July

TWO KINCOLITH natives went ahead with a court

challenge to the Nisga’a treaty, ‘

A KITIMAT man’s wife died at the Kitimat air-
park after ambulance dispatchers based in Kam-

loops scut the ambulance to the Kitimat-Terrace .
_ airport by inistake,

THE PROVINCE backed off plans to close more
than half of the forest service’s 1,400 forest recrea-
tion sites, .

ANGRY SPORTS fishermen said federal officials
were cutting off fishing here earlier ihan what's
really necessary to protect endangered coho. They
said restrictions on sport fishing were more about
appeasing the commercial fleet.

LOMAK truck drivers were on strike in support of
laid-off drivers in Prince George. Represented by
the Teamslers, the drivers said Lomak was steering
all its business to a subsidiary organized by the
lower-paid Christian Labour Association of Cana-
da.

REFORM MP Mike Scott once again tumed down
a chance at a $1 million pension after the Liberals
adjusted the rules on MP's pensions.

GIANT forest fires burning near Telegraph Creek
led about 40 residents to flee the haze-shrouded

~ town. _

NATIVE COMMERCIAL fishermen staged a rally

“in the park, vowing to resist drastic fishing restric-
_ tions imposed by the DFO,

AN EFFICIENCY team identified $2.3 million
worth of potential savings for the school board to
consider, The team’s report also criticized infight-
ing, within the district, using terms like ‘<dysfune-
tional conditions’? and ‘‘slege-like mentality” to
describe conditions,

MUSHROOM PICKERS and buyers stich as
Tony Charlton were out about for the annual
late summer/early fall harvesting season.

TSIMSHIAN NATIVES said they want a chunk of
the Skeena recreational sport fishery as part of their
treaty setilement.

. SALMON FISHING talks with Alaska collapsed

orice again and lodge owners here expressed frus-
tration that fishing would be restricted here while
the Alaskans continue to intercept Skeena- and

. Nass-bound stocks,

THE PROVINCE abandoned efforts to force social

_ service agencies to merge together to cut costs.

TERRACE’s needle exchange needs to be in a
more addict-friendly location, said staff members

‘who run the program at the Skeena Health Unit.

WAY MORE people are moving out of town than
coming in, said local moving companies. While
construction stats in town were way down, some
analysts said the economy wasn’t really as bad as
local people thought.

SCHOOL TRUSTEES ended months of haggling
and slashed $1.45 million worth of music programs,
‘supplies and administration in an attempt to balance
the school district’s budget.

WEST FRASER Timber lost money in the second
quarter for the first time cver, and said money
losses in this area were the biggest factor in the
poor performance, ot

STATS showed Terrace is now far less dependent
on the forest industry than it was back in the early
1980s, when it last suffered a recession.

| JOHN BACKHOUSE, the former mayor of Prince

George, was named northern ‘development comn-

missioner.

THE NISGA’A TREATY was completed after 22
years of. negotiations. Provisions included the’
widely-cxpected $190 million, 1,930 square kilo-
metres of land, self government, tesource control,
and guaranteed shares of Nass valley fish and. wild-
tte. A final deal closer was the province’s pledge
to pave the Nisga’a Highway-all the way to Green-

ville at an estimated cost of $40 million.

A $2.3 million public relations campaign geared up
to start selling the treaty. By year’s cnd, the
campaign hid also covered the ceremonial travel to’
“Vancouver of 100 Nisga’s, and the total cost
reached $6.8 million. Tas ns

PAC RIM LNG halted plans to build a $1.1 billion
liquid natural gas plant in Kitimat, citing the Asian
downturn.

SKEENA MP MIKE SCOTT, B.C. Liberal leader
Gordon Campbell and Reform president Bill
Vander Zalm callled for a‘ referendum on the
Nisga’a treaty. Campbell also threatened to go to
court to force a referendum. -

A CHOKING five-weck-old baby girl and her
parents waited eight minutes while a misdirected
ambulance sat lost July 3,

A RUSH of new drivers lined up to get driver’s
licences and beat new more complex regulations.

August

NISGA’A leaders, provincial and federal officials
initialled the just-completed Nisga’a treaty that
promised the Nisga’a 2,000 square kilometres of.
land, $190 million, self-government, resource con-
trol and fishing and hunting rights.

BUSINESSES reported fewer tourists here this year
and attributed the change to restrictions in the
sportfishing industry.

AN AMBULANCE called to aid a choking baby
was sent in the wrong direction because of a map-
reading error and because local firefighters weren't
notified, said B.C. ambulance service officials.

