- Plane politics
U. S. Congressman wants:
aircraft that crashed here
‘grounded, investigated
\NEWS A10

H's & boy

‘Mom of Terrace’ s New Year’ Ss
baby goes from a wedding to
the maternity ward
\COMMUNITY B1.

No second victory
The River Kings close
out the year with a bitter

‘al ‘a, home ice loss to Kitimat

"\SPORTSB4 =

$1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST
- ($1.10 plus 8¢ GST .
outside of the Terrace area)

, BY SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN. oo
MOST propéity: owners in the horsehoe and on the
bench in Terrace saw their property values increase

@-this year while people living in Thornhill and ¢ on the,

. south side of Terrace saw little change.

It’s the third straight year property assessments in
‘Terrace have increased after ‘years of steadily declin-
ing rates.

- The 2006 property assessment notices. were is-
sued last week and many people in Terrace may

‘have been surprised by how much the assessed value ;

oftheir homes increased.
Overall; Terrace’ Ss assessments ° ‘went up from
$724.8 million in 2004 to $767.3 million in 2005.
‘That’s.a more than five per cent increase over lat
~ year’s totals.
“Most Terrace homes on this year’ s assessment

Qe
ac uw “

. New Year’ Ss baby

’ SONYA KUSHNEREK gave birth to son Braydan Alexander at 2:33 a. m. Jan. 1 after a long labour and busy
New Year's Eve. For the story.of the birth of the city’ 's New Year's baby, turn to page B1.

" when compared to previous years,

www.terracestandard com)

“roll are worth more than: they were on the 2005 as-
sessment roll, and market movement appears strong
_ says Northwest
Deputy ‘Assessor Scott Sitter.

A typical mid 1990s built home on the bench was

assessed at $191, 000 i in the summer of 2004 but rose

to $204,000 in the summer of 2005 - a 6.8 per cent

" increase in value.

_ And a typical older home in the horseshoe or on

mer of 2004 was asessed at $137,000 in the summer
of 2005,-Sitter said. .
That’s up 17 percent. :

- in 1998 but fell dramatically after that.
the bench that was assessed at $117,000 in the sum- _

“What really drove the increase from: 2003 to’

2004 was the newer homes built in 1990 and later,”

~ Sitter. says. “From 2004 to 2005 we’ re seeing the

1970s and 80s homes catching up.”

‘
a

But people living on the south side likely saw lit- .

: tle change in property values compared to last year,
with the, exception of some newer homes which saw ©

- cal early 1990s home in Thornheights remaining un-

a modest increase, he says.

The same trend was seen in Thornhill with a typi-

changed at about $140,000. :
Property assessments here peaked at $831 million

Assessments are supposed to reflect the market
value ofahome. — . :
But some local realtors:say property assessments

don’t necessarily translate into an accurate reflection °
can contact the local B.C.’ Assessment office at 638-

of what a selling price of a home may be.
That’s because the price of any piece of real es-
tate is negotiated between a willing buyer and a will-:

Wednesday, J anuary n, 2006

Assessments up ) for third straight year |

both. “That’s really the only way of determining true
market value,” says realtor John Evans. —
‘ BESS

Commercial property owners in. Terrace won't :

see a huge jump in their assessments this year.

“In Terrace the commercial roll has: not. changed °.
.. Significantly,” says deputy assessor for B.C.:Assess- ©
ment Scott Sitter. “The roll: total is only up. about .

_ three per cent.” as

’ The average assessed : value of a commercial
property in 2004 was about $451,000 and the aver-
age in:2005 was about $465,000.

Anyone with concerns about their assessments

1116. Assessments by address and ‘sales are also
available on-line until March 15 at. www. beassess-

, ment. ca

ing seller v who agree ona price that works for them,

Former cop gets |
jail time for
‘sexual assaults _

By. MARGARET SPEIRS ;
~A FORMER RCMP officer will serve a
_ lengthy jail sentence after being convicted of
engaging in sexual acts with two teenaged
girls.
Gary Wayne Stevens, 47, was ordered
__to serve 18 months in jail foilqgwed by three

years probation by Madame Justice Carol

Ross of Vancouver in Terrace Supreme
Court Jan. 3. °

In addition, Stevens must provide a DNA
sample, be registered as a sex offender and

_cannot possess any firearms for 10 years.

Ross also ordered Stevens: to participate
in a sex ‘offender treatment program, to ab-

7 “had asked for jail time of 18 months to two

years less a day, arguing that an RCMP of-:—

ficer should be sentenced more harshly.

- At that time, defence counsel Ken Ander-
son argued that Stevens didn’t pose a risk to.
re-offend and could serve his sentence inthe... -

community.

