TELEPHONE 365-5210 Accountin a “Brian lL. Brown CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANT 270.Columbia Avenue Castlegar * 365-2151 Gordon A. Read & Co. Certified General Accountant Office 368-6471 Residence 365-2339 1250 Bay Ave., Trail BUY or SELL by AUCTION Li Bonkrupicies * Extotes * Consign * Outright Purchase * Gets more deep down soil thon ony other cleaning method Upholstery Cleaning Too — SATISFACTION GUARANTEED — Why of Coll Us Today! FREE ESTIA ATES PHONE 365-6969 We’re Back! ENON oti, MOUNTAIN VIEW CARPET CARE Now Offering: Ve House Specia! ‘A House Special */, House Special Full House Special FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL © 365-2112 Charter Buses _ DEWDNEY - TRAIL STAGES “Charter for groups Anytime, Anywhere!” 1355 Bay Ave., Trail RON COMPUTERS AND ACCESSORIES Gaant of wour 365-3760 2179 CRESTwiew Chescant easbaan 8 vin tee Kootenay Computers Inc. For all your computer needs For Home & Business Use At the South Slocen Junction 359-7755 Contractors SANLAND- CONTRACTING LTD. GENERAL CONTRACTOR 365-3033 ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR IN THE CASE OF AN ELECTRICAL EMERGENCY, WEEKENDS OR EVENINGS CALL 365-3033, 365-2973 or 365-6250 SANLAND CONTRACTING LTD. Castlegar, B.C. - \1}z0 ©1090 MLLER FEATURES: FUNERAL CHAPEL Morrison Painting & Insulation * Blown Insulation © Batts & Poly DUNCAN MORRISON 650-5th Avenue 365-5255 Dedicated to kindly thoughttul service COMPLETE FUNERAL SERVICE Cremation, Traditional Burial and Pre-Arrangement Plan Available Granite, Bronze Memorials. Cremation Urns‘and Plaques PHONE 365-3222 SCHARF CARPENTRY * Contracting © Finish Carpentry * Framing © Cabinets * Closet Organizers * Decks FREE ESTIMATES CALL CHRIS 365-7718 REPAIRS COMMERCIRE — RESIDENTIAL REASONABLE RATES Denny's Furnace Service 365-7838 ace ARROW LAKES For more information, call your Authorized Garco Builder Midwest Construction Services Ltd. jo Box 1633. Creston. B.C. AIR CONDITIONING © Fumace Service & —_= ° fir ate © Controls 24 HOUR SERVICE 365-2 601 A, Columbia, Castlegar LOCKSMITH Licenced and Bonded SCISSOR SHARPENING WEST K CONCRETE LTD. PIPELINE PITT ROAD CALL PLANT 693-2430 CASTLEGAR 365-2430 CALL 365-6562 2181C Columbia Ave., Costlegor Moving & Storage 368-5555 or call toll free: 1-800-332-0282 Chimney Service Drywall SUPER SWEEP CHIMNEY SERVICE (Formerly Rumbord Place — Since 1981) CHIMNEY CLEANING — DEGLAZING — RELINING, REPAIRS, SAFETY INSPECTION W.E.T.T. Trained Technicion MESSAGE AT LEAVE 365-5440 Computer ra Now Serving the West Kootenay » Boarding & Machine Taping v Airless Spray Painting v Textured Ceilings 1 Commercial Residential Williams Moving & Storage 2337-6th Avenue, Cc Ud Invite you to call them for o trée moving estimate. Let our representative tell you ebout the many services which have mode Williams most respected nome in the moving business Ph. 365-3328 Collect Training Please recycle The NEWS ML. LeRoy 8.C. 0.0. OPTOMETRIST 1012 - 4th $t., Costlegar PHONE 365-3361 Soturday 9 a.m. to 12 Neon “I'm sorry, we do not lend Miss Perkins.” CASTLEGAR Plumbing & Heating Septic Service BOY SERVICE Sump & Septic Tank Pumping Phone 365-5013 3400-4th Avenue Castlegar COLEMAN COUNTRY BUILT-IN VACUUM SYSTEMS ; * NO Bags to bu * NO Filters to clean * 4.lgeak horse power © 140° water lift © 10-year motor warranty $ COMPLETE with HAND TOOLS SILVER CREST PLUMBING 713 Tamarak St., Castlegar Call 365-3044 (Other Models Availabi kigtmasrsnsms TELEPHONE 365-5210 Window Coverings SATURDAY |: January 6, 1991 Vol. 44, No. 2 Castlegar, B.C. 3 Sections (A, B & CO) al 75 Cents Gretzky scores goal number 700 Slocan resident toughs It out o eee WEATHER Tonight: Cloudy with clearing breaks, some light flurries. Lows pe del A to snowtall in the afternoon. Hi neor 6. Probability of per’? cent tonight, increasing to 80 per cent tomorrow. aa Blinds The Ultimate In Window Fashion VERTICALS PLEATED SHADES HORIZONTALS Opbe=s 613 Columbia Ave. Castlegar 365-6214 ——— al --- AS reer awarded 365-5087 | BEAM The Plumbing & Heating Centre * American Standard * Valley Fibrebath Crane * Gult Stream Spas uro Pumps & Softeners VC Pipe Fittings * Septic Tanks * Electrical & G.E. Lighting Supplies 2317-6th Avenue, Castlegor Phone 365-7702 Bartle & Gibson Built-in Vacuums Don't Lug a Vacuum ... Plug ina Beam! CANADA'S BEST-SELLING BUILT-IN