., Castlégar News December 6, 1987 Quasar 13.8 billion light years away NEW YORK Scientists say may have taken 18.8 billion years to travel to the Aus- tralian telescope where the observation was made, one researcher said. Quasars are distant ob- jects that emit massive amounts of energy. Analysis of light from the new discovery showed (AP) — they've found the farthest known object in the universe, a quasar that may be about. it was farther away than any other known quasar, researchers report in the British journal Nature. The analysis measured the elongation of light waves caused by the qua- sar’s movement away from Earth. The faster a quasar is receding, the farther away it is. If the universe is taken to be 15 billion years old, the quasar was observed about 18.8 billion light years away. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, which is about 9.5 BUSINESS DIRECTORY TELEPHONE 365- 52 1 Odreucr Teh bs aceipnea ipl oad m. MTecaaat Den: i. aa forthe onan ol Jancery. “i rccheates of the age of the universe range from about 10 billion to about 20 billion years. The quaser is too faint to be seen with the naked eye and lies in the direction of an inconspicuous constella- tion called Sculptor. ccou Rocky View Tax & Bookkeeping Services are in quasars because they may give clues about the very early universe and the formation of stars and galaxies. More distant quasars are older than closer ones. New timber fees hurt Prince George mills PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. (CP) — Warm weather is currently keeping many log- gers out of British Columbia forests but the industry says employment won't be normal when the roads eventually freeze because of high cut- ting fees. Area sawmills say they can't live with higher timber charges in today’s lumber market and it could mean shutdowns next year. Dunklay Lumber in Strath- naver, B.C., will probably not do any winter logging due to high timber charges, spokes- man Henry Novak said. “Our costs have gone from about $5 per cubic metre harvested to $22 in govern- ment fees, plus $4 for re- forestation.” Frank Drougel manager of the Central Interior Logging Association, said the obvious reason loggers aren't in the bush is the unusually warm weather that has prevented winter logging. But the mild temperatures did. the are only problem of high stumpage fees, the money logging companies pay to the provin- cial government to harvest the timber. “It's the weather, but we're not overly anxious to run out in the woods due to high cost,” said Doug Little, vice-president for forestry at Northwood Pulp and Timber. Added George Killy, man- aging director of Lakeland Mills: “I don't think there's a mill out there that can live with the stumpage that kicks out of the system.” The Pas Lumber said it either needs lower timber costs or a major jump in lumber prices to avoid shut- downs next year. ‘The new system of charg- ing for timber starts with a target revenue for govern- ment then divides it among lumber producers rather than taking a share of the selling cost as the old system Offer Expires Dec. 31. Great Christmas Gift. . . Genuine Sheepskin Seat Covers UNIVERSAL STRAP-ONS Reg. $89.95 .... MULTIFIT SLIPCOVERS Reg. $124.95 .... HED CASTLEGAR HYUNDAI $79.95 $109.95 at Great Prices * SUB COMPACTS * VANS © MID SIZE © FULL SIZE Renting Quality Cars * COMPACTS © TRUCKS © STATION WAGONS RATES FROM 825 (Smell km. Charge) CASTLEGAR co-op GARAGE 365-2711 The Consett of Forest In- dustries has d the © Small Business & Contractors * Personal * Farm-Logging No. 06-1545 Columbia Avenue Castlegar, B.C. VIN IJ! IRENE MORTIMER 365-2223 SOLIGO, KOIDE & JOHN CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS 615 Columbia Ave. new system will cost the in- dustry an additional $500 million « year. The Pas said its timber costs in the last fiscal year were $6.2 million but presi- dent Don Gould estimates © the company will pay nearly $19 million this year. Under the old system, some mills would shut down when lumber prices dropped to $130-$135 US for 1,000 feet of two-by-fours. Little estimates the system, intro- duced Sept. 15, means mills will start shutting down when the price drops to $150- $160 US. Prices are cur ly $182 (Upstairs) Castleg: Phone 365-7745 Henry John, B.Sc.C.A. Resident Partner Brian L. Brown CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANT 270 Columbia