A historic West anti- fact, the steam Whistle Of the stern-wheele®S,S," Mingo; was returned to’ the public Me ntin last Friddy at the ¥i Arro sented the megre long, heavy brass whistle to Castlegar and District Heritage Sogiety John Charters and Society. direc-. tor and negotiator Micheal Hoard for display on permanent loan th ee Sw Ree Ss - — the Castlegar Tyansportation. Museum. . For. ifty years the wel- come cry of that whistle was heard from Castlegar and Robson to Arrowhead (transfer point to Revelstoke and the main CPR rail line to the coast), as the leg-. endary Minto wove an undying chain of communication along the shores and communities o| the Arrow Lakes. For a brie’ time, according to local pioneer, Gilbert Fowler, she ¢ven trav- elled as far south as Trail and as far north as Revelstoke, before a spur rail line was built. _ The Old ship was more.than just the last of a fleet Of-stern, & & ‘Second phase of Submitted The second phase of a process that.cxaminey B.C. hydro’s inte grated generation and water stor ,age pperations ts now underway in. the , Columbia-Kootenay region. : Dubbed by B.C. hydro as the Electrical System Operations Review (ESOR), the process, whea completed, will identify whether there are opportunities to increase overall benefits to vari- ous regions in B.C. as well as the province as a whole. It's the first time a review of such magnitude has been undertaken since hydro was formed in 1962. values that are being examined” include: economic develo; lers on this partiof tig,’ Colpmbia River.She ks essential part-oflocal history, a" storehouse of memories for thousands of residents and visi- tors and dear friend and com- panion to hamlets and all along the lakes. © i" A brief story in the early: in distant: rail trip to the West Rob- son-dock.” it says, “walked along the’ avharf in the dark and up the Minto gangplank to our small: cabin with its ewer, basin. and. chamber pot — justas they were suggest ways to incorporate these values into future deci- sions about how the hydro sys- Castlegar and District historic whistle. which on hand to accépt the a (back row, left side). The whistle was pre Motor Inn owners Don ang Rita Lemke. half a century. ago. The hi meals, served in the old dining saloon had, fash- for a mother to. manoeuver two small childrén and humerous bun- dies down the gangplank.” = - There were manysuch simple Stops cnroute as well as calls ut larger communities but, regard- review begins for-B.C.' hydro officials met with six groups in the Columbia-Kootenay region’ involving a totq) of 80 representa- tives. The interaction, according to hydro, has beén positive. The latest round of — working ses- sions in the ESOR process will be scheduled shortly.in Valemont, - irs; Golden; Revelstoke, ‘Nakusp, Castlegar, and The overall reviéw_is-sched- uled for completion by June 30, 1994, when a final report will be made to the provincial < government. 3 ee | ae ee ar a ae ee er Lakes Drive; Tu the Sulphur & partiat derailment of-a-CP Rail train while entering the-tunne! beneath Arrow night, resulted in no injuries, ‘and luckily, no chemical spill of 4 fon Board: See page 3A for details. SUN STAFF PHOTO ‘John Van Putten ‘Castlegar City Council has been asked to go to bat fora Montrose developer who has just been thrown a. curve ball by the Ministry of Highways. Daljit and Jaspal Sandu plan to construct a 10-unit, single level project in the 2100 block of Columbia Avenuc, next to Stellar Place. Development Services Cost Ciiarges to pay a development fee of $7,800 as a contribution to future work on south system infrastructure, a hurdle was placed in front of the developers by the Ministry of Highways. The min- istry states that based on current designs, and in light of an unsound similar approach at Stellar Place, i will not accept the development as presented. The developer. who has expressed a real willingness to cooperate in all ways. says the extra housing is needed in Casile- gar, and this council should use powers fo persuade the min- istry 40 see things differently. Society part ofthe sternwheeler, the $.S. Minto. Also was Hefitage Society Director Michael Heard Manning pthonse ie without child visitors (now well 8 inted to the society by Hi Arrow SUN STAFF PHOTO Maren Kerkhott Inn for their generosit: Arusts that still oiliers,may join ‘ reasing number of 4 fed. donors s@ the and ration. of advanced adults) and rarely with- . our local history for the use of out adults. After some forty years-on the generations to come.. ) The story ends with a lake he was till young enough on _— postscript: “On August 1, 1968 this occasion to allow two chiF “(dren to. ‘steer’ the ship and to 2 giye One! verysmall girl the Opportunity 10 blow the whistle coming into Renata. The .whistle will be displayed at Galena Bay, the Minto gied, Viking style, in a flaming pyre and her rémains now’ feet below the’ surface Arrow Lake, gone, b way forgotten.” RICHARD ROWBERRY _ For The ‘ar Sun Despite the absence of a key director, the Regional District of Central Kootenay board voted Saturday at its January meeting in Nelson not to reconsider its decision to disburse more than $4,000 in B.C. hydro grants-in-licu- of-taxes through a four-direc- tor commission. . The