B.C. TEL faced charges in connection with a 4,000-
litre spill of diese] fuel near Meziadin Lake in 1997.

THE RETIREMENT package for retiring schools
superintendent Frank Hamilton cost $220,000,

CANADIAN AIRLINES pulled Boeing 737 jets off
the Terrace run, replacing the bigger jets with the
smaller Fokker F-28 jet.

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN Air pulled out of Terrace
and other northern airports in a second major
change ta regional air service.

SKEENA CELLULOSE said its planned $170 mil-
lion modernization of the Prince Rupert pulp mill
was on hold until pulp prices rise.

A SERIES of natural gas leaks resulted after ex-
cavating machinery dug up gas lines. Au investiga-
tion was launched. .

CITY OFFICIALS remained at odds with Farmer’s

Market organizers, saying the present site would -

not be wise use of the land-as a Jong-term location.
The city wanted the -market‘io° lock at potential
other sites.

BIOLOGISTS suspected warm ocean water might
be the cause of the lower numbers and poorer quali-
ly of retuirning pink, coho and sockeye salmon.

TERRACE MAYOR Jack Talstra came out in sup-
port of the Nisga’a treaty and against a referendum
on it. He criticized southern politicians for playing
politics with the treaty, which he said was too im-
portant to be used in such a way.

MOST city councillors joined the mayor in suppori-
ing the Nisga’a treaty. Two-thirds of councillors
also said they oppose a referendum on the deal.

PINE MUSHROOMS and depots were popping up,
but prices were expected to be low because of the
recession in Japan and Asian economic crisis.

september

SKEENA SAWMILL workers say yes to a federal
work-sharing program for 26 weeks that would give
the company’s 150 unionized workers smaller pay
cheques but would avert layoffs.

_ SKEENA CELLULOSE stops logging for three

weeks blaming poor market conditions and high op-
erational costs.

BUSY PHONE LINES meant people trying to call
ambulances couldn’t get through. The phone sys-
tem overtoad was the result of cheap flat-rate long-
distance caliing plans introduced by B.C. Tel and
other phone companies. Network improvements in
later weeks eased the problem,

FORMER CO-OP bakers John Wiebenga and
Markus Klein open Cookie Jar Bakery Sept. 3.

LOCAL STACEY Kennedy, 28, saves neighbor
Peter Ruygrok, 76, from a Holstein bull that was at-
tacking him.

FARMERS’ MARKET vendors haggle with the

city over a new location for the market. City offi-
clals say the current market site is prime real estate
and is being underutilized, Vendors don’t want to
move. :

THE PROVINCE and federal government begins
formal. talks with the Gitxsan, aimed at sclf-
government and resource and land comanagement
rather than a treaty.

CONSERVATION OFFICERS shool more bears
(46 were killed in Terrace by conservation officers,
RCMP and residents) instead of relocating them
due to budget cuts.

LOCAL BIOLOGIST, Dionys De Leeuw writes a
controversial report that says civironmentalists
should be allowed to join the lottery system of
hunting rights. He says the government should sell
two types of tags, kill tags for hunters and protector

lags for. those who oppose hunting. That way, there

would be competition for far fewer licenses.

MLA Helmut Giesbrecht rejected accusations that
his supporters did anything wrong in defending him
in the recall campaign of a year ago. Elections B.C.
named forensic investigator Ron Parks to look into-
the allegations,

October

DAVID BLACK, owner of numerous weekly and
daily newspapers in the province, including The
Terrace Standard, announces that editorials in his
newspapers will appose the Nisga’a Ireaty, Black
found himself refuting confusion that his order

‘prohibited all pro-trealy commentary, and pub-

lished colunins on the treaty by all major B.C. polti-
cal leaders.

THE CITY unveiled a conceptual design for a mul-
tiplex that would include a second arena, double
gymnasium, drama theatre and a rangé of other
components for an estimated $11.5 million.

WEST FRASER lays off 15 management workers
to save about $1 million to offset poor market con-
ditions, high logging costs and low tree prices.

LOCAL JULIANNA White wins her court case
against Coustable Tom Kalis, after the RCMP of-
ficer gave her a $100-ticket for honking her car
horn at him. She won because the officer netded at
least two complaints of the noise to be able to issue
a ticket.

HUNTERS ARE asked to register their guns by
Dec. 31, 2002, Possession of an unregistered gun
will be a criminal] offence by Jan 1, 2003.

FISHERIES RENEWAL B.C, gives $500,000 to
restore salmon-growing streams in the Skeena and
Kitsumkalum watersheds.

