Wednesday, November 25, 1992 @ TheFARSIDE By Gary Larson oo Ss Lim C3beck and try p04 this again. oo Police BEAT George Vajs, 42, of Christi- na Lake was charged Nov. 20 for impaired driving after be- ing administered a breathal- izer test in Castlegar. Vajs will appear in court on Feb. 3. eee A 21-year-old Robson resi- dent will be charged with re- fusing to comply to take a roadside screen test and im- paired driving on Nov. 20. e woman was parked near the Marlane Hotel when checked. She will appear in Castle- gar provincial court at a later date. eee Josef Kuczan, 66, of Castle- gar lost control of his vehicle and collided with another au- tomobile driven by Crystal Laarz, 19, of Trail on Nov. 21. Road conditions were acon- tributing factor in the acci- dent. There was $3,000 dam- age and no injuries. No charges were laid. eee Chih Hung Pan, 20, of Castlegar was eastbound on Highway 3 when he lost con- trol of his vehicle and entered the ditch on Nov. 21. The accident occurred after his tires caught the slush. There was $3,000 damage and no injuries. No charges were laid. eee Thomas Lloyd, 53, of Castlegar was driving on Broadwater Road near Rilkoff Road when he struck a deer. There was approximately $1,000 damage and Lloyd was not injured. No charges were laid. eee Police are reminding mo- torists that the Christmas Counterattack campaign be- gins Dec. 8 and runs through Jan. 4. jrt-4-4 444-444-4444 a Castlegar Rotary Club “CHRISTMAS TREE{ West Kootenay 4 4 i 4 4 4 SALE ; Power & Light Compound -— Columbia Ave., Castlegar A Shop Early for Your Christmas Tree Starts Nov. 28 ; EVERYDAY 10 a.m.-7 p.m. (While Stocks Last) 4 CULTURED AND 4 NATURAL TREES AVAILABLE ALL PROCEEDS TO COMMUNITY SERVICE 4 Save the Forest & Help Your Community by Buying Your Tree From Trail offers Cominco tax breaks Scott David Harrison EDITOR Cominco is getting a break. Trail city council has agreed to “significant tax breaks” under its’ 1993 budget to ensure the long-term viability of the Cominco opera- tion. Cominco is scheduled to pay $2.66 million in municipal taxes in 1992. “We're biting the bullet on this,” Trail May- or Sandi Santori said Tuesday. “And we're bit- ing the bullet because when you look at the al- ternative, it’s the complete closure (of Comin- co).” Santori said Trail is merely complying with the recommendations made in a Job Protection Commission Report on Cominco. He said Trail must provide tax relief if it intends to keep Cominco in business. He suggested that the Re- gional District of Kootenay Boundary and the provincial government do the same. “We're playing a leadership role here,” he said. “Our contribution in itself won't make or break Cominco, but it is one of many things that are taking place to ensure the long-term viability of the operation.” Santori said Cominco has been proactive in ensuring its own survival as well, cutting jobs and transport and maintenance costs. “What we are doing isn’t in isolation,” he said. The Job Protection Commission Report stat- ed that Cominco could be a profitable operation if municipal, regional and provincial govern- ments provide tax breaks totaling $50 million. The provincial government originally dis- missed the report, saying British Columbians couldn’t afford to bail Cominco out. That tune has since changed. Friday, Com- inco President and CEO Robert Hallbauer met with Premier Harcourt to discuss the Trail op- eration’s future. Neither the government nor Cominco would make any statement regarding the meeting. Santori is confident a solution can be found to ensure Cominco’s survival. “It can be revived, it can be viable again,” he said. “I truly believe there is a bright future ahead for Cominco and the City of Trail.” Pope and Talbot eyes overhaul Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER The decision to upgrade Pope and Talbot’s sawmill will be made in two weeks. P and T’s resident manag- er Bob Coutts said a board meeting was pushed back to Dec. 10. He said that’s when existing facility will be made. Coutts said at this point the decision to proceed with the plans for the Castlegar sawmill is “not a go. “It’s not an expansion, it’s an upgrade,” Coutts empha- sized. “My definition of an expan- sion is that you turn out more product, and that’s not the case,” he said. “It’s simply cost expendi- tures to make us more effi- cient.” Coutts said it would be premature to provide any fur- ther details of the plans since the upgrading has not re- the decision to upgrade the ceived the board’s approval. SuperValu to vote on new pact Corinne Jackson NEWS REPORTER SuperValu employees may soon have a new contract. After three hours of negotiations Friday, the Teamsters’ Union and SuperValu agreed on a deal to take to the membership. “I think it’s an overall good contract for both parties,” Richard Howes said Tuesday. SuperValu’s manager said the company is awaiting ratification of the contract by the store’s 24 employees. Howes would give no de- tails on SuperValu’s latest offer. “The sooner the ratification the best for everyone,” Howes said. SuperValu employees have been without a contract since July 1, 1991. Issues discussed in- cluded pensions, wages and benefits. The union’s business representative Keith Kennedy was unavailable for comment. A diamond is for [ OVC. For birthdays. For special days. Forever. A diamond is forever. @ Wednesday, November 25, 1992 3a The News SecondFRONT CALL THE NEWS @General Inquiries 365-7266 OUR HOURS The News is locat- ed 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 pub- lished by Castle News Ltd. for Can- west Publishers Ltd. Mail subscrip- tion rate to The News is $37.50 per year. The price on newsstands is 75¢ for each edi- tion. The price delivered by news- paper carrier for both editions is only 90¢ a week (collected monthly) GST extra. Second class mail registra- tion number 0019. School