\ Terrace beauty Alot has changed i in 20 years since a group set out to clean. some litter \COMMUNITY Bi Come together ‘Why aboriginal and city ’ leaders gathered for an — ~ unprecedented meeting. . \NEWS A8 | W “ate m™ Goal oriented = National wrestling champion instils _ self-esteem in students © \SPORTS Ba $1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST {St -10 plus 8¢ GST , outside of the Terrace area) ‘VOL.19. NO. 5 __ BYDUSTIN QUEZADA ee o” “THERE WILL. be fewer teachers out of. «work this September becatise of keeping the - _ four-day school week and a ‘projected slow ~ down in the decline of the Coast Mountains 22 .-to start. construction of a ' to regain the confidence of “- doubted the project’s worth. . Thursday, July 18, to plan ’ read the article. School District’s. student’ population, says: ‘the district’s personnel director:: “The number. of layoff notices “will be '. about the same as last year but the number _ that will be rescinded will be greater,” said Frank Rowe. That mean§ when Rowe issues in the neigh-° : ‘bourhood of 60 layoff notices by May 15, he, ‘will then start to rescind them for teachers — -. based on seniority and qualifications. — Layoff notices must be issued each spring and are part of a.complicated formula in . _ which Rowe and other officials juggle the Ice S eet saga isn’t nev By SARAH ARTIS A RECENT - discovery -.:: ‘proves Terrace’s struggle | to build a second sheet of ice is nothing new in the city’s history of dealing with recreational facilities. © Last week, while .gut- . “: ting her’ baséinent:for-eno- il vations, Amanda: Hartman - : found a 1957 copy of The -. Terrace. Herald, a newspa- * per which stopped publish- ing here in the early 1980s. . A front-page article talks - about the Terrace Civic Centre’ Association’s plans ‘new community: centre be- fore asking for more money community members who — “An executive meeting of, the Civic Centre Association was held in the curling rink, the immediate steps neces- sary to get the building. of ~ the Civic Centre underway,” ; “It was decided to have “the work underway, before’ members of:the community would be approached by a futher canvas for funds,” the article continued.: “It was thought that by doing this . that people who had lost: . confidence in the building of TERRACE WAS having trouble with building. recreational facilities way back in the 1950s 9s judaing byt this headli 1 newspaper that’s being held by Amanda Hartman: , Cont'd Page A2 | Shell’s natural gas plans | ~ up north remain in limbo _ ABOUT. THE closest Shell Canada may get to exploring the ~ Klappan region north here for coalbed methane natural gas this year is from the skies overhead. 5 7 number of: teachers they e expect. to need for | the new school year in the fall. Not all of those who receive layoff no- 7 tices will find themselves out of a job. “Some junior teachers are kept based on 7 unique qualifications to, teach hard to: fill - subjects such as senior sciences or because _ they. are willing to teach’in outlying: areas. Easier positions to fill are done so based on’ ‘seniority. ' Rowe says the process. is not. t affected by teachers ‘and their employers returning to the bargaining table last week. ““One is not affecting the other.” said of the current contract that expires June 30 and new bargaining. Rowe said the school. board’s decision i in. March to continue operating a four-day week means- there’s s sufficient money to maintain. - ‘Rowe ' the level of current services. “We have rela-: "tively low class sizes (compared to operating . the five-day week),” Rowe said. “Weemploy’ * -. More people.with smaller classes.” - The other. factor is enrolment numbers. The district continues to suffer from a Steady -enrolment drop of about 20 students per ‘month but numbers are much healthier than... previous years. -At the end of March of this year, the diss . . trict has lost 91. students since September 2005.’ The same figure in the last: four years. - were: 125 in 2004-05, 175 in 2003-04, 160 in 2002-3 and 196 in 2001-02. _ In order to-make a projection for. 2006- . 07, assistant. superintendent Rob Greenwood. ° says he takes the enrolment. number; data - plus he “rolls over”. the graduating class and’. inserts the new kindergarten class numbers. government to. explore. the Klappan for coalbed methane and its 2004 exploratory drilling results gave the company enough information for it to want to continue drilling. . “He e hopes there will only be about 200 fewer students: oe .. The district: bias also promoted two Ter- : race teachers to: administrative> positions | here. Karen Scales will move from Thorn- . hill’ Primary ‘School to .be a teacher. and. ‘vice-principal at Uplands Elementary, while ig Maxine Champion adds vice-priticipal to ~ her teaching. role at Kiti K’Shan Primary... © : Rowe ‘says: two schools in. Kitimat will, : * also promote: teachers to