Cats ready to roar on stage /13

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B.C. wants Sign up for more funding to the Citizen's develop ports /5 hockey pool /11
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2006 $1.00 (HOME DELIVERED: 59 CENTS A DAY)

Youth at risk of diabetes, prof warns
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff Local students are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes because too many are overweight. This warning was presented to school trustees at Tuesday's public meeting by UNBC professor Hanh Huynh. Huynh was commissioned by School District 57 to study the local student population for body weight and examine the correlation to future health risks. His findings: this district has a lot of children with weight problems and they are going to suffer for it in the future if something isn't done to address the issue. For Huynh's research, 283 students at four schools were studied. All were in Grade 1 to 6. Their height, weight, waist and hip circumference, blood pressure and heart rate were all monitored. Huynh also surveyed the students' food intake and physical activity. He discovered that four of the students (1.4 per cent) were underweight, 71 (25.9 per cent) were overweight and 25 students (8.83 per cent) were obese. "What I would like to call to your attention was the data we found was quite comparable to a similar small study done on the Lower Mainland," Huynh said. "For us, however, it represents only the tip of the iceberg. A team of healthcare professionals (found) a lot of children who should have been included in the study were not included." It means that one child in three in the district is definitely overweight, possibly more. According to the World Health Organization, childhood obesity has reached the point of global epidemic, and this district is included, Huynh told trustees. Trustees questioned Huynh about the actions taken for the students he discovered at highest risk, especially those with blood pressure issues. "That is potentially life threatening," said school board chair Bill Christie. -- See PARENTS on page 3

Home sale values up 31 per cent
by PAUL STRICKLAND Citizen staff The average selling price of all types of single-family residential property in Prince George reached $191,629 during the first nine months of this year, up about 31 per cent from the same period last year, according to figures from the B.C. Northern Real Estate Board. The average selling price at this time last year was $146,832. "The strength of the provincial economy combined with the lower price base for housing in northern B.C. continues to make our prices very affordable for most families," Ted Shepard, board vice-president, said Wednesday. "Even in our highest-priced cities, prices are still less than half of the house prices on the Lower Mainland," he said. The number of single-family housing units that were sold during the first three quarters of this year was 950, compared to the 986 units sold between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 2005. Within Prince George city limits, realtors sold $255.1 million of real estate comprising 1,568 properties in all classifications during the first nine months of this year. That's up from the $196.4 million representing 1,434 properties sold last year by Sept. 30, the board said. In the southwest sector of Prince George, 230 singlefamily homes have sold for an average price of $233,827. The median price -- half sold for more, half for less -- was $232,500. It has taken an average of 35.5 days to sell these homes. Also in the southwest part of the city, realtors sold 16 half duplexes, 11 townhouses, 22 manufactured homes in parks and 10 others on purchased land. At the end of last month there were 105 properties available for purchase, compared to 131 at the same time last year. -- See PRICES on page 3

Citizen photo by David Mah

GETTING THEIR FEET WET -- Krystal Kain, left, and Erica Mosser enjoyed the warm fall day Wednesday by taking advantage of the low water levels on the Fraser River to walk out to Goat Island between the CN Rail Bridge and the Yellowhead Bridge.

Pine beetle research funds unveiled
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff The B.C. government said Wednesday it is investing $1.5 million in mountain pine beetle research. More than two dozen projects are being carried out this year under the forest science program of the Forest Investment Account. "This research will lead to practical solutions to the challenges the pine beetle is creating in our forests," said Forests Minister Rich Coleman. "Scientists are looking at ways we can manage the timber supply so we can maintain forest and mill jobs," he said. "Research will also help us conserve forest values such as water quality that are being threatened by the infestation." The projects include research at UNBC to examine the impact of beetle attack in young pine stands, and research at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops on understanding the impact when beetle-killed trees are no longer absorbing water from beneath the forest floor. The University of B.C. will be testing if fertilization increases the ability of mature pine to resist beetle attack in lightly infested areas, and the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada will be evaluating forest road construction techniques to improve access to attacked forests. Provincial NDP forestry critic Bob Simpson immediately criticized the B.C. Liberal government announcement, saying it was "too little, too late." He said Coleman should be taking a much broader view to research of the beetle epidemic, including a wider range of forest health impacts linked to climate change. Simpson said substantive amounts of money should be put into an effort by B.C.'s chief forester to examine the future of forest eco-systems. "I'm talking about tens of millions of dollars to do some of that work," said Simpson, the MLA for Cariboo North. Advice on the research program's investments are provided by the Forest Science Board, which represents industry, the research community, government and First Nations. Two new people were added to provide advice from First Nations, including Beverly Bird from t he Tl'azt'en Nation, north of Fort St. James. ghoekstra@princegeorgecitizen.com

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Plane crashes into Manhattan skyscraper, killing Yankee
NEW YORK (AP) -- A small plane carrying New York Yankee Cory Lidle slammed into a 40-storey apartment building Wednesday after issuing a distress call, killing the pitcher and a second person in a crash that rained flaming debris onto the sidewalks and briefly raised fears of another terrorist attack. A law-enforcement official in Washington said Lidle -- an avid pilot who obtained his flying licence during last year's offseason -- was aboard the singleengined aircraft when it crashed into the 30th and 31st floors of the high-rise on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said both people aboard were killed. It was not clear who was at the controls. But the Washington official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Lidle's passport was found at the scene. U.S. Federal Aviation Administration records showed the plane was registered to Lidle, who had repeatedly assured reporters in recent months flying was safe and the Yankees -- who lost catcher Thurman Munson in the 1979 crash of a plane he was piloting -- had no reason to worry. "The flying?" the 34-year-old Lidle told The Philadelphia Inquirer this summer. "I'm not worried about it. I'm safe up there." "I feel very comfortable with my abilities flying an airplane." The crash came just four days after the Yankees' humiliating elimination from the playoffs, during which Lidle had been relegated to the bullpen. In recent days, Lidle had taken abuse from LIDLE fans on sports talk radio for saying the team was unprepared. The law-enforcement official said the plane issued a distress call before the crash. The FAA said it was too early to determine what might have caused the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board sent investigators. The crash rattled New Yorkers' nerves five years after the Sept. 11 attacks but the FBI and the Homeland Security quickly said there was no evidence it was anything but an accident. Nevertheless, within 10 minutes of the crash, fighter jets were sent aloft over several cities, including New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Seattle, Pentagon officials said. The plane came through a hazy, cloudy sky and hit The Belaire -- a red-brick tower overlooking the East River, about eight kilometres from the site of the World Trade Center -- with a loud bang, touching off a raging fire that cast a pillar of black smoke over the city and sent flames shooting from four windows on two adjoining floors. Firefighters put the blaze out in less than an hour. At least 21 people were taken to the hospital, most of them firefighters. Their conditions were not disclosed. Large crowds gathered in the street in the largely wealthy neighbourhood, with many people in tears and some trying to reach loved ones by cellphone. "It wasn't until I was halfway home that I started shaking. The whole memory of an airplane flying into a building and across the street from your home. It's a little too close to home," Sara Green, 40, who lives across the street from The Belair. "It crossed my mind that it was something bigger or the start of something bigger." -- See related stories on pages 3 and 12

INDEX
Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . . 16 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Business . . . . . . . . . . . .22-24 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . . . .3,5,13 Classifi ed . . . . . . . . . . .19-21 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . .17 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6,7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14,15

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