Ave. Cast! US but they were $176 US a week ago and have been bouncing around, say lum- ber wholesalers. “We're playing it day by day, like a lot of other firms,” Killy said. CHRISTMAS STORE HOURS Open: Monday-Friday 9:30-9:00 Saturday 9:30-5:30 "til Dec. 24, 1987 FOR PERSONALIZED COPIES PHONE 366-6241 YEE Gifts... “A romantic reaction to this one small corner of earth — the community of people at the junction of two rivers which we call Castlegar.” The Dragon Tree by John A. Charters Ideal for Christmas Inspired by Zuckerberg Island Available at: Ph. 365-2151 MOROSO, MARKIN & BLAIN CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANTS 241 Columbia Ave. ares} TE sicci wes B.S. 0.0. OPTOMETRIST 1012 - 4th St. Castlegar PHONE 365-3361 Tues.-Fri. 9.a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m.-12 noon Plumbing & Heating “She's ch ged her nati y 14 times and still hasn't won anything.”’ Business Counselling © counselling, Ossistonce and training for small business interests in the x Most Advanced System Gets more deep down soil than any other cleaning meth. x Upholstery Cleaning Too SATISFACTION GUARANTEED Why not Call Us Todoy? FREE ESTIMATES Ph. 365-6969 Castlegar Ph. 365-7287 Outlet NOW IN CASTLEGAR Lorges! Selection of Appliance "Ports in the Area Loceted in Columbia Applionce Bidg. 1055 Columbia Ave. 181 Trail Area Call 368-8612 APPLIANCE PARTS AND All Brand Nomes Serviced All Parts Stocked Kebuilt Timers Used Appliances and Consignments Coin-Operated Machines nous tal Loundry ALSO SeRvi + KENMORE INGLIS = HOTPOIN! © ETC CASTLEGAR PLUMBING & HEATING LTD. 1008 Columbia Avenve 345-3388 New & Used Furniture, Open 9-6, Air service threatened By CasNews Staff Castlegar is in danger of losing its night air ambulance service, Castlegar council was warned Tuesd: Dr. John Hall, council's repre. sentative on the airport advisory com- mittee, said the B.C. ‘Emergency Health Services Commission has ruled that the majority of medical evacua- tions require paramedics as atten- dants. Since Castlegar, Nelson and Trail do not have paramedics, the air ambulance provided since 1983—by Adastra Aviation can not be“used. Instead, other aircraft are dis- patched from Vancoyver or Kelowna with trained paramedics. However, Hall noted that a direc- tive has also been issued ordering no aireraft be dispatched to Castlegar after dark because Castlegar Airport is Messiah coming page A6 Rockettes onaroll page B1 not equipped to handle night landings. “(This) leaves the citizens in a rather hazardous position,” Hall said. Adastra president Dale. Nielsen also wrote to council asking for the city’s support. Nielsen said Adastra’s crew is on standby for medical evacua tions 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “During the past 44 years we have successfully transported several hundred patients, some of whom were in critical condition,” Nielsen said. He noted that the majority of the patient transfers are “priority two or three, routine cases which can easily be handled by an ambulance attendant.” He pointed out that Adastra now is also the only operator which can do medevacs at night from the Castlegar airport. “Historically, the airport has had 12 emergency departures at night per year,” Nielsen said. “This summer we had 10 in a three-week period.” But he warned that his company doesn’t have enough work outside of medevaes to justify keeping an aircraft in Castlegar. “If more (medevac) work is not soon forthcoming, we will be forced to sell the aircraft,” he said. “This will leave the West Kootenay with dimin- ished air ambulance service overall and none at night.” Nielsen asked council to try to convince Minister of Health Peter Dueck and the Emergency Health Services Commission to either use Adastra more often so the service remains viable, or to pay the company a standby fee so that night emergency can be i Pulp mill toc -| woodroom Celgar Pulp Co. confirmed today that the pulp mill will close its’ wood- room at the end of this year. Of 18 workers employed in the woodroom, which is the chip-producing section of Celgar, 10 will be affected by the closure. There are reports some may be able to take early retirement. The other eight will be kept on to tors at a meeting this week in Castlegar. Sweeney said the closure is a result of the change in the provincial government's stumpage policy and its impact on the cost of buying