| ity. ~ “alone; the province says it will . January Dieter: ‘Kuntz; who used to’ run’the ‘Terrace and: Area. Health Council; has been transferred to Prince: George and Paul Brown, the former head of the Northwest Community Health Services Society, has been placed in charge of all north- west health services as the new Northern Health Authority begins its work. The Northern Health Authority was created in late 2001 by merging more than a dozen smaller northern health authorities. it'll have a budget approaching $400 million a year and 6,000 em- ployees. . , The idea is to save. money by combining ad- ministrative: and other services in the face of Pro-, . vincial health care budget freezes. khikkhk Terrace city council has axed its social plan- “ning commission, saying most of its work is fin- wished. oo Most of its work has been aimed at making “the city more inclusive to young people, to se- ‘iors and to people with disabilities. It also ‘worked to make the city safer for women and to recognize the aboriginal history and presence in ‘© the city and area, coe tok kik ~~ An Alaskan plan to build a new road up the “Iskut River-to connect the panhandle to Hwy37 is “a dangerous U.S. attempt to tap into B.C.’s re- “sources, environmental groups charge. +. They say the road idea, advanced by Alaskan towns like Wrangell, would creale a new port on , the, Bradfield Canal in competition with Stewart. _ "B.C. resources would flow out through the new : port. instead of Stewart, the groups say. kakkkk The first class of licensed practical nursing students-at Northwest Community College got underway as a way of helping solve the nursing Shortage in the area and in the region. “=Pwenty-six studenis began a year’s training “that will take them into area hospitals and health ". care facilities in addition to classroom time. ~The program came about from a general ex- pansion of nursing programs throughout the pro- ‘vince to combat a growing nursing shortage that has: resulted in beds being closed in hospitals. toot bik “Property values in Terrace are down in most cases. forthe fourth year.in a.tow. ‘.. "The otal assessment for 2002 in Terrace for “all types of properties fell to $739.6 million, a “four per cent dip from the year before, according to information from the B.C. Assessment Author- ‘The city’s tax roll peaked in 1998 at $831 million. . “The ‘unsettled local economy continues to re- ; sult in lower market demand,” said area assess- “ment authority assessor Tom Protheroe. -. The authority takes a snapshot of values every . July 1. A simple home in the horseshoe valued at-$120,300 in the summer of 2000 sold for $116,500. in the summer of 2001, the authority said. took --A proposal for an $8 million destination casi- ~~ -nos and convention centre down town has been dropped after the provincial cabinel gave a thumbs down to more destination casinos. °~Terrace-Inn owner John Georgilas has asked ‘city council to back his proposal to build a more than 35,000 square foot expansion to his hotel for a convention centre and casino. . “The plan would put up to 300 slot machines cand 20 gaming tables in Terrace and was sure to “reignite local concerns about the social costs of gambling. “2° -The provincial rejection came just days before sthe Georgilas proposal was to come before coun- - cil for debate. ee whkhkak Provincial job cuts amounting to nearly $5 million in payroll and benefits to the Terrace area’ were announced in what Skeena MLA :. Roger Harris describes as a first in a series of “wholesale changes to the way the government works, “We had to take drastic ac- ‘tion,.We have a-crisis,” said ~, Harris, of a growing provincial deficit. - “. Whea it comes to jobs “cut the equivalent of 89 full time jobs in Terrace over three ~ year with 57 of those to be lost f in 2002, “--Culs are also to take place ‘to various social service apen- -leies atid programs and to -Northwest. Community College. “The road we were going on held no or little future for my children or anyone else’s children,” ‘said Harris. | Roger Harris kakkak The provincial government has rejected a bid _. by Mercer International to buy moribund Skeena Cellulose and instead has received court appro- ‘val to negotiate with another company, NWBC Timber and Pulp Lid. “Unfortunately the deal that ended up coming to the-table was not acceplable to treasury board and. cabinet after extensive consideration,” said provincial enterprise minister Rick Thorpe. “We were not prepared to fetter government foresty policy-and-we were not prpeared to put addilion- al povernment subsidies in.” -NWBC. has until Feb, 8 to reach a deal with ; the: provineial, government on the way. to a Feb. LS. couyr ippearnee. . ¥ ANDREA LEBLANC was one of the protesters who gathered in February outside Roger Har- ris’ office to denounce the scope and depth of provincial government cutbacks. Degrand, 36, has 14-years of experience with the RCMP, and replaces Inspector Doug Wheler “who: is moving ta: Langley on the lower mainland. April The provincial government has raised Medical Services Plan premiums by $392 million to pay for nurse wage and doctor fee increases. And it is adding another .5 per cent to the pro- vincial sales taxes and increasing the tax on to- bacco to raise approximately $400 million to pay for more doctor fee increases. Despile the tax increases, the