Page 12C stlegar Sun SUCCESS THRO Wednesday, December 15, 1993 SERVICE OLD '93 Immaculate Home, Immaculate Yard [SOLD '93 Super Starter SOLD "93 Spacious — Home SOLD '93 Condo — Condo SOLD '93 Stroll To School SOLD '93 Cute As A Button SOLD '93 Large Flat Lot SOLD '93 Live Better For Less SOLD '93 Blueberry Creek SOLD '93 12 x 68 Mobile Home SOLD '93 SOLD '93 Cheaper Than Rent 04/30/94 LEGISLATIVE PARLIAMENT VICTORIA CAN BC v8V 1x4 ++ LIBRARY BUILDINGS Merry Christmas! WEDNESDAY December 22, 1993 The Castlegar Sun «2: Vol. 4- No. 5 ‘The weekly newspaper with a daily commitment’ 75 Cents + G.S.T. We're growing! SHARLENE IMHOFF Sun Editor was $5,151,365 and in 1993, that figure increased to $12,828,394. SOLD '93 Mortgage Helper SOLD '93 Private Park? SOLD '93 SOLD '93 Castlegar Dream Home SOLD '93 Small Town Money Maker NAL vA AL TIC SERVICE® Subdivision SOLD ‘93 Packed According to a report recently received by city council, development in Castlegar has increased by a whopping $7 million in one year. City Councillor responsible for Planning and Development, Bob Pakula, said the high figure is a sure fire indication that Castlegar is on the upswing. “It's a sign. But I think just a start. I think we're going to see a lot more.” The total value of development permits in 1992 The figures also dispute the thought by many local developers that Castlegar is an impossible place to do business. Pakula recognizes that many Okanagan and Alberta-based companies are now choosing the West Kootenay as a place to expand, and Castlegar is seen as a central point. “In the last two or three years there’s been a trend to come out here. We're a growing commu- nity, but we have managed to hold onto small- town values.” SOLD '93 Family Home SOLD '93 Stunning Design Breathtaking View Eight-year-old Bountiful boy dead ‘Youthful mis-adventure’ official cause of death SHARLENE IMHOFF Sun Editor The cause of death of an eight-year-old Bountiful boy has been officially listed as a “youthful mis-adventure”. The boy, a member of a polygamous Mormon sect residing near Cre- ston, was reported to have drowned in a bathtub with a rub- ber hose wrapped around his neck Bruce Palmer, was found dead last Thursday at his home in the Bountiful religious com mune near this East Kootenay community The 300-member commune is a breakaway Mormon sect headed by Winston Blackmore Many members have several wives, despite a Canadian law forbidding polygamy. Commune leader Winston Blackmore held a funeral ser- vice for the boy Monday and local coroner Carl Maloney Said an autopsy has been conducted “Police are in the midst of taking some statements,"’ Mal- oney told Sterling News Ser- vice. “They have two or three other statements to take. It's a fairly large family.” Maloney said the drowning was reported at 7:15 p.m Thursday. “The ambulance and the police were both notified by folks in the house,” he said. Blackmore could not imme- diately be reached for com- ment. However, the commune leader was quoted by the Province newspaper as saying that the boy's parents were out of the house when Palmer died. A 17-year-old babysitter was reported to have been with the Palmer children. There are seven children in the family. The Vancouver newspaper said that social workers were called to the Palmer home to check up on the children’s wel- fare two years ago. Brilliant interchange delayed B.C. 21 initiative throws monkey-wrench into plans -Claus pause Kris Kringle and his wife were in.Castlegar last week to make sure that all the little boys and girls were behaving themselves. While they were checking up on the youngsters they also stopped off at the Castlegar and District Community Complex to check out the annual Penny Carnival which was being held at the same time. SUN STAFF PHOTO / John Van Putten Winter solstice marks shortest day KAREN KERKHOFF Sun staff You could have fooled us, but as of 12:26 p.m December 21 winter has officially arrived Commonly referred to as the shortest day of the year, December 21 only had 8 hours and |! minutes of daylight with dawn occurring at 7:43 a.m. and Castlegar Meteorologist, Jim Richards, said that even though the amount of daylight is now increas- ing residents shouldn't expect to notice a difference for a while. ‘There's not much difference two weeks before and after December 21 as the daylight only increases by a few seconds each day at this time of year.” So, in other words, don’t stan digging out your SOLD '93 4 Plex SOLD ‘93 Cool By The Creek Birchland Heights SOLD '93_ 20 Acres SOLD '93 Soak In The View Large Level Rancher SOLD '93 Stately Elegance SOLD '93 Meadowbrook Drive SOLD '93 SOLD '93 Highland Drive SOLD '93 End Charmer = SOLD '93 Extra Income SOLD '93 To Spare SOLD '93 Like New oly c PONE ny KAREN KERKHOFF Sun staff While the news is good—the Castlegar-Robson bridge is still on schedule for the June 30, 1994 com- pletion—the news about the proposed Brilliant inter- change isn't as good. Initially, the interchange, which will facilitate a smoother flow of traffic from Celgar to Nelson, was planned to correspond with the completion of the bridge. But Ministry of Highways Project Manager Rocky Vanlerberg, said it could be as late as August, 1994 that the interchange will be completed. “Finishing it for June 30 could