~ Leaf Store and robbed the Police roadblocks along owner at gunpoint. - Highway 3A failed to uncover The men were wearing dis- the two suspects. guises and got away with an Nelson RCMP are asking undisclosed sum of money. for the public assistance in The first suspect is de- solving this case. If you have scribed by police as being six- any information concerni foot-one with a slim build, this robbery, contact the Nel- while the second suspect stood son RCMP at 352-2156. City collects cash for kids NEWS STAFF Castlegar came through in the crunch. “Now we will be able to continue construction at Hobbit Hill Children’s Centre,” Connie Vereshagin of the Kootenay Colum- bia Child Care Society said. According to Vereshagin, the generous residents of Castlegar donated $9,100 to the centre’s construction... “But that number could go as high as $9,500 when all dona- tions are calculated,” she added. The Variety Club, which held it’s 26th annual telethon over the weekend, will be matching Castlegar’s donations dollar-for- dollar, making KCCCS that much richer. The Variety Club collected over $3.9 million in pledges dur- ing it’s 22-hour telethon. five-foot-nine and is believed to be approximately 17 years old. ‘ HOU \ Mon.-Th Sat. 9:00 a.m Fri. 9:00 a.m Sun. 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Steak SIRLOIN TIP 4* BULK BACON 3.49 kg. 1 09 Californa Grown #1 CAULI- FLOWER Californa Grown #1 FRESH | CELERY .86 kg. Approx. 20 Ib. Box SUNKIST ORANGES ~~ Cola LIQUID BLEACH 3.6L. 7° ICE CREAM Culverhouse PORK N BEANS In Tomato Sauce > 398 mi. 299 [2 Asst. Flavors © Limit1 Per} Family Purchase e 4 L. sone Head Pub e Pub Night mans 5 Presidents CHOICE POP Asst. Flavors 12-355 ml. Tins tS 635 Columbia Ave., Castlegar WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO LIMIT QUANTITIES. Prices Effective to Sat., Feb. 22 Open Sundays 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Presidénts CHOICE CHEESE COFFEE || SLICES Extra Fine © 1.1 kg. 1 kg. 4° For Best Quality Meats Shop Castlegar Foods SecondF nowy @ Wednesday, February 19, 1992 CALL THE: NEWS @General Inquiries 365-7266 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. Closed on weekends and statutory holidays. RATES The News is published by Castle 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 registration number 0019. Westar transfer in province’s hands Scott David Harrison EDITOR : The tug-of-war for Tree Farm Licence No. 23 has just begun. Revelstoke Mayor Geoff Battersby says his_city is united in its opposition to a proposed deal that would see Pope and Talbot acquire the southern portion: of the TFL and the Castlegar sawmill for $22 million U.S. Calling the proposed split of the TFL “a bone of contention,” Battersby says his city is crossing its fingers. “Small communities have to’ rely on limited resources,” Battersby said Monday. “Certainly, Castlegar has a lot to gain and we want to see the mill operating again, but our problem is where the line is being drawn.” Some 500 residents of Revelstoke crammed into a community centre last Thursday to “ argue for a more equitable split.” Revelstoke was the third of four stops made by a five MLA commission studying Pope and Talbot’s proposed deal. The public hearings ended Friday in Sicamous. “Revelstoke is not there to kill the Pope and Talbot deal,” ‘Battersby insisted. “That’s not our intent at all. This (public hearing) was the first real opportunity to correct an inequity that we have lived with for 35 years.” The TFL was created in the late 1950s. Originally erected to supply Castlegar and Nakusp with a steady log supply, the TFL has had Revelstoke up in arms. “I don’t bare any malice to Castlegar at all,” Battersby said. “We’re only asking for an equitable split.” That split would see the TFL dissected at Pingston Creek, 50 kilometres south of Revelstoke To Pope and Talbot, that split would represent a loss of 75,0007 cubic metres to its annual allowable cut. Tony Ferreira wants Battersby to butt out. The Chairman of the International tot Wednesday. The Castlegar and District Community Complex proved to be the perfect place fora quick drink for.this tiny ‘News photo by Glen Freeman B.C. Hydro gives park $200,000 Scott David Harrison EDITOR Twin Rivers Park got the financial boost it needed Friday. B.C. Hydro agreed to contribute $200,000 towards the Castlegar park in exchange for dumping rights. According to a deal signed by Castlegar and the utility, B.C. Hydro will truck unwanted river silt to Twin River Parks to act as land fill. In turn, the volume of fill — some 600,000 cubic metres — would allow the park to be raised above the Columbia River flood plain. “This is certainly to the city’s advantage,” Ald. Doreen Smecher said Tuesday. Under the agreement, B.C. Hydro will barge in river silt from Tin Cup Rapids near the Kinnaird Bridge to the park site. In addition, B.C. Hydro would be given the right to dump fill material from any possible hydroelectric projects in the region, namely the Hugh Keenleyside Dam, the Brilliant expansion or Murphy Creek. Representatives from Castlegar were in Victoria Tuesday meeting with Energy Minster Anne Edwards to discuss the possibility of converting Hugh Keenleyside into a hydroelectric dam. Despite B.C..Hydro’s grant, the Coalition Unaccpeting Rash Bureaucracy says the city. must answer a few questions. At CURB’s first public meeting Monday, vice president Walter Flux wondered which came first, the grant or the agreement. “It’s a little deceiving,”\ Flux said. “It appears to be more of a business deal than a grant. Smecher. confirmed the city did work out a “business deal” with B.C. Hydro. But, she added, the deal was to the benefit of Castlegar. Smecher said all land fill would be subject to contamination tests at the utility’s expense. “B.C. Hydro would have to'do all the testing to .council’s approval,” she said. The deal allows B.C. Hydro to dump land fill through Jan. 1, 2004. Woodworkers of America- Canada, Local 1-405 says Revelstoke is putting the entire deal in jeopardy. “Any reduction to the timber licence could be devastating,” Ferreira said Tuesday. “The TFL is already small enough.” Ferreira said the government must honor the proposed split to ensure the survival of jobs. “If the timber licence is reduced further, you won’t be able to run the mill at full capacity,” Ferreira said. n’t see Pope and Talbot wanti to buy the mill if that happened.” The government will make its decision on March 26 — 36 days after the final public hearing. High costs catch up to schools @ School Board No. 9 facing three tough years thanks to increased expenditures Glen Freeman NEWS REPORTER oo schools are in for a rough ride School finances will be tighter than usual for the next three years, according to the Chairman of the Castlegar and District School Board No. 9: “Support staff has been given what amounts to almost a 21 per cent raise over the next three years, our teachers contracts ex- pire on June 30, and the cost of - materials is going up all the time,” Gordon Turner said, explaining the need for prudent spending. Subtract those items from a proposed 2.4 per cent raise in funding from the provincial gov- ernment, and, by Turner’s calcula- tions, Castlegar is in for trouble. “We are going to have to look at our budget and make some major alterations,” he said. “We do have this year covered, but it will be extremely difficult to pay (support staff) in the second and third years,” he said. “Some school districts around the province are talking about lay- offs, but I’m hoping that we won’t have to do anything as drastic as’ that,” said Turner. ~ “However, it may mean that some part-time staff are affected next year,” he added. According to Turner, a more complete picture of what lies ahead for School District No. 9 will be available in March after the provincial government finalizes education block funding.