Art & culture College establishes a first in the teaching of First Nations art \COMMUNITY B1 Possible tenant College eyes the empty Mountainview. Elementary School building — \NEWS A10 Wild night — The River Kings welcome Wolverines to parade of | ; penalties and their first | CIHL loss\SPORTS Ba ry 1.00 PLUS 6¢. 6st ($1.10, plus 7eGST. outside of the Terrace area) VOL19_ NO. 27 7 , _ French immersion plat - SCHOOL DISTRICT chair Lorrie Gowen says she. ~ voted against a plan to create a stand-alone French : ‘Kiti K’Shan Primary from a kindergarten to Grade 3.” immersion school; fearing it will result in a “have” and “have not” situation. The plan, if it goes ahead, will see a conversion of ’ French immersion and English instruction school to a kindergarten to Grade 7 complete French i immer- sion facility.”, ‘Next-door’ Cassie Hall, Elementary, now a Grade 4to7 English and French immersion school would | then become an all- English kindergarten to Grade 7 school. French i immersion advocates have been lob- ‘bying for a stand-alone school but Gowen’s worried . the result might be one school having more resourc- es than another. “T keep feeling we're subsidizing Frénch i immer- " sion and if we give them a whole school, we would subsidize them-even more,” she’ said. o Gowen also said a French i immersion- -only school might harm attempts by the district to put together a budget allowing it to revert toa five- day, week. " Creating separate French immersion and all- “Eng- “lish schools would also result.in the former being a place of predominantly non-native students and’ the latter a school with a large number of native stu-' dents. That also has Gowen worried in terms of in- advertently creating schools that may not reflect the general population. ‘Gowen was the only trustee to vote against the | plan which, in a detailed motion, must first pass a couple of hurdles. One is that the number of French immersion stu- dents must be sufficient, as judged on Dec. 30, for . Kiti K’Shan for next fall. The other is that the number of English-only'stu-. dents be adequately accommodated at Cassie Hall - as judged on Dec. 30.for the start of the next school — opinions. : Gowen was the only ¢ one of six trustees at a school . board meeting held Oct. 4'in South Hazelton to vote year next September. Just as important to Gowen is ; that any shift. not ' affect the education of any students. © “The motion says any change cannot have a nega- tive impact on any program,’ * she said. “To me that means they need .to bring ‘me ‘the . ° proof, bring me that data that any negative impacts will not occur,” Gowen added. ” Although the motion does not specify there be . “public comment, Gowen’s leaning toward at least one meeting. where parents and others can state their ” against the French immersion motion. It was originally contained in a complicated three- year plan by the district that would affect a number of: schools. ‘ ; But the plan was broken up. into separate com- ‘ By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN | 1 ; Veyant Male, 1 still possib . moved over to Clarence Michiel. Prince Rupert could steal business if slots” not approved | By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN. ponents so each could be properly debated, said Gowen. ', One of the. other components iS a‘ ‘plan, to close | down E.T: Kenney Primary School and move its kindergarten to Grade 3 students to next-door Clar- ence Michiel Elementary: : But that, just as is the case. with French immer- sion, hinges’ on the Pepitations of both schools on. Dec..30. Mays If the population figures as. of that date determine kindergarten to Grade 7 students could be housed in Clarence Michiel, the district will then issue a pos- « sible closure of school: notice. And that will start a. series of discussions and meetings: - . - . Also driving the possibility of combining the two schools is the condition of E.T. Kenney. . The building needs a substantial amount of work and the cost may not be worth it if its students can 1 be wv -CHRIS;PARENT is collecting signatures ona: petition opposing the addition of slot machines at the @ Lucky Dollar Bingo Palace." Anti-slot machine petition circulates When Parent first arrived in Terrace more than two years ago, he got ajob at the Bingo Palace, but with no money and two weeks to wait for his first THE MAN behind a petition opposing the addition of slot machines to the _ Lucky Dollar Bingo-Palace