ESIABLISMED AUG 7. 1947 te AAnsAnER OF THEE S.C. PRESS COUNCR TWACE WEEKLY MAY 4 1980 ween Lv CAMPoELL PLANT MONICE OF COPYMGHT: Full, vested sn ond beiongs to Castle News iid. prowded jod trom repro proots. eng PUBLISHER AUG 7 1947-448 19 1975 PUBLISHER — Burt Compbell EDITOR — Ron Norman FOREMAN OFFICE MANAGER — Lindo Kositsin ADVERTISING MANAGER — Coro! Mogow CIRCULATION MANAGER — Heather Hodley 74 sete courage in ony pxintad maser pradesed by Cont Stow Und. = 7+ 12 1BAUG 27 1980 — Peter Horvey Giving up WKPL Cominco Ltd.'s announcement this week that it is putting West Kootenay Power up for sale hos Cranbrook (and hopefully will be seen in the West Kootenay.) inland Gos has also all but d the West Kootenay two ib! for de one readily but the other not quite as clear. The first is the simple fact that Cominco will no longer control West Kootenay Power. Anywhere else, a mining giant giving up its hydroelectric subsidiary really wouldn't cause much of a stir. But this isn’t just anywhere else. This is the West K: y where Power head office would remain at Woneta Plaza, thus elite the 85 positions there. Of course, this “all assumes Inland Gas is the successful bidder. Though B.C. Hydro isn’t expected to make a bid, it shouldn't be ruled out altogether. And the door is still open tor compani from outside the West Kootenay Power and Comin- co have gone hand in hand for more than three-quarters of a cen- tury. Area residents have grown ac- customed to the comfortable arrangement between Cominco and West Kootenay Power, and even more accustomed to the cheap power rates — rates West Kootenay Power in its 1985 annual report boasts are one-third lower than rates charged by any other major electrical utility in Canada. So when there is talk of selling West Kootenay Power, residents quite rightly become concerned that those cheap hydro rates may not remain cheap. Time will tell if rates do in- crease. But West Kootenay Power s should ib B.C. Utilities Commission regulates energy prices in this province and it's unlikely the commission would approve rate increases of the magnitude needed to bring West Kootenay Power in line with B.C. Hydro, for instance. That still raises the concern of who will buy West Kootenay Power. Inland Natural Gas has all but thrown its hat in the ring, and judging by that energy cor- peration’s track record, it would be @ welcome new owner. in fact, the West Kootenay might just see an improvement in com- munity relations. West Kootenay Power has all but severed com- munity support in recent years while it worked to shore up its financial performance. inland Gas, on the other hand, had done just the opposite. It has gone out of its way to create a par- tnership with the communities it serves. The result was the highly professional promotion Venture Inland, the effects of which are already being felt in places like province to purchase Kootenay Power and move the head office from Trail. But if Inland Gas doesn't see any reason for a move, then there is no reason to believe another company will. The second point the sale makes is that Cominco appears to be get- ting its house in order Cominco chairman Norm Ander- son made an interesting statement when he announced the proposed sale of West Kootenay Power. “We have an agreement with the government of B.C. to divest our interests in West Kootenay Power and Light,” Mr. Anderson said. Mr. Anderson didn’t elaborate on just what he means by “agreement.” 11 doesn’t take much to realize that Cominco is beginning to carry Cc I killed The Red Cedar Shake and Shingle Industry in Canada! That's two out of three for ” The Free World! ...and zip for Free Trade. Letters to the Editor Misleading figures Editor, Castlegar News: In your June 1 editorial “School Closures” you stated that Russian Immersion for Grade 2 would affect only 13 students and cost over $20,000. Castlegar school board is presently out the terms of an agreement it has signed with the provincial government. One of those terms is apparently Cominco must shed all but essen- tial holidings. Cominco is trying to sell Western Canada Steel and the Con gold mine in Yellowknite along with West Kootenay Power. Earlier this year it sold its 40 per. Coal. What's it all leading to? Perhaps tax concessions on the long- awaited $140 million first phase of the lead at Trail. Just the provincial has said it won't proceed with concessions until Cominco has shown it really needs them — by getting rid of everything but its core holdings. if that's the case, then West Kootenay residents will surely benefit by the sale of West Kootenay Power, because it will meon a new and modern lead smelter that will preserve the jobs in this region. City parents urged to air their views Editor, News: I recently attended a meeting at one of the schools suggested for