OPINION WEDNESDAY, May 1 Serving the 10,000 people of the Castlegar Area, The Castlegar Sun is published every Wednesday by Sterling Newspapers Ltd. at 465 Columbia Ave. Castlegar, B.C, VIN 1G8. The Castiegar Sun is politi- cally independent and a member of the Sterling News Service, Canadian C: B.C. Newspapers Assocation, and the B.C. Press Counal Es Established 28, 1990 Mail PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG SPORTS REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER MARGE LALONDE CARI ROHN CLASSIFIED ADS editorial comment Way to go, everyone! Once again it has been driven home how very lucky we are to live in the beautiful Kootenays. The only thing that surpasses the natural beauty of this little piece of heaven is the people who live here. The success of The Great Paper Chase epitomizes the, very strengths of those people who make the Kootenays | A. unique place in whichto-live.— There’s no denying that they're daring, feisty, and ready to take up a challenge at the drop of a hat. When The Castlegar Sun first issued a challenge in mid-March to recycle office paper the response was swift and sure. By the end of April there were officially 18 busi which ly took up the chal- lenge. ene well the challenge was going, nevet stlegar Sun expect that The Great Paper Chase would carry with it such a positive ervi-~ ~nmental impact. By the end of April, which just happened to be Envi- ronmental Month, those businesses had recycled 1,914 kilograms of paper! What was just as phenomenal was that in Castlegar alone, 44 businesses recycled a total of 3,529 kg of office paper during the month of April. Despite the fact that they’d missed the deadline to join The Chase, b were still i to recy- cling. Now that The Chase is over, it's hoped that other local businesses will also decide to recycle their office paper. As G&G Woodwork (a one-person business) proved, even ants can move rubber tree plants. That one person recycled some 37 kilograms of paper in only one month! Just think, in one year alone those 44 businesses can theoretically recycle 42,348 kilograms of paper—or for those who still think imperial—over 93,000 pounds. The success of The Great Paper Chase proves one thing: together we CAN make a difference. Karen Kerkhoff Council doing job Castlegar council deserves to feel a little satisfied with itself this week after passing a 1995 municipal budget that will see taxes drop far the average homeowner. Drop? Taxes? The two words are mutually exclusive aren't they? Not in Castlegar, where that has been the trend for the last several budgets, through two different administrations. And Castleg: Ives can feel a little smug, especially when they look at neighboring com- munities such as Nelson, where municipal taxes are ris- ing 5.4 per cent in a single year. Nelson says three per cent of that increase is only “short-term”, for three to five years, to help Provide much-needed funding for important renovations to city recreation facilities. But Castlegar also has been putting aside larges sums of money for important projects: such as $350,000 for the south Columbia Avenue widening and upgrading; and $500,000 for the Arrow Lakes Drive upgrading. And that’s not to mention $2.3 million for downtown revitalization. And all the while able to not only keep taxes down, but reduce them. That’s a good job Ron Norman ERRORS: The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable for damages arising out of errors in any advertisement beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by that portion of the advertisement in which the, error occurred, whether such error is due to the negligence of its seryants or otherwise... and there shall be no liability for non-insertion of any advertisement beyond the amount Paid for such advertisement. All advertising subject to publisher's approval. Contracts must be completed within one year from contract date. No contingent orders accepted x 3 ~ “ THEDOCTORSKS ~~ — HELL BE O.K. IF WE CAN MAKE Him It’s up. And it’s ugly. It’s more than ugly; it's an eye- sore. “It” is the three-metre-high orange plastic snow fence that surrounds Castlegar’s largest_ downtown public amenity area, between the Marlane Hotel and The Greek Oven- The fencing went up last Thurs- day afternoon and, no, it is not part of the $3.1 million downtown revitalization program. It's not even part of the construction work connected to the revite project What it is, is an attempt by the City of Castlegar and the RCMP to prevent young people from gather- ing in the square each evening. You, see, Nelson isn’t the only West Kootenay community with a loitering problem. Granted, Nelson's is much better publicized, having made the CTV National news, CBC-TV's Prime Time Newsand the Vancouver Province