Change in attitude Cal Ben In the three weeks the Evans's deteion to remove. the containers were in place, the post. ottice and K West MP Bob sial open mail from the post office's front counter is a good example of the tremen- dous change in Canada Post's at- titude since becoming a Crown corporation. There was a time when com- plaints and criticisms of the post office fell on deat ears. Too often, if Vancouver or Ottawa made a decision Castlegar and other small communities across the country would be forced to tollow Happily, that's changed. 11 was clear that the open con- tainers simply were unacceptable to many Castlegar postal Brisco received from eight to 10 complaints. Mr. Evans was right in n sovine that it didn't matter wh system was safe or not. the customers obviously felt the con- tainers were not safe, and in the old maxim of the business world, the customer is always right. The local post office has shown a willingness to follow that old maxim, despite what apparen- tly works in Vancouver and elsewhere. It's nice to see Canada Post able to respond to individual community needs and it's hoped it is a reflection of things to come. They're onto something Selkirk College Faculty Association may be onto something. Association represen- tative Margoret Nickle recently suggested that the college board and administration adopt a higher protile in a bid to encourage the provincial government to place a higher priority on post-secondary education. Presumably, thot means in- creased funding, especially for tinancially-strapped community colleges like Selkirk College. The Castlegar News has thoroughly reported on the college's budget woes. The college faces an $810,000 shorttall next year if no new programs are ap- proved. And even if all the proposed programs are gi the green light, the college will still come up $200,000 to $300,000 short. The numbers on their own may not mean much, but if the college budget is reduced by $300,000 next year, it will translate into significant revamping of programs and courses affecting local students. (A recent survey showed that 9% of the Castl School District chose Selkirk College for their first year of post- secondary education in 1983-84, while only 38 chose other post- secondary schools like UBC and BCIT.) Meanwhile, the province's three universities, though also hit by the restraint measures, appear to have escaped somewhat less worse for the wear than the com- munity colleges. Part of that may have to do with the universities’ tactics in fighting the restraint measures The three university ad ministrations have been very vocal in their opposition to funding cut backs. Perhaps, it is time for Selkirk College to take up a similar stance and point out the fact that the universities have emerged better off than the community colleges money above the love and concerns of mankind and was in sharp contrast to his clerk Bob Cratehet and his family who were gentle loving haj souls. This kind of screwed wp thigking will soon be casting Mussolini making Cab- bage Patch dolls and Hitler fondling Strawberry Shorteake toys. T realize that we have become cynical afd materialistic in the year 1984, but surely we should be thinking of the greatest gifts of all — peace and love for all peoples of this world and es pecially at Christmas time. To quote the words of the Christmas Carol: man. kind is our business. Merry Christmas to you and your staff. Pat Romaine Castlegar elderly people who are unable to secure themselves. * © 6 Last Sunday evening the Russian scheduled to commence. ._ 8 @ Trail's Cominco Arena was officially opened on Tuesday night, marking another milestone in the sports history of Trail. The old Trail rink was built in 1912 and was originally intended to serve as curling rink won the McDonald Briar in 1947-48, which is emblematic of Can- adian supr y. The Trail Figure Response to editorials Editor, Cagtlegar News: I wish to respond to your editorials of Sept. 12 and 23 concerning planning for Tranquille residents. This government believes strongly in the integration of our mentally retarded citizens into the communities. This is why, in spite of limited monies and reduced revenue, we allocated i staff and millions of addi- Fred Merriman Several years ago I happened upon a pack of mongrel dogs which had backed a small boy against a fence. The frightened lad was crying and calling for help. “Sir Lancelot” scattered the mutts with stones and discouraging words and saw the little guy to his home some few blocks away. The thought stays with me — who served as masters to those unfor tunate beasts? Why do they