Should Gordo go?
The province is split on
whether its drunk driving
premier can or should
survive\NEWS A5

‘It figures.

of events in

Two local figure skaters
take part in a unique series

Kamloops\SPORTS B4

m Plaster masters
@ Why students at ~~
Caledonia are putting on
;new faces these ~ |
| days\COMMUNITY B1_

$1.00 PLus 7 GST
($1.10 plus 8¢ GST
outside of the Terrace area)

“VOL 15 NO. 4:

By JEFF NAGEL .
A REFERENDUM to end the fluoridation of
drinking water may be coming to Terrace.

City council voted Jan. 13 to explore the idea
after several councillors catled fluoride an unne-
cessary poison in the drinking water.

Councillor Rich McDaniel said recent re-

search indicates the health hazards of fluorida- ‘

tion outweigh the benefits. “Terrace is one of
only nine communities in the province still add-
ing fluoride to its drinking water,” he said.

McDaniel also noted fluoridation now costs
the cily up to $30,000 per year.

Councillor David Hull is backing the idea.

“It’s highly toxic,” Hult said. “It’s a poisonous
caustic chemical in our water. And it’s unreguila-
ted mass dosing of the people.”

He also said the dose is seff-controlled in at
the more tap water you drink, the more fluoride
you take in,

The chemical has long been added. to water

systems to combat tooth decay. It’s considered
particularly effective in preventing tooth decay
in children and among low-income people.

Fluoride may be preat for teeth, critics say,
but there’s no good reason to ingest it, bathe in it
or water lawns with it.

About five per cent of B.C. residents have
fluoridated water, a number that has declined

gm Dentists back water fluoridation,
page A2

over the years. Alberta, in contrast, has a 75 per
cent fluoridation rate, and 40 per cent of Cana-
dians have fluoride in their water. :

Water fluoridation is backed by national orga-

‘nizations of dentists and doctors, and by the

World Health Organization.
The provincial health planning ministry also
concludes fluoridation is safe.

Fluoride debate looming

“The safety of communily water fluoridation
has been studied more thoroughly than any other
public health measure during the past 50 years,”
says a fact sheet on the government web site.

It says hundreds of studies have shown fluori-
dation at proper levels has no harmful effects,
and that there is no evidence of a link to cancer
or problems with other parts of the body.

McDaniel says there’s already some naturally
occuring fluoride in Terrace’s untreated water
- about 0.1 to 0.2 parts per million.

Most fluoridation systems adjust the level up
io 0.8 to 1.0 parts per million.

The other eight fluoridating communities in
B.C. are Prince Rupert, Burns Lake, Prince
George, Williams Lake, Fort St. John, Golden,
Sparwood and Cranbrook,

Mackenzie was the latest to end fluoridation
after a referendum in November.

City administration are to report back to coun-
cil after researching the issue.

FLUORIDE has been added to Terrace’s
tap water for years, but some city council-

i Slinky

FIGURE SKATERS Shelby Stach, 16, and Kelsey Minhinnick,
193, are spinning, jumping and gliding on tha ice at this year's
Pacific Skate competition in Kamloops taking place this week.
They're competing in a series of events called the triathalon. It

skaters

features a skills competition, a solo program ‘and an f interpre-
tive skate. They're among 10 Terrace Figure Skating Club.
members attending the provincial level event. For more details
turn to page B4. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

Old Terrace plan advances

By JEFF NAGEL
A NEW downtown tourism zone
along with regulations to create
an “Old Terrace” concept is ad-
vancing after an overwhelming
shaw of support for the plan.

The Jan. 13 public hearing saw
more than 30 merchants and busi-
ness and tourism leaders back the
plan to create a. tourist-friendly
stretch of Kalum St.

The centrepiece of the concept
is the relocation of the historic
George Little house from Hall St.
to the foot of Kalum, where it will
be tumed into a railway station.

Cruise ship passengers who
take rail excursion tours here from
Prince Rupert would walk through
the station and into the historic
section of Terrace with heritage
lighting and landscaping.

The zone restricts the two and

a half blocks of Kalum street to .

certain types of shops so a bouti-
que-style look evolves over time.
Bxisting businesses don’t have to
change, but new construction
must have a pre-1950 look.

One lone critic took aim at the
concept.

Lloyd Hull, owner of the former

Terrace’ Co-op properly, said the
requirement that the eastern 10

metres of his property fronting
Kalum St. be developed as small
shops - rather than part of a big
box store ~ is an unfair restriction.

“We did not buy the largest
available piece of property in Ter-
race to break it into a bunch of
little pieces or to open up a bunch
of seasonal trinket shops,” Hull
said.

He said the downtown tourism
zone is a “stupid idea” that won't
work in a city that endures incle-
ment weather nine to 12 months
of the year. ©

- And he ridiculed the notion of
a downtown revitalization based
on a pedestrian-friendly street.

“Who in their right mind is
going to bounce from trinket shop
to trinket shop on Kalum St. in
minus-30 degree weather? Nobo-
dy. These businesses simply can-
not and will not survive.”

