Wednesday, January 8, 1992 m THE FAR SIDE By GARY LARSON soe 21992 Unvversai Press Svnaicate dl Council continued from front page i seeing with this council is that it is eating tomorrow’s sup- per today,” Bill Warner said. “We can’t dothat.” . Citizens grilled council on the proposed RCMP building, say- ing the $1.2 million price tag was too much, the location was wrong and the timing was bad. Ald. Jim Chapman said the current building is outdated, say- ing Castlegar RCMP has needed a new facility since 1980. While citizens didn’t disagree that anew site was needed, they did say council had 12 years to plan it. ; The proposed city work site didn’t escape the scrutiny of the citizens either. They demanded answers on where the $892,000 needed to build the site would come from. . Continued attempts by Moore to move the meeting along were greeted with anger from citizens. “(The Castlegar News) said show up or shut up,” O’Connor said. “Well we’ve shown up and we want answers.” Citizens also expressed concern over council’s willingness to rely on the Celgar expansion and Westar’s return to pave the way for future projects. 3 : “You can’t bank on them forever,” the Concerned Citizens Walter Flux said. “Why don’t we have a reserve of a couple mil- lion dollars in this city like other municipalities do?” Ald. Kirk Duff agreed that the city is relying on Celgar and Westar, but he said that is a dilemma shared by most industry towns. He said Castlegar has little choice but to plan its affairs around industry and hope that those industries remain afloat. Other concerns raised by the Concerned Citizens included the hiring and wages of city staff, the costs of sewer work, a se- nior citizen complex, an arts centre and city hall renovations, Rivers Park. Back Eon 19 74g. = brs | the pay out to former city employees and the price of Twin HOURS Assorted Varieties — LANCIA PASTA 2-Roll Pack a 3G White or Whole Wheat SLICED BREAD 2 AY Fresh CHICKEN LEGS Lean 5-8Ib. Package GROUND BEFF Deli Style ‘COOKED HAM | _A9 "FROM OUR MEAT DEPARTMENT — ‘Home Freezer Orders Cut to: @ Wednesday, January 8, 1992 mh 3n dThe News SecondFRONT CALL THE NEWS @General Inquiries 365-7266 @Ciassitieds & Delivery 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 Donna Bertrand NEWS REPORTER The Central Kootenay Health Unit says there is no cause for alarm despite news that two Trail residents have been hospitalized with meningitis: “We’re concerned obviously, but we’re not alarmed,” Dr. Nelson Ames said Monday. “We consider the two reported cases from Trail to be isolated events that do not represent the beginning of an epidemic.” : He explained that meningitis, an infection of the lining of the brain, is caused by one of 13 strains of bacteria called Neisseria Meningitides. One of the Trail residents has been diagnosed with meningitis while the second has been diagnosed with septicemia, an infection of the-blood system,— which is caused by a different strain. : Both patients are reportedly responding well to their treatments. Several casés of meningitis have been reported across Canada, including nine causing death. In B.C, health officials reported only one death due to - meningitis in 1991. Ames is asking people not to panic, saying the number and severity of reported cases are.no worse than in the past. What.is unusual, he said, ig that it’s mostly teenagers who are contracting the disease. “That’s what has been strange about this particular series of reports...usually we expect this in younger children,” he said. “But no age group is immune, it’s more seasonal than anything.” ~ Ames said the symptoms of meningitis start with a sore throat and fever. _ “Suddenly you get worse to where you’re quite ill beyond what you’d expect with a cold,” he said. “You're going-to-be- hospitalized sick within 24 hours,” : IN WITH THE NEW Anew year means out with the old and in with the new, and that is good news for Sign-Tech Service owner Rick Cullen, who.has been busy sprucing up signs for local businesses.