vive Labrary. ont Bldgs., 5O0L Belleville St oria, B. c. winning Castlegar Rebels de- feated teams from Beaver Valley and Grand Forks in KIJHL ac- tion this week .. . 81 Safer month More roadside spot- checks by police in December has led to fewer people drinking and driving... The bonus number was 45. also subsidiary prizes. The six winning numbers in Saturday's Lotto 6-49 draw were four, five, nine, 19, 29 and 31. The $500,00 winning number in Friday's Provincial lottery drow is 4525755. There are Interesting seminar CasNews columnist John Charters reflects eR SO WEATHERCAST Overcest today with periods of rain starting near noon, ight cloudy with showers of wet snow or rain, low near 0°. Quilook for Mon- day cloudy with showers, high near 7° — 50 Cents 3 Sections (A, B&C) HEART MONTH . . . Mike Kurnoff, local Heart Month campaign chairman and Castlegar Mayor Audrey Moore raise flag at city hall in recognition of February as Heart Month. More than 50 volunteers in Castlegar and District will be canvassing for funds this month. Funds go to the B.C. Heart Foundation CosNews Photo by Chery! Colderbonk EAVESDROPPING PM defends Nielsen's actions HALIFAX (CP) — Prime Minister Brian Mulroney says it was only human for Erik Nielsen to eavesdrop on the Liberal caucus during the 1960s after discovering the Liberals were out to destroy his reputation. Mulroney stayed away from the Commons on Friday, but on Saturday he defended the deputy prime minister and said he's eager to take on the Opposition when the matter is raised in Parliament next week. Speaking to reporters before add ressing the annual meeting of Nova Scotia Conservatives, Mulroney said it was natural for Nielsen to prick up his ears when he heard Liberals talking about him privately. walks past an open win- dow, apparently, and hears himself and his family being savaged and his reputation being attacked. I suppose you have to not be human not to listen.” Mulroney's analogy of the open window, however, did not address the regularity of the eavesdropping. Nielsen has said that because of an electronic fault in the Commons com- munications system, he was able to listen in on the secret caucus in| reason had been offered for his absence, and they said it was coward- ice. ded “every Wednesday” for an unspecified period in the 1960s. The Liberal government of that time was being attacked by the Yukon Con- servative MP over allegations of bri- bery. ‘ATTACKS MADE’ “I know that Mr. Nielsen had ab- solutely nothing to do with the in itiation of or the instigation of this,” Mulroney said. “The information was imparted to him accidentally and be- cause, I suppose, of the circumstances at that time, he listened to the attacks being made against him. “I suppose that’s human. Whether he'd want to do it today, 25 years later, I don't know.” After grilling Nielsen, who is also the defence minister, Liberals and New Democrats walked out of the Commons on Friday to protest Mulroney's ab- sence. Some said that no compelling SHUTTLE EXPLOSION y resp by saying he had a better attendance record in the Commons last week than and Broadbent had been out of Ottawa on politieal tours but hurried back to the Ci for Friday's exch The prime minister noted Monday and Tuesday have been set aside as days for the to set the agenda for debate, and he wants to take part in the discussion about Niel- sen. “Tve already indicated that ERik Nielsen is a Canadian hero in times of war and a great public servant in times of peace, and he doesn't have to defend his honor to anyone, least of all a bunch of Grits.” Crew had no warning CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. (AP) — NASA said Saturday rockets which pull spent solid rocket boosters away from the space shuttle were found unfired, an indication Challenger's seven astronauts had no warning their ship was going to explode. If shuttle commander Richard Scob- ee had been alerted to impending danger, he would have hit a “ditch button,” which fires the booster separ. ation motors. “The booster separation motors were never activated,” a statement said. Meanwhile, a U.S. Navy helicopter carrier, the USS Guam, plucked a four Evans enters race By CasNews Staff The race to succeed Nelson-Creston MLA Lorne Nicholson as the NDP can didate in the next provincial election became a three-way contest this week. On Thursday, Corky Evans, former Regional District of Central Kootenay director for Area H (rural Slocan Valley), declared his candidacy for the nomination. Evans joins Dave Lang, a Salmo-area logging contractor, and Glenn Suggitt, a Nelson electrical contractor, in the race. Evans, RDCK director from 1979 to 1984, says in a press release he has the political skills to speak for the concerns of area residents, something he says the Socreds have not done. “The policies of the Socred govern. ment have placed enormous pressure on the people of this riding,” Evans says in the release. “Their failure to require B.C. Hydro to pay taxes and the closure of David Thompson Univer. sity Centre are just two examples of their contempt for local economies and concerns.” Since 1976, Evans has been a logging contractor specializing in selective log ging on private land. He lives with his wife and son in Winlaw and also has two daughters who live in Vancouver. Lang, 35, is a 14-year resident of Salmo and is currently constituency secretary for the Nelson-Creston NDP and is president of the Salmo-Ymir NDP club. “As a former union chairman who is now president of my own i announcing his candidacy. Lang is currently chairman of Rec reation Commission No. 7 (Salmo and area) and is a past chairman of the Re- gional District of Central Kootenay's Area G advisory planning commission. He and his wife Sharon have three children. Suggitt, 35, is a former RDCK dir ector for Balfour-Blewett. He was the president of the Nelson Creston NDP constituency association before resigning Jan. 26 to enter the race. Meanwhile, Nelson Mayor Gerald Rotering announced this week he will not seek the NDP nomination. “T've just taken on a responsibility with the city of Nelson and intend to stand by my council and my duties here,” Rotering says in a press release Rotering was elected mayor Nov. 16. He is a long-time New Democrat and previously worked for Nicholson, who announced last week he will not seek re-election. Rotering says in the release he has been told by party members that a movement to draft him could develop as the party seeks a/high-profile can didate to hold the seat first won by Nicholson in 1972 Bennett dismisses rumors of election CRANBROOK (CP) — Premier Bill Bennett dismissed rumors of an elec. tion call during a speech Friday to 250 Social Credit supporters and said those rumors just help