‘Sweet streets The city wants you to | weigh in on how to spruce up downtown \NEWS A10 “ Green thumbs Find out why local teens" -are getting their hands dirty in area gardens | \COMMUNITY BI Rubberize ‘City officials and school district want to find a way to upgrade track © \SPORTS B5 $1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST ($1.10 plus 8¢ GST. | _ outside of the Terrace area) ~ 13 Jew By SARAH A ZIMMERMAN VoL. 19 NO. ALCAN COULD have a new smelter up and. running in Kitimat by 2012, ‘Says a senior company official.’ : “But that date requires ‘a start this year os, to clear‘a complex number of hurdles, . _ the first of which is approval from the < ..Jengthen his timeline.: ‘company’ s. board of directors, Paul Hen- ning told. Terrace and District Chamber of Commerce members June 29. . Henning, who runs the current Kitimat smelter, says the new technology. would. . "likely be what’s called an AP35+, which "can. produce 400,000 tons. of aluminum ~ running iS) per year using the same amount of power the company uses at its current smelter: _ That-compares*to the existing VSS ° smelter that produces 272,000 tons per | year. That smelter uses antiquated tech-~ “ nology and is the only such smelter re- “maining in’ any of Alcan’ s operations, - Syaatermacentandandicons __, Said Henning. .. “He hopés ‘to have the board of direc- - tors approval by the end of this year. | “T don’t have environmental permits, . “T don’t: have agreements ‘with Alcan or . agreeménts. -with the province,” Henning cautioned, adding the process of get- ting those. approvals i in place could well .. Alcan officials have previously, beeri the uncertainty of how long those approv- _als could take; but a second Alcan offi- cial says. completion is expected to take . six years from the: time board approval is: given. ss fo the “If we were to get approval. in 2006, you could’ see first metal « coming online - in 2012,” said Colleen Nyce. . ' The six-year: construction - ‘timetable allows Alcan to build in phases, open- ca older ones. . — And though: the. new smelter will re- quire far fewer employees than the cur- rent one, the- company is relying on a: coming bulge of retirements to even out” its workforce requirements without hav- ing to lay people off. Alcan now has 1,500 employees in ~ Kitimat and, forecasts a drop:to 1 000 a at the new planned smelter. .: . a _ hesitant to discuss firm dates because of will have to hire people, to replace some “of those due to retire. “Yes, we're reducing the workforce,” ‘Henning: -said. “But’ we're doing, it-in a: “way. that ‘is gentle, I guess — we're not laying people « off.” ~The prospect of job loss i in Kitimat has _made its municipal council worried about - ‘the future of the area. It’s one of the reasons. swhy the council opposes any plan’ for Alcan to sell sur- & Wednesday July 5 5, 2006 plus power. The council wants the power: “used instead in’ Kitimat on development — to provide jobs." itima ‘Smelter plan lai a ‘It describes Alcan’ s s current plan as the . “small smelter option” and prefers Alcan uses its power as well as that available . - from a deal-with BC Hydro to, construct a larger smelter with no resulting drop i in’ employment. The new technology affects primarily » Henning also’ predicts the- company,” the pot room operations, said Nyce, add- ing that new lines will likely ‘be built at the current smelter site. _ Henning’s chamber of commerce pre: , Sentation was the first from a company - modernization, a | Nyce added that settling a collective ; ; agreement ‘with the’ Canadian Autowork- ers’. Union’ ahead ‘of. ‘schedule and,the “safety record of employees at the” Kitimat we facility have played a large role in Alcan’ S . decision to focus on the. Kitimat project. poe .. It’s’ because. of: the: excellent; ‘opera- 7 .. tional performance. ‘of: Kitimat’ this’ last official that involves potential construc-— tion and completion dates for a long-ru- moured - smelter replacement Project at. Kitimat. But Alcan CEO Dick Evans has lately been «saying that. the smelter ‘is among). ‘year.and a half that has’ ‘really _ decision: makers, the confident 0 ok “more closely, "she. said’ ‘referring: to’ the, million ‘hours pe plant’s. ‘record-setting : without a lost-time: acci - Henning became. ~ When he spoke: at.th chamber: meeting oe _ here about how: ‘proud he: was of. the em-" oer ployees for achieving that milestone we alts a first i in’ the. history « of the: ‘Kitimat: mo smelter. | ; A projécted co const to be released.: ‘given, the ee on: n-cost hi yet wate By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN THE TERRACE Lumber Company officials say their J . decision to shut down operations entirely at the local sawmill _ “until lumber prices improve doesn’t mean the company is in ‘danger of going bankrupt. - The company has laid off the rest of its approximately 60 _ workers until the soft lumber market turns ‘around. Senior management and a mill watchman continue to work for the » company in the interim. Even though the company contin- - Jf ~ ues to mount fixed costs such as hydro payments, taxes and - ‘the sale of lumber, company chairman John Ryan says bank- ruptcy proceedings are not being discussed. “We’re not too keen on that thought,” Ryan said last week. “We certainly have a cash flow problem but we're