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Saturday, February 6, 1993 @ |

It was a bright, sunny Wednesday
February afternoon in Castlegar
(much like the one four days ago)
when the telephone rang.

Having just walked in the door af-
ter convincing a co-worker to buy a
compact disc that we could both listen
to, it was a mad dash to my desk be-
fore the caller grew impatient and
hi up.

Yeah, what,” I gasped as the sound
of a dial tone was the only thing on the
other end. Oh well.

Minutes later the phone rang
again, interrupting one of those news-
room fracases that do so much to
break up the monotony of those do-

Getting a phone call about the officiating

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the guy

plex Tuesday.

who won his fair share of beautiful ba-
by contests — in the primate catego-
ry,” I said. “Geez, it’s been a while.
“Yup, that it has,” he said. “At least
two convictions ago, you law-breaking
clown.”
Knowing how painful it was to be
reminded of rod — past, I
ickly got to the point.
bel shee vant.” I asked.
“You’re interrupting a pretty good
scrap.”
LC. took a deep breath and began.
“I know you've been to your fair
share of Castlegar Rebels games this

JonathanGREEN

Two of the league’s more exciting
teams to watch, the excitement dou-
bles when they play each other.

But on that night; the trio in the
striped costumes made things about
as enjoyable to watch as the Buffalo
Bills when they reach the Super Bowl.

It wasn’t an isolated incident be-
cause, more and more, the officials
seem to be watching a different game
than the one everybody else in the are-
na is seeing.

A quick peek at the game sheet
showed that, of the 57 penalties called,
11 were for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Jonny
on the
Spot

year, so I'll bet you've formed an opin-

Realizing that the better percent-

jon about the kind of refereeing they

nothing Wednesdays.

Boss Harrison whined that the
phone call was my way out of our bout
but, deep down, I could tell his shoul-
ders didn’t want to deal with his for-
mer heavyweight sports reporters
fists one minute longer.

“Hello,” I said.

“Greener,” the voice said. “Greener
you sorry sack of (this is a family pa-
per) sugar. How many Buffalo Bills
does it take to change a flat tire?”

It wasn’t clear as to who was on the
other end, but I played along.

“I don’t know,” I said. “How many
Buffalo Bills does it take to change a
flat tire?”

“One, unless it’s a blowout, then the
whole team shows up,” the voice chor-
tled.

Listening to the nails-on-a-chalk-
board laugh, it could be only one per-
son — my old buddy Ichabod Charles
Nuffin, or I.C. for short.

get,” he said.

Sitting back, I thought about what
LC. had said and came to the conclu-
sion that, on top of being the only per-
son I knew who owned “The Clapper’,
he was also amind-reader. _

“Til tell you, I.C., the only thing that
amazes me more than people who still
call themselves Edmonton Oilers fans
is you,” I said. “I was just thinking
about that this morning.”

Being a guy who has seen over 80
per cent of the Rebels games this year,
I know how most of the players oper-
ate and what they will do in certain
situations.

With that in mind, it gives me the
opportunity to focus on other parts of
the game and that includes watching
the referees.

As a guy who has seen hockey
through every pair of eyes except
those of a parent, I know that the ref-

eree is always the bad guy, regardless
of how good a game he calls.

When you're an impartial observer
like a reporter, the type of game the
referee calls is secondary to the job you
are there to do. .

Unfortunately, recent officiating in
the KIJHL has made being an impar-
tial observer pretty hard to do.

It’s not a lot of fun watching a ref
play a hand in how well or how poor-
ly a given team does.

Sure, it’s nice to see the team you're
covering win, but not at the expense
of having the ref frustrate the hell out
of the other team by being a tad
overzealous.

It’s equally unattractive to see the
officials bog a good game down with a
whistle every few seconds, and this
happened just the other day.

It was during a game between the
Castlegar Rebels and the Grand Forks
Border Bruins at the Commuity Com-

age of penalties in the KIJHL seem to
be stick-related, it’s kind of hard to fig-
ure out how almost 20 per cent of the
infractions were unsportsmanlikes.

Granted, the Rebels and Bruins
like to yap at each other, but it’s all
part of the game.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t part of
Tuesday’s game. =

Add that to the offsides, icings and
two-line passes that were either
missed or called when they shouldn't
have been and you had a potentially
exciting game turn into a sometimes
frustrating one to watch, and that was
just from the press box. ;

Listening to what the people in the
stands had to say wasn’t an awful lot
different from what I was thinking.

Knowing that, the league might
want to adopt the role of watchdog
over the next little while, because
those people in the stands are the
same ones who pay the bills.

