a2 iy

Saturday, January 18, 1992 @

THE FAR SIDE:

——
ae

By GARY LARSON

“Well, time for our weekly brain-stem-storming
session.”

INVITATION
TO TENDER

Description: Elevator Maintenance Inspection
Service for 6 elevators located at B.C.-Hydro
: facilities in the West Kootenay Area.

Reference: J508-92/01.
Closing Date: 1992, January 31.

Details available from Seven Mile Generating
Station, Box 430, Trail, B.C., V1R 4L7, (604)367-
7521. Sealed Tenders clearly marked with
reference numbers will be received at Seven Mile
GS. until 11:00 hrs. on the stated closing date.

BGhydro us

; continued from front page

| was sentenced to 30 days in

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CASTLEGAR

Westar

Geoff Battersby has

welstoke Mayor Dr.
nfor ‘di with Moore about

“My fellow mayor is trying to do the best for
his community and I am trying to do the best
for mine,” Moore said about discussion with

- Battersby.

Moore said she fears any changes to the
TFL may produce a change in heart at Pope
and Talbot. Furthermore, Moore said when
Pope and Talbot and Westar apply for the TFL
transfer, the minister may slap restrictions on
the licence or dissect it to a point that it would
no longer look as profitable. ine

Moore said she is deeply concerned that the
sale has taken so long. She has urged the com-
panies involved to keep the mill open until ev-
ery detail is approved. :

“Between the buyer and the seller, I want to
see an agreement made to keep the mill open,”
Moore said. }

J
1;

To help facilitate a sale, Westar has re-
opened its logging division to ensure Pope and
Talbot has resources available when it takes
over the operation.

Bell agreed that the Castlegar mill should
reopen.

“Not as an executive of Westar but as a per-
son, of coursé I'd like to see it open again,” Bell
said. “There are a lot of people out there that
need those jobs.”

Bell said the sale to Pope and Talbot is a good
one. Unlike Westar, which finds its mining divi-
sion $12 million in debt in three East Kootenay,
communities, Pope and Talbot is a picture of fi-

nancial health. Bell said Westar wanted to make

sure the purchaser was financially sound, as
Pope and Talbot is.

Moore agreed that Pope and Talbot would be
a good buyer. She said the company already has
interests in the area and it has the financial clout
to keep the Castlegar mill afloat.

There has been no word on when the sale will
be finalized but forestry spokesperson J! ulius
Juhasz said the government will give the West-
ar sale top priority when a TFL transfer request
is filed.

CourtNEWS

In Castlegar provincial

court, Harold George Paddock attention.

jail for assault. Paddock will
also serve a concurrent 30-day
sentence for mischief.

Trevor Peter Planden was
fined $100 and sentenced to
three months probation for

FRESH GRADE A

CHICKEN

Or Utility Fryers © $2.09 kg.

MAC. & CHEESE

89

se

635 Columbia Ave., Castlegar

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO LIMIT QUANTITIES.

P Effective January 18-21st

driving without due care and

Timmy Edwin Stoochnoff
was sentenced to 14 days in
jail and probation while not in
custody for impaired driving.
Stoochnoff is also prohibited
from driving for one year.

FRESH

CAULIFLOWER
$1.30/kg.

09.
FOREMOST
SOUR CREAM

500 g, ° Limit 1

Ronald Richard Bray was
fined $350, or in default of
ee payment, 30 days in jail, for
impaired driving. Bray is al-
so prohibited from driving for
one year.

Shawna Louise Lee was
sentenced to 12 months pro-
bation for possession pf a
weapon. :

Fri, 9:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m
Sun. 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m

CASTLEGAR FOODS

BREAD

Sliced ¢ White or w. wheat

Watch for more great
savings in Wednesdays
Castlegar News.

ti Saturday, January 18, 1992

. #The News

SecondFRONT

CALL THE

NEWS

@General Inquiries
365-7266

@Ciassifieds &
Deli

Mi Tough times force giant Trail
smelter to hand out pink slips for the
second time in less than a week

Jonathan Green
NEWS REPORTER

ers at

day.
In an effort to stop the financial bleeding,

' Trail’s Cominco Ltd. will undergo some major

Trail smelter operation Thurs-

workers.
The massive layoffs come just three days af-
ter 33 members of Cominco’s construction

The news went from bad to worse for work- -

surgery starting with the layoff of some 500 |

ny

Cominco cuts 500 more jobs

trade were given pink slips.

