The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 24, 1996 - AS CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag Keep Shames private Dear Sir: This is in reply to the April 10 letter to the editor ' about Shanics Mountain. : ; Obviously the writer is a comparative newcomer to the area and is unaware of the fiasco thal occurred when the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine took over the Kitsumkalum Ski Hill. Jt amounted to a blank cheque handed to the former owners. The costs went sky high and several winters of little or no snow closed it’ The taxpayers were left holding the bag — emply, of course. ce tee The investors in Shames Mountain were well aware of the risks involved — they ‘‘studied’’ il to death. Poor conditions and downtums in ‘the economy are common, Very few ski hills make large profits. If the City of Terrace were to lake over this venture, it would be a burden on those taxpayers only and not the ones in the surrounding areas, The provincial government pul most of the road In, and they keep it maintained, including snow plowing. Shames Mountain is not ‘‘Terrace’s ski hill’? as stated in the letter. It belongs to the investors and creditors. Let them fight their own battles; and keep it a private enterprise, WEATHER EXPERTS have given assurances that the first part of afternoon sun while reclining against a Tudor T-33 trainer at the Don Cooper, May Is the best time of year to hold an airshow. And there's no bet- 1994 airshow. A T-33 is returning for this year's show. Bearing the Terrace, B.C. ter explanation than this photograph of two people enjoying the weather in mind a hat, sunscreen and sunglasses should be carried. skyhawks [Pe ) — hear won alism injures a set to drop Occasionally an act of vandalism is so wounding to our civilization that we are all somewhat the less for it. This need not be some madman taking a hammer to Michelangelo’s ‘‘Pieta’’, for our example is local, pe Many of us have enjoyed the enchanting faces that Rick Goyette has carved into the bark of many trees around Ferry Island. Over the Easter weekend someone THE CROWD PLEASING Snowbirds are retuming and smashed several of these works of art with an axc, another Canadian Forces act has been scheduled as the sec- To this perpetrator I say, ‘You have injured all of ond Kilimat-Terrace airshow of this decade takes place our faces, especially your own. You marred the human May 7. qualities of beauly, generosity, playfulness and en- That second act, the precision parachute team called the Sky Hawks, will be ihe opening performers of the show being held at the airport. The Sky Hawks team consists of 13 parachutists, wo ground crew and five crew for their jump plane, a Buffalo. This is their 25th anniversary year and the addition of the team to the airshow is most welcomed, airshow organizer chantmeat, You need help.”’ To Rick Goyette I say, ‘‘Please do not take this act personally. You have brought joy and delight to hundreds of us who have seen your carvings. We are all deeply offended by this and we would be saddened if you quil gracing the trees of Ferry Island with these wonderful, carved faces, And, thank you, Rick.’’ Dave Parker said last week. Walter Raedeke, “They’re very popular in autograph sessions and theyll Terrace, B.C. ask the kids to help them pack their chutes up afterward,’* ; - . sy said Parker, Gov't act “offensive The normal Sky Hawks display consists of three passes of parachutists who jump at 12,500 feet above sea level, They tail smoke canisters, opening their parachutes at 3,000 feet above ground and perform canopy formations on their way down. Parker said having the Sky Hawks open the show and having the Snowbirds close the event are perfect bookends for a crowd he’s estimating ,will be more than ‘7,000 people, oy. . “Last time we had in excess of 6,000 people. The police gave us an estimate of 7,500,"’ said Parker, Weather records indicated the best time for an airshow is the firsl two weeks of May and the socicty then chooses the exact dale based on the availability of the Snowbirds within that time period. The show this year js dedicated to the memory of Kitimat resident and long time community volunteer John LeSage. ‘“‘He was a founding member of the (airshow) socicly and helped with the first airshow,’ said Parker. Also booked for appearances are an airforce T-33 trainer from: CFB Comox on Vancouver Island and a CF-18 ad- vanced fighter aircraft fram CFB Cold Lake, Alberta, Tom Slaggs and his Long-EZ, a futuristic looking aerial ballet aircraft, from Washington were here in 1994 and will retum. ‘New to the airshow this year is Joann Osterud and her Ultimate 10-3008, a small but powerful biplane. Osterud several years ago flew from Vancouver to Vanderboof upside dawn. A Russian-designed Yak-18 is coming from Smithers, two Chipmunks are coming from Whitehorse and two Har- vard trainers are coming from the