“{ think you’ve all lost your ©

senses,” Hull told council. “What
kind of developer is going to in-
vest in Terrace if this is the best
council can come up with?” _
But development services dir-

e¢tor David Trawin said Hull can
still develop-up: to. 50,000 square...

feet of big-box retail space on the

_ rest of the property.

Others at the hearing were sd-
lidly behind the vision.

Don Diego’s owner Annalee
Davis predicted the new zone will
work, encouraging new develop-
ment on the west side of Kalum.

“This will put up an incentive

Councillor David Hull didn’t
vote, declaring a conflict of inter-
est because he’s working on be-
haif of a property owner in the
area.

Heritage lighting and specia-
lized landscaping provided by. the

for property owners to
help fill in those
empty spaces,” she
said.

“What this town]
needs is a hook,”
added TEDA's Brian
Baker, noting towns
with worse weather in [-
New Zealand have |:
built thriving tourism §.
industries.

“We need some-
thing downtown to
focus on,” added
Sidewalkers owner Lori Merrill.
“It’s pride for us and a showcase
for all our visitors.”

City councillors said tourism
may never fival forestry, but it’s
still important to pursue.

“It’s a rare opportunity we have
to move on another front,” Mary-
lin Davies said.

o“E- have a great’ sense that

people want to proceed with this,”

added councillor Carol Leclerc.

Lloyd Hull

city is part of the plan
for the tourism zone,
The downtown ‘tourism
zone is to become part
of the city’s Official
Community Plan.
Trawin agreed to some
concessions before the
plan went to a vote.
Some properties, in-
cluding Sears, Ail Sea-
‘sons Sports and Elan
Travel, were exempted
from rules. that ban
stores larger than 5,000
square feet.

And the definition of a “tourist
specialty store” for the zone was
changed to one that has merely a
component — not be completely
dedicated - to “historical, cultural
and tourist atmospheres.”

Trawin also indicated that he
would have, if possible, sought to

‘ incorpotate the entire ‘Co-op. fitop- 5
erty ~ fot just’ the easternmost

strip - into the plan.

lors say it may now be time to stop.

Terrace is
now centre
Tor surgery

By. ROD LINK

- MILLS MEMORIAL Hos-

pital has? ‘boosted ‘the num-
ber of surgeries : fis doing |
and in the process is quiet-

dy establishing itself as the
~ northwest’s regional medi-
; cal services centre,

The idea is to increase
access to surgical services
so northwesterners don’t
have to travel outside the
region, says Cholly Bo-
land, the Northern Health
Authority’s head of health
care for Terrace, Kitimat
and Stewart.

Terrace has always
been home base for the
most specialists in the re-
gion but the increase in
surgeries reflects the
health authority's goal to
establish regional medical
centres across the north.

“Certainly we've al-
ways said we want..to in-
crease access,”

money. from savings in
non-patient spending to
cover additional costs,
“We're always, dealing
with a: demand that’ s
greater than the resources
we have,” he said, adding

_ he’s preparing financial in-

formation he wants physi-
cians and hospital staff to
examine.

“We're managing it,
but it’s not being done
easy,” said Boland of ba-
lancing: the surgical in-
creasé against higher costs
of providing the service.

He said efforts are un-
derway to do moré surger-
ies within scheduled
operating room time allot-
ments.

“Wf it’s a matter of 5: sim-
ply more supplies, that
may not be that much of a
cost factor, but if you get
into staffing costs and

overtime, that

Boland said last
week,

For the. April
to October per-
jod of 2002,
Mills booked
1,910 surgeries,
a 17.per cent in-
crease over the
1,637 surgeries
for the same
period of 2001.

For the same
time periods,
admissions rose
to 1,069 patients from 904,
an 18 per cent increase.

Some of the admission
increase flows from the
boost in the number of sur-
geries, said Boland.

The overalt plan is that
as the authority cuts costs
in non-patient care areas,
the money is then diverted
to direct patient care, he
continued.

“That’s not to say we
don’t face

Cholly Boland

can be costly,”
he said.
At the very
least, he said,
| the surgical ‘in-
‘| crease should
help dispel no-
tions that health
care is being re-
duced in the
I northwest. ~

Dr. Geoff Apple-

ton, who repre-

sents the north

on the board of
the B.C, Medical Assacia--
tion, welcomed the in-
crease in surgeries.

“Tt’s the unofficial sen-
timent we're getting from
Prince George [NHA
headquarters],” he said of
making Mills a regional
surgical centre.

“We've always had the
highest number of special-
ists here anyway, so this is”
a natural consequence.”

challenges,”
added = Bo-

"“We’ve always

‘One factor in
the surgery
increase is.

land, refer-
ting to the
need to cut
overall

had the highest
number of special-
ists here anyway,
so this Is a natural

the creation
by Dr. Tom
Nagy, the re-
gion’s only.

spending be-

causé of a

-eonsequence,”

. opthalmolo-
gist, of a se-

three-year
budget freeze imposed by

. Victoria.

Boland was reluctant to

‘gay if the lnerease in -sur-
~ geties ig ‘being immediate-

ly matched | “with more

parate eye
surgery space away from‘
the standard . perating

"rooms, said poeta _