Bié Terrace Review — Wednesday, September 5, 1990

A year ago
this week —

he news itself was in the
T news a year ago this
week. Skeena Broad-
casters issued a siatement explain-
ing why they had chosen CNN, an
American 24-hour news network,
over CBC’s Newsworld. According
to executive vice-president Bryan

Edwards, Newsworld was available
only on a non-discretionary basis,
meaning subscribers would have to
pay for it whether they wanted it
or not, while CNN came as part of
a six-channel package that sub-
scribers could buy if they liked it.
He did say, though, that Skeena
Broadcasters hadn’t totally elimin-
ated Newsworld and there was a
possibility that it might be avail-
able at some point in the future.

Around town, the seniors’
affordable housing project, Twin
River Estates, was underway and
an application for property tax
exemplion had been sent off to the
city. A tax exemption, though,
wasn't going to happen. According
to city treasurer Keith Norman,
because of the strata-title owner-
ship arrangement the Municipal
Act wouldn’t allow council to
offer an exemption.

On a subsequent visit to Terrace,
Municipal Affairs Minister Rita
Johnston was asked if she could
help but only offered to take a
look at the problem if she received
an official request. She added,
though, that there would have to
be some mechanism in place to
prevent speculative purchases at
Twin River Estates.

Alderman Bob Cooper noted the
same concem, plus one other. He
said seniors who purchase the new
housing units were effectively
transferring equity from their
homes into the housing complex.
And if those unils were granted
exemption there was nothing to
prevent other seniors from apply-
ing for exemptions on their homes.

The society wasn’t pleased with
the situation. One member noted:
"Other organizations get exemp-
tions. It’s time for this city to start
looking after its senior citizens." A
new meeting date was set and
council instructed administration to
seek further information on the
issue.

Also on property taxes, Finance
Minster Mel Couvelier, Municipal
Affairs Minister Rita Johnston and
a small support staff held a public
meeting in Terrace on property
taxes in general but listened mostly
to presentations that involved

school budgets and taxation.
TDTA president Greig Houlden
called for equal taxation rates on
all classes of property and a return
to local taxation on non-residential
property. "There has been a clear
shift in burden between different
classes of property," he told the
panel. "The provincial takeover in
non-residential taxes and the con-
tinued restraint program has pre-
cipitated a crisis in taxation."
Other speakers included Herb
Morven, who toid the panel School

District 92 had fewer than 70.

residential taxpayers to make up
their share of the Nisga’a educa-
tion budget, and Kitimat school
trustee Joan Ling who complained
that when property values go down
property taxes must go wu: in order
to maintain education budgets.

Stil] others complained of incom-
prehensible tax forms, and of
course there was the other side of
the story too. Kitimat administrator
Dave Mortis told the panel that
taxation provides good value for
the money. He explained that for
around $75 a month in property
taxes residents get a variety of
services and then compared that
figure to $40 a month for cable
television.

he B.C, Environmental
: Information Institute was
having trouble selling
memberships in Terrace. The Kiti-
mat-Stikine Regional District‘gave
this group a thumbs down and
Terrace council only said they
would think about it. Although he
didn’t? elaborate, alderman Bob
Cooper suggested the city might be
going a different route. According
to BCEII, they were secking
non-partisan promotion of respon-
sible, integrated, sustainable
resource development.

A year ago this week, though,
there was enough going on to keep
most peoples minds off environ-
mental problems. There was the
*Splat Olympics’ in George Little
Memorial Park for six- to 12-year-
olds, and Terrace Little Theatre’s
summer school of dramatic aris
attracted a standing room only
crowd to the McColl Playhouse for
their final show of ihe summer.

Norma and Bill Bennett were
getting ready to celebrate their
50th wedding anniversary. That
was an event sure to bring back
many memories of the past, There
was the 19th annual Skeena Valley
Fall Fair and the revival of loggers
sports in the Terrace area. Would

The Northwest competitors (Zone 10) in last year’s B.C. Seniors Games gathered in front of the
Happy Gang Centre a year ago this week to board a chartered bus for Trail. They hoped to return

with a busioad of medals.

this event ever stop growing?

And the winners of the Kermode
Friendship Centre’s drug awareness
poster contest were announced.
Hannah Rensby, Rodney Sanches
and Mark Anson placed one, two,
three in the 11- to 15-year-old
group and Stephanie Jacobs, Fraser
de Walle and Ryan Beckley
finished in the same order in the
younger division. Jordan Cain was
honoured for most original entry
and Steven Gervais’ entry was
judged the most“inspiring: "*

Local RCMP had more to worry
about than. the environment as
well. Five people were injured
when a tractor-trailer failed to stop
and ran into the rear of a three-car
line up on the Copper River

bridge, a Terrace man was charged
with hit and run and impaired
driving after he ran over a direc-
tional sign at the south end of the
Sande Overpass, and a Prince
George man was charged with
impaired driving and assault fol-
lowing an incident at Fisherman’s
Park.

