FALCON PAINTING & DECORATING 2649 FOURTH AVENUE CASTLEGAR 8 C VIN 281 365-3563 Gary Fleming Dianna Kootnikoff ri ADVERTISING SALES OFFICE (365. 1 AR NEWS on CASIEGAR BC vey ‘ASTLEG, 70 oenwee 3007 Cc. — » And Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter was born over a hundred years ago and her first privately printed edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit appeared in 1901 Stories involving Peter, his whimsical friends and relatives quickly followed. Today, these lovable characters are as popular as ever, and Peter, together with his friends, are immortalised for posterity in scenes and quotations from their escapades on w. ledgwood nursery ware. —_— —_ Easter Special $9995 beoutitul glossy Peter Rabbit Sticker In Specially Packaged 3-Piece Settings of Peter Rabbit in Wedgewood China. Reg. $39.95 With Re-usable Stickers Carl’s Drugs «ccs. Hospital bills AIDS patients VANCOUVER (CP) — AIDS patients in British Columbia who now are being billed for treatments with a costly experimental drug should refuse to pay, says AIDS support groups in t! province. St. Paul's Hospital in Van- couver mailed out bills of between $26 and $2,060 to more than 100 patients last week after the Social Credit government said it would refuse to pay the full costs of the drug. “Here is an uncaring gov- ernment which has absolute- ly no sensitivity for what these people are going through and is sending them a bill dating back to August,” said Ken Mann of AIDS Van couver. The B.C. Medical Associa- tion has denounced the move, saying it Strikes at a tragic group of people generally have few financial and emgtional resources. Richard Burzynksi, a spokesman for Montreal AIDS sufferers, says AIDS support groups across Can- ada may launch a national effort to pressure the gov- ernment in B.C. — the only province where AIDS pa- tients are being billed for the drug aziodothymidine — to change its mind. About 900 Canadians are taking the drug — commonly known as AZI. It costs about $10,000 a year per person to administer, says Dr. Alastair Clayton of the Federal Cen- tre for AIDS in Ottawa. CHANGE MADE In B.C., the hospital's move to bill patients came after the provincial Health Ministry decided to put the voluntary drug testing under its Phar- macare program, said hos- pital spokesman John Moonen. AIDS patients now must pay the first $300 and 20 per cent of subsequent costs up to $8,500. After that the government pays 100 per cent. Health Minister Peter Dueck said Monday that the government's money is better spent on AIDS edu- cation. Warren Jensen of the Vancouver Persons with AIDS Coalition said patients were never told they would be billed for the drug and “we are advising people not to pay their bills.” He said about half the program participants, includ- ing himself, are on social assistance, and others could be forced onto it because of the government decision. Clayton agrees it will be difficult for some patients to pay. “By the time most patients need AZT they have lost their jobs and have very little money,” he said. Jensen said confidentiality is also at stake, particularly if the hospital hires a collection agency for the bills patients don't pay. KEPT GOING The drug manufacturer stopped handing out free supplies of AZI last summer, but St. Paul's maintained its program while negotiations continued with the govern- ment on who would pay for it. “Perhaps it was naive but we were the hospital that opened our doors to the AIDS crisis,” said Moonen. “We wanted to deliver health care.” Moonen said he doesn't know what the hospital will do if patients don't pay their bills. Bills for patients al- ready on welfare were mailed directly to the Social Ser- vices Ministry, he said Phil Shaw, spokesman for the AIDS Committee of Tor- onto, called the B. overn: ment decision “unbelievable, reprehensible, and utterly OFFICE AID Luella Andreashuk Has Changed Location For Income Tax or Accounting PHONE 365-6658 24 HOUR CALL Crazy Dave, Our Sales Manager Sez ‘’Out They Must Go!’ = Fae = Special Rate Financing on all Remaining Stellars in Stock Z 2 — ridiculous.” Ontario, like Quebee, pays for AZI, he said, adding that many people outside British Columbia have given up on the government of Premier Bill Vander Zalm because it is so unsupportive of people with AIDS. AZT has been successful in attacking a certain enzyme in the AIDS virus, said Clayton. HOT TOPIC | . . Public health nurse Chery! Yates in- forms Stanley Humphries secondarys chool grade 11 class about AIDS. The hour-long discussion was met with interest from concerned teens. —cosnewsPhoto AIDS testing here By BRENDAN NAGLE Staff Writer How do you know if you have AIDS? The only sure way to find out is through proper testing procedures, says Castlegar’s little-known AIDS specialist. Cheryl Yates is a public health nurse at the Central Kootenay Health Office in Castlegar responsible for informing the area communities about AIDS. Yates also offers a confidential testing service for anybody who wants to know if they have come into contact with the virus. “Confidential AIDS testing has been available @t the health clinic) since June 1987,” says Yates. “I'm definitely up to date on all the known information on the virus.” Yates feels her service may convince more people to have tests for the virus because anonymity is assured and her unfamiliar face will not deter people from showing up as a family physician's familiar face might. “I make all my own appointments,” she says. “I don't ask for any names, I use initials and identity numbers for test applicants.” Yates says blood tests are conducted at the centre with samples sent to Vancouver for testing. The entire process takes about two weeks. But she says she’s only seen about 30 people for testing since June. There have been three AIDS