@ Saturday, February 6, 1993

Nine to FIVE

Your business is

BILLS TO

COUNCIL

The former
secretary to ex-
premieres Bill
Bennett and Bill
Vander Zalm has
been appointed
to the Business
Council of B.C.
Jerry Lampert
will take over as
the council’s
chief executive
officer on March
29. Lampert’s
first order of
business will be
to monitor the
progress of the
province's new
labor code.

PULP
MILL
‘CLOSURE

MacMillan
Bloedel will be
closing its doors
for four weeks at
its Harmac pulp

WorkRPLACE

NEWS REPORTER

Unemployment among our youth is a
growing problem. Everyone knows that.

But the provincial government thinks it
may have an answer.

The Ministry of Economic Development
is organizing the second B.C. Young
Entrepreneurs Conference, aimed at
teaching students that there is an
alternative to post-secondary education, or
working for someone else.

“Given the high unemployment rate of
(people) aged 17 to 24, we feel by

{

introducing students to the idea of

entrepreneurship they will be (encouraged)”
to strike out on their own, Wendy Klyne

says.

The ministry’s manager of small business
programs explains, “any skills we can give
to young people today is an investment in
our future. It’s an attitude we’re trying to

develop.”

Youths setting up shop

| Corinne Jackson

And indeed, the community has already
jumped into the project feet first.

Speakers at the conference include:
Charlie’s Pizza and Spaghetti House owner
Ray Griffiths of Salmo and Trail Chamber
of Commerce executive director Richard
Coffey. However, participating students are
expected to do more than just listen to
speakers. Klyne says exhibitors will also be

But the government is not the only one

enthusiastic about the conference.

Some 100 students from Grand Forks to
Nakusp, and from Salmo to New Denver
will be descending upon Castlegar Feb. 16

to network with each other,
meet with some successful
young entrepreneurs and
leave with a few ideas. At
4 least that’s what is hoped.
“Students are kind of shy
A when they speak to adults,”
Klyne says. But she thinks

she may have a plan to
combat this.

Participants will be given
a passport and encouraged to
get stamps from speakers

and exhibitors, as well as

other students’ signatures.

The incentive? The
possibility of winning a

| portable compact disc player.
But more than that, the

on hand to speak with students.

Castlegar’s Subway owner and operator
Leona Rizzotti is just one of the exhibitors
who has been asked to attend.

“Getting into business is risky. Listening
to the ins and outs would help (potential
entrepreneurs) feel more confident to make
the decision” to open a business, Rizzotti
says.

Klyne says she doesn’t expect students to
go into business right away after leaving
the conference.

“It’s really a long-range project,” Klyne
explains.

However, Klyne says the government
does hope to do a follow-up evaluation of
the conference and see where students are
years from now.

Immediate feedback from teachers has
been positive, Klyne says, adding “there’s
really not much out there like this in the
schools.” :

Breaking the escalating trend of
unemployment requires new ideas and

passports ensure students
network with other students
and talk with the exhibitors,
Klyne says.
“We want them to know
that there are resources in
————— their community that they
pl y Corinne son
Leona Rizzotti watches as Monica Demke prepares a sub Heat ioe pa in
sandwich. The success of Subway has earned Rizzotti an

invitation as one of the conference's exhibitors. stay ting up a business,” she
explains.

mill. The
shutdown will
begin Feb. 20 for
a two-week
period, and then
again on April 4
for another two
weeks. The
closure will result
in the mill taking
some 30,000
tonnes of pulp
out of its
production and
putting 650
people out of
work for a month.
MacMillan
Bloedel blames
plummeting pulp
prices for the
closure.

more initiative. The B.C. Young
Entrepreneurs Conference is aimed at
doing this, Klyne says.

“The future of our province is in the
future of our students.”

The conference is also sponsored by a
local advisory council, local and B.C.
Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Science
and Technology Canada, Employment and
Immigration Canada, Bank of Montreal
and Pacific Northern Gas Ltd.

City takes one step forward and two steps back

It was not long ago — two
weeks to be in fact — that I
said the City of Castlegar was
showing signs of improving.

I said council had made
some great strides towards
dealing openly with its
taxpayers. And indeed, they
have taken some admirable
steps to involve us in their
decisions. Committees such as
those examining councillors’
stipends and the capital budget
are prime examples.

. . That’s why it’s disheartening
when they take a step back.

