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CANADA
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12,1998
80 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 50 CENTS A DAY)
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Hell’s Angels ‘associates’ move in here
by KEN BERNSOHN Citizen Staff
People known to associate with the Hell’s Angels have set up a club house in Prince George.
“The house is being used as a men’s club at this time, as far as we know,” said Prince George RCMP Const. Gordon Molendyk.
“We can’t arrest people for starting a club. If we did, there would be a lot of people in jail.”
The house has not been used for illegal activities that the RCMP are aware of and the group has not been convicted of any crimes yet, said Molendyk.
“Until a law is broken we can’t take action,” he said. “However, we are keeping a close watch cn the situation.” The Hell’s Angels, have been involved in drugs, prostitution, property crimes and other illegal activities across the country, so the RCMP are concerned about this “men’s
club,” said Molendyk.
People are concerned when they hear about a bike gang moving to a city and residents want to know if there will be an increase in crime, said Molendyk.
In 1995, out-of-town criminal groups tried to expand into Prince George. There were several violent deaths and an increase in drug related deaths that year. There was also far more street violence than there had been in the past.
“That problem was (caused by) a combination of elements,” said Molendyk. “Our home-grown criminals resisted the takeover. People in the community provided us with a lot of information which helped us manage the problem. Quick response helped as well. We also had some good luck,” Molendyk said.
In Kamloops, the Hub City Men’s Club changed its name a few days ago to The Vipers.
COMMUNITY
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PRINCE GEORGE
Local woman's bravery earns Star of Courage
Award to be made posthumously
PAGE 15
Education Showcase gets cash support
SPORTS
■ Like many skiers making their Iceman debut, Citizen sports reporter Ted Clarke is looking for anything to keep him from an untimely face plant in Sunday’s event. /9
SHOWBIZ
■ Despite being billed as the Maritimes’ sweetheart, Natalie MacMaster doesn’t see herself as a sex symbol. She says it’s hard to feel sexy when you have young children admiring what you do. /19
■ In a decision that could have far-reaching consequences in the workplace, an Ontario court has thrown out Imperial Oil’s tough drug-and-alcohol testing policy as discriminatory. /6
LIFESTYLES
■ Another study has found that youngster who have grown up in the generation hooked on video games and computer terminals aren’t as fit as they should be. Some 37% of our children from ages six to 12 didn’t meet the standard for activity — 30 minutes three times a week. /27
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Serving the Central Interior since 1916
by KEN BERNSOHN Citizen Staff
Prince George’s Hazel White will be posthumously given Canada’s highest award for bravery on Tuesday, almost two years after she gave her life to save another.
The federal government has announced that White will be awarded the Star of Courage. White was shot in the back and died on April 29, 1996 after she saved friend Bonny Mooney from the wrath of Mooney’s shotgun-toting, estranged ex-husband Roland Kruska at Cluculz Lake.
White could have escaped from Kruska when he broke into Mooney’s home that night armed with a sawed-off shotgun. HAZEL Instead White shoved Mooney out of a window and told Mooney she was going back for her glasses. White then went back to face Kruska, 47, who had previously been convicted of manslaughter.
“She went back in to protect those kids and to talk some sense into him,” her friend Marilyn Van Damme said a few days after White’s death.
Kruska shot Michelle Mooney, 12, in the shoulder. Minutes later White was dead, shot in the back.
When emergency crews arrived they found Kruska dead from a self-inflicted wound to the head.
According to friends and family at the time, White’s quick thinking saved Bonny Mooney’s life.
White’s daughter, Barbara, was told by the police White was found clutching a piece of hard driftwood. The police told her family they thought White was shot after swinging the club at Kruska.
In the weeks before her death, White was building a small cabin out of cement blocks and scrap lumber on her friend’s property. Her intention was to be able to protect Mooney, said family and friends a few days after White’s death.
WHITE “She said, “This is my sentry (box) because I can see both ways and that guy Roland will never get by,”’ Van Damme said.
White was familiar with domestic violence. Her own ex-husband was sentenced to jail for assaulting her. White had attended a prevention of violence against women rally in Vanderhoof the day before the shootings. She had a purple ribbon from the rally on her jacket when she was killed.
MASK DESIGNS — Cougar goalie Scott Myers sorts through 250 entries in a contest to find a design to be painted on his mask. The contest was sponsored by McDonalds, Five Seasons Sports and the Prince George Citizen. Prizes will go to the top three entries.
Shelter’s organizers answer their critics
‘HOME ALONE’ CHARGE LAID
Special to The Citizen
QUESNEL — A mother who left her two young children home alone — one of them in the bathtub — will find out in two months what sentence the courts will impose.
The woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to endangering the lives of her children. Provincial court Judge Tom Smith said the two months before sentencing will give the woman time to “prove herself’ to the court before he imposes sentence.
The woman — her name is not being published so as to not reveal the names of the children — was ordered by Smith to reside on the Kluskus reserve about 200 kilometres west of Quesnel.
Court was told Wednesday that RCMP officers were called to the woman’s home Sept. 12 after the children were found abandoned. The children were apprehended by the Ministry of Children and Families and now are in the custody of their natural father.
by DON SCHAFFER Citizen staff
Organizers of the emergency homeless shelter on Fourth Avenue don’t want to hurt the business of their neighbors.
That doesn’t mean they’re willing to give up on providing sleeping quarters for Prince George’s homeless population.
“A lot of the businesses have invested significantly to try and do something new,” Murry Krause said. “You’ve just got to applaud them, and you don’t want to be a deterrent to their success.
“We understand the concerns of the business people, but we also think there’s real value in what we’re doing.”
The shelter, set up by the Downtown Service Providers’ group and run by Active Support Against Poverty, has received intense criticism since it opened in January. Business people in the downtown core say the people using the shelter are harassing their patrons and driving business away from the area.
ASAP director Audrey Schwartz said the group is studying the centre — not just its effectiveness, but its impact on the community — and said a couple of things are clear: the shelter is needed by street people downtown, and it might not be in the right spot.
She said there are 30 or more people using the shelter each night. Some of the people causing the problems, by aggressively panhandling passersby or loitering outside stores, might be clients of the centre.
Others might not use the facility at all, however.
Krause agreed.
“I think there are more people on the street, and I think that’s got a lot to do with the weather,” he said.
“We live in the heart of a downtown, and I think hearts of downtowns all across Canada have lots of similar issues, so this is not specific to Prince George.
Funding for the shelter runs out March 6. The study will help determine if, and where, another shelter might open for next winter, if funding is available.
City workers offer new proposal
The Canadian Union of Public Employees presented a new bargaining proposal to the city Wednesday morning.
“It’s now being evaluated,” City Manager George Paul said late Wednesday afternoon.
The union expects to get word on the city’s response at 11 a.m. today, said national representative Bernie Schneider.
Approximately 550 city workers have been without a contract since Jan. 1.
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