original resolution, passed last September, gave the money to the directors or rural area D,-H, J, and K on the premise that these areas, where hydro facilities are located, suffered the most damage and deserve ‘the Despite key absentee, RDCK decides to pass out BC-hydro funds ing the board's powers, Marzari went on.to recom- | mend that “in view of ‘the existence of significant opposition, the board reconsider the matter to determine a more widely acceptable arrahgement.” - During the debate of the motion not to consider, Ken Wyllie (Area J) said that the projects for which he had allocated his share of the funds “are already underway and it would not serve the public interest” to begin the process all over again. Wyl- lie said his share will go towards financing fire halls in his area and to the Castle- gar Library. He said his The decision was vigor- ously at the time by directors Josh Smienk and Larry Brierley (areas E and A respectively). who called the process undemocratic and declared that the money amounted to a pre-election slush fund. During the election, Eric Nygren, in his campaign to unseat area H incumbent Bob Barkley, also opposed the scheme. Nygren was subse- quently elected but was unable to attend Saturday's meeting as he was Ontario on a pressing family matter. The decision came up for reconsideration following a suggestion by Municipal Affairs Minister Darlene Marzari who had been asked for an opinion on the legality of the original res- Olution. After stating thara legal opinion which the ministry obtained supperts the RDCK’s decision. with the provision that the funds be used for activitics with- were di ati- cally made through the advice of his Advisory Plan- ning Commission. An attempt by director Berukoff (Salmo) to table the motion “for one month only” in order to give Nygrena chance to have his say, was defeated. Brierley later remarked that “in the inter- ests of board unity it is unfortunate that they couldn't wait for Mr. Nygren's return.” He commented. that in cot versation with Nygren “I'did nat get the idea that he would be happy with that decision. It will be interesting to see what happeas when he returns.” Brierley added that “for me personally, on the issue of those dollars, I con- sider the matter Cinished,~ A second motions, put for- ward by Director Tom Mann\ had the funds designated for area H excluded from the disbursement process and referred back to Nygren fora finat decision. Wednesday, January 19, 1994 The Castlegar Sun Castlegar man denies JOHN BETTS For The C ar Sun A Custlogar man on trial for sexually asi@ulving ehildren took the stand in B.C. Supitenic Court Monday and flatly denied the testimony of six complainants who had told a judge and jury that he had molested them. A der Fred S rkoff, 58. i fied in his Own defence on the sixth day of his (rial ing that he “didn’t-have the heart do any of the things” he is accused of. Before putting Shmoorkoff on the stand, his lawyer Chris Hemphill warned the jury not.to prejudge his client b of the ms.of.sexual assault “know In my head I didn’t do nothing to anyone's kids.’ ~— ALEXANDER SHMOORKOFF Testifying in own defence happy. I have'not chough education,” In the witness box Shmoorkoff appeared ill at énse, frequently closing his eyes before answering questions and often not appearing to hear or understand what he was asked by both lawyers. At one pointed vexed and confused by Murray Whyte's cross ¢xamina- often “brazen” sexual acts and “acts of vio- lenge” Shmoorkoff has been charged with. Hemphill also asked jurors not to judge his client by his odd i tion Shmoorkoff asked “Sir, what are you trying to do.to me?” ff told B.C. Court Jus- tice d Cooper that it made him feel “He (Shmoorkoff) does not look like the average run-of-the-mill person. The way he i If is 1. Don't be tempted to say, ‘he sounds funny, he looks weird — he's the kind of guy who would do these things.’” Hemphill went on to suggest that his client’s unusualness may be the reason he stands charged by so many different complainants. Shmoorkoff told the court he had been married two times before his current mar- riage and has a grade three education and no trade other than experience in construction and some janitorial training. He admitted he was “scared” when his last wife had twin ters. “I knew I would not be able to provide and make them all sick to hear the allegations made against him. “Jt hurts me a lot. I don’t understand it. I know in my head I didn't do nothing to any- one's kids.” But the prosecution insisted that Shmoorkoff only chose to keep certain things in his head. After getting the accused to deny know- ing a piece of evidence until it came to = Testimony light in court testimony this week, Whyte picked away at Shmoorkoff pointing out the same evidence had come. out in the preliminary hearing a year ago at which the accused was present and therefore would have known the evidence prior to thig trial. “You have a selective memory. You remember what you want,” said Whyte. After Shmoorkoff's testimony Hemphill called upon character witnesses to testify for his client. One of the witnesses, according to would back ‘koff's con- tention that during one alleged attack on a boy behind a church in Castlegar he