run in packs like that? Sometime after that incident, a niece and | were hiking along an old mining road in the Silver King area south of Nelson when a pair of un tagged German shepherds suddenly emerged from the bush onto the roadway perhaps 50 paces ahead The animals had apparently not detected the human presence be cause they appeared as surprised as we. This writer has come across cougar, bear, moose and even rat tlesnake in various sojourns off the beaten track. Those dogs were menacing The male shepherd. in my mind, decided against attack perhaps be cause of the knife at my hip or more likely because more than one human was present. They left soundlessly Though much younger and more aan now, I was apprehensive at the real possibility of fighting off two wild German shepherds. This writer has been bitten twice by canines. More than one has felt the heel of my shoe swinging back from the bicycle pedal in the famous paper boy salute. Finally, many a Tuesday morning in beautiful, Blueberry Creek will find a number of good citizens re trieving garbage scattered by mar ing. sen , family pete. The “oh no's” and muttered curses for themselves. Now for the filp side: Our family has three children, two dogs. a cat named Samantha, a guinea pig, two budgies, and a few salt water fish We qualify as pet lovers. But there are at least two citizens in this area who are not pet lovers. More particularly, they see dogs as pests which should be exterminated in the same manner as rodents or termites. It's sad. One of these citizens lives in Rob- son. The other lives on or near Mill Street in Nelson. One of our dogs became a vietim, though not fatally so, of the Mill Street avenger. Dr Croxall of Nelgon was able to save “Butch,” for whieh our entire family is grateful. As a follow-up to the incident, Det. Jerry Myers of the Nelson City Police kindly offered his time in an interview. The detective explained that Section 406(c) of the Criminal Code of Canada declares that “poisoning a domestic animal or pet” is a summary conviction offence. In layman's language it means the of. fender will be fined. He does not risk time in prison. The Mill Street marauder has eliminated more than 50 dogs in 36 square blocks around Latimer and Mill in Nelson. The fine for allowing dogs to run unattended may reach $500 and should the dog be taken into custody, impoundment fees are $50 a day. Worse yet, in the Mill Street area of Nelson there is a 90 per cent chance that your family friend will lose his life over the freedom to run free for a few minutes. In the mean. time, dear sir, we see your point, but wholeheartedly disagree with your method of proving it It would be just as effective and far less destructive to call the SPCA and let the owners suffer with a $500 fine for allowing the dogs to run free and unattended. I wonder, also, if we should give the oldtimer a heart stealing puppy for Christmas. tional dollars this year to develop a range of community and support ser- vices so that we could move residents to Tranquille. We have been successful in ar ranging placements for the majority of Tranquille residents within their own communities. Unfortunately, a few of the residents required more care than could be provided in this way. Some individuals are completely de- pendent on professional staff for their daily living requirements. My ministry will only approve their placement in community homes when, in the opinion of health professionals, it is safe to do 80. As far as planning and communica. tion go, it has been extensive. A total of 32 additional staff were assigned to the project including social workers and psychologists. Initially, research was carried out CatNews Eater, Castlegar News: CaéiNews story in the Fons 25 1,000 mourn Sorokin's déa\ In this community, with its high concentration of Doukhobors, it is shocking to realize just how biased, poorly informed, under-researched and sloppy the Castlegar News has become about reporting Doukhobor affairs. GRACE McCARTHY . detends Tranquille with other provinces and states to de termine what worked and what did not work with similar projects. For ex ample, it was determined that there was a need for professional support services in communities where resi- idents would be moving. My ministry is funding these pro- fessional support teams as well as solid tesidential and day program resources, society developers, training programs and start-up costs. ‘biased’ an nudity originated long before the arrival of Sorokin in 1950. Many meetings have taken place in every region with parents, staff, care- ~givers and associations to