Cone of silence City council tries again to get a Jobs aplenty Swimmers score Student summer jobs are up for Bluebacks are on the road scoring public meeting with the local health council\NEWS A8 _ grabs through a provincial subsidy\COMMUNITY B1 medals in Smithers and Prince George\SPORTS B5 WEDNESDAY May 3, 2000 By CHRISTIANA WIENS THE NEIGHBOURS of a new youth detox centre on the bench say they don’t have a problem with drug or al- cohol addicted youth living near them. They just wish someone had talked to them about it beforehand. The home - near the corner or Hal- liwell and Eby — will house up to six northwest drug or alcohol addicted youth between 12 and 19 years old who ask for help with their addiction. The youth will stay at the house for 30 days under supervision, The $850,000 program is the first voluntary youth detox facility outside of the lower maintand. It is paid for by the children and fa- milies ministry and operated locally STA Detox centre upsets ne by the Terrace and District Commun- ity Services Society. “We're stuck with it whether we want it or not,” said Robert Park, one of about 40 frustrated and angry neigh- bours who say they only found oul about the house last week. The neigh- bours mel with detox centre officials April 28. Program co-ordinator Jeanette An- derson said she informed 20 neigh- bours by letter March 1, but she only heard back from three of them. What’s more, she said, the children and families ministry asked her to keep quiet about the centre until an official ribbon cutting ceremony was scheduled. That’s supposed to happen this week. NDAR “The ministry gave me a gag order,” said Anderson. “I was not al- lowed to talk.” She appealed for residents to > give the program a chance. But that didn’t appease area resi- dents, who at one point insisted the services sociely sell the house and buy another one further away. . “Get the hell out of there,” said one resident. “You've brought our property values down.” Many other residents, who have lived there for years, also questioned why the society even considered the bench. “We bought up there because it’s a good residential neighbourhood,” said Cindy Lockhart. “This meeting has ac- “a complished nothing.” Anderson said the house was cho- sen because it is on a busy street, yet has enough privacy frum the street to guarantee client anonymity. She said the goal of the program was ta reintegrate the youth with their community. Zoning for the house and several others on the street changed lo R2 in 1995, allowing for two-family dwellings and community child care facilities. ‘The youth detox centre is, accord- ing to city lawyers, a community child care facility. ; “When we allowed that in zone changes, we meant day care,” said Paul Gipps, senior building inspector $1.00 PLUS 7¢'GST™ ($1.10 plus 6¢ GST outside of the Terrace area) VOL.13 NO, 4 ighbours for the city. The residents are also concerned that workers and visitors will park on Halliwell, blocking an intersection and endangering peuple’s lives. “There’s nine or 10 cars out there sometimes,” said Megan Yeo. “It looks like a business.” The city has asked that the home operate as a home based business and have all cars park off the street. So far, said Gipps, the house has the right number of parking spots for the number of beds and employces at the home. “Generally, it complies right now,” he said. “If we have any problems we'll deal with it on a complaint basis.” May 11 set as Nisga’a treaty day THURSDAY MAY. 11 is . expected to be the date when the Nisga’a treaty takes hold, treaty effective date, marking the birth of a new government, federal and Nisga’a officials say, A final massive cele- bration marking the begin- ning of the treaty is tental- ively scheduled for a day later on May 12 in Git- winksihlkw. As many as three totem poles are expected ta be raised that day marking the historic occasion. Premier Ujjal. Dosanjh, federal Indian affairs mini- ster Rabert Nault and other cabinet ministers are ex- pected to be among the of- ficials on hand. Work is still frantically going on behind the scenes as the Nisga’a prepare le- gislation that provide the framework for self-govern- ment. Elections must he called within six months for both the central gov- ernment and the four vil- lage governments. A May 11 effective date would put the treaty into play days before a B.C, Liberal party court challenge of the treaty on constitutional grounds is heard on May L5. The April 13 passage of the treaty by the Senate ended a ratification pro- cess that had dragged on for 18 months. The Nisga’a were first to approve the treaty in November 1998, but not without opposition. @ It's compost time BIODEGRADABLE bags are now here for compost pickup. That's city director of special projects Stew Christensen with one of the starch bags. Border delays held up the bag shipment and compli- cated the composting pickup program, which started Monday. Christensen expects things will go smoother when they collect yard waste in the other half of town next Monday. See story Page A12. Crime rumours. sweep the city THERE WAS no baby abducted from the Skeena Mal! and murdered and no