Good show - Cal’s boys: basketball team puts in solid effort at AAA — provincials\SPORTS B8 Road rap Local truckers and. maintenance contractors open lines of _ communication\NNEWS A12 Who’s 100? Friends and family turn out for a really important — ga birthday party . a \COMMUNITY B5 $1.00 pus 7¢ GST ($1.10 plus 5¢ GST outside of the Terrace area) TARY THE CHT¥ OF "5 CE. ERRACE. CTAMARD IF = dnesday, March 19, 2003 v.terracestandard.com: Oil, gas potential north of here MINUTE OIL particles found in rock samples north of here could lead to bountiful reserves, provincial oil and gas experts hope. The discovery last year is enough to convince. the provincial government and the federal Geological Survey of Canada to put as much as $4 million over the next four years to continue the search, says an official from the provincial energy. ministry. “It’s pretty exciting,” said Mark Hayes of the work going on the area north of here to the Yukon. border that’s called the Bowser Basin by oil and gas experts. “Of all the areas that have the po- tential for conventional oil and gas, | like the Bowser the best,” he said. “IT think the resource potential is there,” The area’s potential has largely been ignored. since the late 1960s when two test wells came up dry. But interest has been renewed by work done by the provincial energy ministry and by the Geological Survey . of Canada. ‘It’s been helped by new revelations concerning what experts. call matura- tion ~ the combination over millions of years of heat and pressure on hydro- carbon material which can create pools of cil and gas. Too much heat and pressure can evaporate oil and gas and too little @ In the meantime, pro- spects of offshore drilling face a number of chal- lenges. See Page A8 won't create it in the first place. That was the general conclusion of | the Bowser. Basin’s conditions for. = years until recently, said Hayes. “It looks very favourable,” he said of the new conclusions regarding ma- turation. “We think we can now an- swer some of the questions the [oil and gas] industry has.” cial-federal study of the Bowser, pro- vincial officials are off to Calgary next month to give a presentation to the oil and gas industry. Al the same lime, a Calgary com- pany is looking for money to back sev- eral planned studies of the Bowser. “There are a lot of people starting lo ask questions about the Bowser,” he said. Hayes cautioned that decisions to test drill are still some time away from: being made.. “You never know for sure. until you actually drill a well,” said Hayes. Answering questions about the Bowser comes at a time when the en- ergy industry is starting to look at the potential away from the traditional fields of northeastern B.C, Recent price increases for both oil and natural gas have added to the interest. Hayes said there is a possible po- tential for up to 2.5 billion barrels of oil and up to 8.1 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Bowser, Those kinds of numbers: are still . outweighed: by the northeast but are “edging close to: the reputed reserves under the north coast seabed. : Hayes said the northeast remains the area of choice for oil and gas pro- ducers. In terms of drilling rig presence on active fields, Hayes said the north- east still lags behind Alberta and Al- beria lags behind the United States. at A DOWNTOWN water main which was on the city’s list of things to repair burst last week interrupting traffic and cutting off the area’s water supply for about eight hours. The pipe broke around 9:30 a.m. March 11 spewing water up through the asphalt at the intersection of Emerson St. and Lazelle Ave.. Crews had hoped to upgrade the water main at that intersection last year but. the work wasn't done due ta economic réstraints, says city roads foreman Henry Craveiro. BEFORE CITY crews dealt with last week's snowfall on streets, main. It happened on the corner of Emerson and Lazelle they dealt with another kind of moisture — water from a burst March 11, resulting in an outage until repairs could be made. Burst main dampens downtown The work could cost anywhere between $3,000-$5,000, he said. Crews ripped up a six foot by three foot - section of asphalt in an effort to pet to the pipe located six feet bencath the ground, The broken section was replaced by a plastic pipe. Water to surrounding businesses was shut off at 12:45 p.m. March 12 until the work was completed later that night. Craveiro said crews waited until nearly | In addition to the combined provin- p.m. so a nearby restaurant wouldn't miss the noon-hour lunch rush. North and southbound traffic on Emerson St. at Lakelse Ave. was blocked while crews worked, West and eastbound vehicles were limited to. one-way, flagger-contvolled traffic, The ruptured pipe is the third burst water line sitice the beginning of the year. A water main on Haugland Avec. was replaced and a service line at Moittor St. had to be repaired both in the last two months, Native ‘magnet’ sch By JENNIFER LANG IN A BID to improve the educational perfor- mance of young aboriginal students, parents are being asked if they want to send their children toa separate school where the curri- culum would have a native-value base, Interest in so-called. “magnet” ~ schools, where a.core curriculum is taught but where each facility. also provides a. specialty, ‘is growing across the province. In Terrace, the idea of a separate “kinder- garten to Grade.7 school with a native focus began last fall.through.a committee of parents and through the school district’s own First. Na- tions Education Centre, Just 39 per cent of aboriginal students. in School District 82 earned their high school di- ploma last year, compared with a 70. per. cent district average. The problem is that the district starts losing aboriginal students once they hit Grade 8, “About 65 per cent are not achieving,” says Elmer Moody of the First Nations Educa- tion Centre said. “The issues. and statistics have been thrown back and forth for the past 10 years. We thought it was time. to do something.:”’ The centre has sent home nearly 2, 000 gure veys with local primary. and. “elementary: stu- dents and will only: pursue: the idea vif there enough support. Oa EE If the school is approved, attendance won't be limited to aboriginal students. School trustees have already given their blessing to the idea of magnet school, but only if they don’t cost any more money. Leona Wells, a parent on the working com- mittee, supports the idea. “When I was. grow- -ing up, [ was taught to be ashamed of who 1 . was ~ not directly, but indirectly,” she said. She tries ‘to teach her two daughters they : “don't need to feel that way. “That’s what I'm hoping to get out of this school. Kids have enough pressure as it ts no matter what their background.” She, urged parents. to fill out the survey — _ whether. they're for the proposal or against it, “Otherwise we can't gauge whether in S wan- ted or not.” - The group’s proposal is to follow the pro- vincial curriculum, with 35. per cent aboriginal content in the school. material. That means the school. would offer math, reading, science and other standard.courses ~ but the curriculum’ would reflect. aboriginal culture and language, making school more -re- evant to their lives, For. example, math questions might ask stu-"- dents.to figure out the volume of a: bent wood ool eyed Moody said course materials are already available, so the proponents wouldn't have to develop new curriculum. “We wouldn't be reinventing the wheel,” he said, pointing to districts on Vancouver Island and elsewhere that have led the way. ; Three committee members will evaluate the : surveys,-and will present their findings to the school board. Moody said 115 surveys “have been returned to the centre, located at Clarence, Michiel Ele- mentary. -..Moody said some. parents are apprehensive - about the idea, Others have clearly been left : with the wrong impression. “There are parents who assume. that all children are required. to attend,” ‘he said. Others wonder if all: students will be re- quired to-take an aboriginal language course. “A-cullurally responsive school. is just an opportunity for choice — if we have enough en- _ tolment, Students enrol by. choice. Students. “will not be told where to attend.” * : Even if enough students want to sign up, the proposal faces several major obstacles. . The group wants. to: use Mountainview Ble: : mentary,-the brand-new, facility on: the. bench: ~ Which was finished last year but hever Opened.” box or "determine the atea of the design Dii-a.: because of. spending. euts. Multiplex now multisite plan in bid to get more money | By JEFF NAGEL CITY COUNCIL is splitting its $8 million’ niultiptex plan” into up to three separate projects geared to pry more grant money out of Ottawa and Victoria. Instead of one. combined project, mayor Jack Talstra said, the city will now pursue a’second sheet of ice by the arena, a conference centre downtown and possibly an arts complex connected to the R.E.M. Lee Theatre. Separate projecis mean that the city can pursue more government grants to cut the burden on local taxpayers ‘ and contributors, Talstra said. He said the city will use an already approved $2 .mil- lion federal-provincial grant to pay for close. to two-thirds of a scaled-down $3.3 million second sheet of ice project belween the existing arena and swimming pool. The remaining money is to be raised from local and ~ corporate donations, or else covered through short term , borrowing by, the cily. “They don’t care what we do with that $2 million ex- cept that we have to. match it,” Talstra said. “So we. have to put in at least $1 million.” The arena banquet room and existing recreation of- fices would turn into a youth/multipurpose centre, he . said, and there would also be a climbing wall. ~~ Talstra said a multiplex cornmittee will. reform and be . piven up to one year to raise $400,000 to $700, 000 for: the second sheel of ice project. He said the city can use its short-term borrowing pow- ers to tlap-up to $600, 000 without.going to.long-term ‘bor- rowing, which requires a referendum. “T's a doable project, so because of that we're going to do it,” he said, adding construction would begin next spring or sooner if donations flow faster. “When the money is in the bank we'll start,” he said. . The city will also call for proposals from private de- velopers to construct a conference centre downtown, Talstra said. “We're probably jooking at a 10, 000 square foot space or room with other roams,” he said. Possible locations include land owned by the Best Western Terrace Inn, the former Co-op property-or.most- ly vacant land between Greig and Lakelse Avenue west of Atwood St. The idea is a private developer - possibly. all n existing hotelier ~ would step forward with a plan to invest most- ly their own money in the project. _ The city’s main role would be to drum up further pov- ernment grants to help subsidize the conference centre. “We'll put it out to proposals and see what happens,” ~Talstra said. He said: he’s optimistic that the project ‘could. land various forms of grants — from programs to ‘aid forest de- pendent communities to Olympic legacy grants. A report ta the city also suggests the old plan-of the conference centre as part of a multiplex at the existing arena was flawed. : Administrator Ron Poole says in the report thai con- ference altendees don’t want to share a facility with hockey fans or kids in bathing suits. He also-notes the arena is atop the:hitl, while & more central downtown location is preferable. Talstra said the city would also pursue a fine arts a _centre, although he admits that’s probably more distant. He sait-it could be added to the R.E.M. Lee Theatre “ifthe school district was prepared to relinquisty control of the’ theatre. . One partner could be. Terrace. Little Theatre, which ~Talstra noted has been raising: money for a new building for years. That money was originally to.be spent on land donated by Glen ‘Saunders,: wiileh is now expected to be- come. home 10, Wal: “Mart here. . fue.