newspaper (where newly-elected Mayor Gary Exner, sounding eerily like ‘60s Vancouver Mayor Tom “Terrific” Campbell, was quoted as saying he is “taking aim at hippies”). But I’m sure Nelson would gladly forgo the publicity. After all, it’s not the kind of notoriety Nelson wants, not after having THROW UP! carefully crafted an image of itself as a haven for “urban refugees”. It is interesting, though, to see how the two communities have tried to solve a similat problem Their very differ- ent approaches reveal a lot about the councils them- selves.” Nelson has decided to use municipal bylaws to control the dogs. buskers (street musiciang§) and noise on Baker Street. Just how effective that approach is, remains to be seen. It will depend on how the bylaws are enforced. And on how much Nel- son wants to spend on enforcing loitering restrictions. (The bylaws in themselves generated considerable debate, with hundreds of residents turn- ing out to public meetings and several hundred protesting at a council meeting.) Castlegar, on the other hand, has taken a more direct (and so far, less controversial) approach to its problem on Columbia Avenue. It didn’t bother with bylaws or pub- lic meetings. Instead, it simply Heading off in It was 5 a.m. Friday morning, the van was packed and we were on our way. Our destination? LIFE! (Leadership Initiative For Earth). The four of us: Susan Carter, Erin Casler, Heather Plot- nikoff, and myself, all of whom attend Grade 11 at Stanley Humphries Secondary School, accompanied by my mom, Noni Tedesco, were on our way to attend LIFE’s first inaugural youth conference in Vancouver. After an extremely long trip, and much difficulty deciphering the map, we finally reached Kitsi- lano Secondary School only slightly behind schedule. Once there, we were quickly given name tags and ushered into the auditori- um. The next two hours were filled with speakers like Jeff Gibbs, the founder of LIFE, and Jim Fulton, the executive director Naha? David Suzuki foundation. This was followed by dinner, a costume-making session and final- ly a dance to a live band called Cozy Bones. That evening we four bone-weary girls finally crawled into bed at the Jericho Youth Hos- tel at 11:30 p.m At 9am. Saturday moming, we were back in the auditorium of the Kitsilano Secondary School listen- ing to Vancouver-area MP Heddy Frye, a representative of Environ- ment Canada. Next up was provincial minister of Environment Moe Sihota. At the end of his lengthy speech, the i was given the chance to have him answer their questions. Once this was over, everyone was dismissed to attend their cho- sen workshops. The workshops lasted an hour, after which every- one was free to go for lunch. Upon returning from lunch, it was back to 'the auditorium for a presentation and slide show on LIFE’s summer camps. Then from 2:45 - 5:30 p.m., everyone was attending work- evening the con- ference moved to the Vogue Theatre, where both the public and those who had attended the conference enjoyed the “‘Gala Evening For Earth.” This went from 7:30 - 11 p.m. and included such speakers and entertainers as Lifesavers, the high school students who acted as mas- ters of ceremony for the evening; Guujaaw, and indigenous man who shared with us several tribal songs and dances; “Spirit of the Waters”, a play written by a high school student that represented the underwater power struggles; AWOL Love Vibe, a group of thgee young men who introduced us to environmental poetry; and Veda Hille, a young female vocal- ist who’s work has often been con- sidered as jazz, contemporary, classical and new age. The highlight of the evening THE VIEW NORMAN MY TURN MIRANDA TEDESCO cordoned off the square, ing youths (and anyone else) from getting to it. But judging from the reaction of young people so far, Castlegar's approach may be_no more effective than Nelson’s. Less than an hour after the plas- tic fencing had been erected, several youths had climbed inside, where they proceed- ed to encourage passersby to sign a petition protesting the city’s move. Around the back, a group of youths were playing hackeysack, providing “cover” for one of their number who was cutting the plas- tic fencing with some scissors. When confronted, the youth sim- ply shouted back: “This won't last the night.” He proved to be wrong. The fencing did last the night, though not the weekend. By Mon- day morning there was a breech in the fencing next to the Marlane Hotel. One thing is for certain: city workers will be kept busy repair- ing the youths’ handiwork. One city official has called the search was a presentation/slideshow by Dr. Jane Goodall, in which she shared her entire life's work with us. The audience was so incredibly moved by her performance that she received a standing ovation, followed