closure. Until this time I have been sympathetic to the communities at risk of losing their schools. I was naive in believing our communities would be able to pull together to try and find a solution that could be of mutual benefit to us all. This was not to be. Upon being “discovered” as a “Castlegar” resident my very right of attendance was challenged I must admit I was stunned at the direction of the solutions. Not to dis- credit or ignore a lot of positive energy which was present at this meeting, the proposal repeatedly put forward was to close schools such as Valley Vista, and bus the city children to the rural com. munity school. This would, of course, keep the rural school operating and alleviate the necessity of busing rural children to Kinnaird Elementary for Grades 1-6. The rural parents would rather see Castlegar children bused somewhere for kingergarten, to Blue berry Creek for Grades 1 and 2, and to Kinnaird elementary for Grades 36 The community in most part was willing at any cost to try and maintain their rural school. Does this include their acceptance of tri-grade splits? It some very important reasons, one of them being fire protection. Can Ootis- chenia or Blueberry Creek offer our bused children adequate fire protec tion? Even if our fire department would could those communities water i I now seriously question whether it's the quality of education or the lication of education which concerns tHe rural communities. Are the educational requirements of the children best met by basing de- terminations on property values or bag lunches? Would not a tri-grade split class seriously compromise a good education? Would busing another com. munity’s children to three schools in seven years offer an adequate solu tion? Would relieving the teacher res- ponsible for assisting all children with learning disabilities and home care education do it? I think not. My concern is the attitude that the Castlegar school district is winning something here at the loss of the four schools targeted for closure. This is a no-win situation for all of us in every community. We all have to recognize this. The future looks just as bleak for us all. The teachers feel that single grade classes — be they large or small — are appeared so. A was made to if not remove, then to alter the student assessment officer's position in the local school district. The price of this removal in my estimation would be far too high to even be considered. Firstly, and most importantly, Ill address the issue of busing Castlegar children to the rural communities. We chose to live inside the city limits for over the split grades whether they are double split or tri-split. To parents of children in the Castle gar school district I strongly urge you at this time to be concerned about our city schools and whatever your opinion, let your thoughts on this matter be heard. Pam Hackett Castlegar a split Grade 1 and 2 class for next year at a cost of approximately $17,000 for a one-half time teacher component. If all of the children presently enrolled in Grade 1 and Kindergarten proceed into this class, then 27 students and not the 13 mentioned will be affected. With 18 students so far enrolled for next September's Kinder- garten class, that places 45 students in the program. This is hardly a “small number of students” as you stated in your editorial. It should be made clear that in spite of the ever-increasing numbers of students in this program we have not taken a sufficient number of students from any individual rural school that the immersion program could be Proposed waterslide cheap | price to pay Editer, Re: cm on on the proposed waterslide. In an area that depends on the survival of its main industries to stay alive I find it very disturbing that Martin Vanderpol and most of the Ootischenia residents are thinking only of themselves in the present, and not of our community in the future. To begin with, I have spent a great deal of time living very close to the two waterslides in Penticton and realize that the positive aspects created by such a park are exactly what this area needs. Haven't the people who have opposed Cetac’s development plans thought about their children and grandchildren’s futures? I would think that would be everyone's most import ant concern, not the noise that would probably be diminished by aircraft entering and leaving the airport. Furthermore, I cannot see how any traffie directly linked to the waterslide would interfere with or impose upon anyone living in the area. The only traffic going to the waterslide by way of residential roads would be the people living in the area on their way to work or just going to the waterslide for enjoyment. In addition, if the ministry of municipal affairs overrules RDCK's decision you can bet there will be a great number of Ootischenia