. Re-elect who?

- Find out why two federal.
‘election candidates say:

they’re seeking re-election

| \NEWS AS

Retrospective

| \COMMUNITY AS

Check out the second half of a
look at the people and events
that made headlines last year.

Looking back _
Take a peek at the best
‘sports stories of the _
second half of 2005
\SPORTS A111

$1.00 PLUS:7¢ GST
_ ($1.10 plus 8¢ GST
‘outside of the Terrace e area)

Aa \
n

_ without any problems. .

"The three buildings are ‘currently owned by! S and.
'D: Properties, ; a company run 1 by local businessman

‘Mo Takhar.

“We've had the property. on the market for oyer
“a year,” says Evans, \ who along: with, Gordie Olson .

‘Plex —
roof |
“Beaign
won't
change

“THE CITY: fas “opted” to’
. Stick with the original. design °

. of the roof for the-proposed J
_ second sheet of ice project. +

City officials had looked |
at making modifications that ~

could potentially save about 7
$300,000 but have decided ©

-against using that design be-

. cause it may not have with- —
stood the type of weather

Terrace experiences.

. “It was.our determination

‘that it. was not ‘suitable for

this type of. climate.. sheavy |
snow and:lots of.rain and al- -
ternate freezing and thawing’
- says city director of,
>, leisure. services Ross 1 Miln-
__thorp. .

cycles,”

The city had built i in the..
cost savings to its existing -’

"estimated cost of $10.255 -

million, .but that’ estimate

“also built in a provision for —

an estimated 10 per cent rise

in price based: on inflation:

rates..

_ > The estimate is being used —
as a ballpark figure by the

city in hopes of anticipating -

how much the project might
cost, but there is no’guaran-
tee bids will come in at the
. price. The city ‘is putting the -
“project out for tender in the
new year. and is: postponing
the release of the documents
_ available ‘for viewing by. in-
. terested parties from Jan. 4.
until Jan. 12.
“The reason for that is.

-. the architect consulting firm ,
wanted a little more time to ,

‘put the package together af-
'-ter the Christmas rush,” ex- _
plains Milnthorp.

‘The closing date for bids .

“remains Feb. 9, 2006.

. That’s when the city will ~
have a firm number upon |

which it can start decided
. how to pay for the project..
The city has $5.505 mil-
_lion available to it in short’
term borrowing, but that.
may not be enough to cover,
the difference between how
much money it has saved up -
. » $4,552 million and what’.

‘it will need. If bids come in. °

_at or more than the existing
cost estimates the city will :

likely have to hold a referen-.

’ dam in order to borrow the
money needed to complete
the project. . Skyrocketing
building costs have plagued
municipal capital projects
throughout the province
over the past two years. .

a ; By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN. re
* THE : APARTMENTS ° known . ds ‘the’ ‘Keystones .
oe Sarre’ soon. to: have anew owner. and are expected to. ;
° “undergo renovations later. this year. « ae .
“A group of investors based ‘out of North. Van-
~° “couver has made an unconditional offer on the three:
» apartment’ buildings now called the ‘Woodlands,
“Apartments located at 4603 Scott Ave, ‘says local :
"> realtor John: Evans.. oe
* Though the sale price can’t be released until the
deal closes Jan. 20, he did say the offer is close‘to”
’ ‘the asking price of $990,000 and i is expected, to close

closed, Evans says,

_per'apartment unit —

ee ”

7] Tree spree

. " Tepresent Ss and D Properties.”
‘He says’his agency received hundreds of inqui-"- "
ries from people eyeing the apartment complex.
~-Earlier this year.a deal was
nearly reached with an out of
‘town group of buyers, but they ~
pulled their offer before: the. sale

- The ‘level’ of interest in the
complex can be attributed to the.
seller’ s low price tag. bee

On: average: apartment ‘build. §
ings aré listed for at least $40,000:
‘that would. .

have put the 66-unit complex at
~ $2.64 million, but ‘the-listed ask-
- ing price was much lower — $990,000.

That. works ‘out: ‘to > roughly, $15, 000 ‘Per apart

_ment. we

The ae price is in n part because of the state'of the
_ buildings which need numerous repairs.such as new-

2

use local people,”
. aaa " Sheila Love

“One this I can say is
that they’ve assured me
~ they want to.deal .with
local contractors... and
assured me they want to.

.- paint, carpets and ‘fixtures, but
' also because it has a very high
‘vacancy rate of 85 per cent, ex-
plains Evans. Te
The group of investors have”
already made a substantial down
. payment on the: property, Evans
says, and they are expected to do,
_ Some major renovations.
-“T’m not sure-how soon they
are going to start on it, it sounds —

" KELLY GEORGELIN, a maintenance worker for. the Coast Mountains School District tends to a broken ce-
' dar tree north of Skeena Junior Secondary School. Four trees were damaged by vandals over the Christ-
” mas holidays including one that was: pulled out and taken away. Further damage was done to‘the grass
-near the trees — an unknown 'vehicle’s tire tracks were left behind. Several schools have been the target of
vandalism in recent months including, broken windows, destroyed trees and paintball darnage. a

ane
ft.

° buildings into nice units,” says realtor Sheila Love, °
_who i is representing the e buyers.

~ like they. are going. to start right
away, they want'to turn the three

. enue in 2006.

year.

"MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO ;

HIGH SCHOOL completion rates .in 2004-05

for aboriginal students saw a modest i increase -

in BC. but local numbers jumped 14 per cent.
While the provincial average rose from 47
to 48 per cent, 55 per cent of aboriginal students
in the Coast Mountains district completed high
school up from 41 per cent the year before.
The last six years of data show a fluctuation
between a low completion rate of 39 per cent

in 2001-02 to last year’s high and the district’s

director of instruction says that’s natural. -
“It’s not a simple picture — we have differ-
ent kids each year,” said Christine Foster. “But

' we know we’re making gains with kids each

year.”
And those gains have helped to ‘make a

change in the district’s accountability contract,
which Foster is in charge of drawing up. She.

