ba za Fish fallacy Rage eee meee wee ee wae fingered for tourist drop Infocentre move also a factor A COMBINATION OF faulty fishing information and a new location produced lower than normal ‘ visitor numbers at the chamber of commerce’s visitor infocentre this summer, . There were 592 parties registered as stopping at the infocentre office in June and 1,279 parties in July. Multiplied by the tourism industry standard of 2.5 people, that works out to 1,480 people in June and 3,198 people in July. And both numbers were down a healthy amount from the same two months of last year. In particular, the area seems to be lacking the num- - bers of tourists from Alberta and Saskatchewan that 4 ' ® i] 1 ' visited in past years. It’s these people who provide the backbone of the recreational fishing tourist here and they may have been scared off by erroneous reports leaking over the Rockies about the state of B.C.’s fishing industry. Those reports may have been right when it comes to the commercial fishery but wrong when declines were also reported for its recreational counterpart. “Word got out that all the fishery was bad, not just the commercial fishery,’ says chamber employce Sally Poppleton. ‘That spilled over and people have stayed away.” Another contributing factor to the low number of visitors was the temporary location of the infocentre fF[RE FIGHTER Scott Spencar checks for a heartbeat on the new heart monitor the fire department recently acquired. He was demonstrating the machine on a dummy, so he had That was to permit renovations to the chamber’s log a bit of a problem finding a pulse. The demonstration took place during a thank you recep- structure on Hwy16 and those renovations weren’t _ tion co-hosted by the fire department and the ambulance station. Cardiac units added to the Skeena Mall. finished until mid-July. “Either people couldn't find us or, with big rigs, had trouble parking,’’ said Poppleton of the temporary office space. All this means it’s been a challenging two years for the tourist infocentre. Last year, a massive bridge re-decking project hampered the ability of tourists to stop in at the log structure. Bed and breakfasts multiply A bright spot for the local tourism industry this year has been the steady growth of bed and breakfast accommoda- tions. There are now five in Terrace and area and another three ‘in the Nass Valley. ‘Especially for European people it’s personalized, cheaper and more interesting,’’ said Poppleton. Two of the Terrace and area bed and breakfasts are Jo- cated at Lakelse Lake, mo me A healthy bed and breakfast industry provides for a well- balanced variety of overnight accommodations, says Pop- pleton, LIFE-SAVING TECHNOLOGY in Terrace got a boost with the addition of two heart monitors. The automatic external defibrillators came after the fire department and ambulance station asked the community to raise money for the car- diac units, The machines are used when someone has gone into cardiac arrest. If ambulance or first responders reach a person within eight minutes, they can shock a heart back to a proper rhythm. One of Terrace’s ambulances was already out- fitted with a defibrillator. However if that am- bulance was already called out, and another emergency occurred, the second patient would * be out of luck. a a “* “This was'the missing link,’’ says ambulance chief Wayne Moi, “‘Now we have it thanks to everyone here.”’ Having a heart monitor in the fire truck as well might save even more lives. Thal’s because the fire truck is often the first vehicle on the scene in an emergency. In an average year emergency crews respond to anywhere from nine to 15 cardiac arrest calls. And those numbers are expected to increase as Terrace’s population grows and ages. ““We’ve already resuscitated two people with these machines,’ says fire chief Randy Smith. But both be and Moi stress that early CPR by bystanders is also very important, The machines cost a total of $13,500. Money was donated by the Order of the Royal Purple, the Legion, Northern Savings Credit Union, Downtown Lions and the Rotary Club, | Kitwanga artist Andy Morgan also donated two carvings which were presented as thank you gifls. They were carved in the shape of a Maltese cross, the fire department’s symbol. News in Brief Overheated budget LIBRARY OFFICIALS say they love their new air conditioning, but someone forgot to factor the change in to their utilities budget. Library board chair Maureen Ogawa is as- king council for a $3,100 grant to cover the budget overrun to operate the air conditioning in 1996, Councillor Val George said the air con- ditioning was a iast minute addition to the capilal projects budget set Jate last year, after the library budget was approved. The item was referred (o the city’s finance committee. Ogawa also called the new library building a success, noting circulation to the end of June is 25 per cent up from last year’s record levels, She said 1,200 new memberships have been issued in 1996, with total membership now more than 11,000. Truck driver injured A TERRACE logging truck driver got a lucky bounce from a log in an industrial acci- dent al a landing near Kitimat Thursday. Kitimat ambulance and RCMP personnel were called to the landing 11 km northeast of Kilimat Thursday moming on a report that a man had been struck by a log. Kitimat RCMP Const, Alberto Neumann said the driver sustained minor cuts and bruises when a Jog from the load he was tying down on his truck fell off and hit the ground. It missed the driver on the way down but one end of the log bounced up again and struck the driver. Neumann said the loggers didn’t take any chances and called in an am- bulance to take the injured driver to Kitimat General Haspital, where he was treated, Fires below average COOL SUMMER weather is keeping the number of forest fires in this region well be- low norm. So far there have been 56 fires this season, Compared to an average of 220, The latest fire, which started in the Nass on August 4, is out, although crews are still keep- ing an eye on it, The fire, located southwest of Cranberry junction, consumed 60 hectares, Since then fire officials report there haven't been any new starts. But they warn the public slill to exercise care, and to make sure all camp fires are properly extinguished. On being happy THE UNIVERSITY of Northern BC is host- ing a world conference on the quality of life, and what it means to be happy. The four-day event, which staris tomorrow in Prince George, will include an exploration of what it means to have a good quality of life. Canada has never hosted an international con- ference on quality of life before, but given that we top the UN rankings in this category, it seems appropriate. pg Don't Drop Dem or Deb Break! Need to relax after a stressful day at the office? Got sore muscles from overextending yourself on the - sport's field? The “ al as Vey ae Le models are here now, with even more Stump Pulling Performance! The “Super Free-wheeling Deal” starts July Ist and ends October 31st, 1996. Receive a Super Freewheeling ~ Deal Package FREE with your purchase of a new, unused 1995, — 1996 or 1997 Suzuki King Quad or LT-F4WD. 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