Page 2A The Castlegar Sun Wednesday, January 13, 1993 Wednesday, January 13, , 1993 NCEIN Season poses threat of chimney fires Castlegar residents urged to be cautious KAREN KERKHOFF Sun staff If you are one of those individ. uals who are heating with wood heat, or using a fireplace, Castle gar fire chief, Gerry Rempel, has some wood burning tips which might save your life “If a person heats with wood they should have their chimney professionally inspected and cleaned on a regular basis.” Creosote, which is a’ by-prod uct of burning wood, is very flammable, and is the main cause of chimney fires. Rempel said creosote build-up occurs when a person burns wet or damp wood, or when a person burns their wood slowly on a reg ular basis, and he has some recem mendations for those individuals “It’s the creosote which catch. es on fire. If the wood is wet then there is more creosote build-up, therefore those people need to build a hotter firé once a day. A smouldering fire creates alot of creosote build-ap.” Between professional check- ups, Rempel also advises that a regular chimney cleaning and one visual inspection of the chimney be done by an occupant of the home for creosote build-up. So far this year there have only been two chimney fires, a statistic Rempel is pleased with. "We have been very lucky, usually we get more than two. This is very good so far this year.” Rempel strongly recommends that if a chimney fire should occur, call the fire.department immediately, and leave the fire- fighting to the Fire Department Conservation office says “watch your dogs” Sun Staff The Castlegar Conservation Office is reminding residents in the area that with recent heavy snowfalls, ‘wildlife such as deer -can fall-easy prey to domestic dogs. Conservation Officer Barry Farynuk said-calls have been coming into the office, reporting incidents in which domestic dogs are chasing deer. Farynuk said that their were cases last year where the remains of deer had been found—and evidence point- ed to domestic dog attacks. “Every year around this time we receive reports of this nature, sO we investigate and often end up contacting the owner, who can be fined,” Farynuk said. In addition to the physical harm of an attack, deer are put under a tremendous amount of stress and expend precious ener- gy resources when pursued. Farynuk said that any conser- vation officer can destroy a dog on site if it is caught in the act of chasing a deer or other wildlife Fines-to the owners can range anywhere from $100 to $5,000— depending of course, on the dam- age done. “This time of year, owners should keep a close eye on their dogs, and should be wary if, their animal is absent for peri- ods of time.” If anyone sees a dog, or a pack of dogs chasing wildlife should contact the Castlegar Conserva- tion Officer Service at 365-8522 or call 1-800-663-WILD. Reverse mortgage concept financially challenging to-execute says local Credit Union manager KAREN KERKHOFF Sun staff Retirement is supposed to be a time of golden sunsets and free- dom from worries, but for some pensioners it may turn into a time of dark days and added worries due to an inadequate pension. Some homeowners in Ontario are taking advantage of a plan offered by some credit unions, which is called Reverse Annuity Mortgages, a concept which is very simple, but can be very diffi- cult and expensive to execute. The reverse annuity mortgage is similar to a recent initiative some insurance companies have undertaken. Some insurance com- panies are offering accrued divi- dends to their_ctients when they need them most, which is before their death. These clients are able to draw against their insurance dividends and utilize those funds to pay for nursing care, or such needed costs, which they would be unable to pay for otherwise With a reversed annuity mort- gage a pensioner is able to bor- row up to 60 per cent of their Once the gymnasium floor is complete at Stanley Humphries Secondary, it will be the pride of the school. Darrell Avey, an employee of Centaur Prod- ucts, counter sinks nails in the last four rows of the new floor. The new surface, which is completed by January 25, was needed after the old gymnasium floor buckled due to a water main break. SUN STAFF PHOTO /John Van Putten scheduled to be equity in their home. A reversed annuity Mortgage can provide additional income for the pen- sioner, either in the form of monthly payments, or a lump sum. Upon their death, or sale of their home, the amount which has been borrowed, interest and com- pound interest would be paid towards the lending institution who had agreed to the reversed annuity mortgage Castlegar Savings Credit Union general manager, Lorne Myhra, said the concept in not new. “The reversed annuity mort- gages are not entirely new, they have been around for about five years. The