”

arg

2

In Karissa’s case, her the time they arrived back in . . aclerical error prevented the of surgery. on the side of the face, it’s — she must be sat upright, pres-" tion, se vos Pon
mother fears it may be af- Terrace. visit. The former, said to shrink | actually a vascular system,” . sure must be applied .to the Celina has: been. accused,
*  fecting her hearing and she’s “For. one month solid, - They have tentative ap- the tumor, has been nixed — Celina said. “If she gets cut cut and she should be taken by a stranger of abusing her a:
had a hearing test sched- she had an uncontrolled ear “pointments, based on a pos- so far by doctors, and sur- ‘in the face, it will bleed like - immediately tohospital. .. child. and: has. had people a
_uled for her daughter next infection,” Celina said. sible cancellations, for April gery is an option the couple - atumour.” =. ‘_ Karissa’s. tumour _ has: “point, laugh and whisper”
- month. = The Halls were due to re- 25°or June 8 but in absence . doesn’t wanttotake because -—S»-_ Karrissa’s: grandmother, _. softened up and. their doctor” in her daughter 8 direction, _
Celina Hall. says her turn to the Vancouver clinic ‘of a cancellation, Celina : Sharon Jones, said she wants has said that’ sa. good. sign. - _ Cont d Page A” .

Reluctant

he’s not. a hero ut

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

‘By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN.

PROVINCIAL ; utility’ regulators have rejected aw
proposed Pacific Northern Gas (PNG) rate hike after .
protests. by a number of. parties, including | Skeena :

MLA NDP Robin Austin. '

That now sets the stage for another round of pub-
_lic comment leading to an expected decision on rate
" increases ‘next month. .

‘After closed door meetings With intervenors last ,

month, the parties were not able to agree on how high
PNG should be allowed to raise its delivery rates in
the wake of losing its largest customer Methanex.

. The proposed agreement called for a reduction
-in interim rates from a 22 per cent hike over what

people were. paying | in December 2005 toa 7 ‘per 7

cent increase.

Jan. 1, 2006 pending the outcome of the ongoing de-,

liberations conducted by the B.C. Utilities Commis-
sion (BCUC) which regulates utilities in B.C. :
The process did result in PNG finding a way to

reduce its projected losses due to the Methanex clo- :

sure from $5.2 million to about $4.1 million but it

~~ still wants to make up that shortfall through increas- -
ing delivery rates to residential and small commer-

cial customers. -
“I don’t see how the shortfall, which i is obviously

from. the closuré of Methanex, can be transferred —
~ over to the commercial and residential ratepayers

in the PNG west area, because what that means is
the shareholders continue to get their rate of return

guaranteed and ‘all of the shortfall from Methanex’

gets pushed over to the residents of the northwest,”
Austin said last week.

TERRACE

ee Rotreicestandard.com -

ike decision.

‘to be taking a hit, (shareholders should be taking a’
hit as well.

“They were the ones that were ‘aking the risk. =

-when they: bought the. shares and if Methanex has

left, then they should shoulder the fallout from. it as.

“well,” Austin added. .

- In the meantime customers have received a little °

relief on their gas-bills because the cost of natural

, gas.did not rise nearly as high-as forecast this quar-

' ter. The commodity charge has gone down by 16 per

-cent effective April 1. *
‘PNG makes its money from delivering, gas. It is

not allowed to pass along: any mark, up on the ¢ cost of

the commodity.
* The negotiated settlement process was used in-

“stead of a public hearing that:could be. attended by

concerned customers. - :

7

talle

‘ginning of May to submit further comment ¢ ‘on ‘the

7 situation. before the BCUC will set rates. -

- “People can go on to the BCUC web site cand send a
in-their concerns,”:Austin says. © °° -* ed
“Lots. of people have sent e-mails or. Jetters’ which

bee

-all get posted to the web site so I would encourage as.

many people as possible to express their views.” ~
Austin filed his objections: to: the proposal: and

~ was backed by other intervenors including the-B. C. o

Old Age Pensioners Organization, local resident

' Bob. Childs on behalf of the B.C: Retired:‘Govern:
~ ment Employees Association and the Kitimat Cham- a

ber of Commerce.

Mayor Jack Talstra, - however, said the proposed
reduction to the interim rates coupled with the April
116 per Cent reduction to the cost of § gas was accept-

The 22 per cent ra rate hike has been in effect since

fot’ S tumour

a challenge —

for family —

‘daughter has red marks in

By DUSTIN QUEZADA
and outside of her left ear
TWO WEEKS after the birth and a tumor on her face that

of their. first child; a young
Thornhill couple discovered

“that their’ baby’ had ‘a little »

lump under her left ear. |
As the lump has grown,
so has the energy her parents
are spending to help Karissa,
now 15 months old.
Initially, Karissa’s par-
ents, Celina and Liam Hall,
were told the infant had an
ear infection and then the

growth was misdiagnosed as _

a boil.
“Tt was getting bigger and

_ getting worse and Karissa
said .

was crying at night,”

. Celina.

