local news City editor: 562-2441, local 503 The Citizen Monday, November 22, 1982 —3 THREE-DAY INQUEST Jury says alcohol a factor in death by BILL McEACHERN Staff reporter A Prince George coroner’s jury has ruled Patricia Ann Kruska, 35, who disappeared last summer while fishing in the Nechako River, died by drowning. Under the terms of the B.C. Coroner’s Act, her death has been listed as due to “unnatural homicide,” with the “freedom of alcohol a prominent factor in the death.” The phrasing of the verdict, reached Friday night after several Perjury earns jail sentence William Gamot, 24, who told an inquest he saw another man die in the Prince George RCMP lockup, has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for perjury. Gamot, of Prince George, told a provincial court here Nov. 12 he lied at an inquest last Februrary. He told the inquest he saw police push 25-year-old Leonard James McKay into a cell and heard a scuffle and what sounded like a human head hitting the floor. Under questioning from an RCMP lawyer at the inquest, Garnot admitted he could not have seen what he said he saw. He was then charged with perjury. The inquest found McKay’s death to be unnatural, but could not determine the cause of the brain hemorrhage that killed him. Region office to be moved The Fraser-Fort George regional economic development offices will soon move into city hall, thereby gaining a higher profile than it has in its Third Avenue offices. The decision was made at last week’s regional district board meeting. Until then several alternatives were studied, including a store-front operation, but advantages of locating in city hall were too great. Mayor Elmer Mercier said because 68 per cent of the regional district budget comes from Prince George the city has a great interest in the economic development commission’s ftinctions. He said the city is willingness to put up an extra 120,000 toward those functions would be postponed for another year. 1 Advertisements for a successor to economic development officer, Chris Stanley Jones, who leaves soon, are ready for publication the board was told. ; Aid. George McKnight, board chairman, said the transitions should be closely-monitored so the last two years of a four-year program which is financed by both the federal and provincial governments are successful. Expansion supported Fraser-Fort George Regonal District board members have given support for Valemount to expand its boundaries to include a densely-populated surrounding fire protection district and three pulp mills. A report to the board said such an expansion would increase the mill rate value to $14,000 per mill from 14,000, based on 1982 assessments. Such an increase would give the village more funds for fire protection in areas outside of its boundaries than it now receives under an existing contract. The report states the proposed expansion would probably be advertised, and if fewer than 10 per cent of the affected fire protection district population objects, the municipal affairs ministry would likely approve without need for a referendum. If more than 40 per cent objected, a referendum would probably not be allowed. A petition from village residents could precipitate a referendum, the report said. School pact arbitrators appointed Two abribrators have been chosen to sit on the three-person board which will hammer out settlements for teachers in three Northern Interior school districts. Prince George, Nechako and Quesnel teachers associations appointed Clay Perry and Charlie Campbell was the unanimous choice of the school districts concerned. Perry and Campbell, both of Vancouver, must jointly appoint a third arbitrator by Dec. 7 or the responsibility for establishing a complete board will fall to the labor ministry. The arbitration board will produce settlements for the Prince George, Nechako and Quesnel teachers associations. hours of deliberation, has sparked concern by both lawyers involved in the three-day inquest over whether the act adequately defines the causes of death without imputing motives. Kruska disappeared while she and her husband were fishing Aug. 11 on the banks of the Nechako River near Miworth. Her badly-decomposed body was found 10 days later in the Fraser River near Lillooet. The use of the term homicide in the Coroner’s Act came under heavy criticism by the lawyer representing Dennis Kruska, the dead woman’s husband. “It’s vague and misleading and inappropriate to this proceeding because in light of definition it’s not clear what the significance is by the jury,” said Paul Pakenham. Under the act, there are five categories for the manner of death. “A homicide is a death that was caused, directly or indirectly, by another person. Homicide is a neutral term that does not* imply fault or ply blame,” the policy'guideline states. Coroner counsel Don Kennedy called the term a “loaded word.’ Under law a homicide means one human being killed by another human being, said Kennedy. RCMP Staff Sgt. Jim Swanson, chief of the city’s General Investigation Service, attended the inquest and called the homicide term misleading. "To the average person it’s synonymous with murder-it’s confusing,” he said. Kennedy said he will discuss the term’s use in view of a possible change with chief Crown Counsel Peter Ewert. The coroner’s jury also recommended that police have a second boat available for marine searches, that camping areas along the Nechako and Fraser Rivers be posted as “hazardous areas” and that the flow rates of area rivers be measured and made available to the public. “I’m tired and very relieved that it's all over»’.’»«Pennis Kruska, 42, said in an interview after the verdict was read. Earlier Friday, Kruska went through a grueling five hours of testimony ana cross-examination, sobbing several times while he told the jury he loved his wife. He told the inquest he and his wife had two drinks before he went fishing the night of Aug. 11-leaving his wife with a 40-ounce bottle of Vodka. He also testified he left his wife to fish along the riverbank, and heard his wife call for help. He said he seached for her but was unable to find her, then drove into the city to report her disappearance to the RCMP. Earlier testimony indicated Patricia Kruska had a severe drinking problem, often stealing liquor from tenants’ suites in the apartment building the couple owned. Witnesses stated she was frequently found passed out, and previous to her death had been on anti-alcohol abuse drugs to combat her problem. Counci I ton ight In a report on tonight’s agenda, city council will be asked to select which assessment option it wants for municipal tax purposes in 1983. Currently the city is on an assessment option based on 100 per cent of market value which has the advantage of maintaining equity between properties and classes of properties, city treasurer Bill Kennedy says in the report. Other options permit different types of properties to be taxed on various percentages of assessed market values, or an average percentage of actual values as determined April 1 of the preceding year. In his report, Kennedy notes the proportion of city taxes paid by residential property owners as a group increased by five per cent, while commercial and business properties decreased between 10 and 12 per cent. The increase was a result of a rapid rise in market values of residential properties in the 1982 assessment roll. The Downtown Parking Commission will designate 750 parking stalls in the Cross Street, McDonald and library parking lots and the Second Avenue parkade for downtown tenants and employees at a reduced rate. The commission is concerned that the current parking system is not being used to the benefit of downtown merchants, who pay a levy for off-street parking lots and parkades. In response to a request by the Towncenter Business Association, the commission will offer two-hour free parking from Dec. 6 to 24 in the Second Avenue and Plaza 400 parkades. A report from city engineer Ernie Obst says based on findings of an independant traffic study it can be concluded that traffic to and from the new Canadian Tire store can be handled by the existing roadway system. But he suggests the city wait for an evaluation of the intersection by the Ministry of Highways, which is considering either placing a traffic light or median on the bypass at 18th Avenue to control left turns into the store. B.C. TIMBER IN PRINCE RUPERT 1,700 face mill layoffs Disabled get help shopping PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. (CP) — B.C. Timber will lay off 1,700 north coast forestry workers this week but the president of the union representing nearly half of them said Friday he is devastated by the move and will consider a shorter work week to save their jobs. • Joseph LeBlanc, president of the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada, also said in an interview that while there is nothing the union can do about the cause of the shutdowns, workers are bitter over administration of the seniority clause of the collective agreement with the company. “There will be some work available, but we are experiencing difficulties in putting people into those jobs by virtue of seniority,” he said. “If there are any bitter feelings as a result of this