Persistent phoner - gets busy signal “TERRACE + — A Califomia: ’ inmate shouldn’t be bothering “local residents by ‘phone }. atiymore, says a B.C. Tel offi- ; Glade J Devices have been placed on - his ‘prison’s ‘phone system pre- venting. anybody from making ‘spoken. to. and -he has agreed ‘that he was the oné making the - calls,’ said Mears. “calls to: Terrace and area ex- - changes}, said Kathy Mears:: wot ‘The: man: had béen: making, collect: calls and.when: people — “accepted; posed’ as. a: ‘Cos: mopolitan reporter. “He said he was doing a sur. vey “and began asking ques- tions, Then he began asking persohal questions,’ ° said ‘several months ago but it took some time to co-ordinate mat- : glals inthe United States. thing. He ‘began with 638- Mears, B.C. Tel security officials became aware of the problem. ters with phone company offi- .“"The.-.inmate:.. has. been f ‘Apparently it was a random’ 0000, then to 638-0001 and 80 on,”’ she said, Mears added that prisoners in the United States have very liberal telephone privileges. Housing project looms TERRACE — The Skeena Valley Ca-operative Housing soclely is one step closer to build- ing. an affordable. ‘housing devel- opment. |: Society ‘spokesman Keith Goodwin said last week the B.C, Housing Management’ Commis- - sion (BCHMC) has given condi- . tional approval for the proposed -. 24-unit townhouse project. . The society. and BCHMC have ~ slill to reach a cost agreement. . Goodwin said Terra. Housing: - Consultants, the company which has been assisting the society, estimated the cost at $2.2 million. Based on the maximum unit- price formula it uses, BCHMC is suggesting approximately $2 mil- lion should do the job. Goodwin said that financial gap will be the subject of meetings between the parties, expected ‘to take place in the near future.” The society will try to perstiade BCHMC that, despite tecent. up- ward revisions, the construction cosis it is basing iis calculations on are still too low for Terrace. It may also have to look at ways it can change the design, of the project to reduce costs, he added. Goodwin, however, was’ confi- ‘dént agreement could be reached. “They (BCHMC) really want this project to go ahead,” "he ex plained. . Assuming: the nioney ‘question is settled, he ‘said final approval should come. through in Decem- ber for a spring 1994 start. BCHMC pays the construction “costs with the society taking over . 7 ‘hot do i: THES! YOUNGSTERS: dsdkded on a corn meal instead of Shaun, Becky, Korena and’ Lance.-in the front, left 1 right; ; g¢at Justin Penrier’s fifth birthday party recently. That’. are Crystal-Gene, birthday boy Justin, Katlin, Rachael, Lew. ‘taste onbice is emphasized by standing in front of a corn field. | aaa _and Myles. PHOTO COURTESY. DIANA PENNER - Jat thie E Brouwer farm. Sack row, ‘left to right, are Kimberly, — TERRACE —' Mills Memorial Hospital is closing - 17 beds, making it the second time in as many years the fa- cility has trimmed capacity be- cause of shrinking budgets. The reduction, to 50 beds from 67, follows the closure of 22 beds last spring, It means a: bed: " reduction amount of:40. per: cent in 18. months. *. | As ‘drastic. .as . that sounds, Terrace Regional. Health ‘Care Society chief. executive officer Michael. Leisinger hopes the. closures can be done without disrupting the hospital’ Ss level of service.” |: - AT like to look at it not as if ' ot - tea sl I | | | im ms . : ' we should do this, but how and when we are going to do this,’” he said last week. Mills ‘ officials, area physicians and others meet ~ Sept. 8..to go over plans on” ‘what beds will be closed. “ Leisinger said there will be greater efforts at day surgery. and other areas to: reduce ad- missions. ° “The goal is to serve the same number of patients we do 10w: ‘but to deliver the ser- vice. slightly differently, "’ he. said. -Leisinger said the challenge also lies in keeping a level of service sufficient to maintain the number and variety of specially medical services available in the community. He estimated that 50 people now stay at the hospital every day... . . The 67 beds at the hospital cover all facets of medical care with the exception of beds in the emergency and day — surgery area. =. Ciosing 17 beds will bring ~ the number: down closer to what the’ provincial _govern- ° _Inent wants, said Leisinger. “We- know. there won’t ‘be any more money next year and if we don’t change, there won’t be any more money for 95-96,” he said. This is already the second emorial closing beds > for the : second year in a Tow “It’s the maximum a hospi: year. in a row Mills hasn’t . teceived a budget increase other than amounts to cover wage equity contract provi- sions. Leisinger termed the new closures a ‘statistical effort’’ to convince the provincial government ‘Mills is doing its part to cut costs. There will be cost savings in staffing and overhead, he said. The 50 bed level in reality translates into having no more than 