cases diagnosed in the area since the virus was first recognized on the continent in 1981. One of the victims has since died from the virus. Aside from the confidential testing. service, Yates provides councelling, education and information services about the virus to all interested groups. “My main job is public education — to counsel people on how to protect themselves from getting AIDS,” she says. “There are a lot of myths surrounding the virus.” Yates says education on the subject is the best way to avoid contracting the virus. She says you cannot get AIDS from toilet seats, drinking fountains, swimming pools and any other public areas, which she says are the most common misconceptions people have about the virus. “You cannot get AIDS from casual everyday contact,” she says. Yates also says there is still a strong misconception that the virus is strictly confined to homosexuals and intravenous drug users. The disease can be passed on from a male to a female. The most common ways of contracting the AIDS virus is through sexual intercourse with somebody infected with the virus or sharing a dirty intravenous needle with an AIDS victim. Yates says despite not being too busy with testing for the virus, there is a demand for her educational services and she says a healthy attitude towards learning about the virus will help control it from spreading. “I am quite busy mainly in my teaching capacity,” she says. “The more you know about the virus, the less CMLL LLL LLL LLL LLL) CU — UMMM CRUST ROLLS FRESH Snow Star Ice Cream Assorted Flavours 4 Litre Pail likely you are to come into contact with it.” Yates works as the AIDS awareness counsellor in the Central Kootenay on top of her chores as public health nurse at the Castlegar centre. She says it’s her “specialty area” and fits it in along side her other duties. “I'm. not given any extra time to be AIDS counsellor,” she says. “(but if somebody wants to come in and talk I've got more time than a busy physician.” She has spoken to area high schools, ambulance parent groups and has conducted a seminar at the Castlegar and District drivers, Selkirk College, Hospital. She says anybody can call her for free counselling, “T'll talk for an hour or more if needed,” and encourages interested or concerned people to call her for testing or educational material on the virus. Yates can be contacted at the Central Kootenay Health Unit in Castlegar. DOUBLE “a BUCKS «2+ "til Saturday at ¢ SAN FRANCISCO © SHEFIELD & SONS © SUPER-VALU © TOYS & WHEELS *° MARIPOSA © MERLE NORMAN * BOOTS 2 AUCTION BUCKS for every buck you spend at this week's Double Buck Merchants AUCTION Location Russell Auction House Highway 3 A, Thrums Sun., Mar. 27, 1 p.m. Sharp — PARTIAL LIST OF 400 LOTS — Craft store, stock and fixtures New carpet, vinyl and display racks Photocopier, oak office desk Some antique furniture Household furniture & miscellaneous Zero clearance fireplace Snowblower Rebuilt 300 cu. in. Ford 6-cylinder engine Open ssa MOG Set ICTION Hwy. 3A Thrums 399-4793 6 Miles North of Castlegar Architect to stand trial PENTICTON CP) — A North Vancouver man was committed Tuesday to stand trial here in the death of a Vancouver woman in De- cember 1986. David Jonathon Wild, 51, was remanded in custody by Judge Gordon Gilmore in provincial court after a two- day preliminary hearing. Our Action Ad Phone No. 365-2212 Wild, an architect, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Eleanor Sonja Jacobsen, 48, between Dec. 8 and 15th, 1986. He was arrested after Jacobsen's blanket-wrapped body was found in a car on a side road near the south Okanagan town of Keremeos. She had been strangled. Wild was found sitting in the car suffering from a stab wound to the stomach which police said appeared to have been self-inflicted. Fre Ca N: Although in law Canadian citizenship has existed only since 1947, the spirit that gives Canadians their special identity has lived since the earliest days of Confederation Equality, diversity and community are the essential ingredients of that ... Be Proud During National Citizenship Week, people in every corner of the nation, of all ages, will be showing what being Canadian means to them. In schools, in community centres, offices and neighbourhood businesses across the country, Canadians will be doing something special for Canada be Canadian! So speak up! Join in! Be proud — to Miracle Whip Regular or Light 1 Litre Jar 7 Up or epsi Regula 355 ml Tins s°2,4 PLUS DEPOSIT Kraft Parkay Margarine - (3 tb.) Package Ly Yy 12.51 Dutch Box Rogers Flour Unbleached white or 100% whole wheat 10 kg. bag while stocks last *4.89 Potato Chips Coban Gold Coffee All Purpose Grind 369 G. Tin UW /; Y YU MMM, Young Turkey Ss Utility Grade * Frozen $2.16/kg. While Supplies Last 98° With Min. $25.00 Purchase. Limit 1. Easter Lilies Have Arrived, Priced to Sell! ! Washington Grown Mushrooms 2S /kg. Sale Starts Thur., March 24 .*1.99 California Navel Oranges Marketed by Sunkist 20 Ib. Bo: 8 Fresh Cod © Fresh Sole : spirit, and basic principles of celebration of our citizenship and Canadian society Being Canadian NSHIP WEEK If Anyone Else Built it You Might Not Afford It. They'd charge you extra for power steering, power brakes, tinted glass, a 4-speaker AM/FM stereo cassette system and most of the other features that make the Stellar a luxury family car. Lee SHER CASTLEGAR — HY LT or 2 Years Running Canada Prices effective Thursday through Saturday, March 26, 1988 in your friendly, courteous Castlegar Safeway Store only. w #4 A We reserve the right to limit sales to retail quantities. Prices effective whi'e stock lasts NATIONAL CITIZ APRII t Mon. to Wed. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. We Take Anything in Trade! Thursday and Friday 9 a.m, to 9 p.m. §: SAFEWAY CANADA BGAFEWAY LIMITED i-t 55-724)