I Persiste In the house A local student is Province may halt New j. Young curlers take on part of the Katimavik Skeena wood sale due to past province at the Northern experience - finally! unauthorized timber land sales BC Winter Games i \SPORTS B4 \COMMUNITY Bf \NEWS A2 ’ t.. c --. -\ G -. ............,f. ................... -0 ,- ,- G- $1.00 PLUS 7# GST -m ($1.10 plus 8a GST LF) outside of the Terrace area) - cn c -co T ANDA RD -h I Nulrsing progracm to start 9 TERRACE’S NOK’I’HWES’I’ Community Collcgc (NWCC) campus is to be the home of 18 Bachclor of’ Scicncc in Nurs- ing students this fall, officials announced at a press confer- cncc held at Mills Memorial Hospital yesterday. Thc collcgc will offer the first two years of thc four-ycar degree program and the University of Northcrn I3ritish Co- lunibia (LJNBC)the final two years. I Graduates can thcn go on to write csains to qualify for their registered nurse status. NWCC president Stephanie Forsyth said the program, which will takc in a new crop of students each ycar, will help fill aIFhronic registered nurse shortage at northwcstern hospitals and other health care facilities. :‘Thcrc’s not only a shortagi,-but the nursing population is aging,” she said. ’ Northwestern hospitals here and clsewhcrc ham relied on foreign rccruiting to help fill gaps. The program also fits a ccntral philosophy of‘ cspanding education programs forctliosc who live in the north, Forsyth added. This is about training pcoplc in thc north fer the north. So this program is great news for the collcgc and for thc northwest,” she said. ‘I’hc program will be taught by a niisturc of NWCC and UNBC instructors with practical training to be coordinatcd yith the Northcrn Health Authority which runs northcrn “hcalth care facilities. .. Combined with the 23 student spaces in the collcgc’s licensed practical nursing program, thc introduction of the degree program mcans there will soon be 42 nursing spaces in Tcrrace, making it among the smalJcstccntrcs in H.C. to offer such a rangc of training. Skecna MLA Roger Harris said NWCC and CJNHC arc on their way to creating a centre 01’ health training csccllcncc in Terrace. “If you want to make education affordable, you bring it home and this is what’s happening hcre. This is the real stuff happening on the ground here,” he said. - Harris said thc placement here of two nursing programs now and thc planned arrival here in 18 months time of UNBC medical students for field cxpericncc will make the city stand out. “It is putting the city and the institutions on the map in B.C.,” the MLA continucd of thc cspanding health care programs. ‘”l’hcrc is also a vcry real eccnomic dcvclopment compo- nent for our community,” Harris added. “With this,’ there is ‘ no going backward. It is only going forward.” ‘I’hc College of Ncw Calcdonia has a similar science dc- grce-granting program with UNBC in Qucsncl and in Prince By JEFF NAGEL alone. George and there is degree program in Courtcnay on Van- THE AMOUNT OF money The province’s gaming payout At least 2s other‘I’erracc groups couver Island. community groups here get from that received bingo moncy in 2001 NWCC dean Katherine Mclndoc, who hclpcd put thc pro- bingo has fallen for two straight have seen their grants drop IO per gram together, said studcnts will spend the first year taking a cent or more. years, even though bingo players to Terrace groups- - has quietly- - core of science and related courscs and hegin to concentrate hre spending and losing as much as Just four groups are getting at on nursing beginning their second ycar. ever. dropped by $250,000 a year least IO per cent more moncy than “Beginning in the second ycar some of the courscs will Government rccords show Ter- A they rcccivcd in 2001. involve academics as ~vcllas clin/cal placcmcnts,” she said. race groups rcccivcd ncarly $257,000 *;* “I havent heard of any groups Students will spend more time in hculth care facilitics as less in 2003-04 than thcv did in 2001 getting more moncy,” Dochlcr said. they enter the latter stages of their education. One of the fcw winners. the Kcr- Mclndoc said the program is being designed so as not to mode Friendship Society. is now gct- place students in area health care facilities at the same time ting$I64.000-upfrom$I 17,000in received $1.74 inillion from bingo, ;IS licenscd practical nursing students who also require clini- according to pro\,incc*s gaming general rC\’cllUcS.” Says I,ois Doc- hcat. the light - those kinds Of 2001. cal place mc n 1s. 0 hlcr. csccutivc director of Terrace things,” shc said. add- policy branch. Some new groups have been ‘I‘hat‘s to avoid overloading hcnllh carc facilities with stu- Big Brothcrs and Big SiSlcrS. Big Brothcrs and Big Sisters no\\’ That fell to $1.4million handed cd, but others have lost their bingo dents, she said. out to 40 groups in 2003-04. Hcr group, which matches youths get $28.650 pcr ycar from bingo affiliations altogcthcr. up with adults willing to help them, here, governmcnt rccords show. NWCC‘s liccnscd practical nurse program is also fairly The drop has raised suspicions And the increascs don’t comc new and the third class of 24 studcnts is now more than half- has shut its downtown office and rc- ‘That’s been dropping steadily, closc to ofi’setting the nct decrease. among Some local groups, who think way finished training. 