ensure co- operation and sharing of expertise of all those involved. Press releases have been issued from my office, both initial and update, to keep concerned families, associations, and public informed on planning stages. Numerous contacts have been made with families or relatives to obtain input on their feelings concerning placement and, in the majority of cases, we have met their expectations. I have noted the statement in your editorial that 31 pieces of mail to me concerning this matter were not acknowledged. I have received hun dreds of letters related to this issue and I answer each one of them. Some responses were delayed as I was waiting for the results of reassess- ments of residents, but all are res- ponded to. I want to assure your readers that we will continue to work very hard, in co-operation with families, local soci eties and caregivers, to ensure the best possible community placement for each individual resident. objectively recognize and acknowledge the true course of events. Even the Toronto Globe and Mail and the The amongst D are not a result of rivalry or feuds amongst themselves, as your story states. Doukhobors were deliberately separated by Verigin leaders, dating as far back as Peter “Lordly” Verigin in 1911 Your constant misrep: ion and distortion of facts pertaining to Douk He cémpared the Doukh to an army fighting a holy war. This army hobors perpetuates between the Doukhobor and non Douk- hobor population. This particular story (as have past stories) left your readers with the er. roneous impression that Stefan Soro- kin was leader of the Sons of Freedom. In actual fact, he was Spiritual Pastor of the Christian Community and Brotherhood of Reformed Doukhobors. Sorokin's influence was responsible for bringing peace to the Kootenays, by reforming the majority of the Sons of Freedom. John Verigin was, and is, the hereditary, material leader to the Sons of Freedom. Your story states that the bombings, arson and nude were the result of a feud between the Orthodox led by John Verigin and the Sons of Anyone who has been around this area as long as the Castlegar News has, was d of three main divisions: The Sons of Freedom were the advance guard: the Orthodox, the troops; and the Independents, the rear guard. Though there were three divisions, the army was still one body with a common cause. These divisions were more clearly defined and used by Peter “Chistiakov™ Verigin during his leadership from 1927-1939 and were perpetuated under the idadership of John Verigin. Dig into your own news files from 1930-1960. You will learn that the fires and bomb- ings were at a peak and overflowed into the 50s. Your paper has constantly per. petuated the Orthodox myth that the blame for the depredations should be placed on Sorokin. The funeral of this aroma man is hardly the time to S Review are more accurately informed than you. I trust that futther published com ments or statements about Doukho- bors will be more carefully researched and written to avoid heaping more shame and loss of credibility upon your publication. Sam Keakin Crescent Valley Please address all Letters to the Editor to: The Castlegar News, P.O.Box 3007, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4, or deliver them to our office at: 197 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar, B.C. Letters must be signed and include the writer's full name.and address. Only in very exceptional cases will Fight to-edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality and grammar. Skating club has also raised champions in the old Trail rink. At the present time, members of this progressive club hold three of the four Western Canadian dance championships. 25 YEARS AGO From the Dee. 3, 1959 If your TV set starts to don't Put out the flames with wa' Commissioner George told council Tuesday night that the first TV fire in Castlegar occurred about mid- night Saturday in the home of a fireman. The fireman took his set outside and put a blanket over it until firemen arrived with dry chemicals to put out the blaze. Carr warned that water on a TV fire will make matters worse since it may cause an explosion. . 