SSS - Cassiar Courier the Voice of Cassiar Country APRIL 1985 10 cents -ERICKSONGETS ADDITIONAL FUNDING Erickson Gold Mines Ltd. announced recently that a Letter of Intent has been signed with NIM and Com- pany Limited Partnership 1985 for an exploration flow- through share issue (CEE) of $3,500,000 to fund Erick- son’s expanded 1985 exploration programs, subject to approvals by the Directors of Erickson and the Limited Partnerships General Partner and by the appropriate regulatory authorities subject also to the successful completion of a public offering on units by the Limited Partnership pursuant to a prospectus. Meanwhile, the Company has concluded negotiations for the private placement of 110,000 shares of the Com- pany at the price of $2.98 per share with non-trans- ferable warrants to purchase up to an additional 110,000 shares at the price of $3.18 per share exercisable on or before April 15, 1985. The inflow of funds to Erickson is good news for the mine which has been suffering from.low gold pues and low ore grade. Good Hope Lake School to close The Stikine District School Board has decided to close the Good Hope Lake School. There are presently 19 students in grades kindergarten through seven and project- ed figures for 1985-86 indicate only 15 students would be in attendance. There are two teachers at Good Hope Lake School. Principal Doug Kerr has requested a sabbatical leave for the 1985-86 school year and teacher Irene Marks has requested an education leave for the year. School Board Chairperson Sherry Sethen said the Board will look at the placement of the teachers next year when the entire situation is reviewed. Beginning in September the students will Be bussed to Snowridge Elementary Schoo! in Cassiar, a distance of 40 kilometres. Secondary school students from Good Hope Lake are already being bussed to Cassiar. District Superintendent Owen Corcoran said the declining enrollment, government regulations on the number of students per school and funding were major considerations in their decision. The cultural impact of moving the students from the native community of Good Hope Lake to Cassiar was also considered. Mr. Corcoran said, “We are convinced that overall the educational opportunities which prevail at Snowridge will be to the advantage of the students. We have indi- cated to the community that we will work hand in hand with the home/school co-ordinator to ensure that every possible consideration is given to the difference in the two situations -- the one in Good Hope and the one they will be moving into in Snowridge. We are quite con- vinced that with ie co-operation between the Board and the cor .cy of Good Hope Lake the transition that vw ‘ect will be beneficial to the students.” .e, the Board is considering how the school building itself can best be used in the future. There is a possibility it could be used as a community facility of some kind, District-87 Secretary/Treasurer Don Best said they do not want to see the building sitting idle and a decision on its use will be made sometime in the future. Also, the Board indicated that closing the Good Hope Lake School now does not mean it will necessarily close for good. If the community population increases the Board would look at proposals to re-open the school. RCMP REGIMENTAL BALL 1985 A Regimental Ball will be-held in Cassiar in 1985. This gala affair is scheduled to take place November 1 at the Recreation Centre. The Ball has been held only once before in Cassiar in 1983. It was attended by local guests, as well as RCMP officials and members from B.C., Yukon and Alberta. Music for the Ball will be supplied by the RCMP Dance Band. The 40 Piece RCMP Concert Band will perform for the Cassiar public on October 20,1985. Recent press releases from HBO, ESPN, the Movie Channel and other major American cable networks in- dicate that they are now in the process of implementing sophisticated scrambling devices to prevent pirating of their signals. Estimates losses per annum are in the mil- lions of dollars and, although these measures are directed at American abusers, the result will be to cut off Canadian viewers altogether. Since Canadian law prevents these net- works from broadcasting here officially, they are not los- ing any revenue from their Canadian audiences, and are- most sorry that the new scramblers will prevent us from picking up their signals after this year (in fact, some of the networks will be unavailable as early as this annie) We contacted Werner Schneeberger, who owns and operates WSTV, Cassiar’s local cable station, to find out how -these changes will affect television in our area. “We always attempt to provide the best satellite programming available, and will. continue to do so. Of the nine channels we operate, we have never had to leave one empty. We, in Cassiar, are not alone in worrying about the quality of television viewing choices being diminished. ’ Communities and individuals acrosss the country are also concerned. Preliminary discussions between cable oper- ators and the CRTC are currently underway, aimed at formulating proposals to be made this summer in Ottawa. Many operators, including Werner Schneeberger, will be making proposals before the National Board. Our special needs in this