| Housewarm er house i in Africa i is part __ of the marriage deal as. one local finds out \COMMUNITY B1 Passing grade ~ Daybreak Farms not breaking environmental ’ regulations, inspection shows\NEWS A7 Team captains Riverkings welcome three new coaches to their bench \SPORTS B4 . Y iy $1.00 PLUS 6¢ GST ($1.10 plus 7¢ GST «outside of the Terrace area). By SARAH. A. ZIMMERMAN to borrow up to $4.7 million in order to build the _proposed second’ sheet of ice project .and make. improvements to the existing arena and swimming pool. ‘ent bylaws allowing it to borrow up to.$3.5 million toward the sportsplex build after estimating costs on: the proposed project could add up to $8 million. . ‘It also wants to borrow $1.2 million to pay for'up- ' Tecovery units in the swimming pool. The city is splitting the work into two different TERRACE city council now says it may need, Council was expected Monday. to pass two differ-. grades such as a rink slab replacement in the existing - "arena and installation of dehumidification and heat. - grades to the existing structures, ‘but the heat recov- - ery aspect of the pool upgrade coincides with the timing of installing the system in the new building. _ City officials are still’ waiting for the final esti- mate for the’ second: sheet of ice; based’ on tender, bids, from its design consultant Wayne: Aussem of North American Ice Development. . Some of those tenders were extended by seven days to allow’ more local companiés to bid on the project and the final cost estimate won't be released until Sept. 18. Mayor Jack Talstra, who has long said he did not want to spend taxpayer money on the project, says. getting the borrowing bylaw in place is important because it shows contractors, the provincial govern- ment and other interested parties that the money is y borrows millions for contingency funds and parking,. paving and-p management costs) in half. Talstra says asking for the loan gives the city some ° wiggle room in terms of ° in higher than the much hoped for price tg of $6. 5. "8 million. That figtire was derived by dividing | the previous high bid of $13 million (including $2.54 million in project the final price tag. “It’s. not my intention to usé all, that money,” Talstra says. “We really don’t know the cost t of this project until'it’s up and done.” The $8 million figure comes from the city’ s own ‘estimates and Talstra says the provisions take into account expenses that may not be incurred, such as the $750,000 contingency fund. _ “I'd be very surprised if we spend a.whole lot of ~ , cluded in the total project cost estimate. : Those include $260,000 to pave the area where. the ice clearing machine will dump snow and he’ S." even looking; in to the idea of seeing if the: city can: somehow get ‘a break on the provincial sales tax as- sociated with the'build through the provincial gov- * ernment. And fundraising efforts my start again. Though he does not like the idea of borrowing: money, Talstra concedes it may have to be done to : make the-project proceed. “I never said no taxpayers’ dollars, 1 said not ae ; substantial amount of tax payers’ money,” * he said,’ And he’s: not prepared to: hold a referendum on 1 borrowing the money, arguing ‘electors have given their mandate to council already. Cont'd Page. ANZ ae - THE FIRST patient’ are going ‘through Mills . Memorial Hospital’s new CT machine ‘this medical care in the province... The Toshiba diagnostic imaging device is just the second of its kind to be installed in B.C. couver) and comes at a cost of $1.65 million. It replaces a 1993 model which was up to “I date for its time but which has since been made radiologist. “It’s like going from a Mini-Minor to a Mer- _ cedes Benz,” sai " race. “The difference is like night and day. with computer technology to create cross sec- tional or 3-D i images of your body. -phases — the second sheet of ice build and the up- week, placing the facility at the forefront of . (the other is at a private medical facility in Van- antiquated by huge strides in imaging technol. ogy, says Dr. Ernest Behm, the region’s only © said Behm who is based in Ter- - In technical terms, CT stands for computed . tomography, and combines the use of x-rays. - RADIOLOGIST DR. Ernest Beham peers out from then new CT scan machine now taking its first patients at Mills Memorial Hospital. At’, ~ a total contract price of $1.65 million, the Toshiba scanner is state of the art and Terrace i is the smallest centre | in B.C. to have one. | Mills welcomes new CT. scanner. The old CT device was a one-slice model but the new one is 64 slices, meaning it can provide a-faster and more accurate image over a larger portion of your body at a time. | “With the old one, it could take 20 minutes to do achest. With the new one, it takes 15 sec- ‘onds,” said Behm. . . . That advancement means there is far less discomfort for patients and far less chance. of having to repeat to get the right kind of image. Behm expects the wait list for CT service, which was at approximately four weeks, to be reduced greatly because it will take far less time to produce images than ever before. Money for the purchase came in the form of $1 million from the Northern Health Authority — and $650,000 from the Dr. R.E. M. Lee Hospital Foundation. The foundation still needs to raise nearly $70,000 to hit its goal and hopes -the arrival - available to make the project a go even if it comes quickly as possible, § says foundation chair Kev- : placement CT scanner on its list for Terrace but it wasn’t until the foundation said it would vanced. of the new device will help it close the gap as. in Kennedy. _- ; The Northern Health Authority had a .re- help raise money that the purchase plan was ad- “It’s here now and there’s no turning back. We’re