SUNDAY June 2, 1990 Vol, 43, No. 44 Castlegar, B.C. 3 Sections (A, B & C) 75 Cents a8 Ron The winning numbers in Saturday's Lotto 6-49 drow were 1, 3, 30, 96, 42 and 43, The bon extra numbers we WEATHERCAST Cloudy with periods of rain in he Hernoon. Highs in the mid:teone Monday: A tew show: bi of precipitation is 30 per cent this morning of, to 90 per cent this otter fread dropping to 60 per Salmo on rise in fastball - page B2 LEGISs PARL VICTORIA VBV = Ww SLATIVE L TAMENT IBRARY BLD B.C. 1X4 FEB. ce Sunfest photos ++. page A3 Newly crowned Miss Castlegar Tracy Carr (right) receives a coy runner-up Treeno Baker at Friday night's pageant which h. Baker will rep By CasNews Staff With tears welling in her eyes and a smile that wouldn’t quit, 17- year-old Tracy Carr was crowned the new Miss Castlegar on Friday night as Sunfest 90 activities got underway in Castlegar. Selected from a field of six con- testants in a pageant at Stanley Humphries secondary school, Carr accepted the crown from outgoing Queen Darla Leiding as a crowd of about 200 stood and applauded Treena Baker, 17, was runner- up and will represent the city as Miss Castlegar Princess. Last year's winner Sheana Green passed on the crown to the newest royalty Carr, Miss Gyro, also won a speech and talent categories, while pair of individual awards, in the Baker, Miss Rotary, was selected as the people’s choice. The Miss Congenialty award went to Miss Royal Canadian Legion Elenore Hlookoff Miss CKQR Angela Horlick, Miss Selkirk Lions Heidi Anne Smee and Miss Pete’s TV Stacy Gorkoff also competed. In other Sunfest news, the skies were overcast but the rain held off as the annual event got into high gear Saturday with a full slate of ctivities. Sunfest parade chairman Bruce Gerrand said he was pleased with the ‘‘number and quality’’ of the entrants in this year’s parade. “The quality of the parade this year was just outstanding,’’ Gerrand said Saturday. This year’s parade had 78 en- trants, Compared to 62 last year ratulatory hug from elped launch this year's Suntest the city as Miss Castlegar 2 abi CosNews photo by Ed Mills Sunfest 90 underway with Carr as new queen and 55 in 1988, he said “It’s something that’s growing and growing” each year, he ad- ded. The Castlegar News will carry a complete list of parade winners in Wednesday’s edition Meanwhile, over at Castleaird Plaza, Lou Kratky of Montrose took top prize in the Sunfest chili cookoff. Today’s lineup of events in- cludes the Sunfest biathlon at the Community Complex starting at 10 a.m., a dart tournament at the Legion Hall, also at 10 a.m., a duck race at Pass Creek Park at I p.m., free sailboat rides at Scot- tie’s Marina from 1 p.m-3 p.m., the 18th annual Canadian Frog Jumping” championships at Kin- naird Park at 2 p.m. and a canine frisbee contest at 4 p.m., also at Kinnaird Park Cause of valley slides disputed By CLAUDETTE SANDECKI Writer Mudslides that blocked Highway 6 in the Slocan Valley last week, triggered by heavy rain, were a ‘‘purely natural occurrence”’ and had nothing to do with clearcut logging on the slopes above the road, the divisional manager of Slocan Forest Products Ltd. said. SFP officials flew over the area early last week and found clear water running down to culverts in a logging road at the base of the clearcut areas, while water below the culverts was dirty, leading to the conclusion that the problem started further down the slope from the logged areas, Terry Dods said Friday. The clearcuts are part of SFP's timber licence in the valley. But some valley residents say the company’s forestry Practices are to blame. “(The slides) were a direct result of clearcut logging and logging road construction in the area,’’ independent forester Herb Hammond said. However, Ian Hamann, harvesting operations manager for the Arrow forest district, told the Castlegar News he suspects road construction practices rather than the way the areas were logged-are to blame for the slides. “That's where we have the majority of problems,"’ Hamann said, referring to road.construction in logging areas. ‘‘The key is not so much, in my mind, the way it was logged. Hamann noted that some areas being logged are get- ting saturated and the Forest Service has ordered some to: cease i Some have shut down, he said. “*We're erring on the side of the environment to protect it,’’ Hamann said, adding that the Environment Ministry is also involved in the investigation of the Slocan _Valley slides. “The ‘slides Occirred at Cory Creek, Memphis Creek and 'Van Tuyl Creek about eight kilometres north of Slocan. Hammond, who flew over the area in a helicopter Thursday to survey the damage, said the lack of trees on clearcut slopes, as Well as compacted ar¢as within clear- cuts from logging techniques such as skidding, makethe situation “‘like pouring water on a rock.’” The water becomes concentrated below the harvested areas and triggers ‘‘debris torrents’’ that wipe out more trees as they cascade down the slopes, Hammond ex- plained. Besides holding the earth in place, trees absorb precipitation and allow moisture to evaporate into the atmosphere, lessening snowpacks and the amount of water in the area in general, he said. Dods said the slides were a result of the ‘* heavy rain storms’’ over the past few weeks. The logging road culverts have been overloaded and one culvert ‘‘failed’* because the road around it washed | out, he said. But Hammond dismissed the argument that heavy rain was the only problem, saying, ‘‘It’s not like we had a hundred-year flood.’’ “This is a perfect example of why conventional clearcutting is not appropriate’’ as a forestry method, he said. Both Dods and Hammond agreed further slides could occur if the rain continues but Dods noted slides occur ‘‘that have nothing to do with logging.” Hammond said the slides have also sent silt into Slocan Lake, an occurrence he said can be harmful to fish. One of the slide areas was the scene of a similar slide about eight years ago but nothing was done to keep another from happéning, Valhalla Society director Grant Copeland said. And there-are other clearcuts in the valley, some near settled areas. that are-causing concern because of the rain, Copeland » id. One area-is a clearcut on private land above the village of New Denver, he said. If that slide comes down, the-result would be a **major, major disaster,’’ he said. New Denver Ald. Paul Peterson said his council was please see SLIDES page A2 very, very, Trail out-exercises Castlegar in challenge By ED MILLS Staff Writer Only a superhuman effort could have topped what Castlegar accom- plished if Challenge last that’s what delivered. “We graciously accept defeat,’ Castlegar Parks and Recreation coor- dinator Susan Campbell said affer the results of the challenge were tabulated. With a remarkable 93.2 per cent of the population reporting some form of activity, Trail took the fitness bragging rights for the year. the ‘Participaction Wednesday — and the folks in Trail cent said. seniors, Castlegar came second with 82 per cent, which was up from 74 per Castlegar won the challenge last year but Campbell said there’s just no way the city could have topped Trail’s numbers this time around. “Everyone did a great job but I don’t think we could get over 92 per that’s amazing,”” She said it was thanks to Castlegar the schools and slo-pitch teams who phoned in results that the city was able to beat the high water mark it set last year Despite the wide margin of victory, Trail orgamizérs of the challenge werent gloating about it “Really, I don’t see anybody as being losers," said Trail parks and rec co-ordinator Darrell LeMoel. “It’s just a great feat to get those high scores and we wish everybody the best of lugk next year.”* Campbell Post office talks proceeding: cent last year. Revelstoke, which joined the challenge against Castlegar and Trail for the first time this year, came in third with 66 per cent It breaks down like this: Of the 7,951 people in Trail, 7,414 walked, ran, swam or participated in any number of activities to lead the city to victory. In Castlegar, 5,247 out of a population of 6,385 phoned in ac- tivity reports and Revelstoke had 5,485 out of 8,281 The challenge is a national event held as part of Canada Fit Week from May 25 - June 3. By CasNews Staff Negotiations are going well bet ween Canada Post and Larry Kof- tinoff, the owner of Johnny’s Grocery, concerning Koftinoff taking on a postal franchise for Robson but no agreement has been reached yet, Canada Post media and public affairs officer Colleen Frick said. Frick said Friday she—eould not estimate how long the discussions will go on between Ottawa and the store owner but Robson postmaster Vera Salekin will be the first person notified of any decisions. Salekin said she is anxious for word on how much loriger the post office Student job registration down 21 By CasNews Staff Nearly 300 students have registered for summer jobs in the Castlegar and Trail areas in the first month of operation this year of the Canada Employment Centre for Students in Trail, student placement officer Rajesh Gandha said That number is down 21 per cent from last May but the student population —in—the—area -hasbeen decreasing over the last few years, Gandha said. Job openings are also down so far but many jobs don't start until later in the summer, he noted. The student centre has been open since May 7 and an official opening will be held Monday. As well, June 4 - 10 has been designated hire-a-student week in the area, Gandha said. In addition to the drop-in student registration, there are a number of other changes at the student centre located on the main floor of @ ployment Centre offices at 835 Spokane St., in Trail, rather than on the second floor as in previous years. As well, the student centre no longer has its own phone number. Student centre calls must go through the CEC main number, 368-5566 And this year, Gandha is the only student placement officer, while in previous years there were two. The are due to federal cutbacks at the CEC office, Gandha explained Federal cutbacks have also hit the grants to the Challenge Program vides wage subsidies for employers who hire students, he said High school and college students who want to, work this summer should go down to the office\and fill out a card detailing what type of job they want to find, Gandha said. Then students should call frequen- tly to keep up-with what jobs are available, he said. The onus on students to keep in touch is par- ticularly important this year because there is only one placement officer, he added. Meanwhile, in honor of hire-a- student week, Castlegar Mayor Audrey Moore has signed a proclamation declaring the city’s sup- port for students looking for summer jobs. She encouraged local eniployers to hire students to fill their summer job openings and explained the need of students to finance their education and to obtain practical work ex- **Mayor Moore’s public declaration of support for student employment is very appreciated during our hire-a-student week cam- paign,’’ Gandha said. The Canada Employment Centre for Students can help local employers identify post-secondary and secon- dary students possessing a wide range will remain open and how much longer the postal employees will have jobs in the community “*We are absolutely in limbo over here along with all the customers,’ Salekin said Canada Post announced in January that it plans to privatize the Robson post office and Robson residents will get their mail in some form of post boxes if a local business does not take on a franchise operation. The post of. fice was scheduled to close April 20 but Canada Post decided the outlet would remain open while franchise negotiations are being conducted. of skills and levels of education These students are willing to work for any length of time and are available on short notice. “You as an employer can save time and money by using the Canada Em- ployment Centre for Students to fill your temporary employment needs,”” Gandha said. ‘“‘An employer can phone us with job requirements and I will identify suitable applicants. Also, our services are free of charge.”* For both employers and students, the centre is open until the middle of August, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.