-Anderson asked ‘for a conditional sen- .

tence and. suggested the possibility of a

- Nisga’a forgiveness feast or restorative jus-

tice for Stevens, who is Nisga’a.

In handing down her sentence, Ross told. |

the court that the defence’s sentencing sug-
gestions wouldn’t suffice.

“f can’t come to a conclusion whether,

stain from alcohol and _
other intoxicants, .to not —
- have any direct or indi-
rect contact with either
of his two victims and to
not have contact with any
child under age 14. unless
supervised by a “sober

conditional

“| have concluded a

order is not appropriate
. in this. circumstance,”
- ‘Madame Justice Ross

it’s fitting or ‘appropriate
for these circumstances,”
she said about the: -for-

sentence giveness feast.

this circumstance.”

adult. .
"In reviewing. submis- ae

noted that Stevens had himself been a victim
of sexual assault in his childhood and early
adulthood. "

She noted that Stevens had plead guilty to

The abuse wasn’t prolonged and Stevens
didn’t threaten or. injure .the victims, -she

victims, Ross said. -
There were some aggravating factors such

years-old at the time: and that Stevens was

an RCMP officer and therefore knew the law
and its consequences.

1990s Gustafson Lake standoff and another
commendation for bravery.

ber, 2005, Crown counsel Shirley Meldrum

‘Candidates face off tonight
at all candidates forum —

sions from the ‘sentencing’ ‘hearing, Ross:

both charges and had shown some remorse... °

_ said. In each-case, he tended to justify his.
behaviour and shift some of the blame to the

as the fact that the victims were 13 and 14- —

Ross noted. that as.a police officer, Ste-
vens had received a commendation for the.

During the sentencing hearing i in Decem-

2004.

“T have concluded : a.
conditional sentence or
der is not. appropriate in _

_ Stevens served ‘in the

-RCMP for 22 years in -

Prince Rupert, Port Simpson,’ Merritt, New |
Aiyansh and Kitimat. An internal RCMP.’ |
investigation was abandoned when Stevens — ai
resigned from the force at the end of Sept. rs |

: Stevens ‘was charged ‘with two. counts -

of sexual assault in June 2004. He initially
plead not guilty in Terrace Provincial Court
in August-2004.

One count of touching a young pérson 1 for
a sexual purpose was added to the charges
after a preliminary inquiry concluded:

The case.was moved to Terrace Supreme

Court where Stevens plead guilty toall three
charges at his first appearance in June 2005...

> A sentencing hearing followed in Decem-
ber 2005. One charge of sexual assault was
stayed, leaving Stevens’, guilty. pleas to the
charges of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old

old girl for a sexual purpose some time. be-
tween. ' August 2003 and April 2004..

. THE: “Terrace Standard is hosting an all candidates
forum tonight, Wednesday, January 11 at 7 p.m. at the
R.E.M. Lee: Theatre in Terrace.

-. This is the public’s opportunity to pose ‘questions to.

the five candidates running in the Skeena-Bulkley Val-
ley riding for the upcoming federal election Jan. 23.
Candidates will. prepare opening and closing state-

ments and will face questions from a media Panel in

addition to audience members.
‘The NDP candidate running for re- election i is Skee-

na-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen. Cullen, who:

lives in Smithers when he’s not working in Ottawa, was

elected in the 2004 election.

- Terrace businessman Mike Scott is the Conservative
party’s candidate. He was the MP in this region from
1993 until 2000 and at the time was a member of the
Reform/Canadian Alliance .

Prince Rupert mortgage broker Gordon Stamp-Vin-

cent is running for the Liberals.
Two more people from Smithers are also running.
Rod Taylor is the Christian Heritage Party | and Phil

Brienesse i is running for the Green Party.

The forum will be moderated by Northwest Com-
munity College president Stephanie Forsyth with assis-

tance from the Skeena Valley Rotary Club, Terrace and’ 7

DistricChamber of Commerce and Terrace Toastmas-
ters.

A media panel comprised of CFTK’s Kathy Brookes
and Terrace Standard reporters Sarah Zimmerman and
Dustin Quezada will pose questions to the candidates.

Audience members are encouraged to write down.
questions to the candidates, which are then presented

by the media panel. The event starts at 7 p.m. sharp and
is expected to conclude by 9:30 p.m.

For more information contact Sarah Zimmerman at

the Terrace Standard office at 638-7283.

el A ‘hole’ lot of work - | :
CITY WORKERS repair a water line break on the corner of Emerson St. and Lakelse

Ave. by the Coast Inn beer and wine store Jan. 3. Checking out the damage is fore-
man Henry Craveiro, bottom right, and several equipment operators.

_ girl in August 1992 and touching’a 14-year-. . -