ray $1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST So long ‘After 36 years of business ‘in the northwest, Northern | . ‘Drugs sells off its stores _\NEWS A10 Youth power March spring break program promotes self esteem among local young people \COMMUNITY B1 q Tough tournament Our bantam reps play: | with determination and _discipline at provincials | \SPORTS B4 : ($1.10 plus 8¢ GST -, outside of the Terrace area) VOL.1 7 NO. 51 Senior smo By SARAH A. ‘ZIMMERMAN * HEALTH OFFICIALS hope a new non- _ smoking policy for tenants who live in assisted housing units will prevent the ” ‘kind of accident which claimed the life of © a Terrace woman two months ago. Eleanor White, 65, a McConnell: Es- tates resident, died in Jan. 15 after appar- . ently. dropping a lit cigarette on herself, causing severe and widespread burns: to ‘her: body... The woman’ s death has intensified the: -héalth authority’ s resolve to implement ‘a nonsmoking policy which will prevent any new tenants from smoking in their assisted living apartments. “While .we take every. possible. pre- caution to ensure the safety of those who _ smoke in their own apartments, this’ inci- - dent has played a ‘role it in 1 heightening the need for the policy,” says Northern Health® Authority spokesman Mark Karjaluoto. “But quite simply, this has been an on- going process prior to the incident earlier this year.” __ The accident happened Jan. 13 while -: White was.in her apartment. . “= Members of the Terrace fire depart-. ment responded to a fire alarm at McCo- nnell Estates at 10:35 p.m.. ° “The fire was already out,” says Lieu- tenant Bill Warcup, the first fire fighter to’ enter the woman’s room: “She was burnt ° _ tates is that all public and common areas are non-smoking. __ . “Apartments: are considered to be. the 7 -. individual’s-own home,” says Karjaluoto. oS “So, until this. ‘point y we > have not had any . to. most of her body.” Warcup.says she. was still conscious at the time and did not appear to have been wearing a fire-resistant smoking apron. - First responders. cooled the woman -»- wevewterracestandard.com : ‘ing ban “regulations i in terms of f smoking 1 in his or . down using a saline solution before the B.C. Ambulance Service transferred her . ‘to Mills Memorial: Hospital. , She was later. flown to Vancouver General Hospital, where she passed away . from her injuries on Jan. 15. Assisted ‘living facilities allow people - who require some care to continue living by themselves in their own. apartment. ‘Some: meals: are provided, as is recre- ation, and home support workers come in to assist with a wide.range of services _such as cleaning, cooking and. bathing. The current policy at McConnell Es- | i Bantam boys g KYLE COTE and team captain Alex Redpath flank several members of the Terrace bantam reps before their game against Trail on Mar. 29, The cowboy hats, which the players wore for good luck, were a gift from:the team’s bus driver, who sported one at.an out-of-town tourney | earlier this season. For more on how our bantams ‘played at the Bantam AA Provincial Hockey Championships, check out page B4. her.own apartment.”. _ The only proviso ‘to 0 that, he says, is a request that residents refrain from smok- a ing while workers are in their apartments ° and that-they air out the apartment before those workers are scheduled to arrive. That is, in part, due to Workers’ Com- pensation: Board regulations aimed at preventing people from working in’areas: ‘where there is second hand smoke... “New tenants will be informed of the policy Prior: to planning to move and pri- "or to signing the occupancy agreement,” . Karjaluoto _ says, adding existing resi- -. dents who do smoke will still be allowed to smoke in their apartments. The policy is expected to apply to all. regions of the. health authority. It has al- sv i set ‘money. " money but that “Pm “vention,” Trampolines tossed as a Manis sh 2005 twister touches down | By DUSTIN QUEZADA | A COLD AIR FUNNEL touched’ down in Terrace last week lifting and tossing two trampolines, toppling a basketball hoop and nearly destroying a. fence. On the. second day of spring break’s full week with kids out of school, it was a small miracle no one was hurt. It happened just -after 10 a.m. and lasted, wit-— nesses said, between 30 and * 90 seconds.. And when it was done, the residents of three houses . on Orr Place, just off of Cory Drive spilled out to survey the damage and exchange their accounts of the unusual incident. | Fraser Dylan Atkinson, 10, said he thought the wind picking up was normal until he looked at the neighbour’s fence breaking. ‘He said he got scared ‘when he saw the trampoline ‘belonging to the neighbours - two doors down flipping . through the air. “T ran towards the house with the trampoline follow- ing,” he said. “My hat went flying off.” ‘That trampoline, belong- ing to. Susan Moldenhauer, was lifted over a three-metre - fence, over Peter Scharf’s truck parked in the driveway and. dropped about 30 me- tres away — and just over a - metre from the front of the Atkinson home. By all accounts, the Scharf family home in be- tween was the centre of the ‘funnel cloud. Sheila Scharf said it sounded like the roar- ing of a train, while her son, Ben said it was as wide as their whole property. “The funnel cloud came - erty and went across,’ “T ‘saw dust | swirling. and then I saw the. trampoline lift off. It was ~ “from the corner of the prop: ” said Peter Scharf. level with the second storey, hovering like a flying sau- ” cer. - The tranipoline valso cleared a three-metre fence, which was damaged, before landing: about 40 metres away — in the Scharf home’s front yard.. The family’s truck was narrowly spared as a bottom-heavy basket- ball hoop missed the vehicle by less than a metre.’ - According to Jim Steele, a spokesperson for Environ- ment Canada, these funnels are different from the torna- _ dos that can ravage the mid- . western U.S. in summer. “Cold air funnels are not your full-blown midwestern tornado,” he said. — NEIGHBOURHOOD children were amazed by a cold funnel twister which touched down on the bench in Terrace March 22. o eee George. | woman, ‘Lois Campbell, died after: ‘her sleeve caught fire while lighting a ciga- ready b been implemented at Laurier Man: Or, an assisted living. facility in, “Prince: Eleanor White’s death is the second. _— such one to happen here in recent years.» On’May 13, 2002, another Terrace rette. .That accident happened in. the. : 7 a glassed-in smoking area at Terraceview’ ‘ Lodge. She suffered burns to 80 per cent of her body ‘and: passed away later that day. that facility to wear fire resistant aprons ‘smoking. Cont'd Page A2 A Transition | | house build to go By ROD LINK CONSTRUCTION SHOULD start within weeks and a a Christmas completion date has.been set for the Ksan “House Society’ s-new transition house. and-office building, ~ ““«s The estimated $1 million structure, to be built ona La- . ~zelle Ave. lot west of the downtown.core; was made possi-, |." “ble just recently when the provincially-owned B.C.-Housing- -.agency added $260,000 to its original $180,000 contribution, --. providing enough money to satisfy bank mortgage require- . ments, says society executive director Carol Sabo. . The two-story structure will have eight residential rooms, . , some containing enough beds for a small family, and will — be the new location of the society’s business offices‘and the « . sexual assault centre. s __ The official announcement was made. yesterday at the 4 society’ s current offices. It caps several years of planning by the society and work bya committee to raise e the necessary : |. The society will be able to sell its current transition’ house _-and has a- $75,000, grant from. the B.C. Real-Estate Foun- _ dation. The current building, ‘although not that old, is not ‘ wheelchair accessible. Sabo and housing consultant Peggy Julseth, who worked _ on the project, said combining the society’s transition house . service,with its offices will bring about efficiencies and low- « er operating costs. . Sabo said the society and its fundraising committee had © hopes of getting money from a federal shelter program but ~ when an application. was turned down, Skeena MLA Roger ~ "Harris was contacted to see if he could persuade’ the B.C. ' Housing agency to bolster its original contribution. — “Tdon’t know what he did, but he did it,” said Sabo. - Julseth said B.C. Housing | had tentatively approved more Harris convinced its officials to provide speedy firm assurances. not sure there would be a project ifn not for his inter- * she said. ° Harris, who attended yesterday’ s announcement; also said the society is receiving another $42,000.on top of its ex- _isting budget to expand services and an additional $70,000 - to provide outreach to children who have witnessed abuse.’ _ He said the additional money is.an example. of what is. possible when a government gets its finances in shape. Sabo said the additional money means the society: will be able to provide more-services than it ever has before. " Area evergreen contractors lose court appeal LOCAL logging contractors have lost a bid to retain evergreen contracts which were tied to Tree Farm Licence 1, once owned by New Skeena Forest Products. It’s being sold to the Lax Kw’alaams band near Prince DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO Rupert and the money is to. help pay New Skeena’s credi- tors. “They come from very. cold, unstable air and nor- mally are quite weak. They don’t cause a lot of damage. Most of the time they hang down like a rope and spin ‘down and retreat back into’ the clouds. “If one was to touch’ down, it would be fairly ex- citing I’m sure, but normally they don’t touch down.” If they touch down, they could | throw something in place, like lawn furniture, but aren’t likely to take the roof off a house, he said. “Still if you see one or anything coming out of the | bottom of a cloud, go inside and take cover,” Steele said, .adding the public should go indoors if they see any weather that looks threaten- ing. ’ ‘ The B.C. Court of Appeal determined March 18 that Lax around that wasn’t bolted Kw’alaams-owned Coast Tsimshian Resources can acquire . the valuable licence without having the evergreen logging - contracts attached to to it. These contracts had been let al-: most in perpetuity, giving contractors both stability as op- a erators and collateral so they could purchase equipment and . -~ do business. Don Hull and Sons Contracting Ltd. and K’ Shian Log- “ging and Construction Ltd. appealed a previous court de- cision that determined all of New Skeena Forest Products’ assets to be free and clear of creditors and contractors. The Lax Kw’alaams band has made an offer of +4. 8 mil- | lion for the licence. which cover their torsos.and laps while. a That incident led to the implementa- oan . ‘tion of a policy requiring all residents at.