residents enjoying and applying for jobs at the waterslide park. In my mind, I would think they would get many of the jobs. To those people who oppose projects such as this, I strongly urge them to think of the positive attributes such a development presents. I also hope they realize that the negative aspects of such a development are a very cheap price to pay for a better place in which to live and grow up. Reb Evanenko Ootischenia considered a factor that would affect a school closure. Unfortunately, it seems that we are being “red-flagged” once again. In the past Russian immersion has been blamed for everything from busing cutbacks to lack of funds for special needs. To see us equated in the same article with rural school closures seems just one more effort to shift opinion against an excellent and relatively inexpensive program. If the projections are accurate 45 students — 18 in the morning and 27 in the afternoon — will be taught in an immersion environment by one teacher at a cost of approximately $34,000 per year. Balance that against the $850,000 to $1 million per month that the school board spends, and you will see why we who are involved with the program have difficulty understanding how the declining enrolment and budgetary cutbacks the school district is facing is our fault. If this program was cancelled no one would benefit and the community as a whole would have lost yet another valuable educational opportunity for its children. This program recognizes a proven educational technique with long-term academic benefits for the students involved and pays tribute to the largest non-anglophone community in this school district It's time that it was seen for what it is, a well managed, well taught, and well supported educational program. It is also time that whomever has been using this program as the public whipping post for the problems of the district quits feeding misleading fig. ures to the media in an effort to stir up negative public sentiment. Baal Chairperson Parents for Russian _ Keep Pass Creek open Editor, Castlegar News: As the Castlegar school board starts into discussions and debates about the closures of the rural schools I would like to raise the following points about the Pass Creek school. Some of these have been pointed out or alluded to in meetings and some have not. They are all important points. Distance: It is 20 kilometres one way, from Woodland Park school to the end of the school bus route in Pass Creek. The school itself is 14 km from Woodland Park school. The last major stop on Pass Creek road is at the site 25 mailboxes, which is 18 km from Woodland Park school. To give you an idea about distances, 20 km will take you from Woodland Park school to the turnoff to Riverside near Trail, 18 km will take you to Oasis and 14 km will take you to the Silver City Trap Club, also on the way to Trail Not many parents in School District No. 9 would allow their kindergarten, primary and intermediate school child ren to be bused to school the equivalent distance to Riverside, Oasis or even Genelle. Why is the school board punishing the children of the taxpayers in Pass Creek? Time: The length of time it takes for a motor vehicle to travel at the posted speed limit from the site 25 mailboxes (approximately 10 km up Pass Creek) to Woodland Park, on a cool summer evening with no traffic or stops to pick up children is 21 minutes. The time it takes a motor vehicle to drive to Cominco from Woodland Park at the posted speed limit is 20 minutes. Not many parents in School District No. 9 would allow their child to be on a bus for a longer period of time than it takes the parent to cammute to work. Why is the board punishing the children of Pass Creek by insisting they spend all that time dn the bus, when there is a school with all the facilities a few kilometres away. (In fact many children wave at the Pass Creek school as they drive by it on the way to Woodland Park). Winter and roads: Winter road conditions in the Kootenays are notorious. No one knows that better than a resident of Pass Creek. To ask our children to stand by the side of the road, in or on a snowbank to be picked up by a school bus and then driven, up to 10 km on the Pass Creek road and a further 10 km to Woodland Park school, is unsafe, impractical and nonsense. There is no need for this when our school is there and available. New school, fully equipped: The Pass Creek school is a new school. There is a fully equipped gymnasium, kinder. garten room, library, music room and classrooms. To close a brand new school and send our primary and intermediate children on the only two 72-seat buses in the district travelling up to 20 km to school, is not spending our tax dollars wisely. Parents want split grades: The parents of Pass Creek have un- animously endorsed the scenario