Saturday, December 12,1992 @ TheFARSIDE By Gary Larson 0000... This not be cheap. } D\ cores tn ame a sa CS Early plumbers PolicceBEAT NEWS STAFF Patrick Rogers of Trail was charged with disobeying a stop sign Dec. 7 after causing a four-vehicle accident. Rogers failed to stop at the sign and collided with Peter Dahl of Castlegar. He then struck a parked vehicle which was pushed into another car. There were no injuries and damage is estimated at $5,000. Lucio Donofrio, 25, of Castlegar was charged with reversing when unsafe to do so after he backed out of a drive- way and struck a car driven by Edward Adshead, 42, of Castlegar Dec. 7. There were no injuries and some $2,500 damage was sus- tained by the vehicles. eee Barrie Perepolkin, 35, of Castlegar was driving a Ryder truck when he hit a sign Dec. 7 while pulling in to the Wood- land Park Shell. Damage is estimated at $4,400 and no charges are be- ing contemplated at this time. eee Leslie Wilson, 25, of Castle- gar was charged with driving too fast for road and weather conditions after she lost con- trol of her vehicle Dec. 7. Wilson struck a car driven by Harold Freer, 78, of Grand Forks and injured two of the occupants. Both injured peo- ple were taken to Castlegar and District Hospital. Dam- age to the vehicles is some $5,000. eee No charges are. being con- templated after Geoffrey Bragg, 45, of Castlegar struck the rear of Castlegar’s 38-year old Elizabeth Antignani’s ve- hicle as she attempted to stop Dec. 8. Road conditions are be- lieved to have caused the acci- dent. There was some $2,100 total damage and no charges are planned. eee John Chang, 37, of Castle- gar lost control of his vehicle on Arrow Lakes Drive, crossed the oncoming lane and went down a 40 foot bank hitting a tree Dec. 9.The accident is be- lieved to be caused by road and weather conditions. No charges are planned at this time. There were no injuries and damage is estimated at $4,000. COMMUNITY ROBSON RECREATION NEW YEARS DANCE 9 P.M. - 1 A.M., $15 per person. Reservations only. Robson Hall. Music by D.J. Midnight supper. 365-5860. 4/99 More thefts mar Castlegar Corinne Jackson NEWS REPORTER Add two more incidents to the growing list of recent ‘thefts in C The Marlane Hotel had $900 in loonies stashed in an empty whisky bottle stolen from the bar area Dec. 6. As well, $1,500 worth of insula- tion was taken from the Pope and Talbot site some time on Dec. 8 or Dec. 9. Neither the loonies nor the insulation have been returned and there are no apapets, Castlegar RCMP Cpl. Al Brown said Thursday. Brown said police do not suspect the two thefts are re- lated or connected to the six break and enters that have oc- curred since Nov. 30. “(Thefts) increase at this time of year and so do break- ins,” he said. Brown said that the rash of crimes can be stopped with the help of the public. “If businesses assure that everything is locked up before they leave then they’ve taken every protection they can and it’s up to (police and the pub- lic). And we can stop it,” he said. Brown said if people see suspicious behavior they should contact the RCMP. CounterAttack crackdown nets results NEWS STAFF Castlegar RCMP are beefing up their forces for the Christmas CounterAttack campaign this weekend. After the campaign had been in effect two days, 200 vehicles were checked and three 24- hour suspensions were issued. Cpl. Al Brown said more police will be on duty this weekend to counter the increased number of people on the roads. “On weekends we try and get the auxiliary out,” he said Thursday. Although there may be more police officers patrolling on weekends, Brown said he does not expect many arrests to be made during the campaign. “Signs indicate so far that people are obey- ing the laws,” he said. “So far it’s gone well. “There have been “no impaired charges as a result of counterattack,” Brown said, pointing to the effectiveness of the program. The CounterAttack campaign runs until Jan. 3, 1993. COMMUNITY CAROL SERVICE Castle Theatre, December 20, 2 p.m 3/98 Coming events of Castlegar and District non-profit organizations may be listed here. The first 15 words are $5 and additional words are 30¢ each Boldfaced words (which must be used for headings) count as two words. There is no extra charge for a second insertion while the third consecutive insertion is half-price and the fourth and fifth consecutive insertions are only half price for the two of them. Minimum charge is $5 (whether ad is for one, two or three times). Deadlines are 5 p.m. Wednesdays for Saturday's and 5 p.m. Monday for Wednesday's paper. Notices should be Fx to the Castlegar News at 197 Columbia Ave OMMUNITY to HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY RODNEY, DEC. 17 Love from Grandma & Grandpa Verigin HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY LARA PEREPOLKIN From her girlfriends HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY BRIAN RICHARDS, DEC. 9 Love from Mom, Dad & Keenan HAPPY BIRTHDAY RODNEY VERIGIN, DEC. 17 From Great-grandpa Cheveldave HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY JOSHUA LAMONT, DEC. 19 From Grandma & Grandpa Lamont HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY RYAN COLVILLE, DEC. 13 Love from your family HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY KERRY ANTIGNANI, DEC. 13 From Baba & Dada THIS WEEK'S WINNER IS INDICATED BY THE DAIRY QUEEN LOGO. Phone in your birthday wish or drop by the Castlegar News office. We will print it free of charge. All birthday greetings must be in by 10:00 a.m. Thursday for our Saturday paper. Our phone number is 365-7266. Pick Up Your Royal Treat At The Castlegar Dairy Queen. Dairy Queen WE TREAT YOU RIGHT’ FULL MEAL DEAL Sundae, Soft Drink, Fries & Single Burger ...... Included Give a Gift in Good Taste $1 and $5 Gift Certificates PHONE OR TAKE-OUT ORDERS OUR SPECIALTY