Surface spending Local organization races to rubberize the top of the Skeena . track\SPORTS B11 Somewhere to go | A new outreach program tracks Terrace’s homeless adults and teens\NEWS B21 Twice the talent. . : m Two sisters stagea Fa reunion by hosting... .. Ba a joint art exhibit | \COMMUNITY B7 - $1.00 pLus 7¢ GST ($1.10 plus S¢ GST outside of the Terrace area) la | TERRACE | 2003 - “VOL. 16:NO. 6 Man police shot faces five charges By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN A TERRACE man shot by police in March has been released from Prince George Regional Hospital and now faces five criminal offences, ° The charges against Terrence John Bird, 55, slem from a series of events March 28 which culminated in him being shot twice by a police officer using a shotgun. The events began at Caledonia Secondary School where Bird is ac- cused of assaulting teacher Gary Full- Ceremony } will open route to Kincolith ONE OF the highlights of this year in the northwest takes place this Saturday, May 17, when the road to Kincolith is officially opened. Built for $33 million over a 29-kilometre route that contained "significant engineering, construction and environmental chal- lenges, the road connects Kincolith, at-the mouth. of . the Nass River, with the rest of the Nass Valley. Up until the road was completed last December, people could only get in and out by float plane, ferry or boat. While the road is a sig- nificant event in the north- west, it is also significant to the rest of the province. That’s because the road is the first to be built through an area where there was no route before over the last two decades in B.C. The official opening ceremonies begin 1 p.m. this Saturday, May 17. There'll be a short cer- emony at Greenville, the starting point ii the Nass Valley for the road to Kin- colith. It'll be followed by another ceremony — and feast — in Kincolith. There'll be designated parking areas at Greenville and Kincolith and traffic wardens will be on hand. Guests include federal Indian affairs minister Ro- er and school vice principal Cam Mc- Kay. Bird is alleged to have gone to the school looking for his daughter at about 4:15 p.m, that day. He was described as being incoher- .. ent and emotionally distraught, police. said, He also faces one count of uttering _ threats to cause death or bodily harm. to MacKay. A second incident that day at Bird's home has resulted in two more crimi: .. bert Nault and provincial transportation minister Ju- dith Reid. “Opening of the road is part of the pro- vince’s commitment to in- vest in northern infrastruc- ture,” said Reid. Nisga’a Lisims Govern- ment president Dr. Joe Gosnell will also be there. For more on Kincolith and the road, please see Page A5. This week also marks the launch of @ new feature on the Stan- dard’s web site. Ge to www.derracestandard.com to view our Kincolith photo gallery, one of sev- eral coming in the weeks . ahead, nal charges, He’s accused of one count of as- saulting a police officer, Cpl. Scott Lovell, and wilfully obstructing or re- sisting a police officer.. Police were not able to respond im- “mediately to the: initial call’ at Caledo- nia until: 5. p:m. When they arrived . Bird had already. left:the schoo] with his daughter. °° -- |. . Police, then received'a second call which took them to Bird’s Benner St. home on the bench. | | 7 Wednesday; May 14, 2003°°° | When they arrived they heard calls . for help coming from within the home, police said, Officers forced their way in and a physical confrontation between Bird and the officers ensued. Bird ran from police down a steep embankment al the foot of Benner St. while he was holding a TENS device, an electronic tool used in physiother- apy treatments. , Police say he turned back toward the two officers in pursuit and was or- dered to drop the device, when he did not, two warning shots were fired by one officer. The second officer then shot Bird twice with a shotgun injuring his leg, hand and abdomen, | 8 Bird turned himself in. to. the -Ter- race sherriff's office May-2 after a long stay in hospital recuperating from his injuries. ee He was released’ on $500 bail pend- ing his first court appearance. here June 20, ie WED KINCOLITH'’s most striking building is its Anglican church. The peopie’s warden Ver- non Stewart opened up the 104-year-ald church building and showed It to visitors last Thurs- day. Thirty-five local bu- siness leaders took a