province is esti- mating ill run a deficit of $4.4 billion on a bud- | get of $25.5 billion. kit ik Two Terrace elementary schools -- Parkside Elementary and Copper Mountain Elementary- will close and the new one.on the bench, Moun- tainview Elementary, won't open as the school district struggles to chope $3.5 million from its budget. Also set to close are two elementary schools in Kitimat and the secondary school in Stewart. The latter’s students will take up space at the elementary school in Stewart. tototokkk& Terrace mayor Jack Talstra says he and coun- cil tried to block the sale of Skeena Cellulose to NWEC Timber and Pulp because they didn’t like February The casino issue has been revived by city coun- cil which now wants to hold a public hearing into the proposal by Terrace Inn owner John Georgi- las. Council has given first reading to a by-law to remove a ban on slot machines inside the city li- mits, despite confusion from the provincial gov- ernment over whether or not it will approve any new gambling ventures. Georgilas has scaled down his initial plan for a destination casino and convention centre to just a casino, He says 150 jobs would be created. kakkkk One union leader has called for a beycott of local businesses that support provincial Liberal government cuts. “We need to stop giving them our money now,” said Don Philpott, a vice president of the Kitimat-Terrace Labour Council. He said local businesses supported Liberal MLA Roger Harris and that pressure on them might persuade him to rethink his support of the provincial government. thkkkk A legislated wage increase for teachers could create a $2 million school district deficit, says the vice chair of the Coast Mountains School District. Peter King gave the warning after the provin- cial government brought in legislation giving teachers a 7.5 per cent wage increase over three years, The province will cover the first year, but expects school teachers’ to come up with the money to pay for the second and third years, “We'll have to cut programs, and, as teachers say, go to larger classrooms,” said King. toh k A B.C. Coroner’s Office official says a public inquest isn’t needed to probe the nearly 20 high- way accident deaths that have taken place so far this winter in the north. Dave Coverdale from Prince George said a coroner’s: mandate is to investigate sudden deaths on an individual basis and not to gather them together. Anything resembling a large-scale public probe would be a decision made at the political level of government, he said. In the meantime, northern MLAs have been fielding calls from people complaining about the state of winter highway maintenance. “I think the biggest concern was that high- ways maintenance had been impacted by cuts in the government and that is absolutely untrue,” said Skeena MLA Roger Harris. toktctiek Skeena Liberal MLA Roger Harris is begin- ning to fight back against protesters angry at pro- vincial government culs. Harris has no plans to attend a Feb. 24 rally at the R.E.M. Lee Theatre sponsored by the Action Coalition of Terrace. And he finds it ironic that teachers in particu- lar are opposing tax breaks to those eaming more than $60,000 a year because teachers themselves earn more than that. He also compared the estimated 89 provincial government jobs to be cut here over the next three year with the more than 800 forestry indu- stry people who are out of work in the area. tololoktok Shames Mountain skiers got more than they bargained for Feb. 15 when a deliberate avalan- ched left them stranded for four and a half hours. The avalanche was triggered by provincial specialists who feared an uncontrolled one would happen because of heavy snow fall and warm weather. More than 280 stranded skiers enjoyed extra tuns, played cards, went tobogganing or watched the. Canada-Sweden men’s Olympic hockey ‘game via satellite. kkkhikk Senior health care managers are being told to “cul 10 per cent from their direct patient care budgets and 20 per cent from non-direct care budgets over the next three years. All told, the Northern Health Authority says it has to cut $45.5 million from its budget of ap- proximately $400 million over the next three _ verted to other facilities. the deal or the pressure put on them to vote for it. The city is a creditor and so could vote on the deal. Had ei- ther Prince Rupert or Port Ed- ward changed their ‘yes’ votes to ‘no’ votes, the deal would have been defeated. The deal s was approved by other creditors April 2. Talstra said he and the council were angered by a last minute change depriving the city and other municipalities of interest and penalties owed them by Skeena Celtulose. “It was disgusting,” said Talstra of the two minules monilors gave the municipalities to talk about the change. “We didn’t feel we should have to vote with a gun to our head. So we en- tered a ‘no’ vote.” , kk teickk years to avaid running a deficit. It also has to do this without any extra reve- nue from the provincial government and to pay for wage increases negotiated by the provincial government. toltotohk The need to cut school district spending has its considering closing a Horseshoe school. “We dan’t-know which school,” school super- intendent Randy Smallbrugge said, adding that all three Horseshoe schools — E.T. Kenney, Park- side and Clarence Michiel - have been