of split-grades for both primary and intermediate students. The parents, as taxpayers, have stated that they would rather have their child in a split grade in Pass Creek than a full grade in town. Many parents, some of whom are teachers, disagree with the admin istrators regarding the value of a split grade class. If the choice is a split grade in Pass Creek or bus to town, the taxpayers, residents, parents and children of Pass Creek want split grades in Pass Creek. Closing the Pass Creek school, an annual event: Several times over the last few years the Pass Creek school has been threatened by closure. Each time the possibility of closure is mentioned the parents and residents come out in full force to let the board know that closing the school is the wrong decision. Unfortunately, this time the board has cried “wolf” once too often. After the meeting last Thursday night I spoke with a number of people to find out why they didn't turn out to the meeting “to save the Pass Creek school”. Besides having trouble getting a babysitter for preschoolers at bed. time, and people on shift work not yet continued on poge AS Remember When? 35 YEARS AGO From the June 7, 1951 News Castlegar Mr. and Mrs. J. Hanson, residents of Castlegar for almost 38 years, will celebrate their golden wedding anni- versary tomorrow, . ¢ . The new Stanley Humphries high school held its first and very successful graduation exercises last Friday even- a . 6 « The 1951-52 federal government es- timates include new wharfs for Arrow Park West and Needles. The new wharf will cost in the neighborhood of $54,950. . 68 « The Lillian Killough Chapter IODE executive met at the home of Mrs. Gabana on Monday evening with the Regent Mrs. J. Deans, presiding and nine members present. The chapter has been approached by the Medical Board to help with the TB X-Ray Unit which will be at Castlegar. 7. 8 @ The children of the Kinnaird school held a successful tea and sale of work in the Community Hall on June 1, pro ceeds of which will go to both Red Cross and school equipment. 25 YEARS AGO From the June 8, 1961 News Lorne John Kavic, son of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Kavie of Castlegar, has received his appointment as a foreign service officer with the department of external affairs. * 68 «6 High water at the Celgar sawmill hampered firefighters while they bat- tled a blaze for over three hours on Friday. The fire, which if winds had been less favorable could have swept through the whole sawmill, is believed to have started in the power house from a park from the burner. . . The Arrow Boat Club this week re- quested all boats on the Columbia River to keep away from the summer and permahent homes located on the Robson side of the river. RCMP have received a number of complaints from Robson residents about the boats that come in close to shore and send a backwash up onto beaches and into flooded homes, said a boat club spokesman. 7 6 The Rev. H.1.G. Ragg, for the past two years Anglican rector of the parish of Castlegar, has been appointed rector of St. Luke’s Church in Vancouver. 15 YEARS AGO From the June 10, 1971 Castlegar News A successful golf tournament was held at the Castlegar golf course on the weekend when the annual Castlegar Open attracted 154 golfers from as far away as Vancouver. . 8 Fourth and final reading of a bylaw providing for a vote in the twin towns of Castlegar and Kinnaird and electoral areas I and J on a $600,000 Regional Recreation Centre was expected to be given last night at a meeting of the Regional District of Central Kootenay in Nelson. The vote will be held June 26. A spokesman said $336,000 or 56 per cent of the total cost would be borne by major industries in the area including Ceigar, Cominco and the WKP&L Co. while the balance would be raised by residential and commercial taxation. * 6« e Turning of the first soil for the build- ing of a Doukhobor communal village, the Kinnaird-Castlegar Centennial ‘71 Project, took place Saturday when a bulldozer excavated a 40x50 hole, some eight-feet deep. * 2 -« Six athletes from Stanley Humphries travelled to Victoria on the weekend for the provincial track and field cham- pionships. Harry Kooznetsoff won a gold medal in the javelin with a track meet record of 196 feet 7‘ inches. His nearest rival was 18 feet behind him. 5 YEARS AGO From the June 7, 1981 Castlegar News The Robson swimming pool will not close. At a special meeting of the Robson Recreation Society Wednesday night, members voted to keep the pool open and spend up to $2,000 on renovations in order to open the Pool July 1. Staff shortages are causing serious problems in the West Kootenay Health District's long term care Program, with continuing service in Castlegar uncer- tain and service in Grand Forks al ready cut back. * 2 -« Bill Waldie