a2 Saturday, June 20, 1992 & TheFARSIDE By Gary Larson ES 2 teh Sete a “Look at the hordes down there, Phil. ... Have ! ever told you what they look like? Huh?...Have 1?” Celgar expansion continues — @ Celgar electrical workersled astray by s Rees se EOD SRE Scott David Hartison, NEWS REPORTERS: It’s back to normal at the Celgar expansion site. After a three and a half day interruption, project manager Rod Meares says work is pro- ceeding on Celgar’s $700 mil- lion expansion mill. “As of (Thursday), we have all trades back to work,” Mear- es said. All except some members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers that is. Errant radio reports out of Trail claimed the IBEW walked out in support of Cel- gar’s 325 strikers. Local 1003 business man- walked of the job in support of striking Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada Local 1 members." However, McKnight said at the request of the PPWC , the IBEW returned to work. “We're 100 per cent behind ‘There has to be some responsibilty to this journalism.’ — IBEW’s Bob McKnight the National Enquirer, it’s not true,” McKnight said. “There has to be some re- sponsibility to this journalism. It’s a hot situation and this will only inflame the situa- tion.” The IBEW originally the PPWC,” he said. Meanwhile, Meares said some 800 workers were back at the expansion site Thurs- day — 650 more than showed up for work Monday. He also said the down day “would be recoverable.” More layoffs at Pope and Talbot Plaza contract awarded NEWS STAFF A local contractor has been given the right to build the new Castlegar Savings Cred- it Union plaza. The 15,200 square foot plaza, to be located adjacent to Safeway, will be built by William Berg Construction Ltd. of Brilliant. According to a news re- ploy both union and non-union sub-trades. The news release also states that 75 per cent of the contract bid price will be per- formed by Castlegar and area contractors. The plaza — 6,100 square feet of which will house the new Castlegar Savings Cred- it Union — is expected to be complete in November. Scott David Harrison EDITOR s The pulp industry strike continues to harm Castlegar’s sawmill. Pope and Talbot says it expects to layoff an- other 60 workers. The layoffs come because Pope and Talbot has run out of lumber to ser- vice its planner mill and shipping yards. “Unless the pulp mill goes back to work, we have no choice,” Pope and Talbot resident manager Bob Coutts said of these latest cuts. “We're at that whim.” The impending layoffs follow the 200 pre- viously announced by Pope and Talbot, which relies on Celgar for the purchase of chip and hog fuel supplies. Those 200 workers were let go 10 days ago when Celgar’s 325 unionized workers went on strike. Coutts would not comment on how much money Pope and Talbot is losing because of the strike. Instead, he said Pope and Talbot’s attention is focussed on its workers. “The company is (financially) solid,” he said. “Our concern is for our employees. They have had a difficult time these last couple of years.” The final 60 layoffs represent the sawmill’s entire workforce — the same workforce that returned to the mill one month ago, following five months of unemployment. lease, the contractor will em- OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE HOSPICE ROOM The public is cordially invited to attend the opening of the Castlegar Hospice Room on Thursday, June 25 — 1:30 p.m. ‘at the Castlegar and District Hospital. RED CROSS SWIM LESSONS Clarke's Pool, 750-10th Ave. Tiny Tot to White Level 2 Sessions: JULY 6-17, JULY 20-31 Registration: Monday, June 22, 9 a.m. Phone 365-5106 for information Why rent?... WITH 5% DOWN AND EASY MONTHLY PAYMENTS YOU CAN OWN YOUR OWN HOME! 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STARTS MONDAY JUNE 22 Department Store 1217-3RD ST., CASTLEGAR 365-7782 MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM @ Saturday, June 20, 1992 3a Z i 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 @ Rural Dignity Canada says closure of Castlegar offices just a matter of time Scott David Harrison EDITOR Sandra Groepler says the impending closure of the Radium Hot Springs post office is the sign of things to come. : The B.C. director for Rural Dignity Canada says Canada Post will systemathically close all Kootenay postal outlets, including Castlegar’s. “It’s a continuation of their plan all along,” Groepler said of the removal of the Radium post office. “They start with the small ones, like they did in Robson, and they carry on with a planned agenda.” Ilona Beiks disagreed. Two days after Canada Post closing Radium office appearing before Castlegar