financial community has been talking about it.” The problem with reversed mortgages is that they can be legally and financially challeng- ing to execute, as the paperwork that is required is at times nearly prohibitive, said Myhra “They canbe very difficult and expensive to administer.” Although Castlegar Savings Credit Union does not currently offer a reversed mortgage, Myhra said that each request would be decided on an individual basis. : “It' Would be a consideration We would discuss it with the board, and then go with their rec- ommendations. If there was a need, or a product our customers needed then certainly we would look at it.” It is pgssible that in the future reversed annuity mortgages may be common and easy to obtain, but until that happens don't count your chickens until they hatch...save Castlegar Volunteer Firefighters investigate the serious- ness of this chimney fire, reported this week in South Castlegar. SUN STAFF PHOTO /John Van Putten Best seller for School District No. 9? KAREN KERKHOFF _ ‘Sun staff A book called The History of School District No. 9 has been requested from as far away as Woolongong, Australia and Hali- fax, Nova Scotia. The book, which has been in circulation since the spring of 1992, details the history of schools in School District No. 9, and is a best seller in Castlegar. Dick Wayling, Polly Corbett, John Landis and Bill Oleski, for- mer teachers of School District No. 9 recognized the need to compile data, history and anec- dotes in order to maintain the his- tory-of the schools within the district. This was a move which Gordon Turner,. Chairperson of School District No. 9 applauds. “We are selling the books for half the price it cost to publish it, but we thought that it was impor- tant to get this history out to the public.” Turner not only applauds the historical, but finds it interesting, and at times humorous reading “I found it intriguing to find-out what schools were open at that time. There were schools around that I wasn’t even aware of, such as the school up at Renata. It's both historical and humorous.” letter from the late Charlie King, Secretary-Treasurer of School District No..9, to the Renata teacher, Mr. Schmok reads: “I note you have included one case of toilet tissue on your list of sup- plies for 1953. I was wondering if this was an error as we sent you a case in November, and on the basis of its use here, this should last approximately one year, Please advise me DEFI- NITELY if your toilet tissue is getting low.” The response from Mr Schmok was short and sweet. He replied that he had 78 packages left which would last “at the longest till the end of January 1954.” The books, which are $8, can still be purchased at the board office, but you better hurry if you wish to purchase one. Of the original 300 books which were published, there are only 75 left Youth trial begins May 5 Sun Staff One of the h in the book, was a serious subject for one of the teachers who taught school at Renata in 1953. The passage, whjch contains a Annual assessments should have been received by owners KAREN KERKHOFF Sun staff. When most homeowners receive their property assessments in the mail, they view their cur- rent assessment with a mix of apprehension and delight. A property assessment is sim- ply a determination of a proper- ty’s market value as of July 1 each year. The assessment can vary ffom year to year, depending on current market conditions which can affect real estate. If your property has gained value since the last assessment, that is great news, especially if you want to sell your home. But the next question we all have is does this mean our taxes will increase also?” “Higher assessment value does not necessarily mean higher taxes,” said British Columbia Assessment Authority assessor, John Collins. ‘For most people whose prop erty assessment has increased by 20 per cent or less, they won't see a tax increase. If the municipal tax base grows by 20 per cent, then the municipality can afford to decrease their tax base-by—that amount.” Collins was quick to clarify that this only applies to tax increases which are directly relat- ed to the homeowner's latest property assessment. “I’m talking only about tax increases which are generated by their assessment.” Property assessment notices used to be mailed to homeowners every two years, and were mailed 1, 1992. Property assessment values are based on the current market value of property, and also by the build- ings which are on that property. Buildings on that property is not limited to the true definition of building, but may have another meaning said Collins “This can include patios, pave- ment, or any improvements which have been made to the building.” If a property owner is not satis- A Selkirk College student liv- ing in Castlegar