8 6 Nominations for officers for the local branch of the Canadian Legion were held Tuesday night with all positions being filled by acclamation. Jas Leckie is president, Floyd Bacon is first vice-president and Pete Ewart Castlegar The federal government's regional development program is creating new employment four times as fast as it did in 1968. This is shown by figures released by the Hon. Jean Marchand, minister of regional economic expansion. Se far this year — from January to mid-November — Mr. Marehand’s de- partment has approved 278 develop- ment incentives for firms intending to establish new plants or expand in the slow-growth regions of Canada. ._ 28 8 Bob Pakula was named Kinnaird's fireman of the year Saturday evening at the 14th annual firemen's banquet held at the Hi Arrow Arms. Mr. Pakula was presented the Silver Line trophy by fire chief Rene Archambault as well as a gift from the Town of Kinnaird by Mayor Cari Loeblich. 7 2 8 Castlegar council Tuesday night authorized the fire department to go outside of town limits when requested to by the the civil defence organization. The request would only be made for major disasters such as a gas break or a Castlegar News The junetion of Celgar Road and the CenGel eewesil rend fl bo the se ot « valve-turning ceremony m pulp mill's water intake at the base of the Hugh Keenleyside dam. incumbent upon me to repeat (that). . . in my answers here in the Senate.” eas Liberals have 73 of the 104 seats to 21 Conservatives, independents one independent Liberal, three vatancies. and five Senate answers to questions in recent years have been marked by their worthwhile detail since invariably they have to be referred to the staffs of ministers from the Commons and provided at more length than is permitted in Commons replies to oral questions. PRIVACY CHERISHED What is widely perceived rightly or wrongly as a is mania about secrecy in the under the onslaught. as four cabinet ministers there to make up for the lack of any Liberal MPs west of Winnipeg. Now only Roblin can handle the questions the Liberals throw at him and he has been skating furiously “I just do not know everything,” Roblin said in some exasperation last week. “There are many things that | shall have to ask about.” He also argued over Liberal protests information is in the public domain, it is really not “that when the Department of the Solicitor General. ibe has worked for the British Columbia government on loan, is a former military man and was a security spook around Ottawa in his day, Another was Donald Tansley, one of the Saskatche- in Ottawa in the 1960s, including Al Johnson, a former head of the CBC, and Tom wan “mafia” who arrived hened by the reaction of one of the 40 chiefs of staff appointed to the cabinet ministers. Jean Carol Pelletier fills that new position with Agriculture Minister John Wise and he isn't anxious to let the public in on just who he is. He told Frank Howard, the Ottawa Citizen's columnist on the public service, that he has as much right to privacy in his new job as if he was working for Canada Packers. Howard has been trying to put together bidgfapbies on the people in the new chief of staff positions; whieh pay up to $80,000 a year, and he is inviting people who know something about Jean Carol Pelletier to get in touch with him. Some have, Howard reports. BOURNE HONORED Gov. Gen. Jeanne Sauve handed out Senior Officer Retirement Certificates to 14 old bureaucratic hands this week, some more notable than others. librarian, was another. PICTURE PERFECT Brian Mulroney has hired a personal photographer, a post created by Trudeau on grounds that pictures help provide a fuller documentary for history of a prime minister’s term in office. Succeeding Robert Cooper is Peter Bregg, 36, a prize-winning news photographer who began with the Ottawa bureau of The Canadian Press, worked briefly for the Ottawa Citizen and then for the A Boston and Washington He returned to CP’s Ottawa bureau several years ago as senior photographer and there are few areas of the world he hasn't seen. who went on to become federal deputy finance minister. Transley is a former deputy minister of fisheries and oceans and was administrator of the Anti- Inflation Board established in 1975 for three years. Joseph Jean-Guy Sylvestre, long the national Tues. Dec. 25 Closed d Press in Local woman died Margaret Bystrom, 77, of Castlegar died Nov. 30 at the Trail Regional Hospital. Mrs. Bystrom was born Nov. 12, 1916 at Cleveland, Ohio, and travelled to Hun- gary in 1920, living there for nine years before moving to Nelson. In 1987 she moved to Trail and married Nils Bystrom. They moved to Castlegar in 1940, and had lived there since. Mrs. Bystrom is survived by husband Nils, son Ray, daughter Loreen Burdett, grandchildren Kim Burdett of Castlegar and Terry Suth i, great-grandson. She is also survived by two brothers, Bill Horvath of Castlegar, and Jim Horvath of Victoria, and a sister, Bette Esopenko. She was predeceased by grandson Guy Burdett Mrs. Bystrom was a char. ter member of the Ladies Auxiliary No. 