WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2008

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Gas thieves target bulk fuel stations
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff Thieves have found away around Grant's Law, which the B.C. government put into place to prevent gas thefts in the province. Crooks in northern B.C. have shifted their attention to bulk fuel stations and customers, who are having their cards stolen. Thieves wrack up huge bills before being detected on monthly statements. The practice isn't rampant, as average gas prices hover around $1.40 per litre, but stakeholders say its growing. "Last fall there were quite a few getting stolen, probably four cards then," said Gord Hamborg, PetroCanada representative for Prince George and Mackenzie bulk plants. "Some of our customers lost 4,000 or 5,000 litres and that really adds up. We are knocking on wood. "It is probably going to get worse, because gas is more valuable to thieves, for one, and people just can't afford fuel anymore." The most recent detected case happened last week in Burns Lake. "The owner of the card became aware of the misuse as his monthly billing was considerably over its usual balance," said Burns Lake RCMP Staff Sgt. Mike Kisters. "It is not known if the card was stolen or lost and then used. It is not known how the PIN security code number was obtained. The account has since been closed." Commercial card lock operators say they know exactly how many PIN codes are obtained by thieves. "People have a bad habit of writing the PIN number right on the card because they can't remember it. I always stress to clients and customers to not have the pin number anywhere visible," said Clarence Friesen, petroleum manager for Vanderhoof Co-op, which has 10 other locations across the North. He said client card thievery is not an epidemic, but it happens all over the region. His experience is that thieves often receive the illicit fuel as a bonus when they steal a vehicle containing the cards. Sometimes the thief is a former employee who swiped the company's fuel card upon departure, or a current employee who takes personal advantage of the card. It is harder to detect when the card's owner has a fleet of vehicles and thus a fleet of cards in play. Hamborg and Friesen have both heard the stories coming out of the bush, that thieves are going to the trouble of going all the way out to logging landings and other remote worksites to siphon gas from equipment. Companies are taking steps to pinch the hose, such as allowing clients to chose their own PIN numbers so they are easy to remember and thus don't need to be written down. Also, limits are being imposed on a lot of purchases to alert the company if any unusual transactions take place. Clients are encouraged to ask their fuel company if there are any such measures available for them. "I feel comfortable that this type of occurrence is happening all over the province and is not isolated to any one community or district," Kisters said.

Film crew gliding across province
by SCOTT STANFIELD Citizen staff Benjamin Jordan is living his dream in the air. The 27-year-old Nelson man is in the process of gliding his way around B.C. by way of a propeller-driven parachute, also known as a paramotor, while filming an aerial documentary about deforestation. Accompanied by three other members of the Above and Beyond Canada film crew, one in the air and two on the ground, Jordan touched down Tuesday in a pasture across from the Yellowhead Grove Golf Course on Highway 16 West. His 2,000-kilometre journey began last week in Prince Rupert and is scheduled to finish Aug. 8 near his hometown. Aside from filming by ground and air, Jordan and fellow flyer Leonardo Silveira, a 30-year-old Brazilian, have been showering dead zones with seeds of alpine flowers. The team's objective is to raise awareness about the depletion of western Canadian forests. "Which has become really about the bug kill, because that's what matters to people around here," said Jordan, a commercial photographer and pilot. He and Silveira are flying in parachutes powered by 110 cc lawnmower engines. Their equipment is on loan from Nirvana, a Czech paramotor and glider manufacturer. "Another term is powered paragliding," Jordan said. "They're longer and more aerodynamic than normal parachutes. They travel faster and descend slower so they're better for distance." Still, paramotoring has its hairy moments. Before heading into Prince George, for instance, Jordan thought it would be "easy, breezy" flying around Vanderhoof, but strong winds pushed them away from the highway and forced an unexpected visit to Telechick just west of the city. "We're certainly blessed by the hosts that we found here. Taking good care of us." The group is largely staying with people involved in CouchSurfing.com, of which Silveira is a founder. The aerial project is not Jordan's first documentary. In 2006, he and three friends skateboarded 8,000 kilometres from Halifax to Vancouver to raise

Citizen photo by David Mah

Paraglider Leonardo Silveira films Benjamin Jordan landing after their flight over mountain pine beetle damaged areas west of Prince George.
funds and awareness for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. "It was more cut up into mini docs for each province, whereas this is something that I'm putting together for one solid piece, documenting the month of travel and the people that we've met," he said. While in Prince George, the group was planning to speak with staff and students from UNBC, and to attend information meetings regarding impacts to forest industry workers. Above and Beyond Canada is affiliated with the Sierra Club of Canada.

Citizen photo by David Mah

Paragliders Leonardo Silveira, left, and Benjamin Jordan land in a field west of Prince George after filming mountain pine beetle damaged areas from the air.

Parking meter removal thrills downtown businesses
by MARK NIELSEN Citizen staff Plans to remove the parking meters from downtown streets is welcome news for Downtown Prince George president Shari Green. "Love it," Green said Tuesday morning. "We've been waiting many, many years to see the parking meters go away." City council gave staff the go-ahead Monday night to do away with meters for a two-year time trial. A two-hour time limit will still be enforced by city personnel and there will be no two-ticket grace period. Fines will also be raised to $25 from the current $20, but there will be no need to plug meters every time you park. "Aesthetically, it's going to look a lot nicer, Green added. "We currently have some streets with broken ones and poles but no tops. "There's been some inequity there for a few years for some streets who have them and some who don't and this certainly puts everyone on a level playing field." The two-hour time limit should work for most people, in Green's opinion. "It's two hours now, it's alGREEN ways been two hours," said Green, who operates a Fourth Avenue clothing store. "Depending on what people are heading to a business to do, they don't need two hours. Where they're having a leisurely stroll and a lunch, they certainly need the two hours, but we think it's adequate." She's also glad to hear the new system will be cost neutral. Three more people will be hired to keep an eye out for violations, but it's expected the revenue from the fines will be enough to pay their wages. "I guess our only concern is the shock value of a $25 fine," she said, adding out-of-town visitors who may not be aware of the two-hour limit should be given a friendly note rather than a ticket. "You know, `thanks for visiting Prince George and please observe our time limits,'" she said. During Monday night's meeting, council also endorsed Coun. Sherry Sethen's motion to work with Tourism Prince George to develop a "friendly parking package" that could include a "get out of jail free" card for visiting tourists. Downtown Prince George, which represents the interests of businesses in the area, kept a close eye on the process that led to Monday night's decision. As part of developing a long-term plan for transportation and parking in the downtown, a consultant had suggested increasing the fine to $30 from the current $20, doing away with the two-ticket grace and replacing meters with ticket dispensers, one on each block. Those ideas were met with stiff opposition from many, including DPG, and the revamped suggestions brought to city council on Monday night were the result.

INDEX
Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . 23 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Business. . . .. . . . . . . . . 14-16 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . 2,3,5,6,17 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . 27-32 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . 22 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-13 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,19

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