Shortfall could top $500,000 é MORE SPENDING cuts may be in store for the school district as it struggles with a tight budget. Although it trimmed costs beginning last fall, it still may be short by as much as $500,000 if it doesn’ t take action by the time its budget year finishes the end of June, says school district Secrctary-treasurer Barry Piersdorff. Just- exactly how deepsin the hole the school disfrict is won’t be known for awhile until financial reports come in. “My view is that we’re still going to have froblems,”’ said Piersdorff. - The: shortfall is in large part due to a big decrease in student enrollment this year, That’s 4 problem because the district gets paid per stu- dent. But il has to estimate how many students will be enrolled next year in advance, in order o hire or lay off teachers on time. Eagle affliction stumps experts THEY RE DROPPING like flies. Eagles in the Terrace-Kitimat area are falling from the skies, and it has veterinarians and conservation officers stumped. “It’s kind of a mystery,’’ says conservation officer Bob Butcher, ‘‘There doesn’t seem to be anything physically _ ‘wrong with these birds,”’ Four bald eagles in the last 10 days have been seen hap- ping ‘round on the ground, unable to fly. One got hit by a car mar New Remo. The other eagles were found out at the Kitimat dump. . They were all skinny and too weak to fly. Butcher retrieved one last Monday and brought it to veterinarian Tom Sager, who couldn’t find anything wrong with the “bird. *‘Itwas the biggest eagle I’ve ever laid my bands on. It was huge,’’ he says. ‘But it was also a litile starved.” Sager says a healthy eagle that size should have weighed about 13 pounds, but this bird weighed in at just nine _ pounds. It was an immature bird, not yet having developed the species’ characteristic white head. Sager wasn’t sure if it was male or female, but it certainly was hungry, The bird quickly devoured a pound of moose meat the veterinarian brought for it. Sager says that winter can be a hard time of year for eagles because there aren’t any fish running, He also speculates that this winter could have been especially dif- ficult since some eagles may have become dependent on road and’ train-killed moose to sustain them during cold months. * So far this wiater, the number of moose hit by vehicles is down considerably because low snowfall levels have al- lowed moose to stay in the bush, away from traffic. But Butcher says he thinks there should have been Before the start of this school year the district suspected enrollment might be lower, and didn’t fill cight teaching positions, But it couldn't foresee the impact the Skeena Cellulose crisis had on the economy. A cash infusion of $425,000 helped inake. up for losing 107 students who moved away be- cause of Skeena Cellulose. Piersdorff isn’t sure if the district will be abic to make further cuts to balance the budget by the end of the school year. He said the educa- tion ministry might be willing to let that debt tide for a year, to give the district more time to come up with alternatives. The education ministry and the BC School Trustees Associalion (BCSTA) recently came up with some budget slashing ideas, gathered schools eye yet more cuts © from school districts across the province, These include joint or shared purchase of. supplies, technology and fuel and ‘shared administrative and legal services, Piersdorff says the schoal district already has cost-culling plans in place. It buys paper jointly with Northwest Community College and the City of Terrace, It also shares special education personnel with other districts. Some new sugestions include baving school districts buy schoal buses schcol as a package, buying software to generate school time tables, report cards ~ and library. records, buying province-wide payroll and administrative soft- ware packages, buying items such as chairs, desks and conipuler hardware in bulk and using teleconferencing lo conduct school board nicet- ings. enough food al the dump, unless competition with other birds wat too intense for the jmmatyre eagles., At leait two of the eagles have been sent to the Wildlife Rehab Stelter in Prince Rupert.” i AT JUST nine pounds, this eagle is way below his ideai weight, He also can’t fly { CLEAR THE AIR Digital Satellite Pays You To Watch 2 . Reduce air f poilution Sei from resident wood smoke andailo emissions with tips from the Associalion. ERITISH COLUMBIA 888-512-8171 (24. HR) LUNG ASSOCIATION * Fox 34009, Station D Vancouver, B.C, V6) 4M2 (aivenising spoce donated by thi pablicciion) Northern Savings has an open and shut case when it comes to convenience, Our branch is open when others are shut. Check out our hours and you'll find they’ re the best in town: MONDAY - THURSDAY: FRIDAY: SATURDAY: 9:30 = 5:30 9:30 - 6:00 9:30 - 3:00 "We'll also be open extended hours during the RRSP season as follows: SATURDAY, FEB 28: MONDAY, MARCH 2: RRSP EXTENDED HOURS: 9:30 » 5:00 9:30 - 6:00 Local... friendly .. a ‘Terrace Community Branch e , member-owned . Some words say it all. Case closed, NORTHERN SAVINGS 4702 Luzelle Avenue .@ 638-7822 and the same problem is affecting other eagles in the area. Experts say they ‘don't know why the eagle population has been grounded. News In Brief Nearly 100,000 fly PASSENGER TRAFFIC at the Terrace airport held steady in 1997 compared to 1996, says manager Daryl Laurent. ‘‘We were at 97,200 and that’s almost identi- cal to the year before,” he said. Laurent’s pleased given the tenous economic activity of the region in 1997 but he says the airport will be lucky if it reaches the 97,000 figure this ycar, ' ‘Something would have to happen over the next three or four months to put a charge into the economy here,”’ said Laurent, A bright spot Jast year was the introduction by AirBC of an afternoon flight as a test and then the decision to keep the run on into the fall and winter, Laurent added. Job boss named ERIC VAN SOEREN has been appointed interim job protection commissioner for B.C. He'll be temporarily handling the job of his former boss, Doug Kerley, who died of cancer in December. A permanent commissioner will be named after a search led by a recruiting agency. Employment and investment minister Dan Miller said van Soeren has been managing director of the job pro- tection commission under Kerley since 1994 and was a key player in the restructurings of Evans Forest Pro- ducts and Skeena Cellulose. Stolen goods sought TERRACE RCMP are looking for a pile of stolen goods after several break and enters last week. Sometime between Jan, 24 and 27, thieves broke into a residence on the 3300 block of Eby St. through the side door. The suspects made aff with a TV, VCR and an assortment of jewelry. Sometime between Jan. 23 and Jan. 26, burglars also broke into a shop on the 4600 block of Queensway, also entering through a side door. The thieves stole numerous ilems, including power saws, drills, a battery charger and assorted tools, And between Jan. 27.and 29, tow people broke into a garage on Marion Ave. in Jackpine Flats. Stolen were a blue Makita belt sander, a black Skill saw and a yellow DeWalt reciprocating saw. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Ter- race RCMP or Crimestoppers at 635-TIPS, Happy 100th THE PROVINCIAL government is halding a birthday party for the 100th anniversary of the opening of the parliament buildings in Victoria. The Feb. 10 affair will consist of a ceremonial one- day sitting of the legislature. The buildings were designed by Francis Rattenbury who was also the architect of the Empress Hotel. Locals will be able to waich the events live Feb. 10 jfrom 10. a.m, to noon on the legislative channel of their table system. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 4, 1998 - A3 owerns FHENEFITS ee 3 DA YS ONLY Thursday, February 5 thru Saturday, February 7 The price you see on the tag is what you pay... We pay the taxes on your behalf!