- says in past years there have been achievement
’ goals specific to aboriginal students.

“This year, there isn’t a. separate account-

ability contract (for aboriginal students),” she °
said, “Schools are Teally targeting. all at-risk

students.”
Foster says the planning process has

’ changed. In the past, schools submitted year-
end.reports. Now a growth plan is drawn up
among a group comprising a school adminis-

More aboriginal students graduating ~

to. teach language and reading,. ‘and: t ca
change: that varies between schools. ‘Ani exam- a
ple of structural change. is connections rooms °: ...
in high schools that let students needing’ addi-- - »
‘tional support a space and a block of time.. =~
Foster says support outside the school ; Sys-
tem.— programs like Success by ‘Six,. Children ee
First and Ready, Set, Learn - also ‘focus on 3”
learning and that collaboration has improved..

tfator, ‘a teacher representative and. three par-

ents from the school planning council.

The instruction director says this group
oversees the, growth plan. and gathers data to
better focus on goals. Students are tested with

the Foundation Skills Assesment in Grades 4 ~

and 7 and data is collected through the year.

_ “When we set a goal, for instance aboriginal:

success at School X, we can-take data for cer-
tain groups and make cumulative assessments
that show growth over time,” Foster said. |

If needed, interventions can then be put in
place, she adds. Those interventions include

“new teacher strategies, like adoptirig new ways

“One ¢ thing 1 can say, is that they ve assured me _
“they want to deal with. local contractors and assured ;
me. they. want to use local people.”

Both Evans and Love are ‘confident the sale should
complete on schedule. ; -
_ -“They feel. the north is’ going to have: a good fu-
: ture and they want to get:in on the ground floor. and: .

they want to do future business. in Terrace,” Love. a

_ says of the unnamed investors. _ F

‘Built in 1964, at one point the units were consid- a
ered the premier. apartment: complex i in Terrace and°
even had an‘outdoor swimming pool between two of -
the buildings. They are three-storey. walk-ups. with

trally located near schools and ‘the downtown’ Core: ees
The apartments are also strata titled. which means an che

owners have the option of. selling the apartments ir ine

dividually if they SO’ ‘choose. ne. Stee

“I DESPITE Pacific Northern Gas assurances last y
‘» contrary, its residential and commercial customers
- hit because of the Methanex plant closure: ee
"When the methanol company announced i in n Septemberit its ae
"plans to cease production i in Kitimat, PNG noted Methanex :~
‘accounted for nine per cent of the utility's s revenues $12. 2 cos
million per year. © poe
; But under the contract between the two - —-i was, not, due: :

:. toexpire.u until October 31, 2009 — Methanex had to pay. PNG ,
ie 923.3 million to get out of the agreement early. :
~ ““That buyout, combined’ with‘ savings ‘that would: result :
‘from no longer having to supply Methanex, ‘ ‘should serve to.
‘cushion the residential and commercial.customers from | any...

increases through to October.2009;” PNG chief. financial of- mS
~ ficer Elizabeth Fletcher said at the time: : anaes #
However, its latest rate application. to the: B. C. Uslities !
Commission paints a different picture. ~ no oa
‘Pointing to a shortfall of more than: $5: million between oe
* projected revenues and expenditures this year, PNG said i it is."
“primarily due to the permanent ¢ closure. of ‘Methanex.”., a a
; _ Because of the six-month provision notice in the.c ntract. : ve

- and PNG used that gas to run its various compressors:
Now PNG will have to buy all the gas, it uses ‘for that pur
-- pose which means: it will have to. find an’ extra ‘half.

dollars‘a year... ceree
>... As forthe $23.3 ‘million buy, out: sum, it tums out about $8.
_, "million of that is going to be gobbled up by taxes.’ :
PNG proposes putting the remaining: $15: million: ‘in an
“interest bearing account, It is this principal —- “and “interest.
. ‘earned — that-will be used to ease the bite on other consum-: oud
m . ers over the period from March, 1 this year until. October 31, ae

The BC: Utilities: ‘Commission has given ‘PNG “tt ‘the: ‘60.
: ahead to. charge the. new rates effective last Sunday until it’
"comes down with a final decision on the ‘utility’ s figures. a

“By MALCOLM. BAXTER

For 2006, PNG proposes ising $5.6 6 million of that mon
ey in that way. —
There were’ other pluses and minuses compared: to, ast...
year, but the bottom line was ‘the: closure of. the’ methanol

_ plant meant PNG has to find. an extra ‘$5. 16 million i in reve

- And that means the delivery charge, on n residential bills is”
going up 28.1-per cent to $7. 395/gigajoule. For'small com-
"- mercial the new charge is $7.304/GJ, a:23.7 per cent hike. * ©
The only.good n news is the cost.for the. gas: ‘itself i is ‘only’
"going. up fractionally for residential ‘and actually: slightly’:
' falling for small commercial —- up $0. 006/GI: ‘and’ down:

$0.059/G]J respectively... °°...
-- PNG ‘Says. overall that translates into an increase eof $142 cote
ayear for the residential customer that currently pays $1, 4221
- a year:and $508 for the: business that pow: ‘pays: ‘$5, 807. a

While aboriginal students are no. longer,
singled out in the district’s accountability « con-:

pets rR AN ER OTE ey Moreno as menadsh msn pronene Toamoratatett meee

tract, they still have their.own in-school sup- °°

port workers: Of the 5,712 students enroled in
the district, 36 per.cent of them are re aboriginal.

Span ny oar eee nr ty we ee pee