PRINCE GEORGE
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Citizen
Serving the Central Interior since 1916
TUESDAY, MAY 9,2000
80 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 50 CENTS A
PRINCE CEORGE BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Special edition included
Look inside today’s Citizen for a special 42-page supplement on Forest Expo 2000, which runs Thursday through Saturday at the Exhibition Grounds.The supplement is packed with information about Forest Expo — including site maps, a listing of events and exhibitors’ lists — and the forest industry in general.
The Citizen is proud to be a Gold Sponsor of Forest Expo and we welcome the opportunity to provide residents and visitors alike a package of stories and information worthy of this great event. The special supplement will also be available at the Exhibition Grounds.
Man, 42, charged
in ranch murders
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff
A man initially charged with minor offences related to two deaths at a cattle ranch outside Vanderhoof last week has now been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one of attempted murder.
Thomas Alexander Turcotte, 42, appeared in court in Vanderhoof Monday to face two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Kim Martindale and Terry Price, said RCMP Cpl. Wayne Curie.
He was remanded in custody.
Turcotte is also charged with attempted murder in the wounding of Aale (Andy) Heikkila, said police.
Martindale, 29, and Price, 50, worked at the ranch, while Heikkila was living there as a trapper and photographer.
Turcotte also worked at the ranch, about 32 kilome-
tres south of Vanderhoof on the Kenney Dam Road.
Turcotte has been in custody since last Thursday when the deaths at the ranch — about 130 kilometres southwest of Prince George — were discovered. He was initially charged with careless transportation of a firearm and possession of a stolen truck.
Police still have not disclosed how the two men died. An autopsy was scheduled to take place in Prince George on Monday.
Curie said even after the autopsies are complete, the results may not be released right away.
Heikkila, who suffered a serious head injury, is improving in a Victoria hospital but his condition is still listed as serious, said police.
The owner of the cattle ranch, Bob Erhorn, has been recovering at St. John’s Hospital in Vanderhoof for the past two weeks with pneumonia, said RCMP.
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Relay for research Cornered by Baldwin
“Here come:, the warden. Let’s see you try to dance your way out of this one."
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CUPE sees unrest if offer falls short
Industrial inquiry to draft settlement
by BOB MILLER Citizen staff
CUPE locals across B.C., which represent 15,000 school support workers, say there will be no peace in public schools unless they’re offered an acceptable deal by an industrial inquiry commission.
“We are going to have a vote on the deal the commission comes up with,” said Marilyn Hannah, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees local 3742, which represents 1,029 school support workers at 63 schools in the Prince George School District. “That doesn’t mean the deal can’t be imposed on us,” she said. “We know it can be imposed.”
CUPE members are fed up that their right to negotiate a collective agreement was taken from them when the government legislated them back to work at the end of March, Hannah said.
The union closed schools across B.C. for a week after spring break to back their contract demands. The
government ordered them back to work and appointed Vince Ready and Irene Holden as an industrial inquiry commission.
The sides were given until May 4 to reach agreements, CUPE said in news release.
After the deadline, the union locals and school districts were given until May 15 to submit reports on their position, from which Ready and Holden will draft a binding settlement.
“In the meantime, we’re going to put pressure on the government and the B.C. Public School Employers Association (which bargains on behalf of school districts),” Hannah said.
“We’re not including individual school boards at this time.”
CUPE has taken the position provincially that any settlement will include: job security equal to other ‘public sector unions, pay equity, no contracting out, fair wages and benefits.
Citizen photo by Dave Milne
PETUNIA POWER — The city’s head gardener, Henriette Poulin, waters some of the thousands of petunias in the city greenhouse. The flowers are destined for City Hall and Connaught Hill Park and will be planted after the May long weekend.
Human bones found?
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff
Prince George RCMP say they believe bones found Sunday night along the Nechako River are human, but must wait to find out their origin from the coroner.
The city’s coroner office could not say Monday how long it would take to determine if the skeletal remains were human.