remote location require extra consideration. To this end, Schneeberger urges all local residents who are interested in the type of television available, to take the time to write to their MP, or better yet, write directly to the CRTC, expressing your opinions. He has all the ad- dresses required and would be more than happy to discuss the situation further with any individuals who care to find out more. THREE TRUCK PILE UP Three semi-trailer trucks carrying Cassiar asbestos were involved in a motor vehicle accident about 18 miles north of Dease Lake at the top of Islop Hill on March 2 1985. _ Dease Lake RCMP said the driver of the lead truck lost control and flipped, blocking the highway. As a result of the blocked road the other two eighteen wheel- ers smashed into the first truck. The road was closed for about four hours following the accident: The driver of the lead truck sustained minor injuries and has been charged with driving too fast for the road conditions. There was fresh snow on the road and accord- > ing to the RCMP conditions were extremely slippery. ~ The lead truck was completely demolished with an estimated damage of $40,000 to $50,000. The other two trucks received about $10,000 damage each. NORTHERN RCMP KILLED A police man-hunt along the shores of Teslin Lake end- ed in the deaths of R.C.M.P. Constable Michael Buday, aged 27, and of Michael Eugene Osor, sometimes known as “‘Chesley Mike”. Osor had been well-known and feared by local trappers and wilderness-dwellers as an unpredic- table and unsavory character who was a loner and an adept woodsman. Osor was 34 years of age. On the afternoon of March 18, 1985, the Teslin de- tachment of the R.C.M_P. received a complaint from a re- sident of Whitehorse that his cabin had been broken into over the winter. The complainant identified Michael Eugene Oros as being responsible. Teslin detachment members conducted an aerial recon- naissance of the area locating Oros on Teslin Lake, While flying over Oros on the lake, police reported he fired a: least one shot at the aircraft. The aircraft left the area and a warrant was obtained for Oros for 3.12 (A) of the Crim- a warrant was issued for Oros for Possesion of Stolen Pro- perty and for Pointing a Firearm. Due to Oros background the Prince Rupert and Terrace Emergency Response Teams were deployed. At 7:30 a.m. on March 19,,1985, Oros was observed walking along Teslin Lake. The emergency Response Continued to Page 16. Is it Good Bye to HBO and HSPN? Werner Schneeberger Of further local interest to television, viewers, Mr. Schneeberger will soon be introducing a new 10th channel. “As always, we want to provide the programming that best reflects local public taste. We are, therefore, conduct- ing a poll to find out which new channel people would like to see. Current plans are to choose either USA net- work or the new Rock Video network, but we are open to suggestions. Please drop in to the WSTV office and let us know what you'd like to see.”’ LANCHE BLOCKS CASSIAR ROAD A good size avalanche swept across the Cassiar road just east of the P. & W. garage at 12:15 a.m. on February 25th. : George Holman, the machine operator who cleared the road, said the slide was about 150 feet across and brought down about five feet of snow and trees onto the road. He said there was enough snow and debris that if someone on foot had been caught in the slide it could have been disastrous. Avalanche expert Allan Dennis of the Highways Department at Meziaden visited the area following the avalanche to check local snow conditions. Dennis teaches an avalanche survival course to the highways crews. He did extensive work with avalanches at the Granduc Mine near Stewart and his expertise in the field has taken him as far away as New. Zealand. According to the Highways Department the Cassiar area is prone to avalanches and with the present warming trend conditions ‘are just right for avalanches to come down. There has been quite a bit of slide activity in the area, but no others have crossed the roads. Holman said the avalanche danger will continue until the end of May. He added that avalanche areas along Cassiar district roads will be posted before the next snow season. At the Cassiar mine itself avalanche conditions are reviewed at safety meetings. Avalance areas along the mine road are plotted out and posted, as well as visually monitored. With high accumulations of snow and depend- ing On weather conditions potential avalanches have been blasted down. Mine Superintendent Paul Clarke said Snowbird Engineering of Terrace came in last year following the avalanche that took the tramline down andsince then courses have been: given to mine personnel and mine rescue crews on how to look for-a buried person and other safety aspects of avalances. Gordon Becket of the Environmental Department said personnel working in avalanche areas (such as Environ- mental Department personnel who measure snow depth on the mountain) are equipped with beepers which would act as homing devices should a worker be buried. Cross country skiers and snowmobilers should exer- cise extra caution during the avalanche season. The follow- ing is a list of general safety rules to consider when travel- ling in avalanche terrain: continued on page 12.