his party sell more memberships. “But I'm glad the Opposition leader (Bob Skelly) keeps calling elections, al though he hasn't held one yet, because what he’s done is that he's really got you up and going,” Bennett told a $15-a-plate fundraiser dinner for Labor Minister Terry Segarty, legislative member for the Kootenay riding. Bennett has requested and been given 30 minutes of television time this logging company, I am vitally aware of the total mismanagement and waste of B.C.’s resources by the Socred govern- ment,” Lang says in a press on British Columbia tele vision. He has declined to reveal his Bennett said that because of rumor ed election calls, the Kootenay con stituency association was able to sell 500 new Socred party memberships in the past two weeks “Don't just take my word for it that you're not facing an immediate elec tion,” Bennett said. “This is the only time I want you to listen to the leader of the Opposition “Then when you listen to him get so darned scared that you go out there and sell 10 more memberships, and raise more money Bennett said he has been so busy “going through tough times” and building mega-projects, that he hasn't had a chance to plan an election He did not discuss the recent con troversies generated by the financial disclosures of several cabinet minis ters, or by the personal life of Health Minister Jim Nielsen. metre cone from the sea far from Cape Canaveral because it might be the top of Challenger’s fuel tank. NASA's Saturday statement con. firmed for the first time the nose of one of the boosters, complete with para chute and four separation motors, was recovered from the Atlantic. Because of the clean separation of the two boosters at the moment Challenger exploded, there was speculation Scob- ee might have hit the emergency button. “This evidence indicates very strong ly that the commander did not punch Kiwanis request nominations It's that time of the year again when the Castlegar Kiwanis Club goes on the search for Castlegar’s Citizen of the Year. Nominations, which close Feb. 15 can be made by service clubs, churches, and private individuals who feel they know someone who has worked hard in Castlegar to benefit others. Committee chairman Brian Prit chard notes that the nominations should include as much information as possible about the person being nominated, as well as where to contact the individual. All nominations are kept in the strictest of confidence. This year's Castlegar Citizen of the Year will be at a special banquet at the Fireside Place Saturday, March 15. Nominations can be mailed or dropped off to Brian Pritchard at CKQR radio in Castlegar. out, that he did not ditch,” said NASA spokesman Charles Redmond. The Coast Guard used the rocket nose recovery as a warning about handling any debris from the shuttle. An expert disarmed the BSMs after they were brought ashore. “It's possible one of the BSM’s could have come loose,” said Louis Ullian, a government explosive expert. He said the 80-kilogram devices, if ignited, can penetrate several centi metres of reinforced concrete. SPOTS CONE The cone was spotted in the ocean 100 nautical miles east of Savannah, Ga., and the USS Guam was sent in after another vessel, the USS Dewey, reported it did not have the right equipment to pick it up. The Guam is a 200-metre troop ship with a deck like a small carrier for helicopters. NASA said it does not know whether the cone came from the 60-metre shuttle tank and was awaiting its return. Savannah is more than 200 miles north of Cape Canaveral, where the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after liftoff Tuesday. Investigators focused on a spurt of flame, seen on film, that may have triggered the space shuttle's explosion The flash of fire was noted in frame by-frame examinations of pictures in the instant before the shuttle’s tank exploded. A source said the films indicated the flame may have shot from a leak near the top of one of the two solid fuel boosters and into the tank. The space agency is said to be looking at the possibility the fire struck a primer cord on an explosive “des- truct” package. The package is on the fuel tank in case the shuttle goes off course and has to be destroyed by a radio signal from the ground. NASA still is saying nothing about the direction of the investigation, des- pite increasing reports in news media, quoting sources who refused to be identified. The New York Times reported the right booster rocket lost a small amount of power about 10 seconds before the fuel tank exploded. The boosters are attached to the tank, which holds more than 190,000 litres of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen at liftoff. The three main shuttle engines, which receive their fuel from the tank, shut down almost immediately after a booster power drop of about 45,000 kilograms of its one million kilograms of thrust, The Times reported. Pulp unions seeking increase VANCOUVER (CP) ~ British Col umbia's two pulp unions are seeking a $2-an-hour wage increase and a re duced work week in a two-year con tract with the province's pulp industry Art Gruntman, vice-president of the Canadian Paperworkers’ Union, which represents 7,200 industry workers, said the wage increase would mean pay boosts of six and 5.5 per cent annually The contract demands by the paper workers and the 5,500-member Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada were made as negotiations opened Friday. Eric Mitterndorfer. president of the Pulp and Paper Industrial Relations Bureau, declined to comment specifi cally on the wage requests, but said the industry does not want to give wage increases that would make its financial health “more difficult.” “The state or our industry is in the public record, it’s in the annual reports, and I don't think that is in dispute.” He said the opening session of this year's talks went well in wages “Not only the substance, but also the symbolic aspects of a changed format, the changed numbers (of participants), and the general attitude of the parties in the first session,” said Mitterndor fer The unions’ contracts don't expire until June 30 but the parties are giving themselves a five-month head start in an attempt to deter customers, wary of another strike in the B.C. industry, from securing agreements with other pulp and paper suppliers. Both Gruntman and Stan Shewaga of the pulp, paper and woodworkers said the first session was “amicable.” They said the unions’ key demands revolved around job security, pensions and wages. Gruntman said job security could be improved if the work week was re duced to 37% hours from 40 hours a week. “We believe that because of the high unemployment there should be a reduction in the work week.” The talks resume Monday.