1G Full of heart “Students at a local school aim to honour a classmate :who drowned last year Fieroes Rescuers who saved victims of a mud slide last year are now recommended for bravery awards\NEWS A5 Lucky shot? Check out whether the ¢ .River Kings ‘got lucky’ ‘their first playoff game \SPORTS B4 — ‘\COMMUNITY Bi : $1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST {$1.10 plus 8c GST ‘ outside of the Terrace area) yo By JENNIFER LANG SAY GOODBYE ‘to ‘the high schoo! smoke pit. the refuge of rebellious. ciga- rette-puffing teens since the daw n “of cool. 7 ‘The Coast Mountains: School District is poised to enact a sweeping new policy that will establish no-smoking zones ‘around schools. 3 . Those would extend from a minimum “of 50. metres around school properties lo ‘as far as several blocks away, meaning’ scenes of teens huddled on public side- walks as they puff away within sight of their school will become a thing of the ‘past. * The proposed policy would also see ‘a blanket ban on tobacco use that would ‘extend to all school district” Property’ -buildings, and vehicles. Earlier this month, school trustees ‘gave first reading to three draft policies that will have life. a direct impact on student Along with the smoking ban. students. can also expect random locker searches conducted with drug-sniffing dogs.’ a process outlined in the district’ s draft policy on illegal drugs. Currently, “drug searches of students or their lockers must be justified on rea- sonable grounds. » " Under the proposed illegal drug pol- icy. school lockers would be subject to random*searches at any time. . . ‘Drug-sniffing dogs could also be | brought in’ to. conduct hallway sweeps. and locker searches ‘The district also wants to ban cell-. ~ phones and other digital devices from locker rooms, washrooms and other to the school board on March 1}. www.terracestandard.com e pits’ to be eliminated. vade the privacy of other students, Modern camera-phones — cellphones capable of taking photos - can now: be slipped underneath a neighbouring bath- - room stall in order to © embarrass another, ‘student. M “This is the’ age we live in.” board chair Lorrie Gowen said. ° “You have text messaging.” she add- ed. “When one class is sitting writing an, exam, you can send a text message toa friend coming in the next block, Students violating the: policy would have their phones or pagers confiscated, and would only get them back=after a meeting with their parents and school officials. The three draft policies Will) return after circulating among employ ec, ‘school and : parent groups. Under the proposed — policy on tobacco use. no- student. employee. or visi- tor would be able to smoke | on school district property. or in vehicles: or build--- 2 ings. “Students caught violat- ing the policy would be subject to a range of un- | specified and progressive disciplinary measures, and anyone-else could Pay a, $50 fine. » a - Recreational ° munity: user -¢roups 5 could com- | see their school, use privi-” leges revoked, : High school principals ~ Lorrie Gowen __. may be able Lo. ‘seek a variance | on the 50: mietre. minimum for: smoke “free Zones. but only in ex- traordinary circumstances such as student § safety and after extensive consulta- tions. the proposed policy says. The district is also cre- ating a new ad hoe com- mittee.on health. “The idea is we've got | a Serious problem with - obesity with our young “people. we ous problem With drugs and we've got a serious problem w ith smoking." Terrace trustee ‘Hal Sted- ham said. Policies on ¥ andal- . ism and healthy schools are also i in the Ww orks. ve got a seri- places where they could be used to in- vot JUDITH APPLER issues an invitation to enjoy a piece of cake Feb..11 as the Seven Sisters Residential Adult Mental Health Facility was of-” ficially opened. Appler. will be a life skills worker and train residents how to cook. Looking on is Lisa Schmidt, the Northern Health Authority official who helped steer the 20-bed, $2.5 million project through to completion. First residents are expected in early. March. Long-awaited mental health home opens doors for public viewing | NEARLY 15 years of promises, planning*and- preparation ended last week when the Seven . Sisters Residential Adult Mental Health Facility opened its doors for a public viewing Feb. 11. The 20-room, $2:5 million facility, located on the grounds of Mills Memorial Hospital, comes with communal kitchens, common areas and an exercise area. . Its first residents are due March 3 with a grad- ual ramping up of capacity to take place by the end of April. Construction of the facility is part of a prov- ince-wide effort to do away with the large, out- dated and inadequate Riverview institution in the lower mainland. Seven Sisters is meant as a ‘home for people with mental illnesses until they are ready to live on their own, says Lisa Schmidt, a Northern Health Authority official who coordinated the project. “It’s like any other house in the community,” said Schmidt. “People