WEDNESDAY June 7, 1995 BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1994 The Castlegar Sun The weekly newspaper with a dally commitment’ VARIABLE Weather 3A Vol. 5- No, 29 84 Cents + G.S.T. Arson blamed for weekend torching Ninth suspicious fire in last month RON NORMAN Sun Staff Firefighter firepower SPORTS Bear shot in downtown drugstore Employees saddened over failed rescue attempts by police SHARLENE IMHOFF Sun Editor Castlegar RCMP say arson is to blame for a fire which destroyed an abandoned shed next to the CP Rail Station Museum Friday afternoon. It is the ninth suspicious fire in the Castlegar area in the last month. Ken Chernoff, spokesman for the Castlegar Volunteer Fire Department, said one engine and six firefighters responded to the blaze, which broke out about 5:30 p.m. “We were there within three minutes of the call,” Chemoff told The Sun. However, Cheroff said firefighters let the shed burn to the ground because it was scheduled for demolition anyway. “We could have extinguished it,” he said. “The decision was High School made to let it go.” championships The shed, which was located on CP Rail property, was used JOA as part of an arson investigation course for the local fire department just the week before. “It was where they (CP Rail) used to store their speeders,” Cheroff said. Chemoff said the fire department remained on the scene to ensure the blaze did not spread to adjacent trees or the restored Castlegar jailhouse. Meanwhile, firefighters were kept busy over Sunfest week- end. They responded to five callouts, all of them minor. Employees at a downtown Castlegar drug store recovering from the shock of finding a young bear roaming the aisles of the store early Saturday morning. Police were called to the scene after Pharmasave pharma- cist Alan Trieber discovered the bear wandering in the front of the store. “I was shocked. At first glance I thought it was a big dog. You just don’t expect to see something like that.” Employees were quickly ush- ered into the back of the store, while police attempted to guide the bear out the front doors. Trieber says the bear wan-. dered in through the back door which had just been opened to let employees in. “After wander- ing around it was probably frigh d, saw the big wind: up in front and thought it could leave that way,” said Trieber. But despite repeated attempts to usher the bear out of the store, the animal just couldn't recog- nize the exit. “He became somewhat agitat- ed and more aggressive,” said RCMP Staff Sergeant Kerri Solinsky. “He even tried to bite the two members who attended.” normal at the Castlegar golf course last week during the B.C. LOCAL SUN STAFF PHOTO /Shariene Imhof Impulse Fire Extinguishing Technology (IFEX 3000) was on dis- play during the recently held fire training officers conference. This bazooka-type weapon fires enough water in one blast to effective- ly extinguish a blaze in one blast. A German engineer was demonstrating the piece at Selkirk College to area firefighters. Airport signing pact postponed Mayor O’Connor adamantly refuses partnership with Regional District RON NORMAN Sun Editor See ARSON 3A Duncan called off a signing cere- _the signing ceremony. schedulgg jar Tuesday after- “There was some concem raised cuss. the situation with Castlegar Mayor Mike O'Connor on Tuesday. For the sake of public safety, police decided to shoot the ani- mal, and for the six employees waiting in the back, it was hard to take. “Some of the employees had tears in their eyes. We really felt sorry that it had to come to that But we didn’t want anyone to get hurt either,” said Trieber. Transport Canada says it will hold off negotiating with the City of Castlegar for the takeover of the Castlegar Airport until the Regional District of Central Kootenay’s con- cems have been addressed. “We want to do everything prop- .” explained Mark Duncan, Transport Canada’s regional direc- tor-general. mony hoon at the fegar Airport because Vancouver East Liberal MP Anna Tarana, who was to be on hand for the ceremony, was called back to Ouawa. ‘The city and federal agency were to sign a letter of intent that would mark the formal beginning of negoti- ations. But Duncan said the regional dis- trict also played a part in calling off “by the regional district,” said in a telephone interview from his Vancouver office. “Hopefully, any concerns can be resolved before we reschedule it,” he said. ““We don’t want to interfere.” He added that some sort of local t needs to be worked out before Transport Canada begins negotiations. Duncan said he planned to dis- Ken Wyillic, regional director for the Lower Arrow Columbia, is pleased with the postponement. “There's a great sense of relief,”” Wyllie said. The airport is located on federal land within his electoral area. He noted that he was “deeply concemed” about the city and feder- al government proceeding with See DEAL 3A KAREN KERKHOFF Ultrasound services approved for Castlegar Sun Staff Peter King talks about what It's like to work with the city, and what's If all goes well Castlegar residents will no longer have to travel out of town for ultrasound services. At a recent hospital board meeting administrator Ken Talarico told trustees that the West Kootenay Hospital Planning Council has approved application for ultrasound services in Castlegar. “This has been a long haul. We do have regional approval,” said Talarico, “now we have to apply to the ministry.” Even though Trail and Nelson hospitals both have d Talarico lained that the d i will need to be Just ducky—Rhea and her younger sister Mariah knew where to stand along route to collect all the best candy. The sisters, along with hundreds of other children scam- pered to collect goodies while the 45-minute parade rolled by. SUN STAFF PHOTO / Shertene imhon replaced in the near future. Therefe isition of the tion of the equipment which costs upward of $200,000. This, he said, is in keeping with the New Directions in Health d wouldn't mean duplica- which pi operating costs.” parade Talarico said the projected utilization of the equipment will ensure that the equipment pays for itself. “It won't impact on the Talarico said there are trained ultrasound technicians in the com- munity who are willing and able to run the equipment. Ultrasound is a visual imaging technique commonly used during pregnancy, and for diagnosing cancers and benign cysts. p of services and equipment. RON NORMAN Sun Editor Robson and Raspberry residents are concemed about the effects of private log- ging on their water supply after sloughing earlier this spring turned Pass Creek into a brown mess. “It was just a mudbath,” said Ken Hood, chair of the Robson/Raspberry Irni- gation District. “Some of the culverts plugged up.” The sloughing followed heavy rains and came just after the irrigation district had Private logging turns Robson water into ‘mudbath’ flushed its lines. Hood said the district was - private land located on a hillside about a forced to flush the lines a second time. Even worse, the district had to clean out the gravel beds which screen the water because thie beds were plugged with sand. “We've been trying to get it cleaned up,” he said. “And we're still not done.” Pass Creek is the source of water for 1,500 - 2,000 people on the Robson/Rasp- berry water system. kilometer above Pass Creek falls: Dwayne Boyer, engineering section head for the Ministry of Environment's water management branch, agreed. “It was road building associated with logging,” Boyer said. “It turned the whole creek brown, right down to the Columbia.” He said the problem was that the “We've had numerous comp from consumers because of heavy sand,” said Hood. He blamed the sloughing on logging on land: had a culvert. Using the authority of the Water Act, Boyer ordered the culvert removed and improve- ments made to the road along the creek. But Boyer said the Water Act is limited. “The Water Act has jurisdiction just over the stream.” He said the ministry can only ask for the landowner's cooperation on property away from streams and creeks. Sometimes the ministry can use the Environmental Emergency Act to regulate land, but only in extreme cases, such as where a landslide threatens a house He said such a case “has to be a major concern,” See WATER 3A For all the local news and sports — The Castlegar Sun Participants in this year's Suntest celebrations are caught on film nB