Stalkers They’re the terrorists we know and police say they come in many different types\NEWS A5 Barely covered. The women of the Skeena Valley Rotary Club are revealed in a new calendar \COMMUNITY B3 Close ones Caledonia’s boys soccer team lose some heartbreakers at the provincials\SPORTS B6 WEDNESDAY November 29,-2000 NDARD $1.00 PLUS. 1¢ Gst ($4.40 plus 8¢ GST autside of the Jarrace area) VOL. 13 NO. 34 Alliance keeps grip on Skeena Burton elected MP, Liberals form third straight majority government CANADIAN ALLIANCE candi- date Andy Burton is Skeena’s new MP, beating Liberal Rhoda Witherly to take the riding with 42.6 per cent of the vote. Burton, the former mayor of Stewart, got 12,473 voles with all but two polls reporting, well ahead of Witherly’s 8,532 voles. or 29.2 per cent. NDP candidate Larry Guno was third with 6,156 votes, or 21 per cent. The Greens’ Roger Benham got 670 votes, George. Joseph of the Christian Herilage Party got 333. PC candidate Devin Glo- winski got 942 votes. and Cliff Brown of the Natural Law Party got 135. Voter turnout in Skeena was G1 per cent. “I'm overwhelmed,” Burton said. “The support across the whole riding has been terrific.” When Burton meets with the Alltance caucus in Otlawa to-: morrow, it will he his first time in the nation’s capital. Just moments after declaring victory late Monday evening, Burton revealed to supporters how confident he and his wife had been about. his chances.: “Ann and [ actually bought a house [in Terrace} last week.” Burton's supporters were sur- prised by the party’s poor show- ing in Ontario. Burton, nominated by the party to replace retiring MP Mike Scott, was able to roughly match Scott's percentage of the — pepular vote in 1997. Witherly improved on her 1997 result, when she got 20.2 per cent, while Guno took 3,700 fewer NDP votes than candi- date Isaac Sobol. While disappointed, Wither- ly was glad she ran a campaign based on issues, She was also happy the Lib- ‘erals’ fot only won a majority, bul limited the Alliance to two Ontario seats in central and How Skeena voted NDP Liberal Alliance PC CHP. Green eastern Canada. “Atlantic Canada and Ontar- io didn’t buy into the line that lower taxes are the be all and end all,” she said. Guno said the unpopularity of the pravinctal NDP govern- ment was a factor in his loss. The party was also up against an Afliance machine in Skeena with two previous wins, “We had an uphill battle,” Guno said. He also said it ap- peared gun control and tax cuts were bigger priorities to voters (han issues like health care and poverty, “There is sull a lot of. fear and misunderstanding . of the (realy process,” Guno added, noting he was associated with the Nisga‘a treaty because he's Niseu'a, The Liberals under Jean Chretien cruised to a_ third straight majority government, with 173 seats out of 301, The Allianee won 66. seals, DRIVING INSTRUCTOR Shane Illingworth gives his students their most impor- tant lesson by having them stand just inside the dou- ble-wide glass entrance doors of his office building. From there they have a clear view of the four-way stop at Lazeile and Eby. What they see, more often than not, are drivers barely coming to a stop or else going right on through. “It just blows them away,” says Illingworth. “They see peopie just about getting hit, illegal lane changes. Some of the stuff we've seen is unbe- lievable.” ” What bothers Illing- worth the most is the role model these drivers pre- sent to his students, Changes several years apo, now mean it takes two years for people to get a complete driver's li- cence. Part of that is a com- plete emphasis on driving safely and awareness. “Yet when they see dri- vers act like they do at the four-way, it sets a bad ex- ample,” says Illingworth. “Peaple just aren’! re- specting their licence and their bad habits are dan- gerous.” . And it’s not just private DRIVING INSTRUCTOR Shane Illingworth and his students have seen many drivers disobey the four-way stop sign at the intersection of Eby and Lazelle. |l- lingworth makes his students sign a stop sign as a way of reinforcing the need for safe and defensive driving at all times. Drivers risking lives, says local instructor citizens breaking traffic laws. Illingworth and his students have seen deliv- ery vehicles, contractors’ vehicles, buses and even police cars violate the four-way stop. “Nobody can be in such a hurry that two or three seconds to stop can make such a difference,” he says. “If you’re in such a rush, how much time will you have saved if you have to fill out an accident report and pay more for in- surance?” Illingworth. notes - that the province randomly se- Cont'd Page A2 up from,58 as Reform in. 1997, City turns down groups asking for more money NO, NO AND NO. That’s city council’s re- sponse ta three groups seeking increased city ‘grants next year. The Terrace Public Li- brary was the most ambi- tious, seeking a $30,000 increase in its budget for 2001. Heating costs are up due to natural gas price hikes and the library also wants a 6.3 per cent wage increase for clerical staff -- now paid $14.79 to $17.52 per hour — because their pay lags comparable city positions by 20 per cent. It also wants a new telec- phone system and securily cameras. “Tell them we’re hold- ing the line on everything,” mayor Jack Talstra directed city staff. “Everybody is taking a hit.” The city is wrestling with dramatically in- creased natural pas costs for next year