VACUUM SYSTEM See Our In-Store Display! . CASTLEGAR PLUMBING & HEATING For oll your plumbing needs and supplies ~@ FIXTURE: © PARTS * SERVICE CALL 365-3388 TRAIL COSTOMERS ONLY CALL 364-0343 4) HOMEGOODS FURNITURE WAREHOUSE Genelle — Phone 693-2227 Open 9:30-5:30 Tues. to Sat Place Your Classified Ad in Castlegar News AND TURN THOSE UNWANTE (CLASSIFIED RATES AND INFORMATION RATES First 15 Words $5.00 Addi | Words 30¢ Radiator Repair Mike’s Radiator Shop 690 Rossland Ave., Trail 364-1606 All work conditionally guaronteed Window Coverings Z LEVOLOR RENT... WASHERS & DRYERS 364-1276 VERTICALS HORIZONTALS PLEATED SHADES Our policy... Repair Service ‘GENERAL MECHANICAL 613-13th $t., © 365-7233 Roofing ——BRIAN'S REPAIR SERVICE 33% OFF - say? Open 9:30-5:30 Tues. to Sat. 3 for Price of 2 7 insertions tor Price of 4 Special Reduced Rates for 13x. 26x, S2x, 104x ore Also Aveilable. SPECIAL RATES ARE FOR CONSECUTIVE INSERTIONS BOLDFACING * ‘Add 20°. ATTENTION GETTERS 25¢ for each time ad appears (Minimum charge 756.) LEGAL ADS Word ad: 28¢ per word for one in sertion: 21€ per word for subsequent insertions, Minimum charge is for 20 words. Legal boxed ads: $1.18 per agate line for one insertion. 88'»¢ per agate line for subsequent inser tions PAYMENT POLICY Payment may be made cheque or Viso and MasterCard credit “cards. It is not advisable to send cash through the mail Classitied Ads may be charged. but a $2 billing chorge will be made if the ad is not paid for seven days after it first oppears. (This $2 charge does NOT opply to Visa and MasterCord ges. Action Ads Deadline “Word Ads” WEDNESDAY CASNEWS 12 Noon Tuesday SATURDAY CASNEWS 12 Noon Thursday 11. a.m, Thursday ORDER BY MAIL Print your Action Ad on 0 seporote piece of paper ond mail to: By DONNA ZUBER Staff Writer A dispute between Trail Tran- sit Inc. management and its em- ployees has been coming for eight years, said a union represen- tative. Dennis Blatchford, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 2087, said the employees have been falling fur- ther and further behind in wage parity and pension plans since B.C. Transit privati transit “I question whether they save one nickle."” The union and the employer were unable to reach a new collective agreement to replace the agreement which expired Dec. 31. Negotiations came to a halt Dec. 5 with issues of adequate training programs, pensions and wages. still unresolved. . Union members met on Dec. 10 and voted unanimously against accep- ting the employer's offer and service eight years ago. Trail Transit operates transit service in Castlegar and Trail. “*There’s no question that we have to take the employer on this time, and we have to challenge the wisdom of the provincial government and certainly the local municipalities to contract these services out. again in favor of strike action if necessary. The strike vote is currently being challenged by Trail Transigg Inc. lawyers with the Industrial Relations Council. Transit service was privatized April 1, 1982 — ‘‘a real April Fool’s joke’? — and as a result, the employees are paying the price, Blatchford said, with unac- Union fights for pensions ceptable pension plans and wages well below what their government counterparts earn. He said bargaining represen- tative Wes Hughes estimates that employees have lost more than $250,000 in pension credits alone since privatization. The only plan currently in place is a self-funded Registered Retirement Savings Plan, whereas government employees are eligible to-receive superannuation benefits, a pension fund whereby employee contributions are mat- ched by the employer, he said. “Our employer is refusing to do anything to match our pen- sion contributions,” he said. “I think they find it acceptable that people in this day and age wouldn’t have a pension plan. They find that the norm that people don’t have pension plans, don’t have adequate coverage for old age. That in our view is ridiculous.”” To further aggrevate the situation, Blatchford said the employer is maintaining that its employees have one of the best pension plans. in the B.C. in- terior. “We scoff at that,’’ he said, adding that the RRSP con- tributions ‘‘clearly come out of their wage increase’ negotiated Trail Transit challenges vote By DONNA ZUBER Staff Writer Trail Transit Inc. lawyers atten- He also expects the challenge