of Castlegar has been chosen as a recipient of the Fellowship of the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce award. The award was presented May 30 to Waldie during the annual general meeting of the B.C. Chamber of Com- merce in Victoria. SS MORE LETTERS School is community that they were tired of hearing the board saying they were going to close the school. When I tried to convince them that this time it appeared the board was serious, the response again, was that the board has cried “wolf” once too often. Please, do. not consider the number of people who turn out for the first of a series of meetings, as a true prefer to teach them at home. Many of these taxpayers do so because they do not want their primary school aged children travelling to town on the bus with the high school students when there is a schdol and rooms for them in. Pass Creek. The administrators, in their wisdom, chose not to count these children as potential students, thereby trying to prove to the board and the taxpayers of Pass Creek that there are insufficient of studi to keep the Pass too often and the residents, taxpayers and parents of Pass Creek are tired of hearing it, tired of organizing meetings to hear the board say, and now do not believe it. Home school children: There are parents who live in the Pass Creek area who do not send their primary school-age children to school. They Parents Creek school open. Our community centre: Pass Creek school is the center of community life for the residents of Pass Creek. For the winter Christmas concert, there are more than 150 people attending, more than there are chairs to seat them. That is a true indication of the support for our school. In the evenings, the regional recreation commission pro- grams a variety of different classes, to drive grads to parties Editor, Castlegar News: As parents of the graduating class of 1986, we are concerned about our children getting to and from grad safely. We have reached many parents by telephone, but many we have still been unable to contact. The grad class would like parents to drive them and their dates on grad night. Grads have also agreed that the best way to have a safe night would be to leave their cars at‘home and have their parents drive them from the dance to their party. We do not condone grads drinking, but we feel we cannot go around with our heads in the sand and ignore the fact that many will be doing just that. So let's be safe rather than sorry and give them a safe grad to remember. The more people we have to drive, the less amount of time each parent will need to give up. We are greatly impressed with the maturity the class has shown over this issue. Thank you, grads. If you can help drive, please call as soon as possible one of the numbers below. As well, there is a meeting of interested parents in the SHSS library this coming Tuesday at 7 p.m. Janice Johnson 365-3456 Betty Middleton 365-5813 everything from aerobics to volleyball to badminton games The school is the building in Pass Creek the diversity of the us can travel up to 40 evening recreation town. You cannot activities just because our community center is the Pass Creek school. The school, our focal point: Yes, we chose to live in Pass Creek just as residents of and other districts chose to live in their respect- ive areas. One of the reasons we chose to live in Pass Creek is because of the school. It's new, alive, maintains a high reputation for academies in the school district, and is accessible to everyene-— The community of Pass Creek is spread over more than 10 km of Pass Creek road (and up to five kilometres on various side roads). The school is almost midpoint on the Pass Creek road. Anyone who goes to a meeting or a class at the Pass Creek school, appreciates the fact that the school is half-way on the road, and no one has to travel any extraordinary distance to participate in the life of our com- munity. Values and responsibility: The pur- pose of a school is to reflect and teach our children the values of the sur- rounding community. The responsib- ility of the community is to nourish, protect and help the children learn those values. The quality and integrity of the Pass Creek teachers helps our children learn the values of their Our ington, which is very similar to the Chernobyl reactor in that it is a graphite moderated light water re- actor using enriched uranium as a fuel. What is not generally known is that, contrary to western press reports, the reactors at Chernobyl do have secondary containment structures of reinforced con- crete which are designed to prevent leakage of radiation. Clearly, the containment structures failed at Chern- obyl. However, the Hanford there reactor has no containment structure at all. Even more dangerous is Hanford's 365 tonnes of ur- anium An its