is organizing people to make presentations at a cheque, he went to the food bank. — “There was a huge line up and the guy at the front of the line was also 4ARGE-ROUND: hole“over ‘the: entrance of the- Liteky Dollar Bingo, Palace will. remain empty. until its owners find “out: “whether they will be permitted to allow slot machines j in , the facility. - ; If council gives the expansion the thumbs up after a spe-. . cial public hearing slated for Oct. 16, a sign will be erected over the empty spot identifying: it. by its: new name - - ~ the Chances Community Gaming Centre. . - * There are five such centres in the province ‘from Kam-, loops, to Williams Lake and Dawson Creek: Prince Rupert is in the process of building a gaming centre. which i is s slated. ° ' to open in February 2007. Lucky Dollar Bingo Palace owner: John Becher: says he’ § __ worried once the Prince Rupert facility opens he — ‘and. other » ° businesses i in Terrace — will lose business. © . He-and manager. Marilyn Thodt say the’bingo hall draws ; 7 numerous out-of-town players. to Terrace and they’re wor- ‘tied those people may move on ‘to Prince Rupert if Terrace "isn’t given approval for the slots.” ~~ » Just this month dozens of out-of-towners camie to Terrace. . .to play for the chance to win a truck ona Saturday, night, ° spending the night here and retuming to the bingo hall, to. a _ play on Sunday moming. . ‘a It’s something she says happens « on a régulat basis, aravi- ing customers from throughout the region... >... - “They come from Smithers, Burns Lake, the Nass — ‘those . people will travel right through to Rupert,” she warns, add- - _ing the economic spinoffs. of people coming from out. of town aren’t only felt at the bingo hall. ° . »“It's not just us that will lose, it’s the whole. community,”. public hearing on the topic scheduled for next week. Chris Parent, a former bingo facility employee, began the petition and the first to come to bingo,” he recalls, adding something about that day stuck - out in his mind. ‘ she says, adding each of those players: that spend the. night: in Terrace spend money at area hotels, restaurants and retail outlets. ; th . has so far collected more than 300 signatures. He plans to gather a group of | ~ people opposed to the expansion to attend next week's public hearing where. - he'll formally present the petition to Terrace city council. Parent, who now manages a local cafe, says bingo and slot machines cater to a segment of society that can n least afford to lose money. Third derailment. in less than a year hits Terrace yard By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN RAIL workers took several days to clean” up seven CN Rail cars carrying methanol and scrap metal that derailed Sept. 30 in the Terrace rail-yard. It's the thifd derailment to happen here in less than a year. ' The derailment happened while the cars were switching — when cars are moved while building the train, says. CN spokesperson Kelli Sevendson. . . The train was moving very slowly when five cars containing methanol and two cars containing scrap metal were forced off the tracks, says Svendsen. The incident happened at about 8:45 p.m. near the east end of the yard, just behind the ’ she says. “yard here. a -“I’d see people down to their last dime using it [at the bingo hall.” He also finds it ironic that many of the community groups that derive - money from gaming grants also serve the very people that he saw frequent- ing | the facility on a regular basis. . Cont'd Page A2- J&F Distributors’ warehouse near the arena.. All the cars remained upright and there were no spills or injuries, she says. It’s the second derailment in less than six months to happen in the Terrace yard. The previous derailment happened April 21 when 10 empty cars toppled off the tracks on the north side of the Old Skeena Bridge, also on the east end of the yard. , Svendsen says the derailments aren’t be- ing investigated as related. “Currently they are both under investiga- tion so they are very different incidences,” A previous derailment last year saw small amounts of a chemical called xenon released after another train derailed in the CN rail a ae And she says those who are opposed to gambling i in the community need to acknowledge it already exists here in many forms. ; Cont'd Page A2 yard. There were no spills and’ nobody was injured | in the derailment. be 1 shatthee etc FHOL eP eka I tw cia teen OY EEE LRT PE Sa