480. In lieu of flowers, dona. tions may be made to the CAT Scanner fund at the Trail Regional Hospital Funeral will take place at Castlegar Presbyterian Church Wednesday at 11 a.m Eight students reach the top By CasNews Staff Eight Mt. Sentinel Sec ondary Students were placed on the principal's list, as a result of their academic achievement in the first half of the school’s semester Grade 7 students David Velisek, Delphi Hoodicoff, Suzanne Hodges, Grade 8 students Clinton Swanson, Zoey Lewis, Grade 9 student Lorraine Argatoff, Grade 10 student Tara Spangler and Grade 11 student Dan Tar asoff all achieved a Grade point average of 4.5 or better to be placed on the principal's list Twelve students were named to the honors list. Students who achieve a 4.0 GPA are placed on this list Honor students are: Lara Podmorow, Holly Pommier, Darren Zarubin and Jason Letkemann in Grade 7; Al Jury in Grade 8; Steve Sap riken in Grade 9; Joshua Powell and Jesse Cowern in Grade 10; Simon Carr in Grade 11; and Sheila Kaba toff, Gail Obara and Nadine Plotnikoff in Grade 12. Court news Ronald Coe was fined $100 this week in Castlegar pro vincial court after pleading guilty to @nsuming liquor ir a public place. Mark Perry was put on one month probation, and will perform 16 hours of com munity service work after pleading guilty to theft . . After pleading guilty to causing a public disturbance, Gerald Nichvalodoff was put on three months’ probation and ordered to perform 24 hours of community service work = _V7 MANUFACTURERS Rotary Club sells trees By J.A. CHARTERS The Castlegar Rotary Club will be selling Christmas trees again this year. At Tuesday's dinner meet. ing, Christmas Tree Com. mittee chairman Jack Cher. noff announced that the trees had just arrived and that through the generosity of the West Kootenay Power and Light Co. they would be sold again from the company's vehicle storage lot on Colum. bia AVe. Trees will go on sale start ing Dec. 7, though early pur. chases may be made at Trowelex, Arrow Building Supply or Castle Tire. The price will again be $1 a foot and all proceeds go to local community projects. Grant Parnel, chairman for the Rotary Annual Smoker Committee, reported that the smoker last week brought in more than $1,500 which will also be used for local com munity projects. Winners of the progressive draw were Bruce Charters with $100 and Alex Chevel- dave with $800. Some 25 others won $30 apiece. During the meeting, a letter from Ruth Henderson, last year’s Rotary Exchange student from New Zealand, was passed around among the members. it read: “I got your letter parcel today. To say I was delighted, would be the un derstatement of the year.” It was springtime in New Zealand, and she was writing her university exams and training as one of the mem- bers of the top girls’ rowing team. She said she missed her “other home and friends” and would enjoy getting a letter. Her family has moved and the new address is 128 Knights Road, Rothesay Bay, Aukland 10, New Zealand. This year, the club has two exchange students — Florian Reinhardt of Brazil and Kar! Parmann of Norway. Both students are attending class es at Stanley Humphries Secondary School Meanwhile, two Castlegar students Julie Higgins and Chris Bullock — are attend. ing high schools in Japan and Norway, respectively. The student exchange pro- gram is another of the Rotary International programs by which the club hopes to es- tablish peace and under- standing between nations. ‘The young men and women spend a year in the host country billeting with host families, attending their sec- ondary schools, learning the host country’s language and culture and giving talks about their own. ARE YOU RENTING? Do you realize with CREATIVE FINANCING You may be able to afford your own home! GIVE ME A CALL AND I'LL BE HAPPY TO SHOW YOU HOW TO MAKE YOUR DREAM COME TRUE. INRS @ BLOCK BROS. NATIONAL REAL ESTATE SERVICE Paul P. Postnikoff bus. 365-3347, res. 365-2623 Western Sesteoters | ine 1444 Columbia A\ Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3K3 Sponsored by: Castlegar Downtown Business Association and Regional Recreation Commission No. | no iis it work pe a Saturday, Dec. 8 Arena Complex Hall Up to 7 years No Charge! PRE-GRAND OPENING ALE! Have your new kitchen installed before Christmas! FREE besion service Call Collect — 365-3110 2228 - 6th Ave., Come visit Santa and his wife and share cookies and milk in his house. Talk with Santa, enjoy games and receive a treat! PICTURES AVAILABLE $3.00 als CARTOONS Free Movie for Kids! Seturdey, Decemberé 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.