core, compared from tonnes at Chernobyl. An older reactor, Hanford has been plagued with fail- ures. It is located on an earthquake fault and has had many spills and two known mini-meltdowns. It is run to produce plutonium for U.S. nuclear weapons, and should be shut down. “Experts” who work for the nuclear industry assure us that there are a “billion-to- one” odds of a serious at cident occurring. The fact is, aan, thus elilminating it the need to carry insurance. These and other issues relating to peace, justice, and the environment are being explored regionally at the Kootenay Centre for a Sus tainable Future, and will also be the focus of a 10-day summer school called Chang- ing our Ways of Thinking at David Thompson University Centre from July 21 to Aug. 1. Nelson NOW OPEN KOOTENAY CASH & CARRY Warehouse Food Store academic excellence for students ‘going into Grade 7 is unmatched in the school district. The school is our community and the board has no right to take that away from us. Pass Creek * case lots * bulk food © * cheese * frozen food gallon size » juice * produce it sales 705 Railway Street, Location: . Nelson (Across trom Whitewater motors) Look for our Big Sign! Store Mgr. Rich Oyler Phone 362-1975 HOUSE WEEKEND Today ——June 8 ——Today This weekend, CENTURY 21 is making a to hold as many Open Hi a special effort “— many price ranges as possible. looking for a new home, po agherser apa: or it, open your eyes tothe 1446 Highland Dr. (Mary Wade And =" 3605 Southridge Dr. (Theresa Wilson) 904 - 27th St. (Glen Wilson) M0! NTAINVIEW AGENCIES LTD. Thanks a lot shoplifters Editor, Castlegar News: I just want to add to a shoplifter's thrill of being sneakie and skillful. Sure, most people have tried it, and some are more successful than others. Let me give a brief outline of the basic shoplifting proc. edure. The shop attendant is busy in another part of the shop, it's just the shoplifter and the stock. The shoplifter zeroes in on an item, no one is looking so he/she slips the item in his/her pocket. If he/she feels guilty he/she takes another item to the checkstand and pays for it By doing this he/she has relieved some of the attend. ant’s suspicion and also the shoplifter's guilt. Now the shoplifter has walked out of the store and his/her mission is completed and successful. No one will ever trace the missing items to him/her. Congratulations! Does it make the shoplifter feel good knowing he/she pulled the wool over the shop attend- ant’s eyes? Now let's take a look back at that shop. Management takes inventory each week and notices numerous items missing. They let it ride as he/she knows some people é 10 do. when mee wen un Soreaccione ts room home with fimeshed ‘ 2 YIONV_JOVM AXVW rmce os 3111 ome 8-780 Contry 2 Mountenview Agen WARY _ WADE ANDERSON MARY WADE ANDERSON Silhouette Suntan Studio tocated in Rose's Boutique take anything when the opportunity is open. Shopkeepers lose thous- ands of dollars each year to shoplifters. This usually comes out of the manage ment's pocket. This then leaves him/her suspicious of all customers. Eventually they also be- come suspicous of staff; someone is going to be blamed for the shoplifter's hard work. I realize times are tough Abortion Editor, Castlegar News: Recently I came across information I thought would be of interest to many others. A recently published study has provided evidence of something we have long believed — that there are long-term after effects on women who have abortions. Dr. Anne Catherine Speck- hard, a PhD at the Univ. ersity of Minnesota, recently published a study of the long-term (five-to 10-year) manifestations of stress from abortion. Although the wo men she studied came from diverse backgrounds, their reactions were amazingly similar. Eight-one per cent rep but thanks to shoplifters, there is one more person on the unemployment list. In closing, I would like to congratulate and thank the shoplifters of Castlegar from the bottom of my derriere for making me one of the 25 per cent unemployed in Castle. gar. To my employer, you pointed your finger at the wrong person. R. McCreight Castlegar statistics orted preoccupation with the aborted child: 73 per cent reported flashbacks of the abortion experience; 69 per cent reported feelings of “eraziness” after the abort. ion; 54 per cent recalled nightmares related to the abortion; 35 per cent had perceived visitations from the aborted child; and 23 per cent reported hallucinations related to the abortion. Although 72 per cent said they held no religious beliefs at the time of their abortion, 96 per cent in retrospect regarded abortion as the taking of life — as murder. Gladys Lewis Open Sundays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Prices effective Sun., Mon., Tues. & Wed. 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