Legtstntive! Parliament Victoria, B.C. Vav-1xa- - wiasitts VOL. 37, No, 32 WEATHERCAST Cloudy with occasional showers Thursday. 14° to 16° and lows 2° to 4°. Outlook for the weekend is @ mixture of cloud and sun with occasional showers CASTLEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1984 3 Sections (A, B & C) aie TT College budget up slightly By CHERYL CALDERBANK estimated revenue from tuition and other sources should But the ministry reduced that by 15 students, funding year of the program was introduced last year. Staff Writer Selkirk College has received a 1' per cent increase in its 1984-85 budget allocation from the Ministry of Education. College Principal Leo Perra told board members Tuesday night in a prepared report that the college will million. $400,000 and increase pi amount to $820,000, for a total budget of more than $10.9 Perra noted that although the budget has increased by 1' per cent, the college has been forced to reduce costs by ional only 345 places at the college. As well, receive $10,118,000 — about a $300,000 increase over last in Grand Forks. the ministry eliminated one class in the Planning Your Future course, one class in the Tr: Training and reduced funding for the Office Administration ivity by providing prog’ As well, some temporarily funded courses are now part of the base budget. These include Social Service Work and Planning Your Future. New programs include the transfer of the Graphic Design, Photography and Fine Woodworking courses from tional Perra says the ministry appears to have d the Transitional Training program and the class may be reinstated subject to the college's appeal. The course meets the needs of adults requiring special ‘education services, he said, At the same time the second year of the Computer Information Systems program will be phased in. The first programs. For instance, the college will provide 35 more positions in the University Transfer program this year, he said. However, the ministry also reduced the college's projected enrolment in some courses. The college had anticipated a total of 360 students in the University Transfer program this year — an increase of 50 from 1983. David Th University Centre to the Castlegar campus. In addition, the college is inclyding an inboard/outboard option for its Training Access (TRAC) program. At the same time there were some reductions in the electrical, automotive and millwright apprentice programs. continued on poge A2 Police surround Libyan Embassy year's allocation of $9.97 million. The $10.1 million figure includes funds for all activities approved by the ministry at the college. A detailed expenditure plan for each college program has yet to be worked out. In addition, to the provincial grant, Perra said LONDON (CP) — As police sharp- shooters ringed the Libyan Embassy today, British officials negotiated with its occupants a day after a burst of gunfire which authorities say came from the mission killed a policewoman and wounded 11 demonstrators. The British government said Libyan authorities lifted a retaliatory siege of the British Embassy in Tripoli. A Foreign Office spokesman said the British ambassador to Libya, Oliver Miles, and 24 other Britons were per- mitted to leave the Tripoli mission this afternoon and “some did so.” The Bri- tons had been trapped in their embassy for more than 24 hours. “We welcome this,” said the spokes- man, who asked not to be identified, British police released without charge “four Libyans detained after authorities said a gunman fired Tues- day from an upstairs Libyan Embassy window on_ exiles demonstrating against Libyan leader Col. Moammar Khadafy. Five senior cabinet ministers, mem- bers of British Prime Minister Mar garet Thatcher's “crisis committee,” met for 90 minutes to plot strategy, and official sources said later that “the waiting game” would continue. That- cher, on a visit to Portugal, was re- ported in constant contact with her ministers. Police in telephone contact with the mission tried to persuade the Libyans to leave the embassy building. Plain- clothes and armed uniformed police were seen moying across the roof and on the tops*of adjoining buildings, which all had been evacuated. British police normally do not carry firearms. —inside hours. For EASTER HOLIDAY: Because of the Good Friday holiday, all deadlines for the Castlegar News Easter Sunday edition will be advanced by 24 le, the c! will publish Easter Sunday. tisements week in light of the holidays. ad will be pushed for- ward to 11 a.m. Thursday from 11 a.m. Friday. This will allow our staff to enjoy Good Friday with their families. The Castlegar News As well, readers should check with various store adver- this issue to see what hours stores are keeping this MARRIED THREE-QUARTERS OF A CENTURY . . . Som and Dora Chernenkotf celebrated their 75th anniver- Marolt4, 1909 in Arron, Sask. Sunday was also Sam's 96th birthday. He is a patient at the Castlegar Hospital sary with a special rece; ion Sunday afternoon with Slatives and friends. The couple were married on Lodge. extended care wai and she is ing at Raspberry rd —CosNewsPhoto by Ryon Wilson Board to decide on program By ADRIAN CHAMBERLAIN Staff Writer Castlegar school board has officially assumed responsibility — financial and otherwise — for the kindergarten Rus- sian immersion program at Castlegar Primary school. But that doesn’t guarantee the pro- gram will be retained next September, according