CASTLEAIRD PLAZA CASTLEGAR 365-5522 (OTEATS COOL/REATS Christmas Coke Glass hrazier. @ Saturday, December 12, 1992 3a SecondFRONT CALL THE NEWS @General inquiries 365-7266 OUR HOURS The News is located at 197 Columbia Ave. Our office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on weekends and Statutory holidays SUB RATES The. News is published by Castle News Ltd. for Canwest Publishers Ltd. Mail subscription rate to The News is $37.50 per year. The price on newsstands is 75¢ for each edition The price delivered by newspaper carrier for both editions is only 90¢ a week (collected monthly). GST extra. Second class mail registration number 0019. PT set for $9.5 million overhau Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER Plans to upgrade Pope and Talbot have been given the green light. Anews release from the Castlegar sawmill Thursday states the plans are estimated to cost $9.5 million. PT’s resident manager Bob Coutts said it’s hard to tell how many construction jobs will be created by the upgrade, but estimated it to be somewhere between 20 and 25 positions. As for permanent jobs, Coutts said staff numbers will remain status quo. “Because of the modernization, there will not be a reduction or increase in the number of jobs,” Coutts said. The capital expenditure was approved by PT’s board of directors. Coutts would not dis- close how much extra revenue the company is hoping for by going ahead with the plans. “What I will tell you is that to spend that amount of money the job has to pay for itself,” Coutts said. “This is a more higher technology than what we have at the present time,” he said. “The equipment is not new to the company but it is new to this operation.” Coutts said similar log and lumber handling equipment is already being used at the Midway operations, although the Castlegar equipment is much larger. “We know what we’re getting out of it. We’re not going in blind.” Coutts said some benefits will include an im- provement of lumber recovery. Essentially the company will get more product and boards from the same number of logs. In addition, hog fuel — a waste product that has been an ongo- ing concern for PT — will be reduced by 20 per cent. The improvements come as a requirement of the transfer of Westar Timber Ltd.’s Tree Farm Licence No. 23 to PT in April. The modernization plans for the local sawmill are just the beginning. Coutts said fur- ther upgrading is expected, and the recent an- nouncement only represents “phase one.” “This is only the first hurdle. We’re not stop- ping there,” Coutts said. Plans for phase two are in the works, and Coutts expects those to be completed sometime in 1994. He would not elaborate on the plans, only saying that any further modernization “will be substantial.” Construction of phase one is expected to be- gin March 1 next year and should take about five weeks. Coutts said the upgrade is not be- ing done to meet Celgar’s expansion deadline. “The modernization would be taking place whether we had a pulp mill next door or not.” WINTER WONDERLAND PE a die le News photo by Corinne Jackson Reanne Lecouffe and her two-year-old sister decided to have some fun in the snow while running errands for their Mom Tuesday afternoon. The two girls chose to bring the groceries home in tow by sled. Valley set to launch challenge Scott David Harrison EDITOR Zak Ackerman is crossing his fingers. The president of the Slocan Valley Concerned Citizens. Forum says his group could be filing its court petition Monday. “That’s what we’re hoping for,” he said Thursday. “We’re doing some last-minute work and we’re checking all our avenues.” The B.C Supreme Court petition is the Slocan Valley’ group’s latest challenge against the Regional District of Central Kootenay’s controversial Unsightly Premises Bylaw. Despite outcries from Valley residents, the bylaw was passed in fourth reading on Nov. 28 after receiving the approval of Municipal Affairs Minister Robin Blencoe. The bylaw prevents Area H residents from stockpiling old Ministry releases bridge bids @ Five companies vying for rights to build long-awaited Castlegar-Robson crossing NEWS STAFF The Castlegar-Robson bridge bids are in. The Transport Ministry revealed today that five companies have entered tenders to construct the long-awaited $26 million span, none of them from the Kootenays. The bids range from $14.3 to $17.2 million, with the lowest price tag coming from the Richmond-based Peter Kiewit and Sons. The second-lowest bid comes from the Langley- based Western Versatile Construction Ltd. at $14.7 million, with the third lowest bid entered by SCI Engineering Ltd. of Calgary at $14.8 million. Construction at $17.6. Craft Construction Ltd. of Winnipeg has entered its bid at $15.4 million, while the largest bid comes from the Chilliwack-based Neelco cars, building materials and other items deemed unsightly. It’s those other items that has Ackerman questioning the validity of the bylaw. “It’s getting outrageous what they can deem unsightly,” he said, pointing to a case in Castlegar where a property- All tenders are for the construction cost of the bridge only. According to the terms of the tender, the lowest bid won’t automatically be accepted. Instead, each bid will be studied to ensure it meets Transport Ministry-criteria. Contractors were given two designs to bid on during the tender process — a six-pier concrete or seven-pier steel span. No date has been given for the awarding of the tender. Completion date for the two-lane, 478-metre bridge is set for July 1994. owner was cited for uncut grass and overgrown trees. “Unsightly grass and trees... come on.” Property owners who do not comply with Bylaw 923 can face fines of up to $2,000. “What we are really saying is this process is wrong,” Ackerman said. “It’s been wrong all along and no one will admit it or stand up and challenge it.”