and a $310,000 rise in its share of RCMP costs. Property tax increases are a very real possibility, as are service reductions combined with fee in- creases. The Terrace Tourism Council wanted the city to boost its contribution by $10,600 to $45,000..Much of that would have in- creased the hours of its paid coordinator, who the board says performs a full- time job on half-time pay. That, too, was turned down but council plans to maintain its current contri- bution. Councillor David Hull noted the city originally planned to phase itself completely out of the tour- ism council’s budget a year ago. “I think we have to get out of direct funding of tourism promotion,” he said. Councillor Lynne Christiansen, who is a dir- ector on the tourism coun- cil as the president of the Farmer’s Markel, defended the proup’s budget. “If we drop out of tour- ism, who's going to pick it up?” she asked. “It’s not a handout, it’s an invest- ment,” Hull said local busines- ses that benefits most from tourism have resisted ideas such as the two per cent hotel room tax used by other northwest towns. “If it’s not important to them, I don’t see why it should be important to us or all other taxpayers,” he said. Also rejected was a chamber of commerce re- quest for $5,000 more next year from the city. The five-year contract between the chamber and city to run the Tourist Info- centre also expires’ this year, One group thal will get more is the Riverboat Days saciety. It’s tentat- ively approved to get at least $4,000 more to cover a range of rising costs to put on the event. Those include increased brochure costs, security costs and a $1,000 bill to rent the large tent it used to get for free before the aan The city is also trim- ming its awn spending plans. - One of the items to be excised was a plan to build a sidewalk connect- ing the linear park to the Sande Overpass, Money to resurface tennis courts is also gone. Also cut is the amount of money for pavement patching and road recon- striction through local im- provement projects. Road work still slated to go ahead includes con- struction of Bailey St. from Gordon Dr. ta McConnell Ave, and repaving of Greig Ave. from Kalum to At- wood. The union that repre- sents firefighters volun- teered cuts of its own to avert a planned reduction of the city’s first responder service, fire chief Randy Jack Talstra Firefighters have agreed to reduce the amount of standby time they'll be paid, he said. That will avoid plans to reduce first responder ser- vice during weekend and overtime periods and also enable search and rescue operations to continue to use firehall #2 on Greig city privatized it. Smith said. Ave. User fees going up EXPECT to pay more to license your pet or go swimming and skating next year. Those are some of the areas where city council is approving fee increases to get extra cash for depleted city coffers. The cost of licensing a neutered or spayed dog rises from $15 to $20, Licen- sing an unfixed dog rises from $30 to $40. Council stopped short of eliminating the 50 per cent seniors discount for dog licensing. “Seniors have a tough enough time, especially ones on a fixed income,” councillor David Hull said, They also nixed a staff proposal to as much as triple the cost of adopting a pet from the animal shelter, Councillors feared the move would make it harder to sell unwanted animals and increase (he number put down. Development services director David Trawin noted the city’s animal control budget has doubled to more than $150,000 over the past 10 years. “Council has to realize there is a cost Lawsuit move A JUDGE has dismissed a motion by ICBC to have a lawsuit in connection with the death of Laura Lee heard in Vancouver instead of Terrace. The case, if it goes to trial, will in- stead be heard in Terrace, the court deci- ded Nov. 9, Lee's parents originally filed the negli- gent death lawsuit against Aaron Douglas He was the driver of a speeding stolen car that on June 22, 1999 slammed ‘into’ Lee's car, instantly killing the 17-yehirold Caledonia grad and her boyfriend, 19-. year-old Belgian exchange student Re- to keeping these things in the shelter,” he said. Recreation superintendent Steve Scott said fee increases are in the works for both swimming and skating. That should raise about $4,500 extra next year. The city’s natural gas costs are expec- ted to rise close to $100,000 next year, much of that coming from costs at the pool and arena. “We’re really getting hammered with our utility rates,” he said. Mayor Jack Talstra said he wants ideas on other ways the city could raise extra money, “We're heading towards a four per cent increase in taxes unless we can think of other ways to add to our re- venue stream,” he said. One idea that the city buy an incinera- tor for the animal shelter and become a regional centre in pet cremation isn’t likely to go ahead. Plans are already advancing for some- thing similar through the Prince Rupert SPCA, council was told, bid dismissed naud Fontaine. When Douglas didn’t respond to the suit, ICBC became the defendant. Dou- glas, convicted in October on twa of criminal negligence causing We how serving a seven-year prison term. The Lees are suing under the Family Compensation Act, which allows families to sue for damages on behalf of a de- ceased parent, spouse or child. ‘The family is suing for more than the standard ICBC payout of. between $12,000 and $20,000. No date has yel been set for the trial,