city council, the anada Post representative wonders if anyone was listening to her presentation. “We are not reviewing services in Castlegar,” she said, repeating the message she delivered to city council. “How many times and different ways do I have to say it before some one will believe me.” Beiks said the Radium situation has little to do with the affairs of Castlegar. She said the retirement of Radium’s postmaster prompted Canada Post “to review our services.” Beiks said Canada Post has since chosen to open a franchise in the East Kootenay community. “They traditionally use any opportunity they can to close down a post office,” Groepler said. “Whatever their timing is for Castlegar, we don’t know and we won’t know.” Groepler said Tuesday’s council session did little to end speculation that the Castlegar bureau is in trouble. She said Beiks’ “evasiveness” should have everyone’ alarmed. “I certainly wasn’t consoled by anything I heard at the meeting,” she said. “No one should.” Groepler repeated her claim that Canada Post plans to close the Castlegar post office before 1996. “If people are asking me to make a guarantee that nothing will happen, I can’t and I won't,” Beiks said Thursday. “} can’t guarantee that changes won’t be made 20 years from now. No one can. It would be foolish.of me to say something like taken, one of the teachers broke up the fun. News photo by Jonathan Green Students from District 9 elementary schools descended on Kinnaird Park Monday for a bseball tournamant. When the action stopped for lunch, these students took to the playground. Shortly after this picture was —/ Mediator appointed for talks Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER Mediation has replaced talks of a walkout at West Kootenay Power. , Mike. Bradshaw, WKP’s human resources manager, says they have been negotiating with members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers since December. Don Cott has just been appointed as mediator. “I just stepped in,” Cott said, “we will be meeting the 13th,14th and 15th in July. It’s tentatively scheduled for the Uplander in Rossland.” Cott says he will begin to familiarize himself with the situation when the talks begin. A report states 190 members of Local 213 of the IBEW voted in favor of striking. Their contract expired in February. When asked if a strike was statutory holiday 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 editions is only 90¢ a week (collected monthly). GST extra. Second class mail registration number 0019. Scott David Harrison EDITOR More trucks in Castlegar? Maybe not. The Transport Ministry says it will consult the public before okaying a plan that may see 18 wheel trucks rerouted from the Warfield hill through Castlegar. “We want to know ahead of time what we are in for,” Transport Ministry spokesperson Eliah Farrell said Thursday. “We wouldn’t want to propose a plan that will solve one problem and create another.” The Transport Minister is reviewing truck flow on the Warfield hill following a near-tragic accident which saw an 18-wheeler slam into a resident’s home. The truck had lost its brakes at the time of the accident. Farrell said the ministry realizes that Truck plan seeks local input Castlegar already has more than its fair share of truck traffic, but she said the Warfield hill is a danger spot that-can’t be ignored. “We are in a situation where we have an area that neéds safety repairs,” she said. “We have to find a solution for what’s best in the short term and the long term for everyone involved.” Farrell said if there is opposition to rerouting Cominco-bound truck traffic along the Nancy Greene highway through Castlegar, the ministry wants to know. input on this decision.” for the Warfield hill. Grand Forks office with their comments. “Castlegar is invited to speak up,” she said. “In fact, any member of the public is invited to have In additional to rerouting truck traffic, the ministry is considering load limits, a better brake check area, runaway lanes and improved signage The publié is asked to write the ministry’s possible Bradshaw said “anything is possible.” He says WKP is negotiating with two different groups, the IBEW and the Office and Technical Employees Union. Since negotiations began WEP has had about five or six meetings with each group, Bradshaw said. i The IBEW consists mainly of linemen, while the OTEU handles duties such as data processing. No deadline has been put on either of the negotiations, according to Bradshaw. “You want to get through this as soon as you can. But you really can’t put a deadline on this.” A spokesperson from the - IBEW was unavailable for comment.