The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 29, 200] - m Getting set LOCAL ROTARIANS, including Harold Cox and Frank Hamilton, were out at the Grand Trunk Pathway last week helping pour concrete far the foundations for a gazebo to be built there by the Terrace Rotary Club. The 12-foot octagonal structure will be made out of cedar and serve as a sheltered resting spot in the linear park. News In Brief Fingerprinting added to checks New requirement on criminal record searches adds to volunteer group costs By JENNIFER LANG VOLUNTEERS and foster parents in Terrace now have to provide finger prints to the RCMP _as part of a criminal record back ground check required for anyone working with children. A recent internal review of the detachment discovered Terrace RCMP weren’t following national and divisional procedure requiring ‘fingerprints as part of criminal record checks. “The only conclusive way to say if some- one does or does net have a criminal record is by a fingerprint comparison through the natio- -nal fingerprint repository,” Staff Sgt. Tom For- _ Ster said, Until June 1, Terrace RCMP simply ran a check using the applicant’s name and date of -ibirth to determine if there was a criminal re- cord or not “The problem with that is lots of peaple use aliases or they’ve had a legal name change done,” Forster said. Terrace’s detachment wasn't alone in not requiring fingerprints, he added. “We .were doing what most places are doing. A lot of other places are going to have to be changing as well.” COME TN FOR MORE DETAILS FINANCING BIG OR SMALL WE FINANCE IT ALL! “REVOLVING LINE OF CREDIT” Forster pointed out the change now means a much longer wait for potential volunteers and employees waiting for results. “These things take at least six weeks before they come back,” he said, adding the RCMP process approximately 10,000 fingerprints each month. Approximately 100 people a month apply to the Terrace RCMP detachment for criminal record checks. The change means it now costs people wanting a criminal record check $25 to have their fingerprints dane. People requesting a record check to obtain employment also pay a $20 administrative fee to the detachment to pay for processing time, meaning it will now cest them $45. The city of Terrace pays the $20 admin- istrative fee for volunteers with non-profit scc- ieties and community groups but can’t waive the new fingerprinting fee because it’s a fed- eral requirement, payable to the receiver gen- eral of Canada. “We can’t waive that, it’s not our fee,” said cily administrator Denise Fisher. The RCMP doesn’t keep these fingerprints io on file. Forster said the information is returned to the applicant once the criminal record check is complete — even if they have a criminal re- cord. Forster warned background checks provide a false sense of security to employers and non- profit organizations because — depending on the level of disclosure requested — results don’t necessarily reveal arrests or police inlerviews if they didn’t lead to criminal convictions. Disclosing more than the record check ap- plicant wanted to reveal is one of the fastest growing areas for lawsuits, he added. “We're trying to protect the community from volunteers with sex offences and on the other hand we can get sued for disclosure. That's why we've really tightened it up.” The RCMP are now telling organizations and employers to use criminal record checks as a last resort. Always check references and talk to past employers first, Forster said, “Too often you find out the person has al- ready told them they have a record, and they're still considering these people as a po- tential volunteer.” Irish town can stay CITY HALL says a miniature Irish town in Jim Allen’s front yard can stay put. City officials say Allen has pledged to put up a fence on the west side of his 5134 Agar Ave. front yard, effectively shielding his ongoing project - a replica of his hometown of Youghal — from the neighbours. A while picket fence already runs along the east and south side of the front yard, screening most of the tiny town from view, City officials were forced to investipate the slructures — all about the size of dog houses — after complaints from what they called ‘non-admirers’. Free bus rides to Fall Fair TERRACE BUSES will run passengers to and from the Fall Fair this coming Sunday — and better yet, service will be free. B.C. Transit, the city and the regional district have teamed up to offer and subsidize the first-ever special event service. After loops of lower Terrace - which will begin and end at Skeena Mall ~ buses will head off ta the fair at 10:05 and 11:05 a.m. Return trips will leave the fairgrounds at 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. Transit will also run fair goers out to the grounds on Saturday, but riders will have to pay. School disruption minor CONSTRUCTION projects at three Terrace area schools are on schedule and there will be minimal disruption to classes when students go back to school starts next week. A mechanical upgrade at Cassie Hall Elemen- tary is nearly complete, school district superinten- dent Robert Gilfillan said. Work there and at Thornhill primary, site of a heating and ventilation system upgrade, should be finished by the end of September. Once school is back in session, work inside those two schools will be completed in evening shifts. “There should be minimal classroom disruption,” Gilfillan said. Three injured in crash THREE TOURISTS were injured in a single vehi- cle crash 42 kilometres west of Terrace Aug, 22. A 1996 Lexus had rolled over at the railway crossing on Highway 16, police said. The vehicle apparently did not slow down in time to negotiate the turn in the road, police said. An elderly couple, both 64, and a 12-year-old girl were driving to Prince Rupert in a vehicle with Alaskan registration when the accident happened. The female driver and the young girl were both trapped in the vehicle after it rolled over, fire chief Randy Smith said. “We had to literally lift the whole vehicle straight up. We used a combination of the jaws af life and air bags to lift it up,” Smith said, Two occupants suffered head injuries. t VAY ONIDNUNIS: Star Choice is cruising into your neigbourhood. Come and experience TV like never before. Check out digital picture and Dolby® surround sound in our state-of-the-art, custom-built Star Cruiser. You'll see everything Star Choice has to offer, including the most programming choice — movies, sports, and all your favourite TV shows. So hurry over and try out the future of television at the Star Cruiser, before it rolls on. STAR CRUISER ON LOCATION FRI. AUG 31, SKEENA MALL SAT. SEPT 1, KEITH AVENUE WED. 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