by three long line-ups of people awaiting her autograph. Once again, none of us crawled into bed that evening until around 11:30 p.m. Sunday was our last and final day. Like Saturday, we were back in the auditorium by 9 a.m. listening to a new group of presenters. This time it was a group of four youth repre- senting YES (Youth for Environ- ment Sanity). They are a group based in Cali- fornia who are touring North America speaking mainly to high school students about issues con- cerning global - For- that the ¢ olty has taken a stand. I would suggest that the young people also see the fencing as a statement, though in the same way a bull sees a red flag as a state- ment. The fencing is a them; a challenge that can’t go unanswered. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame the city and the RCMP for trying to do something about the youths who gather in the square. Council and the police have been working on this problem for months—no, make that for the last year—when complaints about youths downtown first st At that time the youths were hanging out around Hooter’s Fit- ness across from the Hi-Lite Restaurant. (Readers may recall that The Sun did a story on Hoot- er’s owner Gerry Hoodicoff’s complaints about the kids). When that street was torn up as part of the revitalization work, the kids moved to the amenity area beside the Marlane Hotel. And there they stayed: a group of 50-60 youths, though seldom all there at one time. They proceeded to vandalize the area, including the mushroom lamps that are part of the down- “See FENCING —~—~C”CSTAN of LIFE Gallery for the “Wild Salmon Run Parade”. We were met there by dozens of cameras from both the Papers and the TV stations. While awaiting a delayed van carrying some of our costumes, everyone gathered together on the steps and sang several salmon that weekend. The parade started out as 150 youth who had attended the con- ference all weekend and grew to a ported 300 salmon supp Taking up the entire sidewalk Here, the salmon were given a chance to voice their concerns and tunately, we were able to get them to stop in Castlegar on their way through to Calgary. While here, they gave a presen- tation in the high school activity room Next on the agenda was a ques- tion and answer period with Dr. Jane Goodall. This was followed by another workshop session in which everyone worked on their salmon costumes. Finally, at 1:30 p.m. everyone congregated at the Vancouver Art pini about their dwindling population and habitat. Everyone then proceeded to the salmon spawning grounds, where we listened to a Native group voice their concerns for the salmon and sing a few of their tra- ditional tribal songs acc by dances. Amid farewell hugs everyone departed with the sounds of a live band playing in the back- ground! Miranda Tedesco attends Stan- ley Humphries Secondary School. \ { } Fencing just a red flag to kids : Wednesday, May 17, 1995 The Castlegar Sun Letters to the Editor Forum great opportunity Dear Editor: I would like to take this oppor- tunity to express my sincere appreciation to: The Royal Cana- dian Legion, The Selkirk Lions Club and Stanley H Sec- and senators and attend Question Period, along with many other activities including a federal/provincial conference simulation and a federal leader- ondary School for their “sponsor- ship of my attendance to “Forum for Young Canadians” in Ottawa. “Forum for Young Canadians” is a program which brings togeth- er students from British Columbia to P.E.I. and helps them to better understand the Canadian political process and the way our government is run. As a group of approximately 120, we attend sessions of Parlia- ment, meet some of our ministers = Fencing ship camp. I would like to thank our local MP Jim Gouk, for his time in attending a dinner and taking me on a tour of the Confederate Building while I was in Ottawa. together in Canada. My week in Ottawa has made ;me realize not only how proud I am to be Canadian, but also that I am very fortunate to live in the most beautiful province and region of Canada. I have come away with many memories that will last a lifetime, and will always remember the friendships that I have gained with many Having the ity to meet students from across Canada has given me an understanding of the challenges that face us all, people. I would encourage other stu- dents to go to “Forum for Young Canadians”. It was not only a whether we live in C; or but a great Quebec City. I discovered that all Provinces feel a need to be recog- nized but also want to stay Continued from 6A town revite (three at $800 pig sprinkler heads and the They urinated in the bushes oad ‘pestered local businesses. City workers were spending an hour a day on repairs and cleaning up after the kids. (At about $30 