— - a= SS += 5m Saturday, January 9, 1993 @ aaa YALE LS, "93 Winter weather means winter preparation A fact of life in Canada is that it snows. Another fact of life is that Canadians dri- ve Cars. Unfortunately, often the two can mean trouble when mixed together. The following are some general tips to help you drive safely this winter. Prepare Your Vehicle Having a dependable vehicle is one less thing to worry about on winter roads. It pays to have your car tuned-up and “winterized”. For example: * Change to a lightweight, multi-grade oil as heavy oil thickens in cold weather, making it harder for the en- gine to turn over. « Cold weather is hard on batteries so if your battery is a few years old, check to make sure the connections are not corroded. * Safety, mileage and tread wear are all affected by improper tire pressure. Check your tire pressure often as for every 5°C the temperature drops, your tire pressure decreases by one pound. * Have the brakes checked to make sure you have equalized braking on all wheels — this eliminates pulling to one side, especially when stopping on a slippery surface. Warm Up Your Car Take time to warm your vehicle in cold weather. Clear off the ice and snow and defrost all windows. Remove any loose snow from the hood and roof to prevent snow blowing up on the windshield and piling up on the rear window as you pick up speed — it's also a courtesy to those driving behind you. . Skid Control For better traction, start out slowly and maintain an even speed; jerky stops and starts can cause skidding. Slamming on the brakes is a normal reaction in a skid situation but it's the worst thing to do. As a general rule of thumb: * turn your steering wheel slightly so your car’s wheels point in the direc- tion you want to go * take your foot off the gas slowly + de-clutch with a standard transmis- sion or shift into neutral with an au- tomatic car * apply the brakes gradually and gen- tly by squeezing the brake pedal un- til you feel it grabbing, then ease off and repeat this procedure until you have stopped. Your wheels won't lock and you'll maintain traction for steering out of the skid. Winter Coverages on Automobiles As winter approaches, many people routinely take insurance off vehicles they don't drive in winter. “If you get your auto insurance sus- pended for a vehicle you don't drive in the winter, we recommend you keep some coverages for your protection,” says Deb- orah Blewett, an auto insurance expert with The Co-operators. “Most insurers require you to keep on- ly your comprehensive coverage in force, for which there is a premium charged. Comprehensive coverage provides pro- tection against fire, theft and vandalism while the vehicle is in storage.” In Case You're Stranded It could save your life to have the fol- lowing items as part of your in-car emer- gency kit: gas line anti-freeze; flashlight; call police sign; flares; warm clothing or blankets; sand or kitty litter for traction if you get stuck; first aid kit; booster cables; shovel; tow strap, cable or chain. It also helps to keep your fuel tank at least half full — this adds weight to the rear of the vehicle and you'll be able to run the heater longer. If you do get stuck, open the car window a crack to allow fresh air in and to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. 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PROPANE SERVICE CENTER GOVERNMENT INSPECTION FACILITY CASTIFGAR LEGISLATIYy Vit TORTA BoC. serous Cae LIBRA PARL TAME] BLD Wednesday January 13, 1993 NewsFLASH di > - S is Cloudy with sunny periods, windy at times with highs near -8 degrees Celsius. @ NEWS COLUMNS Editor Scott David Harrison and Publisher Dave McCul- lough don’t agree on a lot of things. So, it shouldn't be a sur- prise that they have different opinions of the government's handling of the bridge contract. page 6 and 7 @ OUR PEOPLE Valerie Young has been hired to study the delivery of health care in the West Koote- nay. Only a few days into the job, she has already started meeting with local health offi- cials. page 9 @ LOCAL SPORTS It was good, it was bad and it was ugly, but not necessarily in that. order. The Castlegar Rebels returned home from a road trip Sunday with one win in three games — three games they should have won. page 13 2 6 7 9 Our People Local Sports 13 Action Ads 16 Calendar preview 2 Arts& Leisure preview3 Homes preview 4 Colin Legare was supposed to be out having fun learning how to cross-country ski with fellow Stanley Humphries Secondary School students last week. After falling down just once too often, Legare gave up and found refuge inside the school. News photo by Corinne Jackson Carpenters demand bridge work @ United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners looks for work from Alberta-based bridge builders Scott David Harrison EDITOR The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners want a piece of the bridge-building pie. The carpenters will hold a meeting with SCI Engineers and Contractors next Wednesday in the hopes of securing union work for union members. “At this point, I think it should be stressed that (SCI) in not a union firm and they have made no commitment to becoming a union firm” UBCJ’s Colin Snell said from Vancouver Tuesday. SCI, a Calgary-based company, was awarded the Castlegar-Robson bridge contract for $14,000,484 Thursday. The company’s non-union and out-of-province status has captured the ire of Ed Conroy. “Not only do we have a non-union company, but we will have out-of-province workers,” the Rossland-Trail MLA said. “I think we may be courting with disaster. “Maybe courting with disaster is too hard... I wouldn't want to see anything happen, but the potential is there,” Conroy said. “Workers are angry and when you get a group together that is feeling hard done by, they may express that anger.” An SCI spokesperson admitted the contractor has been union-certified for projects in the past, but he would not say if it would use that option in Castlegar. “That’s what we intend to discuss with the SCI people,” Snell said. “Our main purpose in holding these talks is to ensure that our local workers are working.” Snell said SCI and the carpenters union have worked successfully in the past. He said the two teamed up — through a sub-contractor — during the late stages of Vancouver’s massive Cassiar Connector project. “We were brought in to help because they were behind schedule,” Snell said. “We completed the project with SCI and there were no real problems.” Snell wouldn’t predict the outcome of talks between SCI and the carpenters union. Instead, he said SCI must be made aware Castlegar’s strong union roots. “I don’t know what their frame of mind will be during the negotiation, but.we will point out that Castlegar is a union town,” he said. “They area Alberta firm and I hope that they will be willing to employee our local workers.” SCI, the low bidder ahead of the Richmond-based Pete Kewiek and Sons, will construct a six-pier steel bridge. The two-lane, 478-metre crossing is expected to be complete by June 1994. CUPE, CASTLEGAR MAKE PROGRESS, PAGE 4