Economy
hits
skids

OTTAWA (CP) — The economy
fell a sharp 0.9 per cent in January
as retail and wholesale trade suffered
its worst one-month decline since
January 1976, Statistics Canada said.

The federal agency blamed the in-
troduction of the goods and services
tax for exacting a huge toll on the
service sector, which posted its

decline “since the last

recession.

“Production of services skidded
1,1 per cent im January, the largest
decline since October 1982, as
unusually large cutbacks in retail and
wholesale -trade followed the in-
troduction of the goods and services
tax," Statistics Canada said.

January's steep decline in the
economy follows a 0.2 per cent drop
im December and a revised 0.8 per
cent drop in November.

The GST sharply boosted prices
and kept consumers away from
stores in droves. %

“Retail trade plunged 5.3 per. Cent»:
in January when, with the introduc-
tion of the GST, prices on consumes
goods rose 2.9 per cent from Decem-
ber,”” Statistics Canada said.

‘That left retail trade 9.6 per cent
below its peak in December 1988.

“Items such as furniture and ap-
pliances and clothes, which had ex-
perienced a pre-GST buying surge in
December, were the hardest hit in
January,”’ the federal agency added.

In all, 14 of 18 types of stores
posted declines, with service station
operators and car dealers recording
the only substantial gains.

Ww saw their
sink 5.7 per cent in January
following a 1.7 per cent gain in
December. Sales of industrial equip-
ment, farm machinery and grain all
fell following a surge in December.

While Canadians stayed away
from stores, they weren't travelling

Variety
helps,
economist
says

KELOWNA (CP) — Tourism,
electronics, telecommunications
and computer software will help
diversify resource-dependent
British Columbia, says the chief
economist of the B.C. Central
Credit Union.

And resource industries such as
forestry, fishing and mining will
demand more highly skilled
workers in the 1990s, says
Richard Allen, who is based in
Vancouver.

“The old mega-business is sort
of dying off,’’ he says, noting the
number of people employed in
forestry alone has dropped to
90,000 from 140,000 in the last
few years.

ARROW LAKE
ELEVATION

1388.45’ on March 28
Forecast of
Elevation
1384.84’ on April 6

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Castlegar News

SPORTS

JIM LANE
An up and comer to watch
on the basketball court at
Twin Rivers elementary
school, 11-year-old Jim got
involved with the school team
for the first time this year.
“*And he’s done very well and
has really enjoyed--his ex-
perience,’’ said Twin Rivers

principal Paul Phipps.

TRIVIA

—
Detroit got an NHL fran-
chise, along with Chicago and
New York, in 1926-27 but the
club had two different names
before it became the Red
Wings in 1933-34. What were
either of those names? Hint:
Both were animal names. An-
swer at bottom of page B2.

The Castlegar Minor
Hockey Association will hold
its annual general meeting at
7 p.m. April 10 at the Com-
munity Complex.

The Midget AA Provincial
hockey ch i i kick

NOW AVAILABLE

PROFESSIONAL
TAX PREPARATION SERVICE _

—

Chuvalo was king

But glory years
just a blur today

By KEVIN McGRAN

TORONTO (CP) — George Chuvalo’s short-

Chuvalo had only 17 days to prepare.

“It's like knowing you have a date with Raquel
Welch. The more time you have to think about it, the
more excited you get about it,”’ he said.

Chuvalo went into the fight with a 34-10-2 record, a

7-1 underdog with a questionable heart. But he made the

with Ali.

cropped black hair is lined with only the smallest hint of

silver. It’s his memory that’s grey.

Friday marks the silver anniversary of the biggest
fight in the former Canadian heavyweight's career — a

critics eat crow, becoming the first to go the distance

“George Chuvalo could go 15 rounds with 10

15-rounder with Muhammad Ali at Maple Leaf Gar- "*e-

dens.

Ali, who by then had changed his name from
Cassius Clay, won a unanimous decision. Chuvalo won
the hearts of the international boxing community. But

‘Chuvalo can barely remember it.

“The whole thing is a blur,"” the 52-year-old said
‘Wednesday over breakfast at his favorite diner in

Toronto's west end.

“*It’s so long ago. It’s almost like I was a different

Person.

“It’s funny; sometimes I feel like a fighter,”’
Chuvalo said after finishing the poached eggs and fried
Potatoes. ‘‘But I’m a different person*now. If I had to
do it over again, though, I'd still be a fighter.””

Chuvalo, a barrel-chested puncher with high cheek-
bones, has added about 80 pounds to his fighting weight

of 210.

It was March 29, 1966, when Chuvalo got into the
ring with Ali in a hastily arranged fight. Ali was sup-
Posed to fight Ernie Terrell who pulled out because of a

contract dispute.

Muhammad Allis,’ Angelo Dundee, Ali’s long-time
trainer, said in a telephone interview from his Miami of-

“I’m grateful George didn’t jab more. He was

whacking my guy with some real good body shots. It
kept my guy off pace.”’
Ali went into a hospital after the fight, passing

blood. Chuvalo went home.

