TUESDAY
S I N C E
1 8 9 5
JUNE 5, 2012
Jays look to regroup
Vol. 117, Issue 109
110
$
Page 11
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF
ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALM SALMO
GLAZE GAZE
Mixed reaction to duty changes BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
TIMOTHY SCHAFER PHOTO
Valerie Clouston checks the glaze on her finished hand-built pottery in the Trail Community Centre’s pottery studio on Sunday. Clouston, who has been creating hand-built pottery for seven years, was testing the depth, hue and colour marking of a new batch of glazes, which have come into her possession
Local businesses in the Greater Trail region might feel the pinch this month after a June 1 rise in the duty-free limit tempts shoppers to make a run for the border for all those cheaper consumer goods in the U.S. With changes introduced in the 2012 federal budget, the duty-free limit on visits of more than 24 hours quadrupled, rising from $50 to $200 as of Friday. In addition, any visit longer than 48 hours allows a Canadian to return with duty-free goods worth up to $800 — up from $400 for up to one week, and $750 for longer than a week. The allowance for duty-free goods remains at zero for stays of less than 24 hours. The duty-free change could harm local retailers and the talk around Waneta Plaza during coffee Monday morning was the deleterious effect the change could have. “I personally don’t agree with it,” said Heather Nesbitt, the manager of women’s clothing store Suzanne’s in the mall. “For the small town, border towns, like us it will hurt some people.” Any extra trips to the U.S. would represent more money lost from local cash registers, and magnify any business problems Greater Trail businesses are having with the dollar and price gaps between the two countries on most goods. But that is not the case for everyone. Being this close to the U.S. could have had a negative effect on sales at electronics store The Source, but its prices are competitive and,
See PEOPLE, Page 3
Businesses asked to keep tabs on pallets during grad month BY BREANNE MASSEY Times Staff
Graduation has finally arrived and so have the parties. Local residents have expressed concern about grad parties this month because there have been several major clean-ups due to teenagers who are allegedly taking wooden pallets and burning them for firewood. “I don’t know if they’re stealing them or the businesses are giving (pallets) to the kids but it’s a problem,” said Terry Hanik, president of the Trail Wildlife Association. “After the pallets are burned, it
leaves behind piles of nails everywhere.” Hanik said the clean up that’s required is hefty and often asks youth with trucks full of pallets to leave the area that he’s responsible for in Fort Shepherd. “We don’t need that in Pend d’Oreille or in Fort Shepherd,” said Hanik. He would like to see local business owners lock up their supplies to prevent theft and he encourages them not to give pallets away. But he’s not the only person concerned about the surge in pallets being burned in the area,
the West Kootenay ATV Club (WKATV) recently removed 70 pallets from the Pend d’Oreille. “We got 10 minutes notice that it needed to be done,” said Joya McIntyre, president of WKATV. “It was on private property and we were asked by the RCMP and BC Hydro to have the (pallets) recycled. It took two and half hours to clean-up.” Hanik, the self-proclaimed warden of Fort Shepherd, said that the problem is ongoing but that graduation doesn’t help. “I did turn away two trucks full of pallets because they told
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Volunteers removed 70 pallets from the Pend d’Oreille area. me they were going to have a fire,” said Hanik. “I told them they weren’t having any fires out here and told them to get out of here.
I took their license plate numbers and they said they were probably going to go up to Pend d’Oreille.” According to Hanik, the RCMP is well versed in the problem and has been monitoring the situation carefully. Members of the WKATV club usually volunteer to help out with clean-ups in the area each year. “We usually do the first clean up of the year after grad and it normally takes about six hours,” McIntyre said. “The year before the last we took out four trucks and two trailers of garbage out of there.”
7ANETA 0LAZA IS HERE FOR ALL YOUR SHOPPING NEEDS • Ardene • Athlete’s World • Bogie & Bacall Hair Salon • Bootlegger • Crockett Book Company • Dollarama • McAuley’s No Frills • No Frills Pharmacy
• Free parking
• Pro Vision Optical • Red Cross Loan Cupboard • Reitmans • Ricki’s • Suzanne’s • The Source • Waneta Gas Bar • Waneta Plaza Lottery Ticket Centre
• Food court
• Warehouse One The Jean Store • Your Vitamin Store • Zellers • Zellers Pharmacy Financial • Kootenay Savings Credit Union ATM • Scotiabank
Restaurants / Food Court • Clive’s Coffee Bar • Colander Express • Eastern Wok • Sushiyo • Tim Horton’s
• Free kids playroom and ball pit
2 2nd Floor Professional Offices • Dr. DeGreef, Plastic Surgeon • Dr. Le Moel, Chiropractor • Dr. Morency, Ophthalmologist • Septen Financial Ltd • Waneta Primay Care Clinic
250.368.5202
5 min. east of Trail on Highway 3B
Contact the Times: Phone: 250-368-8551 Fax: 250-368-8550 Newsroom: 250-364-1242