looked at, Just two years ago the possibility of closing Parkside Elementary brought cut enough opposi- tion that the idea was shelved. One possible use for a closed-down school is to provide space for the Teen Learning Centre and Lakelse Junior High programs now working out of cramped space downtown. The Terrace | airport is to get a sophisticated ‘March : ~* “qinding syaten' by’ early Winter, says ‘the’ presi- Successful Skeena Cellulose bidder NWBC_ dent of its governing society. Timber and Pulp has axed two of the company’s Frank Hamilton said $1 million is to be spent prime logging contractors. by the not-for-profit navigation aid company Clear Creek Contracting and Jasak Logging called NavCanada. have what are called “evergreen” contracts The idea of installing the ILS is to reduce the which give them security of work to allow for fi- Number of cancelled landings, particularly in the ‘Jack Talstra I EAE E Le nancing of equipment. winter. NWEC boss Dan Veniez has repeatedly said akkhkhkek he needs to lower costs and one way is to get Make that four hard liquor sales outlets in the area. away from guarantees and provide for bidding or — negotiating. A change to the provincial liquor laws means I's all part of stopping what Veniez is calling cold beer and wine stores can now sell hard 1i- the “culture of entitlement” affecting his new quor. The Skeena Hotel, Northern Motor Inn and company. Coast Inn of ihe West beer and wine outlets now Still, Veniez says he wants $15 million from cCatry hard liquor in addition to the provincial liq- the northwest to help pay for the company before quor store. the sale is to officially close the end of April. tok tk School district officials gathered oul back of the old Skeena Junior Secondary School March 6 to turn the sod signalling the start of a replace- ment school. ‘ The long-awaited new Skeena has a price tag of $12 million, will have enough room for jus! over 600 students and is scheduled to open in 2003. , A replacement for old Skeena has been in the works for years and: survived a capital spending freeze brought in by the new provincial govern- ment. kik kkhe Plans to close five elementary schools have run into a snag after the school district disco- vered it did not provide 60 days notice of ils de- cision. Board members are now saying each and every school in the district is up for discussion as possible closure targets in order to save money. The closure plan must now be the subject of public meetings with a final decision to take place in mid-June. toboktoirk RV and camper residents have been told they must leave the Reel Inn Motel RV location as it is not intended to be a permanent park. City officials say by-laws prohibit people from staying in campground locations for more than 150 days a year. Some residents, however, have been living there for years and have put up skirting, porches and joey shacks on theiz accommodation. kkkhik Roman Catholic priest Fa- ther Joseph Lang has left Sacred Heart parish here after a lengthy investigation into alle- gations of sexual assaults by priests in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Lang came from that area's diocese (to northern B.C. in 1988 but still comes under its jurisdiction, He was suspended by the Cleveland diocese pending the results of the investigation. khkkkk Northwest Community College is increasing its tuilion rates by 20 per cent, laying off close to 40 people and is trimming services, including its daycare centre in Terrace, to cope with a provin- toto Transportation ministry officials say there should be no problem in completing a 29km road from Greenville in the Nass Valley to Kincolith on the coast. The route is just over half finished and crews will be back as soon as spring weather permits, says ministry official Dave St. Thomas, “We're right on schedule and on budget,” said Thomas of the work plan. Also to start scon is more work on the Nisga’a Highway leading into the Nass Valley. Three projects are planned this year to cost $10 million. ak kkk The planned closure of the regional correc- tional centre is happening sooner rather than later, A first date of October for closure is being ad- vanced to April as prisoners are already being di- Joseph Lang In the meantime, the jail has been put up for sale. tokkkok The northwest’s population is declining with Terrace itself losing about five per cent from 1996 until 2001, reports Statistics Canada. As of May 2001, 12,109 people lived within the city limits compared to 12,783 in 1996. cial freeze. Roughly the same percentage drop was recor- That freeze means the college would run a ded in Thornhill and immediate surrounding deficit if the spending cuts weren’t made. areas. Al the same time, the college has been told it The biggest drop in the northwest took place must boost the number of students or risk losing in Prince Rupert which lost 2,071 people from more money in the years ahead. 1996 to 2001 — from 16,714 people to 14,643 re- kkkkkek sidents. The unemployment rate in the northwest has hit 14.6 per cent for April, reports Statistics Ca- nada. “It's the highest jobless rate of any region in B.C. and is a full one per cent higher than what it was in March. tek took k Terrace RCMP officers have a new com- manding officer in the form of Inspector Marlin Degrand who comes from a posiing in Red Deer, Alberta.