Will1
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TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2002
        PRINCE GEORGE
Citizen
    Serving the Central Interior since 1916
           Kids’ T-shirt linked to porno Website
 After complaint from Quesnel mother,; Zellers pulls item from store shelves
                                                                                       by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff
  Zellers has pulled all T-shirts from its Canadian stores emblazoned with an Internet address that links direcdy to a hardcore pornographic site, company spokesperson Tammy Smitham said Monday.
  The discount retailer is also reviewing its policies with an eye to no longer carrying any clothing with the “.com” lettering, added Smitham, manager of corporate communications, from the company’s head offices in Toronto.
  The company made the move after a parent complained to its Quesnel store, 115 kilometres south of Prince George, that the wording “cute.com” on a child’s shirt linked to a web site with graphic sexual images.
  The lettering was found in one of a number of small circles and included the picture of a computer mouse. Zellers said the remaining shirts — sold under the Request label, manufactured exclusively for the company — were pulled immediately from the Quesnel store, and subsequendy from other stores across Canada.
  “Going forward we’re making sure we put a process in place, and a policy in place, to perhaps not even use .com on any of the products we sell,” said Smitham. “You can’t be sure what’s going to be on that (Internet) site from day to day.”
  That message has also been passed on to sister company The Bay, she said.
  Zellers is still investigating with its manufacturer how the Internet address linked to the pornographic site was
allowed to be produced on the line of shirts, added Smitham.
  Any purchaser wishing a refund can get one, she said.
  Elizabeth Boyer, the parent who brought the issue to Zellers attention, is not satisfied with the company’s reaction.
  The company should be doing more to alert purchasers of the shirt that their children might use the address to connect to the site, putting a recall out for all the shirts, she said.
  Her seven-year-old daughter wore the shirt several times to school before she and a friend logged onto the address. The blue T-shirt was emblazoned with several small circles over the heart area. The circles carried flowers and sayings like No. 1 and clever girl, as well as cute.com.
  When the kids logged on the site briefly — while a supervising parent stepped out of the room for a moment — they were confronted with several pictures of graphic sexual acts, explained Boyer.
  The children later told their parents.
  “Our daughter thought it was going to be a kids’ site with games and cute things like dolls,” said Boyer. “And for seven-year-old children to be witness to that is horrid. We are totally mortified by the whole thing.”
  The Zellers’ staff in Quesnel apologized immediately and took the T-shirts off the shelves, as well as warning its head office, but Boyer said she decided to tell the story to the media to spread the alert.
  “Parents across the country should know,” she said.
                                                                           Citizen photo by Dave Milne
Nine-year-old Sydney Wilson, with her half-sized fiddle, is a 2002 B.C. champion.
   Fiddling
80 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 54 CENTS A DAY)
 phenom
 Nine-year-old Sydney Wilson is a B.C. fiddling champion
                                                                                                  by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff
    Sydney Wilson may be a pint-sized fiddler with a pint-sized fiddle, but she’s mighty enough, at nine-years-old, to capture a B.C. championship.
    The small Prince George girl, who weighs 65 pounds soaking wet, won first place in the 12 and under category during the B.C. Old Time Fiddlers provincial competition held re-cendy in Kelowna.
    “I just like the music,” Sydney said about her musical choice of fiddling.
    Her mother, Leslie, said Sydney came home from school one day and said she was interested in playing violin.
    So she got a half-size fiddle and got involved with the Prince George Old Time Fiddlers.
    “She stricdy plays by ear, but she can master tunes she just hears in other places, and this fall she’ll begin to take lessons to learn to read music,” Leslie said.
                                                                                            Sydney attends weekly lessons
  and jam sessions with a variety of musicians.
    She began playing at six years and has since participated in a number of competitions.
    The trophies are starting to pile up at home, having won first places last year in both the Quesnel and Prince George competitions, and this year she took first in the 12 and under category in Kamloops and tied for first in Quesnel.
    Tonight, Sydney will be featured during the Ivan Hicks and the Maritime Express concert at Vanier Hall.
    The Old Time Fiddlers, who are sponsoring Hicks, have asked Sydney to play at the show, which is part of a cross-Canada tour.
    Sydney’s dream is to compete at the Grand Masters competition in Ottawa.
    “I’d like to play with the top Canadian fiddlers at that competition,” said Sydney.
    Sydney’s sister Amy, 12, who plays piano, says she’s now interested in “getting into fiddling” as well.
Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
  GAZEBO PROJECT — Students from the CNC entry level carpentry course build a gazebo at the PG. Lawn Bowling Club at Third and Waterous. The gazebo is being built with donations from Rotary and local businesses.
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                 INDEX                   
Ann Landers........                ...21 
Bridge.............                ...17 
Business ...........               24-26 
City, B.C............             3,5,13 
Classified ..........              15-18 
Comics ............                ...22 
Coming Events......                    2 
Crossword .........                ...22 
Entertainment......                ...23 
Horoscope .........                ...17 
Lifestyles ...........             ...21 
Movies.............               .. .23 
Nation.............                    6 
Sports .............               .8-11 
Television..........               ...23 
World..............              . .7,14 
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City asks for retendering of Third Avenue project
                                                                                              by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff
    Prince George city hall has to start all over again to find the right construction company to do the Third Avenue Streetscape Improvement Project because tendered bids came in too high.
    So city council unanimously agreed Monday to retender the project as recommended by Bob Radloff, city director of development services.
    Radloff said that city council’s budget to revitalize the avenue with trees, street lighting, two-way traffic, improved sidewalks and removal of canopies is about $2.9 million.
    Lowest bidder, Wayne Watson submitted a bid of about $2,554,315 million, but when the cost of canopy removal and purchase of electrical equipment of about $833,000 was added to Watson’s amount, the city was looking at a total cost of about $3.3 million.
    The retendering process will set the project back five to six weeks, but Radloff said although it’s “unfortunate”, the final potential cost saving will be worth the effort.
    He said the general scope of the work won’t change, but that they’ll be looking to find ways to do the work more efficiently.
                                                                           Some of the ways suggested by Radloff include some work items being done by city work forces, substituting
  materials where appropriate and making some minor deletions.
    When Counc. Dan Rogers asked how the city got into this position, Scott Bone, city purchasing agent, said the timing of the tender was unfortunate since several other major tenders in the city were put out at the same time, with the result being only two companies submitted proposals.
    Positive discussions about the delay have been held with the Downtown Business Improvement Association, which is spearheading the project, but there are mixed feelings among Third Avenue property owners who have a financial stake in the project, Radloff said.
    Property owners are providing about $900,000 of the financing, while the city is contributing $1.1 million for road improvements and $900,000 for other details.
    When Counc. Don Bassermann suggested the time line be tightened up as much as possible, Radloff replied he does intend to speed up the retendering process.
    The hope is there’ll still be some time for construction this summer and fall. But should the retendering bids come in too high, Radloff is suggesting the work be undertaken by city forces.
    The second proposal for the work came from Columbia Bitulithic whose bid was $2,882,512, not including the canopy removal.
 Airport manager awaits changes to security tax
                                                                                 by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff
    Prince George airport manager Stieg Hoeg welcomed news that Ottawa wants to cut the cost of the airport security tax, but will wait to pass judgment until changes are made.
    “Any talk of reducing it is positive,” said Hoeg.
    “I think the pressures they’re facing from industry is obviously being listened to.”
    Finance Minister John Manley declared in Edmonton on Sunday that he wants to see the tax lowered, but will wait until the fall before adjusting the $24 tax added to every airline ticket in Canada.
    (Former-finance minister Paul Martin had promised earlier to review the tax this fall).
    Airlines with short hauls — common out of Prince George — have been particularly critical of the tax, saying the burden is not being equally shared since the tax is the same for a short regional flight versus a cross-Canada flight.
    WestJet spokesperson Siobahn Vinish also welcomed Manley’s statement, adding they’re more than willing to provide him with information to help him make a decision.
    WesJet has been arguing that the tax should be a percentage of the airfare rather than a flat rate, she explained.
    The $12 one-way fee, or $24-re-turn fee, is a disincentive for flyers on short hauls, noted Vinish.
    The security tax was brought in by the federal Liberals following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. to beef up airport security in Canada.
    It was expected to collect about $430 million for the newly-created Canadian Air Transport Security Agency.
    Security has in fact been increased since the tax went into effect in April, said Hoeg.
    Additional measures include 24-hour-security, increased staffing during flight times and equipment to detect explosives, he said.
    WestJet recently drew attention to the tax by offering a $3 Edmonton-Calgary flight, which would actually cost flyers $89.27 once the security tax, airport improvement fees and other mandatory fees and taxes were added to the tab.
    WeslJet also flies out of Prince George.
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