was asleep on a neighbour's couch. On other i he went to a restaurant while his wife was in church and that he never skulked around in bushes preying on young boys. Two engines and a car contain- Continued from 1A mond Cooper spoke briefly to the witness to make sure he ri could not understand what it meant to swear an oath the justice was satisfied the boy In the first day of proceed- ings a nine-year-old girl testi- fied that Shmoorkoff had was between telling the truth and lying. Althoygh the boy court. unsworn testimony before the to give fondled her privates on more than one occasion two years ago, The trial continues. ing Sulphuric acid on a Canadian Pacific freight train heading from Cominco partially derailed while Capital project funding down in 1994 provisional budget SHARLENE IMHOFF capital budget, it's the latter that contains the most signifi- Sun Editor cant changes over 1993. Members of the new Castlegar City process of ing their first have already passed a mandatory provisional budget allows them to work with funding until the final budget, with its possible revisions, is adopted i Council are in the 1 budget and that Capital projects in 1993 cost $4.25 million. This fig- ure has been reduced by more than half to only $2 mil- lion for 1994. There are several reasons for this, the biggest being the construction of the new RCMP build- ing, which has no bearing on the 1994 budget because it was fully expensed in 1993. As well, the new city council has yet to review any upcoming capital pro- 2eP PEEL in May. Of the three major parts of the provisional i budget: water i and exp and sewer funds; op and; the jects, such as the. fire hall, before allowing them to be included in this budget. The only f thing’ in capital projects this year is the third phase of the Down- town Revitalization Project. Sa Oe a: oo, eee fhutuiria) tax made: up hal Of the fas Loe Mat ne le ee ed This budget—Your Costs By now, most Castlegar resi- dents realize they will be paying more for water ang wastewater (DVIS 0 ahaaterland Ghiew ater-user fees. Due to increased 4 i d A Sys es collected: P Pp expenses and planned infrastruc- a ture improvements, city council raised water and wastewater rates nds substantially. As a résult, the com- charged after ‘prowling around’ A 13-year-old Robson youth has been charged with trespass at night, and escape of lawful custody after an early morning incident Jan- uary 14. The youth, who can’t be named under the Young Offenders Act, was appre- hended by the Castlegar RCMP after they received a int of a prowler in the 1400 block of Highland Drive at 12:49 am. While returning the youth to the RCMP cruiser, the bridge. The youth has been ordered to abide by @ 9 p.m. curfew and will appear in court to answer to the charges March 16. » Aral, LOVES singe the city’smaint ining) bined collection of north and south rates for water and wastewater in 1994 will increase to $926,388. Residents can expect increases to continue into 1995 and upgrading pi these sertices ha ingreased Substantially. But the biggest taxation increase will be felt by those paying for the Downtown Revitalization Pro- ject—downtown business property owners. In 1993 the city collected $12,000 in taxes for the project, and in 1994 that number will rise to $69,000. Duff accepts position on new health building committee SHARLENE IMHOFF - Sun Editor CKRHD Chair John Voykin, places Duff on a board along Castlegar's representative at the Regional District level has accepted an appointment to sit on a new committee that will plan the development of the recently announced new health centre in Castlegar. City Councillor Kirk Duff with g and health care representatives who will begin discussions on plans for the building itself; the equipment to be housed inside and; the financing of such a health centre. “There hasn't been any meeting yet. This is all very received the app dur- ing a recent meeting of the Central Kootenay Regional P y.” said Duff. Provincial Health Minister Paul Ramsey announced the Hospital District (CKRHD). The appointment, made by new health centre earlier in December, stating it was highly needed, and would bring together a better co- ordination of resources and health care’ for those in Castlegar and the surround- ing area. Early projections state the facility design alone could cost between $2 million and $3 million. At this time, the Regional District has been requested to pick up 20 per cent of the -cost, though no funding deci- sion has been yet by reg 1 at approximately 6:30 p.m., Castlegar Fire Chief Gerry Rem- of wheels that had skipped the tracks for a reason that is current- ly unknown. Since the accident occurred just as The Castlegar Sun was going to press; there was limited information at the time. School District adopting policy KAREN KERKHOFF ; Sun Staff ‘At the monthly school board mécting }held January «17 School District No. 9 trustees voted in favor of adopting a crisis policy. S.D. No. 9 Superintendent Everette Surgenor, said the move to adopt the policy was such as environmental spills and the emergence of armed i on school properties. “We need to look at the ways schools are organized and be sure we have safe schools for our students now that other issues have surfaced 