will backfire on the employer, saying that history shows that the IRC simply ded a hearing in with i of the ial directs to vote again with Relations Council to determine if-a strike vote held by local transit em- ployees in December was legal. The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 2087 received notice late Wednesday afternoon that Trail Transit was challenging the in the last *(And) Kamloops (employees) have no pension plan at all, and Kelowna is even worse than what is. “If you like, it’s a bit of an ideological war. That’s what it’s come down to, and we're prepared to take them on.” Water and sewer rates go up By CasNews Staff The City of Castlegar has good news and bad news for its residents and business owners — water and sewer rates are going up but the new goods and services tax is mot ap- plicable. Alderman Lawrence Chernoff recommended to council that the in- crease go through so” bottr the "water and sewer systems will be self- . .. we expect the user fee to be able to pay the costs we have in place,”’ Chernoff said. ‘It hasn’t in the past and that’s why the increase is coming.” Annual user fees also pay for maintenance of pumping stations Indecency charges laid after kids tell By CasNews Staff An incident at the Castlegar Community Complex on Dec. 28 has resulted in the arrest of a 40-year-old Slocan resident for committing an indecent act, said RCMP Const. Jennie Latham. A report prepared by arresting of- ficer, Const. Noonan, said charges were laid after two youths, ages six and 10, reported they had seen 8 man slide a mirror into a stall in the family change room to spy on people changing their clothes. The stalls are open at the bottom. The arrest was the result of the “quick action and responsible at- titudes’* of the youths who reported the incident, the report says. The RCMP have issued a warning to parents to be on the alert for strangers or strange behavior, Latham said. All names in connection with the incident are being withheld. and the lagoon, he said. Increases are as follows: north Castlegar sewer rates — 25 per cent; south Castelgar sewer rates — 20 per cent; all Castlegar water rates — 20 per cent. Chernoff said rates for the north sewer system increased more because the system is older and will fequire more than the’ south system, The rates in south, however, are still higher because it is a newer system. The cutoff point is in the area of the Castleaird Plaza. For example, residents of north Castlegar will be paying $59 in sewer rates this year, up from $47, while residents in south Castlegar will be paying $90, up from $75. Water rates go up to $82 from $68. Chernoff expects the bylaws en- forcing the increase to be passed at council’s next meeting on Jan. 14. The bylaws have already gone through three readings. The new rates are effective Jan. 1 for one year. Billings will be sent out sometime this month or in February he'said. ” vote on grounds that it did not meet government-authorized strike vote regulations under the In- dustrial’ Relations Act, said Dennis Blatchford, president of Local 2087. “The purpose is simple,” said Trail Transit manager Dennis Stach, “they have to follow the rules and regulations like everyorievelse. The IRC is there for a purpose. We're "assuring everything is done correctly.”” Members voted -unanimously~in favor of strike action if on Dec. 10, afte voting unanimously in favor of rejecting the employer's final contract offer. The union ser- ved the employer with a 72-hour strike notice following the Dec, 31 expiry of the collective agreement. Blatchford maintains the vote was legal and regulations were met. He said Rossland-Trail MLA Chris D'Arcy attended as a government representative as required. an IRC first vote was in fact illegal. The history of a challenged strike vote is that the strike vote has then been held later and in fact comes out even stronger,”’ Blatchford said. “People are upset that they can't exercise their demo ic right without having a government spokesman present. If that was the case, why wouldn’t we have to have @ government representative present when we ratify contracts. It’s an in- trusion upon our rights.’” In this case, with 100 per cent sup- port of the memibers already established, the challenge is simply making the union more determined to get a fair collective