an hour for 200 days a year, it amounts to $6,000 just in maintenance costs). To his credit, Mayor Mike , @'Connor and the city offered to “work with the kids. You may recall that last fall Mr. O’Con- nor met with the youths to hear their side. He and council agreed to pro- vide the kids with a place to hang out. That place was the parking lot beside the CP Rail Station Museum. However, there were several conditions, among them-that-the kids had to keep the place clean and help take responsibility to prevent vandalism. Mr. O’Con- nor stressed that with rights, come responsibilities. The kids had to show they deserved the right to a place of their own by being responsible It wasva good ‘idee—fon a wile: *11"' Mr.’O*Connor says the kids were to return to council with plans for the parking lot area. He never heard back from them. “They were supposed to come back with some solu- tions.” he says, along with ideas for fundraising. The city pledged to match whatever funds the kids raised. BCAA CRU B cqrvuisS When he finally got them to a second meeting, he was told that nothing had been done He points out that the offer to relocate in the parking lot beside the station museum is still open, but the kids have expressed no interest in moving off Columbia Avenue. These aren't street kids here. RCMP Staff Sgt. Kerry Solinsky Says they are middle class kids, many of whom are driven down- town in the early evening by their parents and then picked up about 9 p.m. Mr. Solinsky says the RCMP considered imposing a curfew on the area, but decided it wouldn't serve any purpose: the kids were all home in bed by 10 p.m. So what's the solution? —Plastie-fencing-won't-work.— Even if it prevents the kids from gathering in the square, who wants to have plastic fenc- ing smack in the middle of a $3.1 million downtown revital- ization project? (Unless council could make it look like a Christos art project. Christos is the performance artist who wraps things like the Grand Canyon and Golden Gate Bridge in very large ribbons), A more sensible approach would be to call a public meeting with the community's young people and their parents to try to reach some solutions. Whatever happens, it won't work without the commitment of both parents and young people. 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Letters should be double-spaced, typewritten, or legibly handwritten, and no more than two pages if possible. Letters “will be edited in the interests of brevity, legality or taste. All letters must be signed, with address and telephone num- ber. Send prey The Castle- gar Sun, 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C., VIN 1G8, or drop them off at the office. Poet- ty will not be published. Questions pout basin trust Dear Editor: If the Columbia Basin Treaty money,.is ours, how come the to vote democratically for anyone on the Columbia River Treaty Committee. The coy promos: in will fully disclose how much is paid for pencils and paper, but the prssnoonbget araandben “5 sarlot (im NDP took the first pay of $250 million and applied it against its chronic overspending and all without Corky Evans or Rossland-Trail MLA Ed Conroy the D ing for the portato Basin Accord that I believe will be completely done is the spending of the $2 million a year for oper- ly voicing no ob Why didn't the money tor Trail’s aquatic centre come from this fund of “our” money? Why don't we have plans for a per- forming arts theatre at Selkirk College, a Tish. hatchery for Ger- rard rainbow trout on Kootenay Lake, or fish ladders on Columbia River Dams to bring spawning salmon back to the Kootenay? ating A paragraph in the accord is especially revealing. It states that the Financial Information Act, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Ombudsman Act, and the Financial Administration Act, will all apply. What this means is that the audited statements of the CRTC not open to yume scrutiny. It would seem to be that once more NDP-appointed friends can gorge at the public trough and we, the taxpayers, won't have an accounting of where every dollar of our money is Will we ever see Swan Lake performed at a theatre in Castle- gar and tourists flocking to the Kootenay and Arrow Lakes to catch large rainbow trout? Jim Peitzsche Fruitvale Ed claims the agr will give the people of the Kootenays a Voice in the management of the basin’s reservoirs and water. I don’t remember having a chance \ Reventon framed. 20% off all custom & in-stock frames , gy te The —_ “Picture Place Castleaird Plaza 52111 SLUMBER LODGE INNS & MOTELS ‘Lodge offers the following | Pei. c a Si +. amenities: Downtown next to civic centre & shopping, heated indoor pool, saunas, guest laundry, air conditioning and coffee shop. 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