1m our society.” Surgenor said the move to adopt the policy is a pro- active strategy, not one based on a current need..As well, grief counselling will be offered and the crisis plan will dovetail with the Castle- gar Municipal plan. Each school will have a crisis team which will consist directors. of the pri 1, y and support and professional staff bers who will then hold Man answers to A 30-year-old Castlegar man will appear in court March 16 to answer to charges of impaired driv- ing after an accident January 14, = Genesis Continued from 1A can’t affect what they do. It was a stupid, asi- nine thing to do. The decision was made on their own time and in their own space. These d, nor can we monitor them 24-hours-a-day.” But Castlegar resident, Erica Gregory, who lives in the same vicinity as the group resi- dence, said she and other residents were assured during a meeting with Genesis Pro- gram officials last September that any crimi- nal actions by the residents wouldn't be tolerated by Genesis officials. “One of the things we were told was that if. there was any sort of dealing with the law they would be out of the y crim- inal charges or anything on their time off. The neighbors were assured they would not bea m." When questioned this week about other information The Castlegar Sun received regarding an unpublicized thefi in which no charges were laid, McLeod verified that two Genesis Program participants had been fired The two occurred on Highway 3, about 20 kilometres west of Castlegar when the vehicle the impaired a semi-tractor trailer. There were no injuries reported, however. jotal damage to the two vehicles has been estimated at $17,000. for ling items from the Castlegar Her- itage Society while workigg at the Railway Museum. But McLeod also downplayed the tion as best as we could under the circum- stances. Industrial theft happens all the time.” Castlegar Heritage Society Coordinator twice with theft in just over a week, McLeod still continues to defend the validity of the and the i Debbie th refused to specif- ically on the theft, however, she did verify that a contract with the Genesis Program was prematurely terminated. “[Participants) from the Genesis Program did work with us, but the contract was termi- nated due to lack of supervision.” When asked specifically how many men in the program were past offenders of the law, McLeod refused to comment, stressing that a criminal record was not a pre-requisite for entry into the program. nor did it have any bearing on the present situation. “Even if they had a crimi- nal record they would still be in the community whether the program existed or not.” MeLeod denies previous allegations made in September by concerned neighborhood residents that the cight men in the program are “offenders”, and not from the Castlegar area. In fact, she said four residents are from Castlegar. two from Nelson, and one from Creston. The criterigfor entering the pro- gram, said McLeod. & the men were on “some kind of social assistance”, and not that they were offenders Even though the unnamed man involved in this most recent incident will be charged *s Tight to aol but these young men could rent this house under any circumstances. We can't let them go, they haven't done anything in regards to the house or program. If on your own time away from work you did something stupid would you lose your job and home because you made a poor decision?” McLeod continues to-ardently defend the program, even after the latest incident, and is concerned that the récent criminal events might jeopardize an otherwise valuable pro- gram. Although the incidents have occurred, she doesn't want people to think that the men’s actions are a representation of the project as a whole. “The project has been a tremendous success. These men have learned to work with society; held jobs for four months.’ and contributed to the economy of the communi- ty. Its better than just accepting a welfare cheque and sitting on their behinds.” The Genesis program is funded through jhe Ministry of Social Services and Housing. Ray Suomi. Resource Supervisor for the ministry in *the West Kootenay, was asked by The Sun to comment on the crimes, and the effect they could have on the longevity of the program. Suomi declined to comment at this time regular drills, much the same as is done now with fire drills. If a crisis does develop, the crisis team will be responsi- ble for evacuating students from the school except in the casé of an armed intruder. If an armed intruder enters the school the school bell won't be rung, instead a quiet fire drill will be held in which members of the team will alert each teacher individual- ly of the impending emergen- cy. A predetermined code namé or word will be used over the public address sys- tem to alert staff to lock their classroom doors. Should a crisis happen, the policy contains clauses that assures that trained counsel- lors, and teachers recognize and address the trauma which will be felt by both staff-and students. There is also a provision within the policy which will allow for a public forum to be held whichwill inform the parents what action was taken. As well, the publicefordm Will allow parents an opportanity to ~< ask questions ee es = eee 4