has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him by RCMP. The youth, whose name can not be released under the Young Offenders Act, entered not guilty Pleas on all seven charges he faces: breaking and entering of a dwelling, threatening, unlawful confinement, sexual assault with a weapon, theft under $1,000 Possession of stolen property and illegal use of a bank convenience card. The youth, who succeeded earlier in resisting Crown Coun cil’s attempt to have him raised to an adult court, is scheduled to begin trial May 5 and 12 in Castlegar provincial court The attempt to have the youth raised to adult court was defeat- ed in Nelson provincial court on The c stlegar Sun Castlegar schools join in healthy choices initiative — KAREN KERKHOFF Sun staff The well known cliche, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is being put to the test by Stanley Humphries Sec §,ondary School (SHSS) students, with the help of a $750 grant from the Ministry of Health The grant is part of the Healthy Schools Initiative, which was designed to help edu- cate Students province-wide and make them more aware of the importance of healthy lifé-style choices. ; SHSS counséllor, Don Mair, said that practicing healthy choic es is an idea which makes sense to him. “I think the concept of placing the emphasis on prevention is excellent> It's better to have a healthy population than an unhealthy population.” The concept Mair is talking about is new to British Columbia, but is being welcomed with open arms from students, school offi cials, the community and health care. professionals. A committee -which is com- prised of 12 student peer coun- sellors, school administrator, David Hogg, student counsellor, Don Mair, local physician, Dr Robert Streich, nurse Cindy Talarico, SHS$ alcohol and drug prevention worker, an RCMP officer, and parents, have met and are cur rently investigating ways in which the grant money can be effectively used to help further educate students in ways to choose healthy choices Mair is encouraged by the great amount of community involvement which has been demonstrated thus far. “I'm really impressed the way people are willing to’ become involved. Good grief, we even public health | have a doctor involved, I’m sure he's a busy man Currently the committee is working on developing an anti smoking campaign in correspon dence with Weedless Wednesday” which is to be held on Jan. 20. Weedless Wednesday is intended to encourage smokers to butt out for one day presum ably in the hope that one day of on will become a perma nent habit Other healthy choices which will be examined at SHSS will be healthy foods, and drug an alco hol awareness . WKP interim rate approved by utilities commission KAREN KERKHOFF Sun staff Next time you open your bill from West Kootenay Power you will see an interim rate increase of 4.8 per cent which went into effect Jan. 1, 1993. The: interim increase has been approved by the British Columbia Utilities Commission = Downstream benefits Continued from 1A future uses of the hydro system, which includes both the Peace River and Columbia River. The in-depth review, called the Elec- trical Systems Operations Review, will not. only look at power generation and flood con- trol, which are the two main fac- tors of the treaty, it will also consider, other uses such as recreation, fisheries, and trans- portation. This is where regional district governments come into play. “Regional districts will be represented very clearly in this work. It’s quite significant that we are co-operatively planning to deal with the problems and benefits linked to the Columbia River,” said Josh Smienk, Area E representative on the ROCK and chair of the Kootenay Boundary Municipality Columbia River Treaty Commit tee - Smienk said the five regional districts value the opportunity to provide input into downstream @ Accident (BCUC), and will raise the cost of electricity for the average household consuming 1,000 kilo- watts per month to $48.40. West Kootenay Power Corpo- rate Communications Officer, Donna Bertrand, said the interim rate increase is in keeping with the cost to WKP to provide ser- vice to customers “The main factor is the cost of power purchased to augment West Kootenay Power's own power generation.” As a regulated company, WKP is only allowed to recover the exact cost of providing service Currently WKP generates 55 per cent Of power needed, and purchases the remaining-power from British Columbia Hydro and Cominco. However, in 1988 WKP produced 66 per cent of the power supplied to consumers, but with an increase in the popula. tion, WKP increased thé ameunt of power purchased from other sources. There is to be a public hearing in Penticton March 8, 1993 to determine if the interim increase is warranted. Provincial cabinet ministers Anne Edwards and David Zirnhelt