agreement, he said. Stach, however, said he is not con- cérned’ with the mood of the union and is equally determined. “We're very far apart and if they want to go on strike, that’s their right. I don’t have a problem with that,’’ Stach said. Neither Stach or Blatchford could say how long it will take the IRC to made a decision on the hearing. In the meantime, Blatchford said the union is insulating a strike shack it recently borrowed from Local 430. LOTS AND LOTS OF CABLE B.C. Tel L John to.d d 20 feet Ht gets ready below the ground where over 4,200 wires needed inspection Thursday. Streloef was trying to find some faulty wires and in Tound the problem. commen: photos no time _ Plans for station carry on with team By JACK CHARTERS Sherrel. Koreen, president of the Castlegar and District Heritage Society, announced Thursday that the society has received @ four-man restoration team from the Provincial Employment Plus program to carry out further restoration work on the Castlegar Rail Station. Since it was built in 1907 the main floor of the station has undergone many renovations as its functions changed, particularly in recent years. The society, is restoring the building to its 1930’s appearance, and since starting work in 1988, has gradually and with great effort returned much of it’s look to this era. The waiting room has already been extensively modified with the removal of partitions and a con- Old-growth plan saves forests — Forests Minister Claude Richmond recently announced that 11 more areas will be protected from timber harvesting as part of an old-growth strategy. The announcement follows @ Recession part of plan charges labor leader echoed persistent speculation Canada into Canadian dollar high to persuade the United States to sign the free-trade “The interest rate has risen, the dollar has risen and all of these have ac- previous decision to protect nine areas in the McBride area, a news release said. “Again we based our decisions on a review of the recommendations of working committees — which include representatives from the public, the forest industry, government agencies and the academic community — that are developing an ol: owth strategy for the province,”’ Rich- mond said. “After a thorough ecyaluation, which included verification of old- growth values and of and economic impacts, we accepted four areas for short-term deferral, we tur ned down three, and we referred four to existing planning processes with instructions to consider their old-growth values,”” he said. **We are trying to ensure that tim- the overall By ”* he said. we are considering needs of forest workers The purpose of the old growth strategy project is to develop recommendations on managing old- dderable amount of cleaning - and restoration work completed on win- dows and washrooms. Now the team — consisting of Barry Lecouffe, Hal Minogue, Frank Hendriks and Blair Verishine, working under the direction of Gor- die Hill and Karl Koreen — will remove all the walls and ceiling coverings and install much-needed growth forest in British Columbia. Recommendations are being developed by five working teams covering research and inven- tory, economic and social values, policy, management practices and candidate areas for a system of long- term old-growth: reserves. The release says the four areas ac- please see FORESTS pege as Counterattack proves valu $3 written warnings and 20 traffic charges served. This year 3,122 veh- icles were inspected, resulting in $9 written warnings and 33 traffic charges served, but Latham said the reason for the slightly higher figures this year is because more vehicles were checked. Overall, things were better this year, she said. (the pipes burst during the cold spell and caused extensive flooding), and replace the present plywood with the specially milled tongue-and-groove lumber already installed in the baggage room and stairwell. The crew has several mon- ths ‘of work ahead of them and are already on the job. Both the station and the Chapel House are closed for the winter able The best news of all was that no fatal collisions were reported this year or last, which may mean people are paying more attention to the aggressive advertising by the Coua- terattack program in conjunction with Insurance Corporation of B.C. This is the Tith year Christmas Counterattack has been in effect.