Wednesday, Dec. 4, 1991 @ THE FAR SIDE By GARY LARSON “Oh, my! Cindy! This looks exquisite! . . . And look, Frank — it even has a cheeseball stuffed in Its mouth!" Castlegar gets new fire chief NEWS STAFF He may be the new fire chief, but don’t the word ‘new’ fool you. Gerry’ Rempel was intro- duced at council on Tuesday as the city’s new man behind the hoses. He replaces Bob Mann, who was dismissed by the city in September. Rempel brings 14 years of firefighting experience with him to his new post, dating back to his first days with Castlegar as a volunteer in Kootenay CORNER NEWS STAFF Trail keeps up fight Support for the City of Trail’s fight with The Vancouver Sun is mounting. Friday, Mayor Sandy Santori issued a press release denouncing The Sun’s three- part series on lead contamination in Trail. With the support of a number of doctors, The Sun articles have been dismissed as “grossly misleading, unnecessarily frighten- ing to the people the of Trail and contains se- rious errors.” The release also accused The Sun of mis- leading the public as to allowable lead count levels. Santori said The Sun built the premise of its stories on the U.S.-Centre for Disease Control tightening its standards on blood counts from 15 micrograms per decil- itre to 10, which was wrong. Santori said the allowable U.S. level was 25 micrograms per decilitre of blood. Santori is due to meet with the editorial board of The Sun this week. Warfield on its own Warfield Mayor Bill Trewhella wants in: vading municipalities to keep their hands 0 hia vill The mayor was responding to a discussion on the devel of a regional icipal ity. Trail Mayor Sandy Santori is backing the regional municipality plan as a means of cut- ting the tax burden on area businesses and industry, saying Friday in Castlegar that it J “made sense. A study will be conducted on a regional } municipality and a report is pending. Nelsan lights up the trails The Nelson Nordic Ski Club organizers are just a few short days away from complet- ing the installation of a night lighting sys- tem at the Apex Trails. The system comes from a B.C. Winter ; Games legacy grant. 1977. Fire Chief Gerry Rempel Rempel became fire chief at Castlegar airport in 1981 and served there until April of this year, when he became Castle- gar’s deputy fire chief. He held that role until Au- gust, at which time he became acting fire chief. Although he was slowly working his way up the lad- der, Rempel said his appoint- ment caught him off guard. “I was surprised,” he said, “I certainly didn’t expect it. Rempel inherits a fire de- partment that received a sharp increase in the number of total calls, answering 31 in October, compared with 80 for the first nine months of 1991. COMMUNITY 4ST KINNAIRD BOY SCOUTS, Will be collecting non-perishable goods for the Royal Canadian Legion Christmas Food Hamper Drive in South Castlegar on Saturday, December 7. There will also be a collection centre in the Safeway parking lot. 2/96 CHRISTIAN WOMEN'S CLUB Luncheon, Fireside, Thursday. December 12, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Speaker: Margaret Steer, Penticton. Featuring: “Turkey Carving” by Randy Davis. Reservations: Phone 365-7607, 365-3886. 27 SENIOR CITIZENS ASSOCIATION BUSINESS MEETING December 5, 2 p.m. Last call for dinner tickets, 365-5227. a7 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 hall 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 The ev Trews someting 365-2212 for everyone! No Frills - No Gimmicks - Low Prices! Low Cost Warehouse Operation! SAVE AS MUCH AS or Furniture for every room in your Home OPEN TO THE PUBLIC MON - THURS & SAT: 10 am-6pm 10 am - 9 pm ee es Dec. 4, 1991 3a SecondFRONT i CALL THE NEWS @General Inquiries 365-7266 @OCiassifieds & Delivery 365-2212 @News 365-3517 @advertising 365-5210 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m Closed on weekends and statutory holidays. RCMP eyes new headquarters Bridge is @ New building for local detachment should reach referendum by 1992 Jonathan Green NEWS REPORTER Castlegar RCMP are experiencing growing pains. The local detachment has outgrown its home of over 30 years, and would like city voters to recognize their need for space. When the site was originally built in the late 1950s, one half of it bel d to the detachment d cant lot downtown several years ago as a site for the new building. The lot sits between city hall and the Bank of Montreal. Williams said the city considered building a new detachment earlier, but money stood in the way. “Looking at the economy of the day, (council) de- cided not to go ahéad,” he said. Today, though, the city has started the ball rolling, setting up a RCMP building committee. The com- mittee is in the process of selecting an architect, who they hope will be in place by January. and his family, while the other half was used as office space. “The living quarters have since been turned into offices but they've still had inadequate space for a number of years,” city administrator Gary Williams id. said. Castlegar will attempt to ease the RCMP’s space problems by 1992 through a referendum. Anticipating