were in Castlegar to begin discussions on downstream benefits, Jan. 9 benefits, since more than 50 per cent of the province's electricity SUN STAFF PHOTO / Sharlene Imhott is produced in this area Edwards said that negotiations with the Americans over down- Stream benefits will begin in the next few months. She would not speculate on what direction the province will be taking in regards to how the benefits could be used in a new contract David Zirnhelt however, said the government will intensify regional economic development planning to coincide with renew- al of contracts with the United States “We want to be better orga- nized and better equipped,” Zirnhelt said The Minister of Economic Development, Small Business and Trade said that in order to do this éffectively the number of people working on economic development for this area would be tripled “We'll now have six people working on this where at one 4 time there was only two. These people will work in various communities though 16 is uncer tain at this time which communi ties these will be Continued from 1A tings, and So he understood nght away the seriousness of having a frozen fitting. omeone had tried to unfreeze the fitting by holding it under the exhaust of the ambu lance, but that didn't work. A man then took the fitting and rapped. it against the side of the ambulancé and ruined the fitting They finally just gave up on it because it (the broken fitting) was useless then.” Hamilton said even though the vehicle had been cut partially apart by the Jaws of Life, it was essential that the hydraulic motor worked, since the motor provides necessary power to the prying part of the ‘Jaws’ “They had some part of the car cut apart, but they needed the other part to pry the dash and motor apart from his (Hickey's) feet and legs.” There were other incidents, which angers Hamilton, and which he feels were also unnec- essary. “I understand that the motor which runs the hydraulic pump, which runs the cutter, had run out of gas. There were men out there who were fetching gas. While I was at the scene, there were three men who had come with gas.” After the hydraulic fitting was broken, Hamilton said that all in September. However, new fied with their they Dec. 29, along with allegations Provincial legislation requires updating assessments annually, with assessments now being mailed out on December 31 An-anaualassessment has some advantages over an assess- —thont-Gone-every two years. One is that the assessment will more accurately reflect current market values, which in turn will result in homeowners seeing less dramatic changes in their assessments Market values have increased in the Castlegar area by 15 to 35 per cent (depending on location and quality) since the last assess ments were done, with the aver- age increase in value being 20 per ent. The market values were based on a Valuation date of July are encouraged by the BC Assess- ment Authority to contact their local assessment office The complaint would then be reviewed by an Assessment Authority personnel. If the Assessment Authority personnel agree a change is needed in the homeowners property assessment, a change will be made on the owner's behalf If the assessor and the home owner Cannot come to agreement, an appeal can be file g with the Court of Revision If you have any questions about your recent property assess- ment notice, contact the Nelson BC Assessment Authority at 352- 5581 that he suffered from paraphilia, due to what the judge thought was a lack of evidence. Earlier, a mental fitness exam had been performed to determine whether the youth is afflicted froma mental disorder which caused him to be aroused by sexually deviant behavior, such as sadism or fetishism. Defence counsel also request- ed to Judge Donald Sperry that he review the bail release condi- tions and make them less restric tive. Sperry refused saying the accused hadn't shown any good reason to have them changed. A ban‘ refu publication of these conditions and reasons for them. Bridge contract finally awarded to Edmonton-based SCI KAREN KERKHOFF Sun staff efforts to free Hickey had come to a standstill. “Everybody on the was standing around not knowing what to do.” But that was soon to change Hamilton's brother, who is an experienced autobody. worker, left his vehicle to find out what was going on, a gesture which Marty said might have saved Hickey’s life “Up until Kelly came to the scene, the driver (Hickey) was still conscious and in a lot of pain. By the time we finally got him out of the vehicle he was Starting to go, he was drifting in and out of consciousness, and wasn't responding a wholg lot.” “When Kelly came on the scene he realized there was a man trapped in the car, and there was not a lot being done to help him, other than the paramedics who were in the