PRINCE GEORGE
High today: 2 Low tonight: -9 Details page 2
MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2002
Serving the Central Interior since 1916
60 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 54 CENTS A DAY)
Seinfeld no laughing matter to foundation
Five hours of Seinfeld episodes resulted in more than $200,000 worth of pledges during the second annual Spirit of the North Day, a Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation event which aired Sunday on PGTV.
The money goes towards the foundation’s Centre of Excellence campaign, which is raising funds for things such as maternal child care services at the Prince George Regional Hospital.
The top pledges were $30,000 from the hospital auxiliary, $28,000 from local firefighters and $25,000 from Telus. Other major donations came from Costco ($13,000), Canfor ($10,400) and CIBC ($10,000).
Executive director Tom Shand said last year the foundation used two fea-ture movies in the PBS format telethon, but decided this year to go with 10 back-to-back Seinfeld episodes, which were interspersed with a “pitch and pledge” during commercial breaks.
“This year we thought people could tune in easier to a half-hour show,” Shand said. “1 think the format worked well.”
Event organizers were pleasandy surprised with the number of phone-in pledges, which Shand said exceeded last year’s number.
“Things went extremely well,” he said. “The community really came together."
Along with maternal child-care services, other Centre of Excellence Campaign initiatives include renovations to Jubilee Lodge and the addition of a urology laser and an MR1.
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COMMUNITY
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Leung honoured
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INDEX
Ann Landers ........16
Bridge......... ........19
City, B.C........ . .3,5,11,20
Classified ...... . . .17-19
Comics ........ ........14
Coming Events .. .........2
Crossword ..... ........14
Entertainment . .....14,15
Horoscope ..... ........19
Lotteries....... ........13
Lifestyles...... 15,16
Nation....... .........6
Sports ........ .......7-10
Television...... ........15
World.......... ......12,13
canada.com
Citizen photo by Dave Milne
The remains of the Willow River community bridge lay scattered on the ice of the Willow River after it collapsed under the weight of a truck and its heavy load Saturday. The communities of Willow River, Giscome and Upper Fraser must now take a detour of up to one hour to reach Prince George. The driver of the truck sustained minor injuries.
Willow River bridge crumbles
by SCOTT STANFIELD Citizen staff
Motorists who use the bridge crossing Willow River on the Upper Fraser Highway will have to find an alternate route for the time being after the single-lane bridge collapsed Saturday.
Prince George RCMP believe the collapse occurred because the bridge could not withstand the weight of a low-bed truck, which was carrying a
tree processor at the time of the accident.
The driver of the truck sustained minor injuries, said police, who conunue to investigate the incident.
Yogi Sharma, who owns the Willow River Services gas station, said the bridge was “totally destroyed” and has caused a huge traffic problem.
“It’s a major inconvenience,” Sharma said. “To us it looks like what hap-
pened on September 11. My business is at a standstill because of it.”
Sharma describes the area as a “bedroom community” and said people who, for instance, work in Prince George are looking at about a lOCFmile (160 km) round trip until something is done to replace the structure.
Sharma said he was led to believe the bridge was only meant to be a temporary structure when it was
built several decades ago.
“This bridge, at the best of times, was shaky," he said.
According to police, the Upper Fraser Highway will be closed to traffic until a temporary crossing or a new bridge is constructed. In the mean time, motorists heading to Giscome and Upper Fraser are advised to travel by Bowron Forest Service Road off Highway 16 East, east of Purden.
Mann fights way into Hall of Fame
by TED CLARKE Citizen staff
Harold Mann joined some select company Saturday night with his induction to the Canadian Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame.
As only the third B.C. boxer to earn a spot in the Hall, the 63-year-old nafive of Prince George accepted his induction certificate Saturday night at the B.C. Golden Gloves boxing championships at the Civic Centre.
“It’s a great thrill for me,” said Mann, whose crowning achievement as a fighter was his gold medal win at the 1962 (British Empire) Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia.
“A person puts a lot of work into it and it’s nice to get recognized.”
Mann had to win three fights to cap-ture the 156-pound (light middleweight) title in Perth.
“1 knocked the guy out in the final, but my toughest fight was in the semifinal against a guy from Rhodesia (Francis Neswingo) and I knocked him down three times. But every time he got up and got tougher,” laughed Mann.
“The nicest thing I remember is having the gold medal around my neck and they played my national anthem. 1 was really proud.”
Mann went on to fight professionally
and later served as national team coach in the 1970’s at the world championships in Cuba and the Pan-American Games in Cali, Colombia.
Mann started his lengthy amateur career in boxing at age 11 when his father Irving introduced him to the sport and coaches Nick Schmeling and Gale Galbraith at the Lions Athletic Club. He moved to Vancouver in 1958 when the Prince George club closed and returned to Prince George in 1960.
On Saturday, Mann was wearing the ring he won in 1958 as Golden Boy of the B.C. Golden Gloves tournament.
He says his two biggest regrets in boxing were not qualifying for the 1960 Olympics in Rome and turning down his chance to fight at the 1958 Commonwealth Games in Wales. He did that so he could pursue a pro offer in Toronto that failed to materialize.
“I lost my third fight at nationals in Montreal on a decision and I missed the Olympics because of that,” Mann said. “Had 1 gone to Wales in ‘58 I would have had more international experience and probably wold have done a lot better at nationals, but that’s hindsight.”
Mann was also inducted into the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame in 1980 and is a member of the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame.
Citizen photo by Dave Milne
Harold Mann, right, admires the plaque marking his induction into the Canadian Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame presented to him by John O’Shea, president of Boxing B.C.
Delegation to press softwood support
by SCOTT STANFIELD
Citizen staff
A B.C. delegation of community leaders and forestry officials has traveled to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, where they have taken the province’s softwood lumber concerns.
The group, led by B.C. Forest Minister Mike de Jong, also made the trip to show they support the federal government during the ongoing softwood lumber dispute with the U.S., said Prince George North MLA Pat Bell, who is among the 24 delegates.
Bell and company are scheduled to meet today with International Trade
Minister Pierre Pettigrew. They had the opportunity, on Sunday, to relate their concerns to Quebec’s deputy minister of natural resources Michel Boivin.
“The points that 1 drove home were, while we’re fighting amongst ourselves here with the Americans, product substitution is eating away at our marketplace,” Bell said from Ottawa. “There’s lumber coming in from off shore and eating up an additional couple per cent of the market.”
Along with Pettigrew, the B.C. group is also scheduled to meet today with Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhali-wal, Finance Minister Paul Martin, and with the Canadian Alliance, Progressive
Conservative and B.C. Liberal caucuses.
“We’re really represented very well here,” said Bell, whose cohorts include First nations, IWA, and value-added industry representatives.
“The effort is to ensure that everyone knows we are 100% supportive of what the federal government is doing. We think it’s a critical time we need to work through over the next few days, and hopefully we’ll have some success.”
The key to getting through the softwood lumber dispute, he added, is to maintain a “united front” to prevent ourselves from being “divided and conquered” by the Americans.
Quesnel Mayor Steve Wallace is also among the B.C. delegation.
“There’s a whole scenario of people that are doing things with this Team B.C. initiative to support the ministers, to show that this is paramount to the sustainability of our communities,” Wallace said.
“And not just the sustainability, but the advancement of our communities as well. We’re looking for the certainty we need to attract investment.”
Prior to today’s meetings, the group was also scheduled to meet Sunday evening with Opposition leader John Reynolds.
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