“This was my toughest fight,’’ Ali said then. ‘He
was tougher than (Floyd) Patterson, tougher than (Son-

ny? Liston and a lot tougher than Terrell."”

Jesse Abramson of the New York Herald-Tribune

wrote: ‘“‘Chuvalo deserves an apology from all who

more.””

derided him.’’ Robert Lipsyte of the New York Times
added: ‘‘It had been written here the fight wasn’t worth
30 cents. All eaters of crow agree it was worth a lot

Chuvalo would lose a 12-round decision to Ali in
Vancouver in 1972 to go along with losses to Terrell,

Patterson, George Foreman and Joe Frazier. Yet he be

concrete.’””

renowned for never having been knocked off his feet.
“George Chuvalo was one of the toughest guys
around,” Dundee said. ‘‘The guy, to me, was made of

Look to
expand
kingdom

By ED MILLS
Staff Writer

The record is clear.

Castlegar Realty rules men’s
basketball in the West Kootenay.

And rules it with an iron hand.

A week after winning the Trail
Men’s Basketball League,
Castlegar Realty added the
Nelson league title to its kingdom
Tuesday with an 81-62 win over
the Winlaw Pistons.

“It was pretty fun to be on
two Castlegar Realty teams that
had a combined record of 30-3
(this season),’’. said Brian
Turlock, who was named most
valuable player in the Trail
league. ‘We'd be hard pressed to
match that again.’’

John Ritchie scored 34 points
for Castlegar while Castlegar
Realty owner Wayne McCarthy
had 21 and Turlock had 15 in the
walk over Winlaw.

Realty rules

Turlock said’ the Pistons
“didn’t play nearly as well as
they had played against us."”

“We were 14-1 in the regular

have @ lot of size, so we just put
the ball inside all night. We
basically had our way in there."’
In an attempt to expand its
kingdom beyond the borders of
the West Kootenay, the Nelson
league Castlegar Realty team is
off to Kelowna for the B.C.
Senior Men's basketball cham-
pionships April 12-14.
McCarthy, Turlock and Toby
Reichert play for Castlegar -in

Thor-Larsen, ‘John
Cowan and Greg Larson make
up the rest of the Castlegar team
in the Nelson league while Lou”
Cicchetti, Wayne Tamelin, Len
Lippa, Brian Stevens, Joe Maura
and Bob Addison play for
Castlegar in the Trail league.

New pro swings into local links

By ED MILLS
Staff Writer

Three strokes.

Three strokes and you wouldn’t be
reading this story.

Three strokes and Steve Johnston
wouldn’t be the Castlegar and
District Golf Course’s new assistant
pro.

Three strokes and Johnson would
probably be playing on the
Australian pro tour or the Asian tour
right now.

Three strokes he will remember for
a long time.

It was by those three strokes that
Johnston missed qualifying for the
Canadian Professional Golfers tour
at a four-day event in Toronto last

off tonight with a banquet in
the badminton hall at the
Nelson Civic Centre. The

And, get this, Johnston, 24,
bogeyed five of the last seven holes
in bad weather to throw himself out
of i

theme is a celeb of the
hockey heritage of the West
Kootenay and _ features
players from the 1961 World
Champion Trail Smoke
Eaters. A limited number of
tickets are still available. Con-
tact the Civic Centre for more
information.

Golfers can say ouch now.

It hurt, no doubt about it, said the
soft-spoken Trail native, who joins
head pro Denny McArthur and four-
th-year assistant pro Kevin Biln at
the Castlegar course.

“It was an experience-all right. I
would say it was the biggest downfall
of my golf career.””
prefers not to use the

QoLF

—_—$—$—$$——

The Castlegar and District
Golf Course will conduct golf
lessons beginning April 4 for
juniors and April 1 for
adults. Six lessons for adults
cost $50 while juniors can get
five lessons for $12. Private
lessons are $30 per half hour.
For more information call the
course.

“We heard rumors that was
the best game they (Hastings)
ever played, that one in the
Winter Games, and we didn’t
play all that good either,”
said Castlegar Midgets Reps
goaltender Vaughn Welychko
about his team’s 10-1 loss to
Hastings in the B.C. Winter
Games. The two teams could
meet again in the Midget AA
Provincial hockey champion-
ship in Nelson this week.

Castlegar’s schedule the
Midget AA provincial Hockey
Tournament at the Nelson
Civic Arena:

March 31 — 3:30 p.m.

Castlegar vs. Fernie

April 1 — 9 p.m.

Castlegar vs.
House

April 2 — 9:45 a.m.

100 Mile

word choke.

“*You might want to say I choked,
but don’t put that. I was feeling the
pressure, put it that way.’’

Still, Johnston isn’t overly worried
about one round of golf at this point
in his life. Which is probably natural
for a young guy with his credentials.