child was tossed off a bridge into the Skeena River. And no other females, other than the two attacked in March, have been sexually assaulted by strangers. and flown by air ambulance to Vancouver for treatment. “There’s lots of rumours,” said RCMP Set. Anders Udsen, the head of Terrace’s Serious Crime Unit. “But there are no more sexual assaults that we’re aware of.” > Udsen added the detachment has received a number of other “amazing” rumours but none of them have been sub- stantiated by evidence. He believes the rumours may have been sparked by a number of recent real incidents including stalking reports, bomb threats against schools and assaults, which have com- bined to heighten public fear. That fear is completely normal, said Dr. Marsha Runtz, a psychologist at the University of Victoria who studies is- sues related lo violence against women, “Tt taps into an existing fear that women have,” she said. In smaller communities such as Terrace, Runtz said, vio- lence crime can shake a sense of security, “We tend to feel these things only happen in the big city ~ that’s not a reality.” But, she said, the fear can be produc- live if women are take reasonable and extra steps to protect themselves. But that healthy fear, which reflects a real situation, needs to be topped off with the most accurate understand- ing of the facts, Runtz added. “We're fearful of what we don’t understand,” she said. “You have to come at this with a balanced perspective of awareness and fear.” stickers get nod CITY COUNCIL has agreed to put bumper stickers on all municipal vehicles urging a stop to violence against women and children. The decision wasn’t unanimous. Councillor Lynne Christiansen opposed the request from the Terrace Transition House. She was outvoted by councillors Ron Vanderlee, David Hull and Olga Power. The stickers depict a bandaid and say ‘This isn’t en- ough any more, prevent violence against women and children.” Christiansen said she’s in favour of half the message — preventing violence - but disagrees with limiting it to women and children, “I feel it excludes men, teenagers, the elderly, homosexuals, minority. groups and ‘ethnic groups,” she said. “I feet that by pointing out one group we're excluding others.” She added she has never put a bumper sticker on her vehicle and wouldn’t feel comfortable forcing municipal workers to carry a message on the vehicles they drive. “Pil be in trouble with all my feminist friends,” Christiansen said. “But I’m more of a humanist than a feminist.” Ksan Society wanted the stickers on city vehicles in -lime for April 23-29, Prevention of Violence Against Women weck, students charged for making threats SCHOOL OFFICIALS hope that cri- minal charges laid against students suspected of phoning in bomb threats resulting in closures at two secondary school schools recently wil! deter others from doing the same. The students have also been sus- pended indefinitely from school. Caledonia Secondary School was closed April 11 and April 25 and Skeena Junior April 20, April 25 and April 26 afler bomb threats were made. Skeena Junior administrators took an additional step. of staying. closed April 27'so the police finish their in- vestigation. By last week RCMP had arrested four students. Two 14-year-old females face public mischief and conveying a false message charges after Skeena Junior was evacuated April 20. Two other male students from Cale- donia Senior Secondary were arrested April 25 and charged for the threat made to Caledonia that day Crown lawyer Grant Lindsay. said prosecutors: decided to proceed wilh charges on only one of these youths, '. All four students were suspended ‘indefinitely from taking classes within the district and may not be able to fin- ish the school year. Acting school superintendent Shar- on Beedle said the school board will discuss the future of the students at a later date. In each case the RCMP arrived with as many as nine officers to sweep the buildings only to find nothing. Terrace RCMP .Corporal Derek Ayers said respunding to the bomb threats actions drained RCMP te- sources. “When we’re doing that we're not answering any other calls, unless there are extenuating circumstances,” fie said, Ayers suggested that the first bomb threat at Skeena, because it came on April 20, the day before the start of the Easter Jong weekend, may have been an altempt to give students there an early start on the holiday, By the following weck, as continu- ing threats closed down the schools, Ayers said there appeared to be no reason for them to occur other than to copy cat earlier ones. The school district has nearly per- fected a three-part plan to ensure the safety of students, staff and the build- ing and to altempt to identify. those in- volved should there be any subsequent threats made. “We cerlainly learned somethig said school superintendent ye Beedle of what has been a costly ‘and frustrating experience. Part of the plan includes making sure the youth face criminal consequences. Crime Stoppers has posted a $1,000 for information {eading to the arrest and conviction for the three bomb threats which have not yet resulted in charges. Call 635-8477, Bee