to board chairman Doreen she said in an interview. The Russian immersion program — which started last September — was “originally put in as a pilot project at no cost to the board,” explained Smecher. A diseussion paper on the program — cireulated among district admin istrators, teachers, and interested par- ents — was approved by the board Monday. sion program,” and indicates that a de- cision will be made on a teacher for the program before June, said Smecher. She said the program's present teacher was hired on a term appoint ment which ends June 31. If the board is unable to find anyone else to teach the program within the teachers in the district, one alternative would be to re-hire the current teacher. COMPUTER THEFT: Thieves broke into Selkirk College over the weekend and made off with two computers worth nearly $8,000. . . A2 MULRONEY IS COMING: National Progressive Conservative leader Brian Mulroney will be making a visit to Kootenay West within the next two months, Tory didate Bob Brisco d...A5 McDONALD DUCK’S?: PEKING — China unveiled today its first wester-style fast-food restaurant, a state-owned eatery where ham- burgers, hot dogs, and french fries compete for customers raised on noodles, cabbage and Peding duck. Communist party dignitaries and guests from local restaurants rushed to a big table in the centre of the restaurant to feast on speci ies piled on plastic plates by harried-looking workers. The restaurant's name, Yili, means “righteousness ond profit.” Donald Duck, the Walt Disney cartoon character, is the restaurant's symbol. A Hong Kong company that owns the MtQonald’s franchise there helped design Yili restaurant, plan the menu and train the Smecher. “It hinges on staff and resources,” The paper “makes the board assume responsibility for the Russian Immer cooks. continued on page A2 By DAPHNE BRAMHAM KAMLOOPS (CP) — Why does a man described as quiet, shy and considerate go out one summer night and shoot six strangers? If there is an answer, it is locked deep in the mind of David William Shearing, the confessed murderer of the Johnson’ and Bentley families in their holiday camp- ground. And he says he doesn't know. He has steadfastly refused any other answer since he was first questioned by police last fall about the August 1982 murders of Bob, Johnson, 44, of Kelowna; wife Jacqueline, 41; their children Janet, 18; and Karen, 11; and Jacqueline’s parents, George and Edith Bentley of Port. Goquitlam. ‘The question was asked several times Tuesday by Mr. Justice Harty McKay of British Columbia Supreme Court before h. ing i with no parole for 25 years, following guilty pleas to the six eounts of second-degree murder. IL 4s the equivalent of a first-degree murder sentence and it is the first time the maximum second-degree penalty has been given. The minimum is 10 years before parole. AN EXECUTION Said McKay: “What we have, put very simply, is a cold-blooded and of six and inhocent victims for no apparent reason other than he possibly coveted some of their ions.” He called the killings a “ruthless slaughter” and Shearing’s actions after the murders an “elaborate time-consuming and ghoulish cover-up” that included books “anal sing al ear with the bodies in it -and sev later ‘burning the Bentleys’ camper truck. Both vehi¢les had been driven deep into dense bush. RCMP investigators described Shearing as very co-operative. In the first interview with him Nov. 19, it was Shparing who asked whether they were inves tigating the Johnson-Bentley murders that took place in Wells Gray Park 150 kilometres north of here. Shearing, 25, later confessed and re-enacted the crime for police, taking them to the campsite where he killed the victims, the sites where he burned the vehicles and the spot where he hid the Bentleys’ aluminum boat and motor. But according to RCMP notes read into the court record, when investigators asked Shearing why he murdered the six, he said he didn't know. Once he said he thought he might have done it because he wanted the camper truck, which he never used. 4 RCMP Insp. Vic Edwards said police can't force an answer from the killer. “It will always be in the back of our minds, what the motive was.” Because of that, Edwards said the case will not be officially closed unless the motive is found. Shearing’s lawyer, Frederick Kaatz, got the same non-answer from the murderer. Crown counsel Robert Hunter said he doubts anyone will ever know. For the relatives of the slain families, not knowing why leaves them a bit unsettled. Shearing holds answer to murders Brian Bentley, 30, Jacqueline’s brother, said he could have understood better if Shearing had been a hardened criminal instead of someone whose friends wrote saying they were shocked to hear that Shearing had been arrested. As it is, Bentley said he is going home to North Delta, with a lot of questions unanswered. Ross Gorman, Bob Johnson's employer and friend. said he thinks the whole story hasn't been told and maybe never will be. “You're so confused with the thing that you just don't believe all you're told.” Even Shearing’s brother, Greg. who wrote a letter to the court about David, questioned why it had happened. Greg, 36 and a former corrections officer and deputy sheriff, wrote he was shocked over “how my kind, consid erate brother would even contemplate such a thing. “Dave was always willing to give the shirt off his back whenever someone needed help. What happened to this young fellow?”