www.pgcitizen.ca THE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011 PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN IT'S WHAT MATTERS UL YOU Newsstand $1.50 | Home Delivered 69c/day Insiders' track A look at mayor hopefuls Dan Rogers and Shari Green CITY 17 Tampa Bay keeps Connolly SPORTS 9 Speeding trial went too slow EDITORIAL 6 TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION Abuse survivors speak Canada 14 Legebokoff charges bundled into one case Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca All four first-degree murder charges against Cody Alan Legebokoff will be combined in a single court case that will be heard in B.C. Supreme Court, criminal justice branch spokesman Neil MacKenzie confirmed Wednesday. Legebokoff, 21, faces the charges in the deaths of Jill Stacey Stuchenko, 35, Cynthia Frances Maas, 35, Loren Donn Leslie, 15, and the disappearance of Natasha Lynn Montgomery, 23. MacKenzie said Crown counsel consolidated all four charges into a single direct indictment late last week after receiving approval from the deputy Attorney General. MacKenzie was unable to specifically say why Crown counsel chose the route, but there is no doubt it will speed up the process when compared to holding four separate trials. It will also mean a preliminary inquiry for each of the cases will not have to be held at the provincial court level. Legebokoff, who has remained in custody since he was first arrested in December, has chosen trial by jury in B.C. Supreme Court on the Leslie case. Last week, three more charges of first degree murder related to Stuchenko, Maas and Montgomery, were sworn in against Legebokoff. The matters are next scheduled to be before the court on Oct. 31 for a fix date hearing. LAWN OF THE DEAD — The Mazzelli house Halloween display on Sterling Drive is starting to take shape. Every year the Mazelli family gives out prizes, generously donated by local business, to adults and children that come by to see the displays. MUNICIPAL POLITICS City budget can’t handle too much snow Arthur WILLIAMS Citizen staff awilliams@pgcitizen.ca Pray it doesn’t snow, but get out the shovels just in case - the city’s snow removal budget is already down to approximately $240,000 and the snow has yet to fly. “At a quarter million per snowfall, we’d better hope we don’t have more than five or six snowfalls before January,” Mayor Dan Rogers said. City financial planning supervisor Kris Dalio told city council’s committee of the whole on Monday that heavy snowfall in the early part of the year has depleted the snow removal budget. “It has put us in the position that we need to consider a lift in the snow control levy,” Dalio said. City administration advised city council to increase the snow control levy from $5.04 million in 2011 to $5.2 million in 2012. Currently the city’s snow control reserve has a balance of $1.4 million, Dalio added, but that could be depleted by - or before - the end of the year. Environment Canada is predicting below-average temperatures throughout Western Canada from October to December as a result of the La Nina weather pattern. According to Environment Canada, Prince George has a 60 to 70 per cent chance of experiencing colder-than-average weather until the end of 2011. In addition, the agency predicts a 20 to 30 per cent chance of above average precipitation for Prince George between October and December. If the snow control reserve is depleted before the end of the year, additional snow removal costs will have to come from the city’s general funds. EDUCATION Miworth bus dispute eased for now Ted CLARKE Citizen staff tclarke@pgcitizen.ca Miworth parent Tim Melanson sighed in relief Tuesday night after school trustees voted down a district proposal to cancel bus service that allows his son to attend Heritage elementary school. The issue sparked a lively debate in Tuesday night’s board meeting and Melanson was pleased with the board decision to ask school administration to consider extending bus route 17 to include a Heritage stop for the rest of school year. “It’s a big hassle, with a lot of car-pooling when you’re used to riding the bus, so this is a nice short-term solution for this year,” said Melanson. —see BOARD, page 3 Today's Weather Hi+6° Low +0° See page 2 for more details and short-term forecasts ANNIE'S MAILBOX 39 CROSSWORD 40 MONEY 22 BRIDGE 39 ARTS 39-40 OPINION 6 CLASSIFIEDS 23-26 HOROSCOPE 2 SPORTS 9-12 COMICS 40 LETTERS 6 WEATHER 2 Contact Us CLASSIFIED: 250-562-6666 READER SALES: 250-562-3301 SWITCHBOARD: 250-562-2441 58307 00100 www.ShariGreei; Shari Green for Mavo CIIIZEN PHOIO BYBRENTBRAATEN 058307001008