bus to Kincolith last Thursday as part of a Terrace and District Chamber of Commerce trade delegation. For more on that trip and the sights of Kincolith, please turn to page A5. JEFF NAGEL PHOTOS Ou r-day week will go ahead Meetings just for show: union wood said. “The board has said we will have a four- day week and 162 calen- dar’ days." a = by. JENNIFER LANG THE FOUR-DAY week is _a done.deal seven though Richard Eckert said he’s not sure why © parents. should attend the meetings on a new school calendar based on a four-day week. “It's kind of ironic,” he ‘said. “It’s a done deal while they’re having their consultation process.” — The school board re- leased the draft version of the 2003-04 calendar last month so it could be circu- lated around the district. The board intends to adopt the new calendar at a special meeting May 28, but must consult with par- ent and employee groups first. The board has drawn sharp criticism from tea- chers, school staff and par- ents for not adequately consulting on the decision to implement the four-day week, “It's eerily reminiscent of last year’s school closures,” Eckert said. School board chair Peter King made it clear trustees have already made their decision. “T would suggest that the four-day week is in place,” King said at the board meeting in Kitimat. “What we are putting off to May [28] is the calendar itself.” a The district's director of instruction, Rob Green- wood,.is among the ad-. ministrators taking part in "the consultative meetings. “These meetings are not supposed to be on whether or not we have a four-day week,” Green- lendar:is based: onthe :.as- sumption that Fridays’ will be the day: off, parents are telling Greenwood « they: want the day off ‘to be Monday. vs He said it’s possible Mondays could be. de- signated as.the day off. - ‘“I'm sure that will be considered,” he said. “That question has been asked .at every meeting I've been to.” Meetings took place at Cassie Hall Elementary, E.T. Kenney Primary, Up- lands Elementary and Thornhili Primary last week, _ They continued Monday ‘at Clarence Michael Ele- mentary and Thornhill Pri- mary and yesterday at Skeena Junior and Caledo- nia Senior Secondary. The board decided in March to mave to a four- day school week to cut as much as $1.4 million from the district's annual opera- ting budget. ' Trustees stress the four- day week — introduced to apparent success in the Grand Forks district - will be evaluated throughout the school year. The board offered vague assurances that communi- ties -will get a chance to help set standards that will be used to monitor the im- pact of the four-day week on students, Further details will be discussed at a strategic planning meeting schedu- duled for June 14, Alcan power critics gain new allies By JEFF NAGEL KITIMAT’s campaign to block Alcan power sales got a boost last week from Skeena’s former Canadian Alliance MP. Mike Scott praised the drive at o May 6 town hall meeting here. “We're thankful somebody is stick- ing up for our interests,” Scott said. “It's time that the people of Terrace” really woke up to the issue,” he told the crowd of about 45 at the Terrace Inn. “We have to be supporting each other as communities more than we have in the past.” a Kitimat mayor Rick Wozney and town manager, Trafford Hall hosted the. . ~ town hall. meeting to kick off their bat- - tle for support here. They’ laid ~ out. their. - theory: of ” Alcan’s strategy to gradually seli more power and make more money at the expense of aluminum production and smelter: jobs. Terrace city council remains neu- tral on the issue, and some councillors suggest it’s dangerous to fight Alcan... Delegates .from® towns across the . north at the North Cental Municipal — Association’ convention backed. Kiti-_ mat by voting 140-10 to lobby Victoria to force Alcan to use the power for in- dustry not power sales. The issue is coming to a head in the coming weeks, as Kilimat approa- ches a deadline by which time it must start a court action or lose the. ability to do so.” moe! Organizers of the town hall meeting. "were at, pains. to demonstrate ‘their’: campaign takes in northwesterners of all political stripes. Wozney was a B.C. Liberal candi- date in 1996, Hall said he’s a Progres- sive Conservative, and they were joined by ex-Kitimat mayor and pro- minent New Democrat Ray Brady. “This is not a-partisan issue,” Hall said, “This is the. first issue I've seen Continued Page Az ’