_ That’s when’ a proper. di-
agnosis was made and the
Halls were suddenly con-
fronted with something that
.would become their every-
day focus: Hemangioma.

Hemangiomas are tumors
made up of dilated blood
vessels that usually appear
shortly: ‘after birth, although
they may be present at birth.

_ Hemangiomas on the face -
can be disfiguring and may. -

interfere with -visual devel-
opment or cause obstruction
of the airway. —

the j jaw bone.

starts halfway up her cheek,
up: behind her ear, and Past
. Karissa. and her parents
drove down to the Vascular:
Anomolies Clinic;. part of

» Vancouver Children’s Hos-

pital, in April 2005 and the
condition was confirmed. :
There,
able to get a better idea of
nagging questions, such as
whether ‘the tumor could

cause deformations to the .
" face and whether it could get .

bigger.
It was a relief in a way for".

‘the couple.

_ “I was ‘so stressed’ out, I:
couldn't: sleep,” said Liam”
of the time.in Vancouver.
Buit the first-time parents -
felt some comfort when told

the tumor should get smaller -.

by the time Karissa is five.

“It will take a long time ——

— "six or-seven years to. go
down,” said Celina, adding
she has seen pictures of kids -

with cleared Hemangiomas °

and others not so fortunate.

While in Vancouver, Ka- —

rissa scratched her ear, ity
bled and became infected by

‘

the Halls were .

“Ie s not fair. First of all, Tthink if anyone s going

x

Now interyenors and the public have uit the be- .

9

of 2006.

Able so-long as those r rates remained i in n effect for all

DUSTIN QUEZAD PHOTO 7

‘in January for a checkup
for doctors. there to see how

Karissa’s tumour is grow-
ing and whether it’s pushing —

against her jaw too much but

says it ‘could be months until
o ‘fer facial paralysis.
But surgery isn’t the only, “

they can return.

What the Halls do know

is that. there are a couple of

treatment options: steroids _

of the ‘possibility Karissa

ket conditions.

Markets Group.

IT’S NOT surprising the Terrace Lumber Company
(TLC) is extending the shutdown of its log yard and
sawmill, says an international lumber market analyst.

The local company told its workers April 12 its three-
week old shutdown is being extended until the end of the
month because of ongoing soft international lumber mar- ©

'“The bottom line is the US market prices have been

weakening, that’s absolutely correct,”
lor, president of Vancouver-based International Wood

says Russell Tay-

Mill, log yard shutdown |
extended to month’s end

By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN, _ marily in lower grade species such as hemlock and bal-

salm have a more difficult time operating in this type of

climate.

International lumber prices have fallen to $330 US per
1,000 board feet now from $400 US this time last. year,

Taylor says.

While he’s predicting those prices will rise come May
and June he expects them to drop back to the level they’re

at today by autumn.

Terrace Lumber Company general manager Wayne
Haw says the company will reevaluate its situation at the
end of the month and let workers know if they’ il-be back

on the job.

could bleed to death or ‘buf-

‘risk for young Karissa;

“With something so‘ big |

to make s sure ‘the public ‘and:
“health -care" workers. here
‘know how‘serious the risks.

are to her granddaughter. -

If she’s cut on the face, .

daughter’ s condition doesn’t
_affect her ‘day-to- day’ living,
“though her. appearance does

~ Meanwhile, Liam says his.

generate unwanted” atten- od

“The markets are soft, we want to run and we’ re look, ae

ing at it every day,” says Haw. a Balancing the scale -

“We're going to offer another update by the 26th. _ .
Between 15 and 20 people are out of work while the BARRIE STEPHEN, an accredited technician with Northern Scale, conducted main-:
log yard and sawmill are closed. | tenance.on the. commercial weigh scale at the four-way stop at the intersection of
The planer, the kiln and the shipping department: con- io Hwys: 37 and.16 April 14°and 12. He used’the hook hanging from his truck, seen
tinue to operate. * at the left of the photo, to lift up the scale so he could work under it and to place a
10,000 pound weight onto the scale to calibrate it. "” MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO

3 ww
ie . \ . rn iy
! . a t

. H

ib

“They are already causing eastern Canadian mills to
curtail a little bit.”
_ That presents a challenge for high cost mills such as
the one here that are being hit with a “triple-whammy”
when it comes to operating, he says. _
Weak international prices, the rising Canadian dollar
and high costs for transportation mean mills that deal pri-

ee ea ee ee le a -