board vindicate @ Mayor Audrey Moore admits error, apologizes to School District No. 9 Corinne Jackson NEWS REPORTER Castlegar city council has said they are sorry. “We must chastise ourselves,” Mayor Audrey Moore said to School District No. 9 trustees at a special meeting between coun- cil and the board. Monday’s meeting was called to discuss council’s handling of a report written and delivered by Coun. Doreen Smecher to the provincial government’s Education Funding Review Panel. That report recommended superinten- dents be provincially-appointed, school boards be given only an advisory role and teacher salary bargaining be a provincial matter. “Council was given copies of the brief, albeit not long before the brief was present- ed,” Moore said, calling the process flawed. According to Moore, although council did not formally adopt the briefs, it “passed a motion that the briefs would be presented to the panel. “I’m the chair and I should have been more diligent,” she said. Moore suggested that in the future, joint meetings should be conducted when issues of concern to both bodies are being dis- cussed. But at least one city councillor feels Smecher’s report must still be dealt with. “I think the issues are still there. “We need to do something, but there needs to be a consensus of council to do that,” Coun. Lawrence Chernoff said Tues- day. d by mayor According to Moore, if council decides they want to send a letter in response to Smecher’s report — either an endorsement or condemnation — another special meeting would have to be held. The next council meeting is not until Dec. 8 and the panel gives its report to the Education Ministry at the end of November. Chernoff said he will be talking with other councillors to see if another meeting can be scheduled. Calling the meeting very positive, trustee Evelyn Voykin said the board came to have their concerns heard and that happened. But now council should “put their money where their mouth is,” she said. “It would be up to council to take action,” Voykin said, adding it would be the “honor- able thing” to do. Smecher declined comment to The News. STANDING ON THE CORNER News photo by Corinne Jackson Salvation Army volunteer David Mason was collecting donations for the non-profit group at the corner of Columbia Avenue and 3rd Street Thursday. Just up the street at the Salvation Army thrift store, a container kept for food bank donations was stolen. Local RCMP have no suspects. ‘Futures’ future in question i Community Futures reviews its books following allegations of questionable improprieties Scott David Harrison EDITOR Central Kootenay Communi- ty Futures is about to audit its books. The audit comes in the wake of allegations of wrongdoing by former executive members. The News has learned Com- munity Futures will do a five- year review of its books to address questionable impropri- eties and accounting proce- dures. “The accusations and allega- tions are flying fast and furious Chamber joins Bill 84 fracas so said the Castlegar chamber has been against the Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER The local. chamber of commerce has come out against the province's new labor code. According to Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce president Ron Armbruster, Bill 84 “could well lead to the destabilization of British Columbia’s labor environment.” Armbruster made the comments in an open let- ter he wrote to Premier Mike Harcourt, dated Nov. 10. Armbruster stated in the letter “it is clear that pro- ceeding with this legislation, as drafted, will not con- tribute to your stated objective of improving the in- vestment climate in B.C. through increased co-oper- ation between labor and business.” Armbruster said although he hasn't seen any evi- dence of an investment drop in Castlegar, he said he is confident it is occurring elsewhere in the province, such as the Jim Pattison Group’s withdrawal from the Balmer mine deal in Sparwood. The chamber president said the letter “was not discussed at any particular meeting” of the local chamber before it was sent out. But Armbruster al- legislation for a long time. troduced in the legislature.” his group’s original position. at all. Castlegar chamber. him up on the offer. He said the B.C. Chamber of Commerce was against the labor code “before the bill was even in- The Castlegar chamber fell in step with the provincial chamber of commerce long ago, Arm- bruster said, and the recent letter simply reiterates He also said the Castlegar chamber has already given financial support to the B.C. chamber. Meantime, the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce has not taken a position — yet. Nelson chamber manager Howard Dirks said the board will discuss the issue at its meeting tonight. In Trail, that city’s chamber of commerce has not taken a position on Bill 84, and the manager said there is no indication the chamber will take a stance Armbruster’s letter to Harcourt closed with an in- vitation for the premier to discuss Bill 84 with the Armbruster said it is unlikely Harcourt will take and we have to find out what is going on,” said Greg Toliday, the Regional Director for the Com- munity Futures Branch of Employment and Immigration. “To get past the perception of wrongdoing, we have to do a total review of the books.” Toliday said a previous review of the books by the local Community Futures office didn’t balance out. He said missing information and records made it impossible for the financial ledgers to match. “We would simply like to put all the allegations to rest,” he said from Vancouver. “I want to make it perfectly clear that there is no evidence of wrongdo- ing by anyone. “We are missing some records and we need to do an audit to make sure everything has been in order for the past five years and the relation between legal entities is clear and separate.”