A scratch handicapper, Johnston's
career to date is a manual for how to
make it as a pro — club or tour.

oe

Trail native Steve Johnston joins head pro Denny McArthur (top right) and fourth year assistant pro
Kevin Biln (bottom right) as the new assistant pro at the Castlegar Golf Course.

He played for his high school team
and competed in the B.C. Juniors in
1983, ’84 and '85, finishing second in
"8S.

He represented B.C. in the
Canadian Juniors in 1985 and placed
seventh in the B.C. Amateur as an
18-year-old that same year.

After graduating from J.L. Crowe
secondary school in Trail he went on

of Idaho where he picked up a
degree in marketing to boot.

McArthur, who is going into his
17th year at the Castlegar club, said
Johnston had everything He was
looking for.

“I wanted a local boy if possible.
And I wanted someone I knew who
would stick with it. I know Steve, so
I know golf is his main love,” said
McArthur.

a golf to the Uni y

replaced third-year

assistant pro Wayne Gamborski who
is now the head pro at the Birchbank
course in Genelle.

“I think we have a great team
here,’’ said McArthur.

Being on a team, stability, is what
Johnston was looking for

He said what happened in Toronto
is something he’s put behind him
now, almost.

“*It was something I had to give it
@ go, it was a one-shot deal. I’m in

the lifestyle I like right now. Settling
down a bit, doing something where I
can be around golf.”

And even though he came so.
close, he’s sure he doesn’t want to
try cracking the pro tour again for
awhile. Well, almost sure.

“I know I can do it and it’s out
there if I want it again. I just, I
don’t know. It’s sort of an odd
feeling. Talk to me again in a year
and a half."”

Hockey cards hardly child's play

By DAVID STAPLES
Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON (CP) — Greed is
turning the children’s hobby of bub-
ble-gum card collecting into a
crook’s delight.

Trading sports cards is one of the
fastest-growing hobbies in North
America, and counterfeiters and con
men are trying to get a share of the
massive profits to be made.

Two years ago, the card from
Wayne Gretzky's first season with
the NHL Edmonton Oilers sold for
$75. Now a mint-condition card sells
for as much as $900.

Several different forged Gretzky
first-year cards have already been
spotted in Edmonton.

“The more this hobby gets

ke:

hockey-card expert Phil Spector of
New

»
?,

P N
p>
*
enough Offence for them to spend

their time tracking it down.””

O-Pee-Chee, the London, Ont.

company that produced the original-
issue Gretzky card, has hired a
private investigator to go after a
counterfeiter producing forged 1988
Gretzky, Brett Hull, Pierre Turgeon
and Joe Niewendyk cards

In the past 10 years, trading rookie
cards has been as profitable as in-
vesting in stocks, bonds, gold, coins,
stamps and treasury bills.

With the boom, more people are
collecting, and more hockey cards
are being made.

In the "70s, two companies made
NHL card sets. Now, six companies
make them. Last year, there were
$28 hockey-player cards to collect.
This year; there are 2,588

Five years ago, no Edmonton
business dealt exclusively in sports
cards. Now the city has 15 outlets,
says Dave Bryenton, owner of Whyte
Knight Sports Cards.

But ‘he_ says crooked Edmon-
tonians € also getting in on the
hobby.

“*There are people in the city who
I'm fairly confident are dealing in
Questionable material.,"’ Bryenton

says.
Edmonton police haven't had any

SATURDAY FEATURE

complaints, says police
spokeswoman Annette Bidniak, but
if people have been defrauded, they
should contact the commercial
crimes unit.

A counterfeiting ring is rumored
to be working in Edmonton, Bryen-
ton says. The forgers use a high-
powered computer with laser scan-
ning to make Brett Hull rookie car-
ds, which sell for as much as $80.

Other counterfeits are much less
sophisticated, particularly a fake
card being sold by Richard Drink-
water of Buffalo, N.Y.

Drinkwater recently sent out a
press release trumpeting the
discovery of the ‘‘real’” Wayne Gret-
zky rookie card from Gretzky’s brief
stint with the WHA Indianapolis
Racers in 1978.

“Believe it or not,”’ the release
reads, ‘‘a limited number of cards
were found in the basement of the
former team trainer for the Racers,
Joe Smith (not an alias),

“‘Joe’s widow Wilma found these
cards as she was cleaning out her

basment in preparation for her move
to Florida.

Many of Gretzky’s fans would ap-
preciate an opportunity to collect his
‘real’ first card at a reasonable

price.

If the story was true, the cards
would be worth more than $700
each, says Scott Kelnhofer, a repor-
ter for Baseball Card. So dealers
became suspicious when Drinkwater
offered to sell 1,000 cards for $350.

But the most damning evidence is
the biographical blurb on the back of
the card.

“*It referred to Gretzky in the past
tense, as if he were no longer part of
the Racers, even though these cards
were purporting to. be issued when
Gretzky was still in Indianapolis,”

at
tempts at hoodwinking the public