Police investigators have secured the site anyway, and are continuing to gather evidence along the river-bank near the Foothills Bridge, said RCMP spokesperson Const. Mike Herchuk.
“We as an investigative agency are fairly satisfied that we are looking at
human remains,” he said. “After the coroner makes the final determination, our investigators now have to determine if it’s a crime scene, whether this is a sudden death, whether this is a suicide — there’s a lot of different parameters.”
But determining the cause of death could be difficult because they’re dealing with skeletal remains, said Herchuk. He did not say how many bones had been located and said no details will be released right now as to why investigators believe the remains are human.
The oones were found by hikers on Sunday night. Trails along the' Nechako River are popular with hikers, joggers and mountain bikers. |
Residents challenge Moxie’s plan
by BOB MILLER Citizen staff
A group of Seymour residents has mounted a two-pronged challenge to Moxie’s Classic Grill opening a 240-seat restaurant at 18th Avenue and Central Street on the west edge of the subdivision.
At a public hearing last week, council voted 6-3 to take an official community plan (OCP) revision and a rezorring bylaw to third reading to allow the proposal to proceed. Final reading and a development permit are necessary before work can begin.
Resident Gina Beddome and seven other residents $re fighting council’s decision through the office of B.C. Ombudsman Howard Kushner and have sent material to a Vancouver law firm.
Beddome said she had contacted the ombudsman and was sending a package of material to him for review. Under a section of the Municipal Act, people can seek a review by the inspector of municipalities, she said, and in most cases it is passed on to the ombudsman. Residents went directly to him on the matter.
“It’s based on whether it was a fair hearing,” Beddome said.
She said they will also contact a legal firm in Vancouver and should know by the end of the week if they have grounds for legal action.
City clerk Alan Chabot said in his six years in Prince George, no one has made a similar challenge, but it may have happened in the past here, and has likely happened in other
communities of B.C. Councils have the authority to rezone land, he said. “I’m not sure what grounds they would have to challenge council’s authority.”
Chabot said in his opinion, statutory requirements for notice of the public hearing and drafting of the bylaws have been met. In any case, the court can’t supplant its opinion over that of council, he added.
Mayor Colin Kinsley said he’s not concerned with the challenge, adding he was careful to conduct an open public hearing on the proposal.
“Everybody spoke their minds and presented their case,” he said. “Council recognized their concerns but determined the impact ,(of the restaurant proceeding) would not be as great as they felt it would be.”
KINSLEY
Day-care centre closed during probe
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff
The Kids R Us day-care facility in Prince George is being closed temporarily pending a decision regarding complaints of the health and safety of children, Lorna Medd, the region’s medical health officer, said Monday.
Medd conducted a hearing Monday at Prince George Regional Hospital to gather information from an investigation by the day-care licensing officer and from witnesses.
Although Kids R Us licensee Jean
Wilson was informed last month o/ allegations and the time and place of the hearing, she did not attend. Wilson was not available or comment.
“Unless there is a good reason she couldn’t attend, like a family crisis or medical problem, the hearing is closed,” said Medd, who will review information presented and make a decision within the next four to 12 weeks on the future of the operation, licensed for 25 children older than 30 months.
“In the interim, the day care will
be closed due to any risk to children,” said Medd, noting the licensee has the option of appealing the decision to the licensing Appeal Board in Victoria.
Allegations against Kids R Us, located at 933 Patricia Blvd., are inappropriate discipline, too few staff, questionable qualifications of some staff, risk of safety to children regarding sharp objects and unsecured medication, and insufficient numbers of adults to ensure child safety in high traffic areas
during field trips, Medd said.
There are usually three decision options, said Medd. A decision may make no changes to the licence if there’s insufficient evidence of the. allegations; attach conditions to the license like added training or staff; or cancel the licence.
Such hearings are rare, said Medd.; Only two have been held in this region during the past four years.; Any parents looking for alternative' day care can call Child Care Resource, and Referral at 563-2483.
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SWITCHBOARD: 562-2441