thing, they are being caused over this whole issue of seniority.” In addition to closing its pulp mill here, B.C. Timber is shutting down three of four sawmills in the region on Nov. 26. Company president John Montgomery said the closures are the result of poor demand for bleached kraft paper and increasing inventories. The closure affects 800 workers at the pulp mill, represented by the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers I of Canada, and an additional 950 workers at the Skeena and Pohl saw- ing the mills, who are represented by the International Woodworkers of America. The Renn and Skeena sawmills have been closed since June and the Kitwanga mill will remain open until an order destined for the United Kingdom is filled. On Thursday, the company, a division of the B.C. Resources Investment Corp. established by the Social Credit government in 1978, said poor demand for plywood had forced permanent closure of the Kootenay Forest Products plywood division in the southeastern B.C. community of Nelson, putting 160 workers out of work. Montgomery said the company will review the market demand, now at 1975 levels, in March, 1983, to see if the pulp mill can operate in the second quarter next year. “In the first nine months of 1982, B.C. Timber’s after-tax losses amounted to $36.9 million and 80 per cent of those are directly related to our northern pulp and building products operations,” he said. Forests Minister Tom Waterland said in Victo- ria that B.C. Timber’s pulp operation could not compete on the world market since the devaluation of Scandinavian currencies gave those countries’ lumber products a 16-per-cent price advantage over Canadian lumber sold on world markets. Ben Thompson, president of woodworkers local 171, said B.C. Timber has not been aggressively seeking new markets. “Too many people have been burying their heads in the sand waiting for better times to come,” he said. Many of the sawmill Handicapped persons in Prince George will be workers have been off able to do some of their the job since September, Christmas shopping this 1981, when the first of week without fighting several shutdowns began crowds, because of depressed markets. Mayor Peter Lester said while the closure will affect this city of 20,000, its impact will be diminished by other projects. “One of the things that makes a difference is that there’s a tremendous amount of construction going on on Ridley Island with the coal and the grain facilities. The impact isn’t as great as it would have been without these developments but certainly it's a very severe impact.” 40.7 CENTS A LITRE HERE Gasoline prices fall again Gasoline prices, which have been dropping in the Prince George area since late summer, continued their decline during the weekend and are now at their lowest level in seven months. Motorists were paying 40.7 cents a litre for regular gasoline at many self-serve stations Sunday. That means people are paying 11 per cent less to fill up than they did in late September. Last March, people in this city were paying 40.1 cents a litre, said one self-serve operator. The price was raised to 41.7 cents the following month. They’ve already been undercut by a full-serve station which is offering gas at 40.6 cents. Don Watson, retail administrator for Gulf Canada in Vancouver, said the cause of declining prices is that full-serve stations are trying to match prices at self- serve outlets. The company tries to maintain a half-cent a litre price differential between self-serve and full-serve outlets. That’s the main cause of the price war, he said. Another Gulf employee said prices could drop again at self-serves in this city soon. The exception to the Gulfs pricing rules is in Quesnel, where one full-serve outlet is selling Disarmament backed VANCOUVER (CP) — The B.C. electorate was in a positive mood Satur- mills in Terrace, another day: v?tin8 ‘ yes to the sawmill in the Indian maJor,ty of questions village of Kitwanga, the ?s.k.e(? in referendum* npnn mill in H^Unn « held in conjunction with Renn mill in Hazelton as well as loggers supply- correction municipal elections. Voters gave solid support to nuclear disarmament — in votes Municipal Affairs Minister Jack Heinrich had advised local councils not to hold. The question — which most municipalities phrased as “Do you support the goal of disarmament?” — was considered by provincial officials to be outside the proved on existing four- jurisdiction of local go-acre lots where soil per- vern men ts and not eolation (rate of water aM9wa under ^u-absorbtion) exceeds one' nicipal Act In referring to percolation rates of sewage lagoons in Friday’s paper, a conversion from 60 minutes to one hour became one minute. The sentence should have read: Until Nov. 1, 1983 lagoons will be ap- hour an inch; after that no permits for lagoons as sole methods of sewage disposal will be given within the health unit. Mark Moncur, who However, a court challenge by a citizen against a disarmament referendum in the Victoria suburb of Oak Bay was rejected three days before the election. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Patricia Proud- spoke during Thursday’s foot ruled that disarma Fraser-Fort George Regional District board meeting was incorrectly identiftiied as being with Mark C. Moncur and Associates Ltd., rather than with Aquaterre ment “affects not only the municipality, but the entire universe.” In Oak Bay and Victo ria, 84 per cent of thooe voting supported nuclear disarmament, and in the Consultants Inc.. The other 10 or so communi- Citizen apologizes for ties holding the referen- any inconvenience that dum the vote was equal- might have resulted. ly overwhelming. In Kamloops 10,692 voted in favor, 3,252 against. In Duncan and North Cowichan district 2,371 voted yes, while 550 voted against. Port Hardy voters came out 169 in favor, 32 against. In Castlegar there were 1,824 in favor and 219 voting no. Nanaimo voted 78.1 per cent in favor while 16.5 per cent of the electorate voted against. Vancouver also overwhelmingly supported the referendum. On the question of a ward system for municipal elections — a system where a community is divided into areas in which each elects its own representatives to council, Nanaimo and Vancouver went in different directions. Nanaimo voted 58 per cent in favor of abandoning the ward system and returning to the at-large election system, while Vancouver voted 57 per cent in favor of instituting a ward system. It’s not known what the outcome of the Vancouver vote will be though, because the Municipal Affairs Ministry has said that any vote on the issue would have, to be at least 60 per cent in favor before the government would give its: approval. Vancouver also held four capital spending referendums which were all approved. Vancouver voters had the most complicated time at the polls. They had 76 candidates running for positions on council, school and park boards as well as the six referendums. The average Vancouver voter had to spend about 20 minutes in the poll booth this year. gasoline for 27.6 cents a litre. Watson said He said that is probably less than the cost price and Gulf won’t match it. Gasoline costs 31.3 cents at Gulfs self-serve stations in Ques nel. In Vancouver, gasoline costs 38.3 cents a litre, about two cents less than in September. Watson added demand has dropped because of economic conditions and because there arc more small, fuel-efficient cars on the road. Fort St. John has missed out on the latest round in the gas wars Prices there have held at 44 8 cents a litre since mid-October, he said. Operalion Wheelchair, now in its seventh year, will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday al Woodward’s. Program co-ordinator Laurie Waghom said 50 volunteer staff including cashiers and helpers are ready to welcome and assist handicapped people of all ages at the up-per-floor Winnipeg Street entrance. Shoppers, who may bring a helper if they wish, will have the run of the store with the exception of the grocery and bakery departments. Waghorn said Operation Wheelchair “is much more than just a shopping excursion ’’ ‘‘There will bo ri ling choirs, colte< doughnuts and Salvaticn Army sunshine treat bags,” she said. “And,of course, Santa Claus will be there to have his picture taken fiee with all shoppers.” | J. Ion Evan* & Atiociatat OPTOMETRISTS IAN [VANS D O S. f A.A O GREGORY E. EVANS 8.Sc., O.D. ALANE D. EVANS S.Sc.OD. ALLAN W. JONES 0 Sc.. O.D. fRANK E. DECKER 0 0 GpWwine 401 OmIim $i . Fan* Buitdma Pi .ir# G+ory I C 562-1305 Was Your Home Built Before 1971? up to Federal Government Insulating Gran! Available CALL FOR A FREE BROCHURE C®mtf©ni Insulation. . a 562-6200 Keep Fit — Dance Classes At The Prince George School of Artistic Gymnastics 590 Tomlin Rd. 564-7353 Starts November 23rd/82 to January 20th/83 Tuesday 10-11 a.m. Thursday 1-2 p.m. (Other times may be available) Kindergymnastics runs at the same time as the "Dance Classes” for the convenience of mothers. $42.00 for 14 sessions. Citizen photo by Ric Ernst A lone diver hustles along the dock to don his diving apparatus in preparation for an icy dip in riu-culz Lake. About a dozen divers braved Sunday’s cold to take part in an adult-educntion coursc on scuba diving. Never too cold