car with him trying to keep him alive. Kelly started rip- ping on the hood and yelling ‘we gotta get this guy out, he's dying’. That kind of got the peo- ple going. Then he (Kelly) started yelling at the tow truck driver “why didn’t you get the engine off this guy’. Kelly went and started pulling the plastic from the dash and yelling at bystanders “you guys grab the front and start pulling.’” At that point Hamilton said people started acting and react- scene trades they would require. This would allow them to function as a union contrac- After waiting since Dec “9 for the contract announcement of the company with the it.” successful tender for the Castlegar-Rob- son bridge, the Ministry of Transportation and Highways announced that SCI Engi- an Edmonton neers and Contractors, Inc based company, was the successful bidder. However, there is some confusion as to whether the company is union or not. Nel Corky Evans son-Creston MLA SCI is not a union company, unionization of the company “All they have to do is sign an enabling contract with the local unions whose said if there is a remedy which would allow provisional needs to be known either.” quality of the work, tor in Castlegar for the duration of the I would encourage, them to do Evans said there is a factor which also “The other contractors who submitted bids were not union Evans also said that although hiring a company who was based in Columbia would be ideal, factors which also need to be considered. such as the company’s reputation, the their safety history and the goodwill of the contractor “The primary thing is to encourage the contractor to come to Castlegar in good ing, and soon there were many hands pulling at the dash. “Kelly started yelling ‘yeah yeah, that's it’ as the dash and motor were starting to move. We all pulled again and finally got the man out.” Hamilton said it took approximately 15 minutes for the bystanders to free the dashboard from Hickey's legs. The extraordinary amount of tume which had elapsed between the time the Hamiltons had arrived upon the scene, and when Hickey was freed from his vehi- $ unnecessary, Marty said “T caryt believe it, but from the time we had arrived there, until we got him out of the vehicle, anywhere from one and a half to two hours had gone by.” Marty gives credit to his brother for being instrumental in saving Hickey's life. “If it wasn't for my brother, that guy would have died. All it took was people power.” Besides the alleged ineptness of individuals on the scene, Hamilton was shocked at the apparent callousness of some bystanders on the scene “I couldn't believe it, people were standing around talking about what they did at the bar last night.” When contacted, Kelly Hamilton was modest about his part in help- ing remove Hickey from the vehi- who are in the lowest bid $14,000,484 and Sons British there are other which was faith and hire employees and contractors umion. which and later after the ministry found a mathematical error Three other British Columbia-based companies also submitted bids ond lowest bid came from Peter, Kiewit a Richmond, B.C The company's bid was $14,272,175 nly $271,391 Alberta-based SCI onginal bid Other British Columbia contractors that tendered bids were; Western Versatile Construction from Langley, dered a bid of $14,714,706, while Neelco Construction Inc $14,000,784, cle, but he did have a specific rec- ommendation for the training pro- gram to operate the Jaws of Life I would like them to know something about the anatomy of the vehicles they are pulling apart. Two hours is way too long for some poor guy who is in shock.” Castlegar RCMP member, Corporal Al Brown, declined comment in the alleged incident “I have no comment about it. If somebody had a complaint about the RCMP then it would be definitely investigated.” Castlegar Division, British Columbia Ambulance Service acting unit-chief, Lawrence Cher- noff, has also declined comment “It’s not our policy to com: ment on it.” Chernoff referred any ques- tions to the B.C. Ambulance Ser- vice Regional Division in Cranbrook. B.C. Ambulance Superintendent, Peter Watts, declined comment until a formal investigation could be started Trail Regional Hospital offi- cials refused to release the time of Hickey’s admission to the hos- pital stating that such information was confidential. A-spokesperson for Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, veri- fied that Hickey is still a patient at that facility and remains in serious condition. * SCI submitted the was originally revised to The sec company abave the which ten used . from Chilliwack, ten OUTLOOK: Temperatdre: Max/Date A1/4 Precipitation: — Rain Number of Hours Sunshine: 14.1 WEATHER The forecast for Wednes- day; Low cloud and few light flurries in the valley during the moming,.otherwise mainly sunny. High