11 money is being funnelled a\\,av to lncatcd to Dochler’s home because down from $45,100 in 2001 and Players continue to spend around of thc shortagc of moncy. $60,000 in 2000. Forsyth said thc collcgc~‘~ovcrall scicnces program will Victoria. $5.5 million per year at thc I~cky bc solidificd bv the prcsencc of 18 nciv students. “1 belieire the msiiey is going into, “We can’t afford the rent, the Big Brothers and Sisters is not Cont’d on Page A5 c _-.- Gow’t tagged for mill sal6 I,ES WA’I’MOUGH says B.C. I’{cmier Gordon Camp- ctisn:set for trch bell and cabinct minister Richard ‘I’horpe should be 24 chargcd \vith breach of trust ovcr the provincc‘s handling By JEFF NAGEL Someone could still buy the mill the Terrace assets is significantly in industry. of the Skeena Ccllulose sale. MARCH 24 has been set as intact then, he said, they’d just be doubt.” “Since our proposal in Novem- The long-time Thornhill regional district represen- liquidation day for the Terrace’s buying it from the liquidators rather No actual offer has been made for ber three to four other B.C. sawmills tativc says the provincc. as majority owner of the be- New Skeena sawmill. than the receiver. the mill here. he said. but the terms have come onto the liquidation mar- leagucrcd company in 2001, sold it for less than it was But it’s still far from certain the “You never know,” Talstra said. discussed fall far short of the liqui- ket, two of which will go to auction worth after it \vent into bankruptcy protection. mill will be auctioned off piece- “There still could be someone pur- dation valuc. prior to the Terrace sawmill auction Ne\\ owncrs, NWBCTimbcr and Pulp, failed to open meal on that day, says mayor Jack chasing it as a going concern.” Maynards has dropped its mini- in March.” their proposal says. up the re-named Ncw Skecna Forest Products and it also Talstra. He conceded he is more optimis- mum guaranteed payout from the “.As a result, there is an oversup- \vent into bankruptcy protection in late 2003. The com- ply of Sawmill equipment on the B.C. Supreme Court Justice Don- tic a deal is possible to restart the Terrace sawmill auction by $100,000 pany’s assets are now to bc liyuitcd to pay creditors. ald Brenner Jan. 27 approved receiv- mill than Prentice appears to be. to $2.55 million. market, rcsulting in lower liquida- Watmough says the province failed its duty by selling er Larry Prentice’s request to turn “The prospects for a successful Prentice said he has madc it clear tion and auctim prices.” the cornpan)’ for $6 million tvhcn it said it had more than the sawmill here over to Maynards conclusion to these discussions has that number is “a minimum thresh- The auctioneer will mail out $40 million in asscts. Hc’s also critical of the way the auction house for liquidation. deteriorated,” the receiver said in old for an offer on the mill equip- 30,000 brochures to promote the sale procccdcd. saying the process did not follow usual Talstra said there’s still a 15-day his Jan. 24 report recommending the ment.” sale here. rules. period in which Prentice can halt liq- mill go to auction. The estimate from the auctioneers Under Maynards’ terms. a The Kitimat-Stikine regional district board tabled uidation plans and sign a deal with “The interest of one group ap- covers all equipment, rolling stock, $I 15,000 break fee must be paid. Watmough’s Jan. 22 motion to have Campbell and then- one of the groups bidding for the ‘pears to have waned.” prentice said. removable buildings, scrap steel and along with any other espenses. if‘ enterprise minister Thorpc chargcd with breach of trust. sawmill. “And while the second group re- materials. the receiver strikes a deal to sell the The board has asked its administrators to provide sawmill Ivithin the allo\ved 15-day “You’ve got to remember even if mains very interested in discussing Maynards officials said the mini- more i nformation, i iicl uding i n\.cstigating the process the 15 days are over, Maynards is in an acquisition, their ability to make mum guarantee \\‘as reduced due to pcriod.