SCHOOL BOARD chairman Roger Leclerc
resigned and both he and Gary Turner took them-
selves out of ongoing budget deliberations after ac-
cusations of conflict of interest because their wives
work for the school district.

NISGA'A PEOPLE voice io send agreement to a
referendum. The. vote in Greenville (Lakalzap)
ended with 481 of those present in favour of a
referendum and 60 opposed.

LOCAL NURSES SAY they’re being overworked
and underpaid and prepare for job action.

'’ November ~
NISGA’A PEOPLE vote 61 per cent in favour of

accepting the land claims treaty initialled in August
with the federal and provincial governments.

BCTV tours Northwest and does a live show at
Heritage Park.

COAST MOUNTAIN school district 82 gets
$178,000 from Ministry of Education for a drop in
enrollment, The district bas to cut almost $1 million
to balance its deficit budget.

UNITE THE RIGHT rally at R.E.M. Lee Theatre
altracts 600 people who attack the Clark govern-
ment and urge Liberals and Reformers to join to-
gether.

* PHASE ONE of the salmon license retirement pro-

gram ended Nov. 30. Fishermen wait to hear about
how next year’s closures will affect them.

B.C. PARKS will increasingly have to pay for
themselves, said consullants who ‘predicted user
fees, the selling of firewood, a lottery and latid de-
velopment could make parks more sustainable,

CITY OFFICIALS said everything from liquor
sales to food would be considered to help finance
the planned $11.4 million multiplex.

SCI TRIES to find ways to hush the noisy chipper
in its log yard. Residents complain that the chipper
keeps them awake al night, Hay bales and logs are
stacked between the chipper and the highway to
muffle the noise. The company pledges lo try other
measures to further reduce the noise.

f
FEARS THAT the city wanted the farmers e
market to vacate its traditional spot across -
Park from Lower Little Park caused market:
organizer Lynne Christiansen and others to cir-
culate a petition opposing any such attempt.

December

LINDA GERALDINE LeFranc is found stabbed
todeath in her Braun St. townhouse. RCMP have
yet to arrest anyone.

COUNCIL OF FOREST INDUSTRIES recom-
mends that NDP government cuts taxes, red tape
and costs lo save ailing forest industry. ;

MILLS MEMORIAL hospital is far from balancing

its budget by March 99. It’s sliding deeper into debt

with a $90,000 deficit. The health ministry refuses

to give the hospital more money, saying it still isn’t ,
doing all it can to cut costs and maintain services,

A NEW SKEENA school, serving Grades 8-10.
could be in constriction works by summer. Con-
struction of a new clementary school on the bench
could begin by summer, too. ‘

TERRACE’S first official skatepark will be built
beside the arena next summer costing $225,000,
The money for the park has been mostly donated or -
is being raised by the Terrace Youth Action
Society. ,

TERRACE RCMP are short-staffed six officers due :
to federal budget constraints despite the fact the

... feds are giving the RCMP B division in B.C, (major

crimes division) a one-time $10 million grant to
cover a budget deficit.

NISGA’A LEADERS are trying to create ‘the
framework so that non-Nisga’a residents of the
Nass can become Nisga’a citizens, giving them the
right lo participate in government and electioris.

THE SALVATION Army gave out a record num-
ber of Christmas food hampers (more than 550) this
season, Which is about 100 more than last year.

CITY COUNCIL is allowing the farmers’ market to
Stay where it is on Davis Ave. for at least a couple
of years — as Jong as market vendors fori a tegis--
tered society. That way the city can deal with a
legal.entity and ensure proper insurance is in place
to protect the cily from Liability.

FEDERAL WORKSHARING for 136 mill workers

‘at West Fraser could be extended until mid-June,

General manager Lou Poulin wants to wait fot lum-

ber market prices to strengthen. The program was
scheduled to run out March 20.

THE HEALTH MINISTRY says Terrace is the
logical site for the region's two orthopedic
surgeons, instead of Kitimat and Prince Rupert.
Both orthopedic surgeon positions are now vacant,

COUNCILLOR David Hull says the City of Ter
race must take an official position on the Nisga’a
treaty. '

DESPITE extremely tight regulations to protect
endangered coho stocks, salmon returns to the
Skcena River in 1998 were only slightly improved
and generally far below long-term averages,

nie

NOVEMBER 19 saw a healthy crowd file Into the R.E.M. Lee Theatre for a ‘Unite the Right’

rally under the theme of ‘Have You Had Enough?’ That's rally organizer Steve Cook with a
sign publicizing the avent. The rally was responsible, in part, for local provincial Reformers to
contemplate a coalition with Liberals“to put forward a joint candidate for the next provincial

élection. Tos