not talking, about bankruptcy.” A high Canadian dollar and a: market flooded with wood 7 : “makes it-difficult to compete for small mills suchas TLC. “There’s no hope of restarting at the moment, ’ said Ryan... “We’re too poor to do anything.” . But it’s not just small companies taking sawmill down- time in response to the dollar and ‘depressed lumber , prices. Canfor Corporation announced June 22 itis shutting “down operations. at some sawmills adding up to an expected curtailment in production to the tune of 500 million board 7 - feet across its operations. Ryan says the announcement by a major forest company such as Canfor does not give him much faith the market will _ turn around any time soon. “They must think this downturn, this trading problem is going to be long,” he said. “That would be my guess.”. . He said the company is actively: looking at alternatives to.: the situation but what those might be remain unknown. Ryan did say that despite rumours.to the contrary, talks of selling and the mill sits on to CN Rail is not one of those options. “I'd like to be able to tell you a.different story, I can. promise you that,” Ryan said. “People work really hard, the ‘men at the mill and the managers at the mill have done a great job...we just don’t have the deep enough pockets to withstand this kind ofa market.” Curious Kermode caught, released | A KERMODE seen dumpster diving and checking out ‘compost heaps around Terrace Mountain was successfully ’ captured by conservation officers June 29, “Attractants left out almost cost a ‘Kermode its life and _ that’s ‘a tragedy,” said conservation officer Chris Price. . “That would’ve been areal shame to have had to destroy this bear because people are not taking care of attractants.” Around 8 p.m., conservation officer Blair Thin returned ; «to the area of Johnson Road along the Bench to ‘where the: bear trap had caught the garbage-sniffing bear.: ‘He hooked — the culvert-shaped trap and its trailer to the. back of the con- _ servation service truck and took it to fellow officer Chris, Price’s house outside of town overnight. The pair tranquilized, tagged and examined the male Ker- mode, which appeared to be healthy. Thin contacted biolo- gists at the fish and wildlife office in Smithers to find out a suitable place for its relocation. He was transported to.an_ - _ area away from the public June 30, Price said. , Bears are drawn to many food attractants left out by hu- mans, including garbage, barbecues, pet food and even com- ‘post. This time of year is just prior to when the fish begin to run and the berries start ripening, meaning bears are looking ~ for other food sources. } Earlier in the week, officers caught and destroyed a black _ bear sow believed to have been habituated to eating garbage, which is a hard habit to break for bears. . -ing new potlines gradually while closing fo ¢ , eae 4 its top. three priorities when | it comes to . a So long... WITH THE merger of the Terrace and District Credit Union and Northern Savings Credit Union now official, ‘interim Terrace and District _ oO oe _ general manager Ken Earl is hanging up his hat and retiring. Earl was 10 years with Northern Savings and-spent the last year at the now” former Terrace and District location | in Terrace. To find out the credit union ’s Plan fora new v building turn to page AIO. r ~ SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO” o-: ming from skin grafts done to repair it after it swelled to the size of his thigh after'a recent bike accident. “ A TEEN whio was s seriously injured i ina bike oy 7. and is recovering faster than expected. : ‘the base of his’skull, swelling inthis left arm : ~ after tumbling off a bike. -_ , riding together: when it went off the road and - JOEL MANNING'S left arm bears : a nasty scar stem- . By MARGARET SPEIRS. accident .after. a graduation party attended “ official grad ceremonies June 28. Joel Manning, 17, is happy- to: be home * “Pm just an impatient expected I don’ t-want wait all that te to heal,” ” Manning. ya : does i is to test t the ° areath in an ne Last. . oe a * week, ‘Manning’ Squeezed, 40 pounds ° with’ “It’s better than: the: hospital,” he said his: ‘right hand and 35. ‘pounds with his Jett; : : about being home June 28. , Manning was flown to: Vancouver for i in- tensive treatment after suffering a fracture to which was more than double the: he could squeeze the previous \ week: : that cut.off the circulation and a broken Hib eae © probably won't have: much power. in. - that arm for awhile because’ it ‘was a pretty, . He and best friend Jason Mattenley \ Were. Serious injury on that one,” he said." : _, , Manning began. orthopedi physiotherapy’ “fo help ensure the tendons and scars:on his. “arm will ‘become more flexible. ne His | “equilibrium - was affected . so hhe* a worked on his ‘balance and walking to, .. achieve his goal of. ascending the stairs to bleeding in three places in his brain, to rée- accept his diploma. at the. Caledonia gradu lieve the pressure in his arm that had swol- ation ceremony. len to become larger than his thigh and to re - Con ’ d Page # AQ: down an embankment at the intersection. of Merkley and Johrison roads May 28. wh Mattenley died from his i injuries, May 29. _ Manning spent two’ weeks ‘in hospital in Vancouver. where doctors operated to stop.