Quiet, please! Musical travellers Poo! plus The city is issuing final warnings to those who park big trucks on residential streets/NEWS A7 Music festival winners head off to various places formore competitions/COMMUNITY B12 A new addition at the aquatic centre makes it easier for disabled users/SPORTS C2. WEDNESDAY MAY 4, 1904 Joe Gosnell By JEFF NAGEL NISGA’A LEADERS are now demanding just 43 per cent of the land they claim as their tradi- tional territory. But the provincial government is so far offering the Nisga’a only three per cent of the territory claimed, And that has the Nisga’a threatening blockades in the Nass Valley. Nispa’a Tribal Council presi- dent Joe Gosnell released the fig- wes Friday, breaking the ban on public disclosures of what hap- pens at ihe negotiating table. Until now al] negotiators had LOCAL COMPUTER buffs are now able to fink up lo networks of other users via satellite. Local accountant. Al Sandc has installed a- nine- foot satellite dish to receive computer messages - for Sasquatch BBS, a local computer bullctin board ser- vice he runs. - and a modem ‘can dial into Sasquatch They can read messages from people across North America. and send replies. we puter bulletin board - was programimed to phone an- other computer in Toronto can call up Sande's computer, read messages, paying long distance charges. Beam us up, Al Anyone with a computer. Until now, Sande’s com-: remained tight-lipped on exact delails of what was being dis- cussed, Gosnell said he released the in- formation to explain the frustra- lion of the Nisga’a people with the progress.of the talks, “The offer from Victoria was an insult to the Nisga’a,”’ Gosnell said, ‘That pitiful amount of land doesn’! even come close to being the amount we need to be self sustaining,” Land now allocated to the four Nisga’a villages in the Nass un- der the federal system amounts to 74,7 square kilometres. The Nisga’a claim 25,000 lo receive messages. The large numbers of mes- sages involved crealed large and expensive long distance phone bills. Now Sande pays a fat monthly rate to Planet Con- nect,, a - Tennessee-based company that beams mes- sages from several networks up {o satellites. Sande’s dish. picks up the messages, passes them along to {he computer sys- tem and then makes them available for local users. “*There’s got to be about - 20,000 messages falling out of. (he sky every day,’’ he - said. “‘I’*ve.got mote. data than I know what todo with SASQUATGH BBS system operator Al Sande now uses a nine-foot satellite dish in his front yard to receive computer messages from around the warld, Local users who have modems and send replias across the globe without now, The potential is only limited to how much disk Space you’ve got.” The satellite sends about 200 megabytes of messages and shareware’ programs every day in a continuous 24-hour feed, Outgoing messages are still sent by phone line. There are presently more than 250 registered users on Sasquatch, most of them from Terrace. If you have a computer and modem,. you can dial into Sasquatch BBS at 635- 2184. Your communications program should be set for jull duplex, no parity, eight data bits, and one stop bit. © square kilometres of the Nass River valley and surrounding land -horth of Terrace. The provincial offer would give them a tiny fraction of that — ownership of about 750 square kilometres. Also under discussion is an ad- ditional, larger area where the Nisga’a that would have joint Management — with provincial authorities — over forestry, mini- ng and fishing, Gosnell said it’s no revelation that the Nisga’a won't get the full amount of land they claim. He noted that recent claim settlements across the country RD a’a, gov't tangle over land have resulted in native groups gelling on average six to 12 per cent of claimed land, Gosnell, talking tough after his re-clection as president of the tribal council, signalled a major policy change toward more direct action aimed at forcing a settle- ment of the claim, “If serious negotiations do not begin right away, we will begin planning a comprehensive pro- gram of civil disobedience that could lead to a fotal shutdown of ihe Nass valley,’ he said. “‘We are fighting for our very sur- vival.?? A resolution at last week’s con- 75¢ PLUS 5¢ GST VOL. 7NO.3. vention passed unanimously au- thorizing the executive to ‘utilize roadblocks and civil disobedience as part of their overall strategy... to maximize Nisga’a sovereignty within traditional territories,.”’ “It’s sort of a fall-back posi- tion,” Gosnell added. “Our people are totally dissatisfied with ihe rate at which the current negotiations are moving,” “Acts of violence have never been our approach,” he. said, “Acts of civil disobedience, Toadblocks —- we have avoided those over the years.” Cont'd Page A2 | Most homeowners face 3 per cent hike MOST CITY taxpayers can breathe a sigh of relief this year. Unless there have been sig- nificant improvements to their properties, the majority of three per cent or less, And one in three will actually pay less than last year. Council last week gave third readings to the 1994 tax by-law which sees the residential rate for - general municipal purposes fall seven per cent to $7.63 per thou. sand of assessed value, Thet decrease continues the trend which has seen the rate tumble nearly 30 per cent since the 1990 budget. And it’s possible because of 8 combination of two boom years of construction and ever rising as- sessed values. City treasurer Keith Norman pointed out that of the total $358,000 extra revenue the city will bring in this year, nearly a quarter million dollars results from new homes and businesses. He also noted the average house price in Terrace is nudging $100,000. Compare that to the $65,000 figure being used when the 1990 budget was brought down, co Other sectors have not got off so lightly, at least on the face of il. For example, major industry has been hit with an 11.5 per cent rate hike. However, the reality is neither Skeena Cellulose. (SCI) nor Skeena Sawmills will be too pained. Norman explained the assessed value for both mills had been cut (his year. As a result, SCI’s tax bill will be slightly less and Skeena Sawmills only a few thousand more than in 1993, And despite slight increases for Taxes *94 summary Below, the proposed general municipal tax rates for each sector in ternis of dollars per $1,000 af askessed Valie and .. homeowners. face . increases«. af-+. .--": - "comparisons to previous years. Sector 1994 19931990 Residential $7.63 -71% 28% Business $24.73 +42,3% 11% Major Industry $45.45 411.5% -5.15% Light Industry $29.99 45.2% «© 22.2%. Utility $67.77 428% = 45.5% Farm $14.36 418.3% 426.6% : Seasonal | $13.61 +19.9% 40.8% What it means for average homeowner If your house was assessed at $90,000 for 1993 tax pur- poses, you would have had to. pay $739 in general municipal taxes. Assuming your assessment went up by the average amount, it would this year be assessed at $100,000, That translates to a general municipal bill of $763. (It should be remembered taxpayers face additional levies for debt cosis, transit, hospital district and Kitimat-Stikine regional district. In the case of the residential sector, those add up to anoth- er $1.68 per thousand, $168 on a that $100,000 house.) light industry and businesses, he said ihe only ones facing sig- nificantly higher tax bills are those which have carried out major improvements. For example, Safeway’s bill will leap two-thirds but that’s al- most exactly the increase in its assessed value as a result of its expansion, Despite the increases, the rates for major industry, light industry and businesses are still below those of 1990, Snowbirds planning visit to Dease Lake on Friday RESIDENTS OF Dease Lake up Hwy37 get thelr chance for a per- sonal look at the Snowbirds on Friday. That’s because the 10 aircraft of the Canadian Forces’ jet per- formance squadron will be land- ing at the tiny community's air. Strip to refuel on their way up to Whitehorse. The Snowbirds do an airshow at Sandspit on the Queen Charlotte ‘Islands tomorrow but can’t reach ~~ _ president Jan Bruns sald the pros- - pect ofa landing by the Snow- Whitehorse for an airshow May 8 without first taking om more fuel, explained squadron co-ordinator Capt. Mike Lenehan. “Qur minimum landing #- quirement is 4,000 feet and the runway there is 6,000 fect,” sald Lenehan. The Dease Lake airstrip was paved to handle governmenit jets and medevac flights, It also has on hand the: right _ Kind of fuel needed by the Tutor jets of the Snowbirds squadron. Dease Lake Alrport Society birds is a big thrill, ‘‘We never get anything like this,’” she said, ' “I'm sure anything the Snow- birds could do would be ap- preclated by the community.” Capt. Lenehan said. this won't be the first time the Snowbirds have visited a small community. “We did a show in Norman Wells last year and that has less than 500 people,’’ he said, **Tt was quite an event, We like showing the: flag in smaller ~ places,” Lenehan added, crm eh are da