And they come at a time when Cominco is
struggling to remain competitive.

Reorganization of major competitors and a
slump in the auto industry have resulted in
record losses for the giant lead and zinc
smelter,

In the past two years, Cominco’s Trail oper-
ation recorded losses of $100 million.

Public relations officer Richard Fish said the
layoffs will take place over the course of a year.
But who, where and when those layoffs will be
is still up in the air.

“A good portion of the 500 will know by mid-

“February,” Fish said.

In addition to the layoffs, the company plans

to institute a number of other cost-saving mea-
sures. They include a reduction of energy sup-
plies, transportation and purchasing costs. -

Cominco will also continue to seek breaks
from its taxes for water licencing from the city
of Trail and the provincial government.

Company officials are hopeful the measures
will save the company $50 million in operat-
ing costs annually.

“Our objective is to secure the future of the
Trail operations, along with community eco-
nomic stability and job security for over 2,000
people that are linked to our success,” vice pres-
ident Roger Watson stated in a press release
issued following the announcement. 4

INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM

Australian basketball players face the flag during the playing of their national anthem at SHSS Thursday.
Three teams from down under made a stop in Castlegar for games against our high school teams.

News photo by Ed Mills

Mi NDP transport minister

statutory holidays.

touching down on Feb. 24

Scott David Harrison
EDITOR

The Robson-Raspberry Ferry
Users Ad Hoc Committee is get-
ting its wish.

On Feb. 24, Transport
Minister Art Charbonneau will
meet with the group that has

for the return of the ferry.

“The minister is eager to
meet the citizens of both
Castlegar and Robson,” aide
Sandra Houston said Thursday.
“He thinks it’s important to
meet with the people who are
affected by the decision not to

bring back the ferry.”

been campaigning since 1988 ©

Charbonneau has been an
unpopular figure with the com-
mittee sinte Dec. 21 when he
handed down the grim news
that the Robson ferry would
never be returned.

‘We’re not flogging a dead
horse.’
— Fred Marsh

At the time, Charbonneau
explained in an interview with
The News that he was being
“hard-nosed and tough” with
the transport portfolio, to the
exclusion of no one.

That statement was followed
by another made last week in

which Charbonneau announced
that his ministry was having its
annual budget slashed by $100
million. :

Despite the gloomy news,
committee spokesperson Fred
Marsh says he won't be giving
up. Marsh said the group was
promised the ferry would be
returned and he wants that
promise honored.

“We’re not flogging a dead
horse here,” Marsh said of the
committee’s unwillingness to let

.the ferry matter sink. “We'll

never flog a dead horse. What
we are doing is fighting an
injustice and we'll keep fighting
that Oe arbeed until it is

On Jan. 8, the committee
sent a nine-page press release

s S s
NEWS STAFF

Castlegar RCMP are asking
for the public’s assistance in
locating a Nelson trucker.

Dennis Perepelkin, 42, went
missing Thursday morning
while driving his Esso fuel
truck to Castlegar.

Perepelkin left Nelson at 6
a.m. Thursday morning bound
for Castlegar. He never arrived.
At 8:45 a.m., his Esso.truck was
located intact, in driving condi-
tion, by the Kinnaird bridge.
The keys were found in the
ignition.

Perepelkin has a moustache

~ and sandy brown hair. He mea-

sures five-foot-10 inches and
weighs 190 pounds.

Police have not ruled out foul
play.

Anyone with information on
this case is asked to contact the
Castlegar RCMP.

Charbonneau agrees to Robson meeting

to Charbonneau, asking the
minister to make room for a 90-

- minute town hall meeting dur-

ing his visit.

Marsh said the details of that ~
meeting will be released when ~
the minister provides more
details of his visit.

One detail that is known
about the trip, though, is that
Charbonneau will also be meet-
ing with Castlegar city council
and Rossland-Trail MLA Ed
Conroy to discuss the fate of the
proposed Robson bridge.

The $23.5 million structure
was to be built by 1993, but the