certainly not going to send it away,’ "said Kennedy. ‘He called the new device a dramatic im- . provement for health care in the region. ==""We’re right up there with everybody else,” said Kennedy. “This is huge. It has just so many more and different kinds of applications. People historically who may have had to go away, for instance those who need cardiology services, can now stay here.” oy Cont’d Page A2 More | bears killed here than last year By MARGARET SPEIRS TERRACE and area residents have reported more black bear sightings and more bears have been de- ' stroyed this year compared to last. ' Local conservation officers say the total num- ber of bears killed last year was 36, but so far this year 57 have been destroyed and the most active October — has yet to end. And 670 complaints have been lodged i in the . district so far this year, already surpassing the time of the year for bear activity — September and . number of complaints — 659 - in 2008. Conservation officer Blair Thin said people in the Terrace district, which includes Prince Rupert, Kitimat and the Nass Valley, reported 29 sight- "ings of black bears in August 2005 and logged 214 complaints in September 2005. This August, conservation officers received 325 black bear complaints and as of Sept. 7, had — already received 46 complaints in September. “It’s steadily increasing,” Thin said last week. “As we talk, I’m sure people are reporting more black bear complaints.” Statistically speaking, he said more bears have been destroyed this year than last year, but not in record breaking numbers. “It’s up there definitely but historically speak- ing, it’s not the worst year or anything,” he said. that money,” Talstra said, adding other savings can v The bear population is cyclical and increases - and decreases every few years depending on fac- tors such as the weather, the amount of food in the . wild and the number of bear cubs that survive. “The big thing is the weather and food avail- ability,” he said. “Food is directly related to what the weather is like.” wth. Hall into one with mostly. . house the French Immersion . ties,” she added. “We want >to ensure we’re getting a ‘if adopted by the board “in School shifts “By bustin QUEZADA™ es |SCHOOL TRUSTEES are looking at pla which could see. the closure of E.T. Kenney Primary School: ‘and the placing “° . Of all the city’s primary’ and elementary French immersion: . students at Kiti K’Shan Primary. E.T. Kenney would effectively be merged with next-door Clarence Michiel Elementary while Cassie Hall Elementary, which now contains French immersion classes, would be be- come.an all-English language school. » ; _ School board chair Lorrie Gowen says: re-arranging Kiti - K’Shan and Cassie Hall is not a new idea. a “We have done consultations (two) times: before,” said Lorrie Gowen, adding French immersion parents have strongly urged for the move. Gowen says she’s not sure whether the board has got an accurate reflection of the majority of affected parents, espe- _ cially the non-French immersion ones. The chair said last week she is not leaning one way or another but has reservations about separating all-English language students from those learning in French. “There’s a lot of controversy,” Gowen said. “We'd be separating different classes of people into different schools. 7 “| don’t want to havea have and have not scenario.’ The vast majority of French i immersion n students are. non- - native, so changing the mix. at Kiti K’Shan and Cassie Hall - would effectively turn ” the former ‘into a mostly- ; non-native school and Cassie - native students, she said. | Kiti K’Shan, pegged’ to school, would essentially: be. ‘a school of choice or a mag- . net school, said Gowen. “Certainly, we want. to . hear from all the communi- good reflection of the wants *” of the people. in | the. (two) schools.” Both» recommendations, "Lorrie Gowen : October, would hinge on student mimbers in all four schools on Dec.. 30, 2006.: ° _ If the combined student populations of E.T. Kenney and. ‘Clarence Michiel on that-date are deemed to be able to fit © : “properly and appropriately” into one building, the former - will be put-on notice for possible closure in January. _' “There is too much space and not enough kids in this school district,” . enrolment numbers i in mind. “The focus is.on a good educational environment and can’ it be better in one school?” she said. The idea has been.on the board’s agenda for three years, added Gowen, whose own two children were. students. at - Copper Mountain Elementary when it closed in in 2002. They had to move to Thornhill Elementary. Goweni said that prompted her to seek a trustee position and, now in her second term as chair, she better understands that school closures * ‘sometimes have to be done.” Another factor is costly upgrades needed at E. T. Kenney on Loen Ave. Chuck Morris,-the district’s facilities manager, ~ : said major heating and ventilation system upgrades costing - about $1 million are needed there. . “If the school is going to close, v we’ re not willing to spend that kind of money,’ ’ Morris said. The school is also built over a creek bed that: results j in ‘high moisture in the building’s crawl space, something Mor- ris said would need to be addressed in the long term.. Typically, the community engagement process lasts 45- 60 days, said Gowen, with at least one meeting ateach of the - four affected schools. Cont'd Page A12 said superintendent Rob Greenwood.at the © «. first school board meeting Sept. 6 in-Terrace. , Gowen adds the board's focus will be on the quality of education while keeping the district’s facilities and. dropping a t EDGR, FRR SO TA ONAL &: "7 Seiichi PIR CIHR BEC RS A SIE AS Poe EUAN wie ny Tt Lem see cy EME VAT SE YTS NP NONSE IT EAAOTS B PORTO at