Recognition A rundown of the livestock and exhibit hall winners at this year’s fall faiN\COMMUNITY B1 Super seniors _ First timers prove they’ve got the skills to contibute to Senior Games medal haul\SPORTS B9 Everything goes All kinds of of vehicles ® and heavy equipment is . on the block at a huge B auction\NEWS A141. $1.00 plus 7¢ GST ($1.10 plus B¢ GST outside of the Terrace area) La i: THE CITY OF i . TERRACE | ANNIVERSARY 2003 VOLS16 NO. 24 ~ www.terracestandard.com: Wednesday, September 17, 2003. 7 ee nl _— _—— _——ane ee ee 5 ==) ee Eee _—————— 7 Bussing chaos heralds new year By JENNIFER LANG SCHOOL TRUSTEES took the extra- ordinary step of apologizing last week after cuts to schaol bus routes coupled with longer school days created havoc district-wide. Parents whe packed the Sept. 10 board meeting delivered a litany of complaints stemming from cost-cutting changes to school bus rautes that went into effect as students returned to cias- ses. One Usk parent described how her young daughter’s bus picks her up at 7:30 a.m., only to return her home as late as 4:50 p.m., a situation she parti- ally blamed on the longer school day required for the four-day week. “The one extra hour is costing us three hours. ] have a six-year-old who’s putting in a 40-hour-week in four days,” Cathy Green said, adding the situation amounts to child abuse. A five-year-old Kitimat boy was lost two weeks ago when he was mis- placed during a school bus transfer on his way home, his father Mike Col- lingwood said. Up to 30-Hazelton Secondary stu- ’. dents were left without a ride home, while another school bus went about its rounds half empty in another part of town, according to.a group of parents. at the meeting. “This board. recognizes that we have a mess here,” Terrace trustee Diana Penner said. “We have screwed up.” . Penner said district and bus con- tractor officials acted daily, adding busses where necessary and making improvements. “We asked for efficiencies,” she said, referring to the board's‘ decision to streamline bus routes: to save money. “Our projected enroJment didn’t turn out exactly as planned,” she added, “That made for major ad- justments.” . Hazelton trustee Jessica Mikolayc- zyk said as. a.parent herself she would be livid in-the same position. “T’m speechless,” she said. “I really _ hope we can get this dealt with quick- "Jy because it’s unfair to the kids and it’s unfair to the parents.” ~"Thornhill parents delivered charges of overcrowding on school busses, an allegation board members and mainte- nance superintendent Robert Gilfillan took seriously, promising to follow up each report. “T can guarantee you, no bus driver ‘students were found to be would move the bus,” Gil- fillan said they're supposed to stay put and radio the office for an overload bus. But Gilfillan said he was only aware of one in- cident involving an over- loaded school bus, It ac- curred on a bus leaving Ki- tamaat Village. The extra Northwest Community Col- lege students, The district has tried taking steps to crack down on non-eligible school bus riders by in- troducing a new $500 monthly fee to help recoup costs and gel a better handle on actual requirements. Gilfillan said so far just one such rider has paid, prompting the board to Diana Penner approve a motion to send a letter reminding private school students who want to ride a Coast Mountains bus to pay up by Oct. 1. The district also plans to in- troduce student rider ID passes, Meanwhile, passen- a ger lists for each route will § be drawn up. @ Old Remo parent Marjorie A Taron said Thornhill Pri- mary and Elementary stu- dents wait outside for up to 40 minutes in a line-up for the bus. On Friday she said the situation had improved, but she remained skeptical the complaints would have lasting ef- fect, “This is a start. We'll week what next week will bring.” Boil alert may end this week THORNHILL BENCH res- idents are waiting to re- --{° ceive word on whether a ~ boil water advisory will be lifted this week. Customers of the water system operated by Wood- land Water Utilities have been boiling their water since Sept. 1, when a pow- er problem caused pumps supplying wells in Thorn- hill to fail. The Kitimat Stikine re- gional district was able to - get its pump back up and running shortly after the power went out. The Thornhill Volunteer Fire Department trucked water between the two systems, delivering water into the Wocdlands Utili- ty system. The company’s pump was fixed Sept. 6, and the system was flushed and two days later. The Northern Health Authority told the compa- ny on Sept. 12 the boil wa- ter advisory would have to remain in effect, following the discovery of coliform bacteria in some water samples. . The company planned to take the necessary steps over the weekend and hoped the advisory would be lifted by today. Residents on the system are being informed through - hand-delivered notices. The company supplies wa- ter to about 550 homes. Residents on Wood- lands Water Utilities sys- tem were under a boil wa- ter advisory for several weeks last summer after the pump at the deep source well failed. “1 Good pickin’ DEIDRE PRICE of the Bear Aware program picks som Ave, home, The program has volunteers who will come pick fruit for people who aren't able to get to it themselves, Picking riperied fruit before it falls and rots is just one way to prevent hungry bears from look- ing for food in residential areas. People should also keep garbage locked away until collection morning, avoid keeping pet food outdoors and always keep a clean barbecue. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO wey e bright red, ripe apples last week near a Graham Kermode entries coming in ENTRIES KEEP arriving for the “Unofficial 2010 Winter Olympics Emblem Contest” host- ed by The Terrace Standard, Delivered by hand, by conventional mail or by email, entries are following two of the em- blem contest guidelines - each must feature the famous northwest Kermode bear and the five Olympic rings. It's all part of the growing campaign to place the white bear front and foremost in the provincial public eye to have it incorporated in the design for the eventual official 2010 Win- ter Olympics emblem. “While there will no doubt be an official campaign sanctioned by the 2010 Winter, Olympics organizing committee, there is. no- time like the present to promote the Kermode as the emblem,” said The Terrace Standard /pack,” he said. Harris said he spett last week phoning . publisher Rod Link. “Having it become the emblem and then being displayed on flags, T-shirts and letter- head and the like will have a huge impact on the northwest,” he said. , Skeena Liberal MLA Roger Harris, who is backing the unofficial contest, says he's pleased with the way the Kermode has been adopted by the local 2010 benefits commiltee and by others from around the northwest. “T think the benefits team is doing a great job by going to the UBCM [Union of B.C. Mu- nicipalities} and promoting the Kermode there. I doubt if there is anybody else in B.C. as ad- vanced as us on this. We're at the head of the northwest mayors and that all have thrown their support behind the emblem campaign. “Iv’s not just Terrace. It’s a northwest thing,” he said. “Prince Rupert is talking about becoming the gateway for the Kermode at one end and Smithers is doing the same at the other,” said Harris. The contest has a closing date of Oct. 8 and the rules are simple. In addition to displaying the Kermode bear and the five Olympic rings, each must feature in a text format the words “Vancouver 2010." Each entry must be in co- lour and be designed to be used on a multitude of products such as ball hats and flags. Owner- ship and creative rights rest with each.em- blem’s designer. To view entries, please visit The Terrace Standard’s website at www.terra:. cestandard.com and follow the links, Council eyes olan for partial stat shopping By JEFF NAGEL AFTER a major reversal last week city council is now poised to bend to business demands and let ali stores open on statutory holidays in the summer, - That would open up Canada Day, B.C. Day and La- bour Day for unrestricted business. Council first voted Sept. 8 to maintain the existing ban on shopping on all holidays when provincial rules expire at the end of this month. The law vacuum.means - Terrace must pass its own bylaw to restrict holiday shop- ping or allow it to ga unregulated. Last week’s vote came after a delegation of Safeway employees pressed council to think of the rights of work- ers and their families. ; “Statutory holidays are the only days of the year we're guaranteed to have off with our families,” said Safeway cashier Rhonda Lanterman. Councillors David Hull, Lynne Christiansen, Rich McDaniel and Stew Christensen all came down on the side of maintaining the current ban, while Marylin Da- vies and Carole Leclerc backed summer-only holiday shopping, But when councillors met again Friday to approve the draft bylaw, a large chamber of commerce delegation pressed them to reconsider. Store employee reps were. absent that day. , “We're not asking for Christmas or Easter,” chamber president Sheila Love told council Friday. “We're ask- - ing for the three in the summer when the visitors are. here.” She and others said holiday shopping is crucial to po- sition Terrace as a regional centre and means a few ex- tra critical days of revenue for struggling businesses in the peak tourism months, ; : “Tt’s not a social issue,” Love said. “It’s not a religi- ous issue. It's an economic issue.” “Look around you. It’s the business community right now that's sustaining Terrace.” Some councillors initially resisted. “We have to think of families and what kind of community we want,” Lynne Christiansen said. Although openings are voluntary, she predicted busi- nesses will be forced to open on stats in order to com- pete and workers will be forced to work. “I know the chamber won't be happy with me for this, but I don't think everything has to come down to the dollar.” ‘ But within 15 minutes she had signed on to the plan. McDaniel, who said he consulted several local busi- nesses owners, was the first to join Leclere and Davies in backing summer-only stat shopping. Cont'd Page A2 ‘ VANCOUVER 2010 O® THE KERMODE comes to life in this Winter Olympic. 2010 emblem dasign submitted by local artist Darcey Zloklikovits. Visit The Terrace Standard website at - Www. terracestandard.com for a full viewing of the submissions received up until now. i i