For the first time, the city
was dragged into small claims
court to defend one of its water
and sewer bills. Walter Flux,
who is vice-president of the
Coalition Unaccepting Rash
Bureaucracy, was upset about
having his name spelled out in
red ink in the accounts due
margin of the city’s books. The
city says he owes them about

Sports Centre, Banjo’s mix things up

CASTLEGAR REC c
HOCKEY LEAGUE

(As of Feb. 4)

Gw

lied NEWS STAFF |
pratense peed pi at The Stanley Humphries junior boys basketball team had |ff
J the Midas touch when they visited the Golden City Wednes- |
The teams traded goals day. | . : f t
i Getting 16 points from David Pereverzoff and 15 from
ae, ee cee. oe Grant Mosby, the junior Rockers could have gone home at half-
The second period was a lot time as they rolled to 66-37 win over Rossland. ;
like the first, as both teams Coach Doug Hickey said the size of the margin of victory al-
per turns leading before set-. lowed him to experiment, such as shifting from a man-to-man
i 6 ti to a zone defence.
i oo si ‘Sports “It was good game for us,” he said. “We got some things done
i we wanted to do.”
Coote ups Seed ahh Going up 4-0, the locals never trailed as they went on a 10-
anne) be the least lead they point run to close the first quarter leading 16-4. .
ld enjoy. Picking up where they left off after one, the visitors got eight
~°utler’s third goalat 14:07 of 18 second quarter points from Brad Maloff to lead 34-13 at
io’s__ the half.
icra apy on bee Realizing that the outcome was pretty much a foregone con-
span for a lead they would lusion, Hickey utilized his bench in the second half as no less
cone relinquish than 10 Rockers figured in on the final score. ; ;
Frank Costa. added one Coming in, the coach said knowing Rossland was primari-
more for Sports Centre, but it ly a Grade 9 team, he’d get a chance to showcase his squad’s |
Banjos depth.
pics oe the teat “Our plan, more or less, was to play every kid as much aswe |
minute to seal the victory. could,” he said. “We have 11 kids and 11 kids played.

NEWS STAFF

Castlegar Sports Centre
and Banjo’s Pub squared off
in Castlegar Recreational
Hockey League action Mon-
day — literally.

A match-up featuring the
top and bottom of the CRHL,
the game turned ugly in the
third period when Banjo’s
Rick Cutler and Sports Cen-

Dean MacKinnon
squared off.

Banjo’s Bob Larsh and
Sports Centre’s Garry Sauer
entered the fray and, when
the dust had settled, all four
had been ejected.

With two of Sports Centre's
top guns out, Banjo’s erupted
four six third-period goals ina
12-8 win, their fourth in a

Pressure Wash 24 10
Sports Centre 26 12
‘Shell 25 12
Koot. Computers 23 10
Banjo's 24 10

Nena
RSSSS~e

job was obviously way out of
whack. But these are pretty
minor things compared to what
the city is really saying.

By appearing in court, Flux
essentially was willing to settle
the issue through binding
arbitration. Tell it to the judge,
if you will.

But the city cowered and
played games — with your
money I might add. They ran
up legal bills for advice and
they had to pay a staff member
to be present throughout all
the court appearances.

The city maintains to this
day that Flux owes the money,
but they won’t file a claim in
court. They send Flux bills but
they won't sue. As a result the
judge couldn’t make a decision
on Flux’s case because of the
waffling the city did.

That’s some nasty limbo the
city has put Flux in, it’s kind of
a political purgatory.

The city had its day in court
and they decided to play a
waiting game. Why? I figure
there’s two reasons.

One: if Flux wins there’s
about half a dozen people in
the same boat that would
follow suit. Two: Flux wants to
run for a seat on city council.
(Remember, he’s with CURB) If
Flux is in a legal dispute with
the city he could be prohibited
from running in an election.

It would be reprehensible if
the city initiated court action
against Flux just when the
municipal election takes place.

If Flux owes the money, the
city should have had the guts
to go get it in court. If Fld
doesn’t owe it, they should
leave him the heck alone.

Our best-interests were not
served, friends and neighbors.
I’m ashamed how we financed
the city’s political war-game
against one of our own.

See2e8

SEARS
SEARED

Sears Canada
has recorded its
biggest loss ever
in its 40 year
history. The
retailer lost a
total of $90
million in 1992.
Keeping its chin
up, though, the
chain expects
“significant
improvement.”

assists for the winners, while

Dave Rugg had a pair of each.
MacKinnon had four goals

and two assists and Sauer

had five assists for Sports

Centre. hone
Ross Berkey opened the

Line

NeiiRACHYNSKI

row.
Cutler and Wayne Salekin
each had three goals and two

SeSe$eS$e$e$ese

$1,700 — on top of the $1,600
or so that he’s already paid.
Flux says no way, that he’s
already paid what was owed.
Now, there’s a lot of little
things that were goofy from the
start. Flux received the second
bill for $1,700 about a year
after he paid the original
amount. The estimate for the

OCKE

SeSeS$e$eS$e$eSe