temperatures near -8. Outlook: A weak upper disturbance off the coast of Washington should provide cloudy periods and moderating temperatures for Thursday and Fri day. Sunny, cooler conditions are expected again on Saturday as a ridge of high pressure rebuilds from the north. A LOOK BACK AT THE PAST WEEK: Min/Date -15.8/10 ‘Snow 0 14 REMARKS: Cold Arctic air ‘blanketed the Province for the past week. The leading edge of cold air mass lies across Southern Oregon. Pacific disturbances moving along the front pushed bands of cloud accompanied by strong winds over the higher levels, into Southern B.C. The strong winds set off avalanches which closed Kootenay Pass on the 9th. Forecast provided by The South - Est interior Weather Office at Castlegar, B.C. ARROW LAKE RESERVOIR Mean Totat Normal Number of Hours Man charged with murder of Wynndel woman STERLING NEWS SERVICE The man accused of murdering a Cranbrook woman in Decem- ber made a brief appearance in B.C Provincial Court last Mon- day. Wearing jeans and a blue and black ‘bush jacket’, Duray Bent- ley Richards sat in the prisoner's box in Cranbrook and listened as Judge Don Carlgren and Acting Attorney Greg Sawchuk set his preliminary inquiry in Creston for May 31 Richards, 32, was charged with murder Dec. 9, just two days after the partially clad body of Carrie Louise Marshall was found along the side of Bathie Road, a logging road about four kilometres east of Wynndel =@ Review Her body was located after a truck driver saw woman's cloth- ing along the edge of the road. A search by Provincial Emergency Program volunteers led to the discovery of her body. RCMP will not release the cause of death or say whether Marshall was sex- ually assaulted. Marshall's body was found two days after she had been reported missing by a family member who had gone to Wyn- ndel to help her move to the Ta Ta Creek area, 20 kilometres north of Kimberly, and one day after a friend dropped Marshall off at her home on Placsko Road. Richards is also set to appear in court in Creston, May 31 on two assault charges. He has pleaded not guilty to these Cc from 1A ngineers and dered the highest bid at $17,551,658 Two designs for the bridge, one of steel and one of concrete, had been developed in order to allow both industries to bid on construction, and allow for the most cost- effective construction of the bridge The bid SCI submitted was for a two- lane six-pier steel bridge, which would include a pedestrian walkway on the downstream side of the bridge and about four kilometers of highway approaches. Phone calls to SCI from Sun Staff have not been returned, and the Sun was unable to determine when construction would start, or if local contractors would be DR. MARGARET FULTON work towards accreditation to the Nelson University Centre (NUC). Now being pressed by NUC sup- porters to own up for making that promise, some people believe the resulting review is superfluous. “Political promises is what’s driving this review—the result of which will more than likely see NUC getting what it wants,” said Mickey Kinakin, vice-president of the support staff union at Selkirk College. “Why is advanced education suddenly such a burning issue in the Kootenays? Why not the Okana- ontractors gan? What's so special all of a sudden?” . Fulton. said that touring throughout Castlegar and speak- ing to its residents has dispelled her first impression that opposi- tion to the review was due. to a long-standing conflict between Nelson and Castlegar— or, the. NUC and Selkirk College. “People have been very friend- ly, and very anxious to talk about the future of post-secondary edu- cation in the Kootenays,” said Fulton. “I don’t feel there is a desire by these people to be con- frontational, but instead, co-oper- ative.” Another reason why the review is being seen as a political one is because of Fulton’s own history, which links her to the NUC. Ful- ton’s relationship with the NUC began in May 1989 when she was appointed as a consultant to the university. She also played a hands-on role in gaining transfer credit status for the NUC at Mount. St. Vincent University in Halifax., of which she was past president. Rossland-Trail MLA Ed Con- roy said that because of Fulton's Past relationship with the NUC, whatever decision she-mak +H be considered wrong—and politi- cally motivated. “She’s-found-herselfin- a catch-22 position, but she should have realized that before she accepted to take on this role in the review,” Conroy said. But Fulton said her past history will not be influencing her, and she has no axe to grin with anyone. “I'm in this because I think that when a process changes, it's excit- ing. I’m glad to be a part of it.” Fulton will, be continuing her work on the review by touring through Nelson today and through the East Kootenay some- time next week.