Sc sng a ae Budget cuts take hold here Correctional ONE OF the first visible effects of provincial bud- get cuts here took place April 4 when all of the pri- soners at the correctional centre were transferred to a larger facility in Prince George. ' The closure of the jail, in order to: save money, was moved up from the _ fall as places elsewhere _ for workers were found and as the number of inmates - dropped. Workers are now pre- paring to. turn the mini- mum security jail over to the B.C. Buildings Cor- poration which will look ” for a new use. That’s expected to hap- pen by the end of the month. “The prisoners were moved by sheriff’s van, There were only 10 re- maining,” said Stephanie McPherson of the solicitor- general’s ministry which runs the province's jails. “The opportunity for a closure arose because ei- ther inmates weren't sent there or were moved,” she said. The jail had a staffing level of 12.5 full time equivalent positions. Four of the workers were auxiliary employees and have lost their jobs. Onc person had less than three years seniority and will be laid off if a job can’t be found elsewhere in the immediale area. THE COMMUNITY corrections centre here was padiocked last week after the remaining prisoners were transferred to a larger jail in Prince George. Its centre closes Se ae closure was announced in January as part of a ser- ies of government spending cuts in Terrace and area. A new use will be sought for the facility. designed to hold up to 30 people sent to prison for crimes which did not in- volve violence. Rumours of the jail’s closure spread late last year as the new govern- ment sought ways to cut spending. One knock against the facility was that it was comparatively under-uti- lized. It also contained elec- tronic monitoring equip- ment so that some inmates could serve their time in their own homes by wear- ing anklets which sounded an alarm if they strayed. That and other programs acting as an alternative to prisons reduced the need for space to house non-vio- lent offenders, said solici- tor-general ministry offi- cials. The jail here became well known for selling fire- wood and for making benches, small bridges and the like. “As a communily cor- rections centre, it did a lol of community work and Terrace will feel the im- pact of losing that,” Mc- Pherson noted. The Terrace Slandard, Wednesday, April 10, 2002 - A3 News In Brief Girl dies in accident AN EIGHT year old Kitimat girl is dead after a Single vehicle accident on Hwy 37 near Kitimat March 3. Police say five family members were travelling northbound in a 2001 Mazda Van at 9 a.m. when the accident oceurred. Police said the driver of the van lost control, crossed the centreline and’ went into the ditch on the opposite side of the road just north of the Kiti- mat Airpark, about 20km north of Kitimat. The van then slid backward into a tree: Desiree Smith, 8, of Kitimat was seated in the rear seal of the van with her scatbelt on, She suffered serious head injuries and was trans- ported to Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace and later air lifted to Children’s Hospital in. Vancouver. She died March 31 shortly after 1 p.m, in Child- ren’s Hospital, police ‘said, The other four occupants of the vehicle suffered minor injuries. Snow was falling and slush was on the roads, added police. Medevacs scrubbed TWO OF three emergency air evacuation flights scheduled fo land in Terrace had to be diverted to other airports March 30 because of a spring snow storm. “We had three flights scheduled into Terrace and only one was able to land successfully,” said B.C. Ambulance Service official Bob Pearce. “The other two had to be diverted into other air- ports and the paramedics took road transport into Terrace’ in order to pick up the patients.” One of those flights was diverted to Prince Ru- pert and the other was diverted to Prince George. All air evacuations are dependent on the weath- er, Pearce added. It’s always the pilot’s decision to land based on weather conditions at the airport. Four on probation FOUR TERRACE men are on two years probation and have curfews after they pleaded guilty in Ter- race provincial court March 22 to charges connec- ted to a Benner St. home invasion in February. Aaron Parhar, Blair Friel, Graham Cowman - all The remaining workers arc being transferred to jails elsewhere, said Mc- Pherson. “They can be trans- ferred to the main correc- tional centre in Prince George or if there are no placement opportunities, options elsewhere in gov- ernment,” she said. The jail is nine years old, opened in 1993 at a cost of $1.87 million. It replaced a converted old motel, now demo- | lished, near the corner of Hwy i6 and Munroe. The new facility was’ TERRACE MINOR SOFTBALL 18 - and 19-year-old Esmond Watts each pleaded guilty to unlawfully being in a home and theft under $5,000. The four men and a 17-year-old youth were told to leave a house party by the occupant of the home Feb, 18, police said, ao They all! returned later that night and forced their Boy way into the home attempting to tie the 17-year- 7 old occupant up with duct tape, police said. The occupant was able to free himself before any harm was done. Each of the four men received a suspended sen- tence, two years probation and a curfew confining them at home between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. They alsa had to pay a $50 victim impact sur- - charge. ‘The 17-year- -old youth also charged in the matter appeared in court yesterday. Move campers out, city commands CITY OFFICIALS have told a local RV park owner he must end his practice of letting campers stay indefinitely or else face a court injunction. Several residents, some of them senior citizens, have been camped at the Reel Inn in RVs and campers for months and in same cases years. That’s in contravention of a city bylaw that limits the length of stay in a campground to 150 days in a year. The city last week notified Reel Inn owner Peter Gill that it will seek a court injunction forcing compliance if he doesn’t take steps voluntarily by April. 17. “We have served them a letter saying we want com- pliance with our bylaws or-we will request that use be permanently removed,” said Paul Gipps, the city’s dir- ector of regulatory services. If the motel continues to run the RV park in defiance of an injunction, it faces possible fines of up to $2,000 per day and payment of the city’s court costs. To voluntarily comply, Gipps said, the motel will have to seek a rezoning from light industrial to service commercial, And it will have to upgrade the RV park area to meet campground bylaw requirements. Those requirements include landscaping, buffering between camping areas and removal of the joey shacks and additions now connected to the RVs, Gipps said. The campground would then have to comply with the regulation that no camper stay more than 150 days i in rae calendar year: a Reel Inn owner Peter Gill said he’ 5 exploring his dp. tions to comply, adding many tenants are moving out. ~ Co-operative _ Association APRIL 20™ & 21° at the TERRACE CURLING CLUB Slo Pitch ) Fa t Pitch Minor Ball. | me Must register by April 15th NO = Phone Mark Beaupre 638-0985 Want A | |PIhoto > d ‘Did you see a photo in the paper that you want a copy of? The Terrace Standard along with - 5"x7" Tuesday, April 23, 2002 _ Registration 7:00 pm Meeting 7:30 pm Elks Hall - 2822 Tetrault St. To consider: 1, the business that is usually brought before the annual general meeting; and 2. a special resolution to repeal the existing rules ond replace them with new rules to comply with the new Cooperative Association Act, : Copies of the exact wording of the special resolution to repeal the existing ru replace them with proposed new rules are available for members to pick up at. Te Co-op Home Center, 2912 Molitor eee OCS sree cower wbrant history |: Northern Photo Ltd. f now provides this service, Come into our office located at 3210 Clinton Street and indicate the photo of your choice and size. WoL Ft Other sizes available. 4 x6 5 x7 Phone for pricing. Price inca printing fee from Northern Photo and purchasing fee from the Terrace Standard, All photographs ara copyrighted lo the Terrace Standard. Note: 90% of phos taken ore digital photos of high quality jpeg. Black and white prints also availble from black and white negatives.) : —__ ——__— : northern photo S Terrace Co-operative Association | como a cis Sete” TAN DARD A supporter of your community ‘for over 5: i | Ph: 638-7283 Fox: 638-8432 i 44-4736 Lokelse Avenue”