logs. He added that a second reason was the high cost of transporting residual chips from sawmills. Westar Timber sold Celgar pulp mill to a and perform certain Celgar reportedly produces 20 per cent of its chips at the pulp mill, but general manager Wilf Sweeney said additional chips now will. be trucked into the mill. “There will be more chip trucks coming,” Sweeney told the News today. But he added that he “has no idea” how many trucks will be hauling chips to Celgar. Sweeney also confirmed that the Chinese consortium on Oct. 10, 1986. However, Westar retained its tree farm licence No. $8 one of the largest in B.C..... Seesdad teliine employees will be affected until the end of January, 1988. “In the meantime, every practical action to lessen the effects of this shutdown on the employees will be re- viewed,” Celgar said in a statement issued today. Jackson elected to teacher college By CasNews Staff The B.C. Teachers’ Federation nominee had little trouble defeating two other candidates for the Kootenay region seat on the new College of Tea- chers. Castlegar resident Bob Jackson polled 398 votes in mail-in balloting to win the seat. Joe Renallo of Trail received 155 votes while Walter of Kettle Valley got 29. Nielsen added that Adastra can fly the air ambulance cheaper and quicker than aireraft dispatched from Van- couver or Kelowna. He said Adastra’s response time from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. seven days a week is one-half hour, and 45 minutes at other times. Response time for a Piper Cheyenne from Kelowna or a jet from Vancouver is at least 1‘ hours. He said Adastra charges $1,367 for a medevae to Vancouver, while a Piper Cheyenne from Kelowna costs about $1,625 and a jet from Vancouver at least $1,700. Nielsen argued that Adastra can also provide more reliable service during winter months when weather is Council agreed to write a letter to the Dueck and the health commission supporting Adastra. Truck crash closes road By BONNE MORGAN Staff Writer A tanker truck carrying gasoline crashed on the Blueberry-Paulsen Highway shortly after 11 a.m. today. Castlegar RCMP report that a Bulk Systems truck lost control in slushy road conditions and tipped over about two kilometres west of Hislop’s Campground on Highway 3. The driver was taken to Castlegar and District Hospital with “minor in- juries”, according to Castlegar RCMP. Traffic on either side of the accident was detained. ‘The gasoline spill presented such a hazard that RCMP said, keeping our vehicles away.” Gasoline also leaked into Blue- berry Creek, which supplies water to Blueberry residents. The Blueberry water district was immediately notified of the danger by Highways workers, acting Public Health Inspector Paul Har! told the Castlegar News. “They took immediate steps to shut down the water system,” Harl said. Blueberry residents were notified of the gas spill and told to use their water with discretion to prevent the “We're water in the storage tank from being completely used. Hari added that he doesn't think there is any cause for concern that the water supply might be contamin- ated by gasoline, because the water y oigar into the system was quickly shut off. Har! also said residents would be aware if any water was contaminated the Meanwhile, a "Blueberry Creek continued on page AZ Jackson is a teacher at J.L. Crowe secondary school in Trail. “['m quite pleased. I'm not sure what is going to happen next. My defthite ideas are to pursue the BCTF policies as ideals and try to ensure the college doesn't get too big,” Jackson said in an interview Tuesday. There are 15 zones throughout the province and after results were tallied Monday night, 14 of the 15 zones had elected BCTF candidates. Ballots for the final seat, covering northwestern B.C., had to be mailed to Vancouver for processing and had not been counted by Monday night. The Kootenay zone includes Castlegar, Trail, Nelson, Grand Forks, Kettle Valley and the Arrow Lakes district. > The , established by the new Teaching Profession Act, will be for p certification and décertification of teachers, evaluation of teachers and professional development. There are a total of 20 positions on the college, and while 16 of the candi- dates were elected by educators, two were appointed -by the lieutenant-gov- ernor, two by the education minister and one by the deans of educational facilities in B.C.