vice- e-principal po-. sitions. : a The proniotion means ‘the teachers, earn | $1,500 more but they must be available-12 months: a- year: instead of the. 10. months teachers normally work, __» Administrative duties are to: take up. 10. “per cent of their work time, said Rowe of the a - new Positions. - a ‘in a.1957 issue of alocal | SARAH A: ZIMMERMAN PHOTO | . The company scrapped its plans to continue exploratory drilling last year after being asked to leave by members of © the Tahitan nation which includes the Klappan as part of its traditional territory. And so far this year, it doesn’t have any ‘kind of arrange- ment in place with the Tahltan to return, says company of- - ficial Jeff Mann. “We continue to consult and communicate with the Tahl- tan community aswell as the various Tahltan leadership groups,” said Mann last week. “But we’re at May now and we are not ina place to make a decision to make a commitment.” Without any kind of plan for ground- “based work, only air- borne surveys of the earth’s gravity in the area from helicop- ters or fixed wing aircraft remain as options so far this year. “As gravity relates to density, we hope this process will help us further delineate the coal resource. We will plan the timing of this activity so as to not disturb caribou calving — and eagle/hawk fledging,” said Mann. All of that is important as coalbed methane natural gas is found resident to coal seams. ‘ “In the case of coalbed methane, the coal is simply the — geologic feature that holds the natural gas. In very simplistic terms a larger coal resource gives you more places to look,” said Mann. Shell has purchased exclusive rights from the provincial 4 ‘The.company did have the blessing of some of the Tahl- tan leadership but then faced opposition from other Tahltan worried about the environmental impact of coalbed methane production and about the pace and scope of development on ’ their traditional territories. As with London, Ontario-based Fortune Minerals which has anthracite coal deposits i in the Klappan it-wants to mine, | ’ Shell found itself in the middle of a. resulting internal Tahi- — tan dispute. -More so than other areas within the Tahltan territory, the © Klappan is regarded as particularly sensitive for environ- mental and cultural reasons. It contains the headwaters for several river systems, in- cluding the Skeena River. . Mann said the kind of work Shell might accomplish this year, if it received permission to return, would depend upon how much time it has before winter weather returns. “What we want to do is find out if there is any kind of production potential or not,” said Mann in emphasizing that’ Shell has a lot of exploratory work yet to do. Mann said Shell has spent the last year outlining its plans to the Tahltan but has yet to hear anything back. “We're open to meeting with anybody. We have people up there quite frequently and we do have an office [in Dease Lake],”’ he said. Cont'd Page A2 a Spade work — BRANDON and. Tory Nyce join Lieutenant Gov- | ernor lona. ‘Campagnolo. at the sod turning cer-. - emony for a proposed new. swimming Pool | in the... = Nisga’ a village of Gitwinksihikw. . ‘SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO : ~ Frank Rowe arn er oe | “hurts | c Stro ng eS _ for companies such as. . the mill A "RISING Canadian for travellers .. headed ,; toward the U.S. but. it’s nothing but trouble : Terrace Lumber . Company (TLC) ° that: . Sell’goods in American dollars. For TLC the strong” - dollar makes it even more difficult to make ;: money ... *Jumber * shipped to Ta apan as well: "as to the U.S. massive, bite. i "Simply: put, "Canadi ‘an ‘exporters ¢ don't get as “much money t back when “they convert American.’ ‘dollars . into’ Canadian: “ones.” oe aS Haw, points to; a ‘re-" “cent fluctuation. that saw “the dollar . shift’ from : . $1.15 US per Canadian dollar to $I. 11 US. “That - drop*: “from. $1.15" to. $1: 11° an-" - nualized “on- one’ “shift « production, as: we -are’: now, over a whole. year: _would:be more than: $1. - million i in lost revenue,” : _ Haw, says. _ a F “The real story . is “that if: you live in a'Te-". source town a high: Ca- | “nadian’ dollar.is nothing’ “but bad. because we sell:: “our “product. tothe US: » The high Canadian dol--. - Jar, T'suppose, is good if’. “you are: traveling: but: if you are in the: resource" "industry ‘it’s: important © that ‘it. doesn’t get’ too... - high. ae wos os "The. ‘strong ‘dollar’ combined: with: ‘a. soft ~ -.jnternational ° "lumber - “market - contributed tof the sawmill’s’” “recent: .. five-week closure... - -The company’s lum-". ‘ber marketers have indi- - cated the market should - be firm for the next - . Several weeks and:Haw, says there are no plans. for further closures. - dollar may be good fiews en [0 That's: because: the! 7 | “wood. ‘that . “goe: : to. the © - Asian : -market.- -is also’ * dollar ean. add 1 “up, toa too: