w2 Saturday, November 14, 1992 @ TheFARSIDE By Gary Larson a ei =a Amnesty prompts awareness @ Gun owners given until Nov. 30 to properly register their firearms Scott David Harrison EDITOR It’s one and counting for the Castlegar RCMP. : That’s how many guns have been registered or forfeited since the Aiming for Safety amnesty campaign began on Nov. 1. “It’s a free kick at the cat and people should take advantage of it,” Castlegar Staff Sgt. Doug Hall said Thursday. “It’s a freebie.” RCMP and other police detachments throughout Canada are giving gun-owners un- til Nov. 30 to either dispose of or register their firearms with law officers. “I believe there are a lot of unwanted firearms out there and this is one opportunity to get them of of the house,” he said. The lone gun handled by Castlegar RCMP was not illegal. Instead, its owner failed to have the weapon registered as required by law. “We want those guns turned in, too, either be registered or disposed of.” Hall said the Castlegar RCMP has had sev- eral ang a 7 regarding firearms. He said most callers had promised to bring their weapons for processing. , “i Similar calls are being recorded in Nelson and Trail as Canada prepares to bring in stricter gun regulations on Jan. 1: Nelson RCMP have had one gun turned over, while numerous others have been prop- erly registered. Meanwhile, Trail has had one gun handed over, while several others have been registered. Hall said gun owners must be made aware of the consequences of not registering their firearms. “The repercussions down the road are there,” he said. “If we gain knowledge of some- one having an unregistered weapon or a weapon that has been brought into Canada il- legally, they will be charged with unlawful pos- session of a firearm. And, in the case when a firearm is in this country illegally, customs will Explorers from another cartoon are captured and tortured by the savage Farsidians. “I suspect that there are a lot of illegal weapons out there... guns that have been brought across the border or others that have been passed down from generation to genera- tion and have never been registered,” Hall said. hod notified and there are other charges with that. “The day and age when a guy could park his truck with guns in his rack and go to the bar for a couple of drinks are gone.” PolicC BEAT Walter Podmoreff, 41, of Ootischenia was charged with failing to take a roadside screening device test after be- ing checked Nov. 10 by Castle- gar RCMP. Podmoreff is set to appear in Castlegar court Jan. 25. The vehicle left the road and struck some trees. There were no injuries. eee Duane Dukart, 30, of Nel- son was charged with im- paired driving following a Nov. 12 accident on Columbia Av- enue and 6th Street. A window at Bosse’s Jew- ellery was smashed by van- dals Nov. 10. Nothing was taken and there was $300 damage. Dukart was driving north- bound on Columbia Avenue when he lost control of his ve- hicle and collided with the cen- tre barrier and then a lamp Peter Saliken,51, wasdriv- post. ing on Pass Creek Road near Raven Road Nov. 11 when he lost control of the vehicle in icy road conditions. Dukart was treated at Castlegar and District Hospi- tal and released. COMMUNITY ST. DAVID'S ANGLICAN CHURCH WOMEN *Old Fashioned Christmas” Tea, Craft and Bake Sale at Castlegar Legion Hall, Saturday, November 21, 2-4 p.m 2/91 CASTLEGAR CHAPTER RNABC MEETING Tuesday, November 24th, 19:00 hours, Centennial Block, Room 113, Selkirk College. Followed by workshop on the legal aspects of charting at 19:30 hours 5/89 AT WEST KOOTENAY NATIONAL EXHIBITION CENTRE Selkirk Weaver's and Spinner's Guild, Moveable Art Fashion Show, November 20, 7 p.m. Tickets $8.00. Phone 365-3337 or 365-6194. Sale November 21-22, noon-4 p.m 5/87 Coming events of Castlegar and District non-profit organizations may be listed here. The first 15 words are $5 and additional words are 30¢ each. Boldfaced words (which must be used for headings) count as two words. There is no extra charge for a second insertion while the third consecutive insertion is half-price and the fourth and fifth consecutive insertions are only half price for the two of them. Minimum charge is $5 (whether ad is for one, two or three times). Deadlines are 5 p.m. Wednesdays for Saturday's paper and 5 p.m. Monday for Wednesday's paper Notices should be brought to the Castlegar News at 197 Columbia Ave. COMMUNITY Bulletin Board ‘ , A @éan4n 4) 7 am ees’ 105, Lima ew, HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY WALTER, NOV. 17 Love, Robin HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY SIERRA, NOV. 16 Love Mommy, Daddy, Devin, and HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY Brandy KRISTY MARKIN, NOV. 21 From the Richards THIS WEEK'S WINNER IS INDICATED BY THE DAIRY QUEEN LOGO. Phone in your birthday wish or drop by the Castlegar News office. We will print it free of charge. All birthday greetings must be in by 10:00 a.m. Thursday for our Saturday paper. Our phone number is 365-7266. Pick Up Your Royal Treat At The Castlegar Dairy Queen. FAMILY NIGHTS Qs Be SINE SSE =~ BA WS XS SN % AN i / é Price Reg. $2.75 \ PHONE OR TAKE-OUT ORDERS OUR SPECIALTY CASTLEAIRD PLAZA CASTLEGAR 365-5522 tt, Wen AC @ Saturday, November 14, 1992 “3a CALL THE NEWS @General Inquiries 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 SUB RATES The News is published by Castle News Ltd. for Canwest Publishers Ltd. Mail subscription rate to The News is $37.50 per year. The price on newsstands is 75¢ for each edition. The price delivered by newspaper carrier for both editions is only 90¢ a week (collected monthly). GST extra. Second class mail registration number 0019. Wl Jack Weisgerber says NDP must listen to voters and approve recall bill Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER Ed Conroy’s arguments don’t hold much wa- ter, according to B.C.’s Social Credit leader. Jack Weisgerber was responding to the Rossland-Trail MLA’s comments that Weisger- ber is trying to grab a piece of the limelight dur- ing the sitting of the provincial legislature. On Nov. 2, Weisgerber tabled recall legisla- tion, which would grant voters the opportunity to remove their MLA from public office. Conroy said he opposed the legislation, say- ing it would cater to special interest groups and create havoc. He also said Weisgerber was look- ing to get. media coverage. “To suggest I’m trying to get a piece of the limelight would be valid ifI had tabled the leg- islation last April,” Weisgerber said. The Socred leader defended recall legisla- tion, and said the NDP is only “paying lip-ser- vice” to British Columbians by not adopting it. Weisgerber points to the 1991 provincial election results in which 81 per cent of B.C. res- idents voted in favor of MLA recall. “I think there’s serious negligence on behalf of this government,” Weisgerber said. “They have no stomach for recall legislation. “We shouldn't be asking people to give their opinion to government and then ignore those opinions.” Conroy said there is already a committee gathering information on MLA recall, but Weisgerber said it’s a ploy. “(The committee) is clearly a tactic design to frustrate the legislation rather than to aid it.” The president of the Rossland-Trail Socred constituency said Conroy is contradicting him- self. Elmer Pellerine said, “(Conroy) said self-in- terest groups would be catered to. But at the same time he says there should be no non- Socreds leader defends recall plan union building on the (Castlegar-Robson) bridge.” In his bill, Weisgerber said 15 per cent of the voters in a constituency would have to sign a petition which outlines their reasons for want- ing their MLA recalled. “Fifteen per cent is a very high level,” Weis- gerber said. “There would have to be extreme dissatisfaction.” Weisgerber also said, “there’s ample oppor- tunity for those who support their MLA to say so.” The question of actually recalling an MLA would eventually be put to the voters. Weisgerber said he wants the Recall Act brought into legislation as soon as possible. But he said since it’s a private member’s bill, he doesn’t entirely expect the New Democrats to make it a priority. “T’m not naive enough to think the NDP will focus some debate... rather than have the com- mittee wandering around the province.” COOL CAT John Strelaeff was prepared for Thursday's cold weather. The B.C. Telephone Co. employee was busy putting in service for the new trailer court at Castlegar Motel RV Sites. News photo by Corinne Jackson Corinne Jackson NEWS REPORTER Coun. Doreen Smecher’s recommendations to the provincial government's education funding review panel are merely “one spit in the wind.” At least that’s what Gordon Turner says. “Some of the suggestions are so way off base I don’t feel that they'd be given much consideration,” School District No. 9’s chair said Thursday. Turner’s comments follow concerns by some city councillors and school trustees that Smecher’s sug- gestions, made on council's behalf, for centralizing school board authority in Victoria were damaging to the board’s integrity. A meeting between council and the school district was scheduled for Nov. 30, but at the board’s request it may be rescheduled for Nov. 23. Turner said the change was suggested because the board was unaware that Mayor Audrey Moore would be unable to attend the Nov. 30 meeting. “If she can be there on the 23rd it would be very helpful,” he said. Council comments ‘off base’ Turner also said a meeting on the 23rd will give “the city some time to think about the report they al- ready sent, but when you get right down to it we (would) meet on the 30th. “What we're interested in is that we meet with the city and clarify our functions. That we come up with some ways. of co-operation in terms of issues that overlap,” Turner said. Coun. Lawrence Chernoff, however, feels an ear- ly meeting is important — especially if councillors de- cide they want to send another brief before the pan- el’s report is given to the Education Ministry at the end of November. “I asked for an earker date if it was possible,” Chernoff said. According to Chernoff, if councillors decide they want to submit another brief at the meeting, an ear- lier date will provide more time for one to be drawn up. “There'll have to be a lot more discussion on it.” The public meeting is tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. on Nov. 23 at Castlegar City Hall. Carpenters prepared to bridge gap @ Union wants piece of bridge-building action Scott David Harrison EDITOR Gil Arnold has two words for Ed Conroy — thank you. The organizer with the nited Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of H America Local 2300 says he’s overjoyed that the Rossland- — m Trail MLA is calling for a _.Ed Conmpy. union-built Castlegar-Robson bridge. “As far as we’re concerned, every contract should be union,” Arnold said Thursday. “Ed is doing the right thing.” Last week, Conroy said the $26 million span shouldn’t be built by non-union labor. He said that wouldn’t be right to the “1,300 union workers that work within a half mile” of the bridge. The government is inviting tenders for construction of the long-awaited bridge beginning Dec. 2. Contractors can choose between a seven-pier concrete structure or a six-pier steel structure. The two-lane, 478- metre bridge is expected to be complete in June 1994 and Arnold expects the carpenters to be there. “(Conroy) has trade union roots, we know that,” Arnold said. “We’re all friends and neighbors of Ed and he knows that we are a_ union community.”