will live here: and go out for vocational services, therapy, elc.: ‘like any oth- er community member.” * “And when people can live on their own, they’ il have those same types of supports they al- . ways had.” _ There’s no time limit on how long people can Slay and some will more than likely live there for years, said Schmidt. It’s one of the reasons there was so much al- tention paid to the atmosphere and layout of the vesidence. ~ The bedrooms are easily 12 feet by 12 feet, have large windows, high ceilings: and double beds. _ “The rooms:are large just because this will be home,” said Schmidt. “Other places might just have single beds.” She said the residence continues the expansion of psychiatric services in the area. Birchwood Place in Thornhill, another resi- dence run by the health authority, will over time become’a place for people who only need to stay in its eight beds for a short period. “People going there are those who can leave the hospital and aren’t acutely ill but who do need support before they can go home,” said Schmidt. Longer term residents already in Birchwood ‘won't have to move to Seven Sisters unless they wish to, she added. There'll be 30 employees at Seven Sisters, the vast. majority of whom were found locally and who have already been working in some aspect of mental health, Schmidt said. _ They range from a registered nurse, to licensed practical nurses, to therapists and to people who will teach various life skills. : Schmidt said it was hard to find licensed prac- tical nurses who had the specific kind of skills needed for Seven Sisters but that 90 per cent of the staff members have been hired and are under- going training. The Northern Health Authority partnered with Northwest Community College to provide an in- troductory. course on’ mental health. It was man- -datory for those who applied for Seven Sisters positions. Schmidt noted that she and. other Northern Health officials worked with a region-wide com- mittee of more than 35 people to build the best facility possible. Officials at the opening emphasized how im- portant it was to provide mental health services closer to home instead of having people sent to Riverview on the lower mainland. “People can be near their family; and friends,” said Northern Health Authority board member Ron Bartlett. Suzanne Johnston, the Northern Health Au- thority’s top official in the northwest and a Cont'd Page A2 City adopts. new pave Blan’ ‘By JEFF NAGEL THE CITY will abandon its old system of making homeoiva- _ ers pay a big chunk of the cost of repaving their street. >, Local Improvement Projects had been successful when the ' local economy was strong, but Property. owners: ‘have voted them down nearly every time in ‘recent years: “Basically the- system just doesn’t work any. more,” * said councillor David Hull. He said the mentality of. taxpayers has changed. “They're saying, ‘Hey, | paid for it once, I shouldn’ t have to pay. for it again and again.’ The decision came after public works director Herb Dus- ‘dal warned streets will continue to deteriorate’ unless the city switches to a different system. Under a Local Improvement Project (LIP), if enough peo-” ple on a residential street voted in favour, they'd all pay 40 per cent of the cost of repaving. The city picked up the rest. And the city had already boosted its share dramatically over the years — from a 20 per cent subsidy to 40 per cent then" to 60 per cent in 2000. A block of Soucie Ave. was s paved after that, ‘but there. have been no others. “It works when things are going great,” ‘said councillor Marylin Davies. “But we had to look for another way.” She said property owners on streets that are - presently gravel, such as Skeena St. where councillor Rich McDaniel — lives, will still have to pay for pavement through an ‘LIP, But all streets that have been paved.at some time in ‘the past will now be repaved according to a schedule. that will be _ determined by city public works officials. “Hopefully people will be happy with it,” she said. “We're: ~ going to be able to do it as need be and as we can af! ford it and it will be better for everybody.” * When city council has contemplated ciding LIPs in the past, it. was always warned a major tax increase would be required to geta replacement system on track. Council is being asked to approve road reconstruction projects worth close to $f million this year. - “Personally, I'd like to see (hat double,” chief administra- live officer Ron Poole said. Waiting and continuing to rely on LIPs Was not an option, he said, adding the city will end up with * “terrible infrastruc- ture” if it doesn’t change strategics. Roads such as Loen Ave. and Munro St. are getting Steadi- ly worse, Poole said, driving up future costs. - “Those roads are starting to deteriorate faster each year we don't do it,” he said. @ Friend or foe? | MIKEY LAIRD, left, plays Long John Silver, the pi- rate who tricks young Jim Hawkins (Farron Lansd- owne, right) in Treasure Island. See B1 for details.