42 people staying at the hospital. ‘That's an occupancy rate of 80 per cent which is the maxi-. ~ mum the provincial govern- ment wants to see. the mortgage on the property its management, The development will be built on a 1.2 acre site al the corncr of Evergreen and Haugland, on the city’s south side. That’s the site of the animal shelter which will soon . be “moving to its new premises near Rotary Park. The parcel is city-owned land, but council has agreed to enter into a long term lease, the city receiving a payment equivalent to 75 per cent of the land’s. market valus.up front. Ithas also started the process of rezoning the land from ils present light industrial designation to multi-family residential. That rezoning was required if the sociely’s bid was fo succecd and isin line with the. new~and recently adopted Official Com- munity Plan. The sociely also had to carry out a survey to prove there was a ‘need for affordable housing in the community. Goodwin said the proposed de- velopment: would include one to four-bedroom units intended for one and iwo- -parent, jow income families. Four of the units will . be designed so they can be adapted to accommodate those with spe- cial needs. “Those qualifying to live there — fall within the program’s max- imum income guidelines — will have their. rent subsidized so that none pay more than 30 per cent of their income. Some making lots of money TERRACE — There are at least 100 people making $100,000 a year or more in the ‘Terrace arca, indicate figures from Statistics Canada. It's about one per cent of all those who’ filed tax retums in 1991 in the area and that matches’ the provincial average. In total, 11,750 people filed lax returns in 1991, The information from the tax returns is given to Statistics Can- ada by Revenue Canada but any means of indentification is first removed, ‘The national average is also one _per cent. Westmount, a Montreal, topped the national standings with 18 per cent of its tesidents making - nore | than $100,000 a year. 0" “ Tops in B.C. was the Howe Sound-Cypress .Creek area of West Vancouver with 11 per cent. All told, nearly 27,000 people in B.C. made more than $100,000 in 1991. There were eight areas in Ontario among the top ten wage earning areas. In Terrace, 62 per cent of in- come earners made more than " $15,000 a year in 1991. - ~ Forty-three per cent made more than $25,000 a year, 29 per cent . made more. than-$35,000 a year and two per cent. made more than tal can have and run efficient- ly. Otherwise there may be- problems, ‘We don’t want to mix males and females, for in- stance,’’ said Leisinger. The number 42:is moré than the 35 provincial officials ac- tually indicate is needed for the area. But it seems the province is willing to expand its official - level by 20 per cent to take . into account particular condi- tions facing those who live in isolated or northern areas, said © Leisinger. “Other places already have it ‘Ontario. and. Nova Scotia,” he said. + Neighbourhood. opposition has. put. ~ another proposed Howe Creek —_. development on hold. NEWS ¢ AZ | suburb of | $75,000 a year. The provincial average was 62 per cent making more than $15,000, 40 per, cent making -more than $25,000, 25. per cent making more than $35,000, 10 per cent making more than $50,000 and three per cent making more than $75,000. kkkkk | In related financial information, the median income for Terrace in 1991 was $21,100. Median is defined as 50 per cent of the people making more than that figure and 50 per cent making less, When broken down by sex, the median income for women was $14,300 while for men it was: $31,900. The provincial median income ‘was $20,009 while nationally it was $19,300, Provincial female median in- come was $15,200 and $27,100 formen. Nationally, the female median income was $14,800 and $25,300 for men. - The Prince Rupert median in- come was $21,700. It. - was $14,399 for women and $31, 200 for men. Kitimat had the highest median income in the northwest ‘at. $31,100. The figure for women - was 5 $13,400 and $48,900 for No job. loss yet ~ Hospital may be cutting beds bul “there won’t be any immediate lay Offs. ‘oThat’s. because it has enough money to keep the employees il “has now until next spring, ’ ‘Mills estimates it'll need to cul approximately $500,000 for. the _ next fiscal year beginning April 1 or the equivalent of 11 full time jobs, says Michael Leisinger of ' the Terrace Regional Health Care Socicty. : The onc piece of good news is that employees are covered by 4 new agreement with the provin- clal government which provides for carly ‘retirement, job. sharing, retraining and opportunities ‘for public service employment else: where, “phe labour > edjustnient strategy is in. place, Employces “have also recelved questionnaires asking them to state, thelr prefer- ences for early retirement, job sharing. Each facility will have these opportunities to downsize,” Cont’d Page A2 TERRACE — Mills Mematial ;