THE SMILE of. Alyona Danilova's s face is so wide, not even the constraints of hee sur- gical mask can hide it. By Chris Campbell Contributing Writer The six-year-old Russian child is grinning because she bas a new foy in her frail hands, a small VW Beetle with big tires and a racing” stripe on the side. . The vehicle will be an effective distraction for her long days wait- ing fora bone marrow transplant in the gloontycorridors of the Russian Children’ Clinical Hospital” in Moscow, Alyona suffers from aplastic anemia and has spent four agoniz- ing months in hospital, with Hille to do but sleep or watch cattoons on a grainy television screen. - “The days are endless here,” _ Says her father Constantine, who trades shifts with his wife Olga to ‘keep Alyona occupied. “There are no toys and nothing to do, We wish. | He to take our daughter home soon fg “because she cannot be happy here.” |. - But avray-of light came:to.. Alyona’s dark future when two: boxes of toys Were delivered to ths facility. ; '<;See Canadian page 9 Sesser Photo pubmitted _ NORTH VANCOUVER’s Montroyal students have collected 67 boxes ‘ot clothe 3 and toys for Russian hospitals. : ' Man battles cancer and vows to meet his former flame one more time A DYING: American’s search for the... North: Shore worran he ‘once loved ended ‘this week wheh the News found her living “in Burnaby. -. By Kate'Zimmerman - _ News Reporier “] thought he’d died in the San Francisco arthquake’™. said a delighted Jean Andersen. . But Roy Wilmore had merely moved from " | Frisco to Baton Rouge, La. in 1989, losing touch : : 4 with Andersen in the process. His effort to find her began with a letter to the . oo office of. the mayor of North Vancouver City, not Wilmore; | giving Andersen’s last address and asking some- * one to find the.““very close friend” he made when he lived in Vancouver in the mid-’8fts, “66, wrote that he was plinning a “tip to Vancouver. It would likely be his list. He "has terminal cancer. F « . _ ‘ Andersen phoned Wilmore: Monday, as soon” as the News called her with his number. ’ She was saddened to find that he was not ‘oaly coping with two forms of cancer, but also with the ncws that one of his daughters was criti-. cally ill. : He still plans to visit his old flame, taking the | train to Seattle and the bus to Vancouver in the next few months. Andersen hopes he’ll be up to the trip, and intends to persuade him to take the “plane. T hough she herself has been bedridden by her ‘diseases, her health; has improved dramaticaliy since last November, when she started taking a. drug called Parlodel (Bromocriptine). She now saves her wheelchair for Joag-dis- tance treks and has been spending her time send- ing the results of her use of the drug, which jis usually given to sufferers of Parkinson’s disease, | to various health organizations around the world. Wilmore is the kind of man who has always taken care of others, Andersen said, noting that he moved his office into his home so he could tend to his first wife when she was dying of can- , cern, : Andersen, who hid spoken to Wilmore three times as of Wednesday, cannot travel to see him because of her own illnesses. She also has to keep her emotions in check ‘because they could cause her symptoms to flare up. ; Nevertheless, she has every intention of kelp- ing Wilmore. “I will be supportive, by phone,” she said. And when Roy Wilmore’ pulls into Vancouver once more, she'll be waiting. Ted White MP, North Vancouver There ‘The public is definitely not being held in private with no public input and no MPs present. THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: / informed....The land claims are’ sees no budget hike in W. Van WEST VANCOUVER Mayor Mark Sager pre- dicted Monday that his council would introduce a 0% municipal’ budget increase next week, ORE WEST VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL . by Maureen Curtis He made. the.comment in . reply to questions from Blair Bailey over a 25-page brief on _™municipal spending submitted . to the municipality. by a self- appointed committee of resi-. dents. Ron Baldry, Bill Brown, « Daniel Hall, Brice Macdougall and Gordon Kerr wrole the | brief. The document was aimed at showing how cuts in munic-; ipal spending could be made. }:" The five .offered to meet with council to discuss possi- ble options. ‘ Sager said he. is willing to.. meet with members of the, committee. But he pointed, out that members of ratepayer groups had been invited to a budget»: discussion with council that is: “held annually. 2-0! { “West Vancouver's high/ "|. taxes (highest per capita in the. GYVRD- in 1991!) motivated the ° committee’to prepare their. brief, Macdougall said. ©: - He added that the latest West Vancouver Citizens - Survey, shows a growing num- ber.of residents fear they can: no longer afford to live i ‘din the . municipality... io + : » Macdougall said | more resi- ; dents watit taxes ‘cut)in’ West : Vancouver. . faa — :: “We get great services in’: the municipality, but a lot of people are having difficulty . holding on to their homes,” said Macdougill... The municipality, he said, must make some of the same cost cuts that! ‘private: center: . prise is making to survive. : ” Sager said he has asked. staff to examine, the items that have contributed significantly’ to tax incredses during the past decade. « Three ‘per cent of the bud- See Fund page & LAST MONTH a process began in which First Nations representatives and negotiators for the provincial and federal governments sat down to, talk about land chiims, The B.C. Treaty Commission is considering focal claims from the Burrard and Squamish people. Ursula Kosse West Vancouver : ' I'don’t think we are at all informed Well. | think most of us don’t have a ‘clue. Who do you think will win Lord Stanley of Preston’ Ss coveted prize?”