the problem, the city purchased a va- at Mayor Audrey Moore says council fully endorses the project. “We're committed to building a new RCMP build- ing,” she said. The funding for the new building would come from the Municipal Finance Authority, something Willi A rere pim ‘right on schedule’ Donna Bertrand NEWS REPORTER The Ministry of Transportation and Highways has begun the long = of reviewing two prelim nary designs for a bridge linking Castlegar and Robson. “That will go on now into the ‘illiams calls a “q government or With the financial strings all but tied, the city will move towards a referendum in the spring of 1992. News photo by Ed Mills Even the toughest of study periods call for a smile now and again. Just ask this Selkirk College student. Castlegar vigil recalls Montreal @ Castlegar Women’s Association to burn 14 flames for lost lives Scott David Harrison EDITOR Fourteen candles will glow brightly at Castlegar city hall on Friday. The flames are being lit to deliver a message: end violence against women. The Castlegar Women’s Association joins with the rest of Canada in paying tribute to the 14 young lives lost during one of the country’s darkest days. Friday marks the second anniversary of the Mon- treal Massacre, a day when Marc Lepine savagely en- tered Ecole Polytechnique and ended 14 lives. All of them women. “I remember being shocked at just how intense men’s fury was to women,” the association’s Bonnie Nilsen said. “I think it made us all more aware of vi- olence against women in this society and violence in our everyday lives. “It also made us aware that this type of thing can happen any day.” Nilsen, the chairperson of the recently-formed Castl Women’s Association, says the 6 p.m. can- dle-light vigil is making a statement. Not only for the 14 lives lost on that snowy December day, but for ev- ery woman ever brutalized. The iati the number of ed has on it acts against women in Cagtle- gar. According to Nilsen, the Castlegar RCMP report five acts of violence against women each month. “Those are just the cases that are reported and those that the police are aware of,” she said. “What we suspect, is that those are just the tip of the igeberg.” The iation is pushing to develop a safe house network in Castlegar. To date, no such network exists, but the association is hopeful that the provincial gov- ernment will make funds available. ‘The association would like to see at least four safe homes operating, helped by a volunteer hotline that will help women escape from violent relationships. Castlegar remains one of the few B.C. communities that has no real safety net for women in trouble. Options for Castlegar women remain in Trail and Nelson. Nelson has a safe house network in place, while ‘Trail is the only community from here to the Alberta border that has a transitional homes for women flee- ing abusive environments. Nilsen said it is important for communities to rec- ognize the need for safe houses and pressure govern- ments to make the funding available. Friday’s vigil isn't exclusive to women, Nilsen said. Instead, she said “it is important for men and wom- en to come out” for two reasons. “First of all, it is a time of mourning,” she said. “Not only for the 14 women who lost their lives, but for all the other women who are affected by violence. “The second part,” the Tarry’s resident said, “is ac- ‘tignalWe all have to start being aware of violence.” new year,” said Don Barcham, the inistry’s regional of were hired to prepare two dif- ferent prelimi nary designs — one in concrete and one in steel — which were re- ceived late last month. “The ministry has found by ex- perience that if it’s more competi- tive, ultimately the cost of the bridge will be lower,” he said. The span is expected to cost about $21.5 million. The proposed project allows un- til the end of April 1992 for the se- lection of a bridge to be design. Also moving along “right on schedule”: * Surveying and drilling at the bridge site continues for further tests of the soil conditions. * A property surveyor has been hired to appraise,the various properties the minkstry needs to purchase for construction. * Functional design work has begun on the Brilliant inter- change and meetings have been held with the USCC to address their concerns for the areas af- fected there. ¢ Geotechnical tests are planned for the spring at the area around Verigin’s Tomb. Barcham said work is also con- tinuing on the approach designs. However, one detail already fi- nalized is the placement of the pedestrian crossing on the down- stream side of the river. At the last public meeting, pre- liminary designs did not show what side the crossing would be on. Several residents raised con- cerns about having the crossing on the upstream side because pedestrians would then have to cross traffic to get off the bridge on the Castlegar side of the Columbia River. Barcham said he doesn’t expect the newly-elected NDP govern- ment to change any of the plans for the crossing. “As far as we know it’s carry on as usual,” he said. The bridge is slated for comple- tion by the fall of 1993. DOI BARCHAM