be a problem. We might not have it completed by then, but we can still accommodate the traffic.” Vanlerberg explained that the delay is due, in part, to policies set out by the new B.C. 21 initiative. “The problem is the government has adopted a new way of doing business and tendering contracts. This will bring it in line with new B.C. 21 guidelines We've postponed tenders until B.C. 21 is in place.” Tenders for the interchange could go out as early as mid-January after contractors have returned from Christmas break, Vanlerberg speculated. Should construction of the interchange not be completed before the bridge is finished, Vanlerberg said disruption to traffic will be kept at a minimum, and within specific guidelines. “There will only be up to 20 minute waits while they are blasting, and that will only be allowed to occur at certain times of the day. We have got input from the transit system, and others.” Meanwhile, construction of the bridge is going full-steam said Vanlerberg. Erection of the girders is ongoing with completion scheduled for around mid-January. Whereas the gird- ers were erected from onshore, the bridge will now be accessed by barge for girder erection. “We can’t access it any other way.” -Horsing around Tonka, a 34-inch high miniature horse was the centre of attention at the Opening of Critters Crunchies and Crafts. Steadying Tonka is Michelle Hudema while Ryan Murphy, 10, Stephen Rigby, 12, and Tim Murphy, 8, horse around. SUN STAFF PHOTO / John Van Putten dusk falling at 3:54 p.m. sunglasses yet Graphic video game denounced KAREN KERKHOFF Sun staff A video game which graphi- cally portrays violence against women is still available in Canadian stores even though its manufacturers agreed to stop its distribution in Canada The game, Night Trap, which is produced by Sega, depicts women in partial stages of undress being stalked, tortured and pursued by mutants, who, when they catch them drill into their necks and drain blood from their bodies. Last May Sega of Canada pledged that it would stop sell- ing the $90 CD video game in its stores, and although the Canadian subsidiary has techni- cally kept its promise, the games are still available in stores through import strategies Sega of America has taken up where Sega of Canada left off and is now stocking the games on Canadian shelves by importing them from the U.S Although video store per- sonnel in both Castlegar and Trail said they had heard of the game, all those called said they didn't stock it. One employee of the Trail Video World, Dave Redding, said that Night Trap is not the only game which is offensive or graphically violent “What about the other games where helpless victims get shot, such as in Mortal Combat where they rip out peoples hearts? That's how all the games are going now.” Redding went on to explain that his boss, Mr. Pormokhtari, who owns several video stores in the Kootenays, personally views videos and at the first suggestion of violence affixes a warning sticker The sticker advises that the video is not recommended for those under 18, and Redding said should he rent the video to anyone under 18 he can expect to lose his job. “It could cost me my job.” But Redding explained that his own personal code of ethics prevents him from renting the game to minors Earlier this year The White Ribbon Campaign, a group of men committed to ending vio- lence against women, called for a boycott of all Sega products in a move to stop the distribu- tion and sale of the controver- sial game More taxes for Castlegar residents SHARLENE | IMHOFF Sun Editor Residents in Castlegar are on their way to paying more in water and wastewater taxes in 1994, after city council passed third reading on a bylaw to allow increased utility taxation. Although rates increase somewhat in 1993, when coun- cil passes the fourth and final reading of the bylaw, rates will be increased again. If you're a homeowner, the increases trans- lates into an extra $2 per month for water rates and an extra $2 per month for sewage rates. Rate structures for other classes have been changed and include increases. And although the city will gain an additional $155,000, residents can expect the increases to continue for at least the next five years, possi bly even longer. The reason for this, said one senior staffer at city hall, is to offset the costs of expanding and overhauling a delapidated system In both the south and north ends of Castlegar, expansion as. well as much-needed improvements carry a hefty price tag of more than $1.7 million, meaning the city, despite raising taxes, could still be borrowing money to pay for the improvements. “I'd really like to think we won't have to borrow the money to carry out these improvements. That's some thing we'll know for certain of after working through the 1994 budget,” said City Councillor Doug Green Green said there are massive improvements that need to be carried out on both the south and, in particular, the north side. Green is also hoping that in the near future the utility fates in south and north Castle- gar will be equal “We're one community, we should be paying the same.” Inside 3 sections Editorial Sports.. Weather . Profile .. Classifieds... Entertainment . Have a safe and happy Holiday Season—please don’t drink and drive