Vancouver area, j There will also be a varicty of static displays and, : depending on availability, organizers have asked for a Labrador search and rescue helicopter fom Comox. ‘Organizers have fine tuned entry and exits to the airport by arranging to open up an access from the Queensway side of the airport. “That will be for Terrace residents, The regular access to the airport will be for residents of Thornhill cast and for Kitimat,” Parker noted, There will be plenty of parking and no parking will be al- CROWDS GATHERED around a CF-18 jet fighter at the 1994 airshow. Some of lowed on Hwy37 leading into the airport or on the access the top line aircraft have now been mothballed but the airforce stil has a solid road from the highway to the airport, core based in the west at Cold Lake, Alberta and at Comox on Vancouver Island. Dear Sir; The B.C, Press Council has called on the provincial government to take immediate steps to amend its of- fensive Human Rights legislation and restore to the press and people of the province their fundamental and conslitutional rights of free expression. In a letter to Atorney General Ujjal Dosanjh, the press council. has restated its.concern that the recently, , amended Human Rights Act is unconstitutional and. conslitutes ‘‘an unwarranied- and unprecedented allack on free speech and a free press in British Columbia.” The 126-newspaper council was responding to the government’s recent refusal] to amend its controversial Act. The council rejects the government’s position and wants it to take immediate action to correct a situation that is an insult to the people of this province, to its free press and to one of the bedrock principles of a free and open society, The council is frustrated with the government’s inac- tion because the goveriument knows its legislation to be both unconstitutional and unnecessary. As the self-regulating body of B.C.’s newspaper in- dustry, the press council is particularly concerned with the recently amended Act because it gives draconian powers to a newly expanded Human Rights Council, including: M@ the power to lay ils own charges against newspap- ers on the flimsiest of pretexts, and without waiting for a complaint from the public WM the power to issue ‘‘gag orders'” against news pap- ers for frivolous offenses the power to levy crushing fines against newspap- ers for simply doing their job of informing the public. The council wanis ihe government to commit to amending its unconstitutional Human Rights Act be- fore the next provincial election ‘‘so that Brilish Columbians will know whether they have a govern- ment thal is willing ta defend their hard-won constitu- tional rights and freedoms.,’' Robert Yanow, chairman, B.C, Press Council Vancouver, B.C. . . About letters Al rs h OW info The Terrace Standard welcomes let- ters to the editor. Our deadline is noon Fridays. You can write us at 3210 at a Q lan ce Clinton St., Terrace, B.C, V8G 5R2. Our fax number is 604-638-8432, E-mail is Here are some airshow figures and statistics: terrace.standard@sasquat.com ve M@ Expected altendance this year is more than 7,000. 7 That's what the best guess attendance figure was for ; 4994. Ww Why in May? The first twa weeks of May historically contain the best weather, After that, organizers work lable dat nowbirds. ou many dates of the Snowbiris. ec sowhirds | _THE START IS FOR PEOPLE LEARNING TO READ teain? There are 11 pilots, 10 aircraft techniciatis, one logistics officer, one stepply technician and a civilian sec- he St a i t retary. Home base is Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Mo How many members are there on the Skyhawks parachute team? There 13 parachutisls, two ground crew Lana mystery continues w memb the j lane, : . . or lat record iid Joann Ostetud yet? An endurance POLICE ARE still looking for two men they think record for flying upside down taking in 658 miles over may have something to do with a missing four hours, 38 minutes and 10 seconds. She began in teenager. ae Vancouver, ending in Vanderhoof, Lana Derrick, 19, was last seen in Terrace on a mM How far can the Long-EZ, piloted by Tom Staggs of Oct. 7, 1995. A big scarch did not turn up any Washington State, fly with a full load of fuel? Fuel ca- clues. pacity is 181 litres and if has a maximum range of 1647 miles or 2080 kilometres, Some versions of the Long-EZ The police did put out drawings of two men they think were with Lana the night she went missing. : : have flawa as far as 4800 miles. TINY AND AEROBATIC is the Long-EZ piloted by Tom Staggs of Washington Im When does this year’s airshow begin? Al 2:30 pane On |” who en But co far hey eve aot ocnd ionen State. Pilot and aircraft were here in 1994 and are scheduled to perform again at May 7. Aad the last act, the Snowbirds, takes to the air at , the 1996 version which takes place on May 7, about 5:50 pan. for a 40-minute show. Anybody who can help should call the RCMP.