Search and Rescue volunteers
saw some action on the Kalum
River... but it was a false alarm.
Two Prince Rupert residents were
reporled three hours overdue on a
canoe excursion from Kalum Lake
to the Skeena, but a local helicop-
ter pilot spotted the pair a short

‘while later merrily paddling down

the Kalum River. They explained
later they were unfamiliar with the
river, and taking extra. precautions
simply added seven hours to their
travel time. .

. Pick your discount’ and SAVE!

Rose’s Ladies’ Fashions
new location:

Grand Opening
SALE

Sept. 12, 13, 14, 15,

4620A Lakelse Avenue

. Terrace, B.C.
_phone 635-4550.

(in front of the inn of the West 2

icycles were in the news.
B It was back-to-school-

time and according to
John Pollock of ICBC there had
been a “substantial” increase in the
number of bicycle accidents in our
area during the summer of *89. In
many cases it was the cyclists own
fault. Pollock said an attitude of
invincibility and distegard for the
rules of the road were the main
causes of cycling accidents, but he

added that most of the accidents.
‘involved adults, not children. This

was not a good situation — in
many cases these same adults were
teaching their children how to ride.

Roy Long of Sundance Ski and
Sports was asked about injury
prevention and he suggested that
the use of cycling helmets might
have helped many of the 200
patients in Vancouver’s Children’s
Hospital who had recently suffered
head injuries due to cycling acci-
dents. But he added,

"Unfortunately, unless we see a

law soon, we'll have to wait until
it seems cool for more kids {fo
wear them."

Many in the medicat community
were gearing up for the Aims for
Health conference, a two-day
session on networking and facili-
tating healthy communities in the
Northwest. But there were other
activities in town as well, The
jocal chapter of the Canadian
Cancer Society was in the process
of forming a support group for
cancer sufferers and their family’s,
and the Northwest had a new
superintendent for the B.C. Ambu-
lance Service, Gerry Parrott,

Parents and teachers were prepar-
ing for changes in the primary
school classroom. There was pro-
mise of change as a result of
recommendations made in 1987 by
the Sullivan Royal Commission on
Education and Terrace teacher Jan
Iverson had been appointed to
coordinate the implementation of

- the program along with a stcering
_ committee of teachers, parents and

lrustees.

'* There were staffing changes: in
" the school board office. Alice
Quantz, confidential secretary to:

the secretary-treasurer, Barry Piers-
dorff, retired to the Okanagan with
husband Reg. And in what they
termed a commitment to an era of
cooperation the board established a
new position, director of employee
relations, to assist in the complex
negotiations brought about by the
change in status of the local

teachers’ bargaining unit. Bruce

Greenwood of Kelowna was
selected from a field of 36 candi-
dates. MK

In sports a year ago this week,
the papers for the 1991 Northern
B.C. Winter Games in Terrace
were signed, sealed and delivered
and local divers were doing us
proud. Shane Illingsworth and
Brad Hanson placed fifth and ninth
in the 15- to 16-year-old one-metre
diving competition at the B.C.
Summer games in Surrey. In the
regional finals at the B.C. Summer
Diving Association in -Prince
George, Scott McGinlay won a
silver on the one-metre board and
Fred Lambrick captured a bronze.

The All Seasons Expose defeated
Skeena Hotel to. take the season's
mixed slo-pitch championship for
1989, and Dave’s Plumbing and
Heating defeated the Saints to take
the scrub softball title. A couple of
Terrace runners did well: Sue
Simpson took first place in
women’s division of the Smithers’
Fall Fair 10-kilometre run and Ed
Ansems won the masters’. division.

A new recreation facility was
opened, The Northwest Commun-
ily College fitness centre, and
another was promised. A $193,000
Go B.C. grant was approved for
the construction of a new Smithers
Golf Club clubhouse.

The footings were in place for
the swimming pool expansion
project. We were told that Oct, 2
had been set as an opening date
and the visitor capacity of the pool

would be increased by 20 percent, |
But there was one local sports: .

man who probably didn’t care
about any of this, Terrace oldtimer
hockey player Harold Cox had

been invited to play with the

Orient Express in an invitational

hockey tournament hosted by "Pea- | ~
‘nuts. creator Charlie Schultz,

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