Fight follows court verdict Complainant jailed overnight A WOMAN who hotelier Ken Hutchinson was acquitted of sexually assaulting on Friday, is herself facing a charge of assault against the man. By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter “All wanted to do was wipe that smirk off his face that he has on quite often,” said the 29-year-old Richmond woman. She was in Lions Gate Hospital on Monday for what she described as stress. Hutchinson, 48, was acquitted of four counts of sexual assault alleged to have involved three of his former employees in the 1980s. The identities of the women are protected by court order. _ Hutchinson denied all charges "against him. A B.C. Supreme Court " judge agreed. The Richmond woman said she _is devastated by the acquittal. : 4G Why is there such ~ @ severe discrepancy _ between what is taught in this high school and what we see in Victoria? FY -— Handsworth grad She said she went to the Avalon Hotel looking for Hutchinson in the early evening. She said she tried to hit Hutchinson, but two of his friends restrained her. She claims she was assaulted by the men. “f spent 15 hours in jail... f am just devastated by the justice,” said the woman. The North Vancouver RCMP confirmed the woman was being held by two people when police arrived at the Marine Drive hotel. The woman was kept in jail overnight, according to police. Const. Catherine Galliford said that the alleged assault of Hutchinson involved a push. Meanwhile the Richmond woman told the News that she had testified all day Jan. 16 and was admitted to Lions Gate Hospital on the next day because of stress. Crown lawyer Allan Flanz said on Monday that he is reviewing the sexual assault case to see if there are grounds for appeal. From page 1 get deficits, the questioner said to loud applause: “Lsim-, ply asked for your assistance. It doesn’t ‘sound like I have it.” Schreck said he wouldn’t assist in allowing the board to overspend its budget. Schreck’s repeated call for the dismissal of the North __ Vancouver District 44 School Board was finally heeded _ . by Education Minister Art Charbonneau last Thursday. The board’s dismissal followed its ‘announcement that District 44’s deficit had ballooned to an expected $5 million and that it intended to submit an unbalanced budget to Victoria — which is contrary to the School - Act. At Monday’s meeting, held in Handsworth sec- ondary school’s gym and called by the North Vancouver Parent Advisory Council before the board was’ fired, parents got their chance to voice opinions and question trustees, politicians and other players in North Vancouver's board game. Fired board chairman Guy Heywood reiterated that District 44 suffers from insufficient funding and costly union contracts it can’t change. He noted wages and benefits eat up 90% of the district’s operating budget. Schreck said previous spending decisions by the board, such as sick-pay buyouts for administrators, hurt his case when he pleaded with Victoria for more funding for the school district. Sustained applause and parent comments revealed that “ost parents supported the board’s contention that itis underfunded. Parents called for better cost control on spending, more funding, wid un cpen budget process. One person noted the abundance of finger-pointing and asked for a more consultative approach. Another said there had been a lot of talk about contracts, but not about children. ; A Handsworth graduate said two values had been stressed while he attended the high school: process and accountability. ’ He said the board has tried hard to follow both val- ues, but the government took the easy route by firing the. board. , “Why is there such a severe discrepancy between what is taught in this high school and what we see in Victoria?” he asked. But not all. parents bought the underfunding line. _ Parent . Dave . Jamieson sought answers from North. Vancouver Teachers Association president Chuck” ‘Dixon. Jamieson reeled off a numbér of contractual perks received by teachers including paternity leave, topped up maternity leave, adoption leave of seven days, full pay during jury duty, four days of personal business leave and five days of religious leave. — Dixon said he was proud of terms such as maternity leave that support families, but issues raised by Jamieson will be covered in provincial bargaining, he said. Sorne parents questioned the role of Bob Smith, the Lions Gate Hospital president who has been appointed the public trustee to replace the fired school board. Smith will assess the district’s financial position and " report to the education minister.’ “Who's going to Jeok aft2r ovr imezests during aial- gumation?” asked one parent, referring to a proposal to Sink the North and West Vancouver school boards under a provincial plan. Schreck said Smith has the full powers of the schoo! board and expects Smith to comment “on what he has found” in three to five weeks. ‘Heywood announced that sick-day provisions in administrators’ contracts, which cost the district $75,000 this year and $300,000 in total when four administrators: left the. district last year, have been removed. The average teacher salary i in District 44 is $51,634 for a 194-day school year. The average teacher service in the district is 13.12 years. NV cat shot with pellet gun SENSEI, THE cat, tried to come back, but he only had the strength to make it to ‘a path near his North Vancouver owner’s ‘apartment door. By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter gun attack. Injuries amount to $800 veterinarian bill and heartache finally diagnosed as being a victim of a pellet- ‘next diagnosis was a cat fight. A lump on the cat’s back was thought to be a cat’s claw. left behind after a feline dispute. Salzborn then took the animal to an cat eye specialist in Vancouver. The specialist told Salzborn that the cat’s eye was dead and shrinking and that it had to be removed or the eyelid sewn down. A pellet was subsequently recovered from . “My boyfriend found him lying on the path. He picked him up, brought him inside and there - was bicod dripping out of his eye.” said Chelsa -- Salzborn, about her 10-month-old beloved feline. ~ Salzborn and the cat spent the last few weeks - visiting the vet. One trip included a visit to a cat eye specialist in Vancouver. . Sensei (pronounced Sen-zay) the cat was The damage to Salzborn’s wallet so far is $800 in vet fees. “He was hit at point-blank range. He got shot more than once,” said Salzbor, 20. The cat was shot on Dec. 23 somewhere near its home in the 200-biock of West 3rd Street in Lower Lonsdale. ; At first the vet thought the cat had been hit by a car because of the trauma to its head. The the cat’s back, confirming the pellet-gun attack. But the video store worker said Sense is not himself any more. For his own protection, the cat is now confined indoors. “He is all scared when anyone comes to my house now. He runs away,” said Salzborn. “I would like to know who did that. Why would anybody do that? I don’t understand. He is so innocent,” said Salzborn. f ders. : at North Shore Rescue Team § NEWS photo Paul McGrath WITNESSES CLAIM the driver of this truck drove straight into an overpass support on the Trans-Canada Highway just south of the Coach House Inn on Friday. The condition ot the dri- ver was unavailable to press time. — RESCUERS PLUCKED | six tobogganists off Bowen i Island’s highest ~~ “peat Monday moming.. , By Ian Noble. ae | News Reporter” ee Lions © Bay «. Search ‘and } Rescue member: Owen Jones: said ‘the rescuers! discovered f°. Steve Frazer of Bowen, his two sons and three’ other children at | 2:45 a.m. on the north side. of a Mount Gardner,. which towers: § | 727 metres (2,400; feet) above’ j sea level. Jones said the six were found 7 f wet and cold by a joint search | party that included the Lions |. |. Bay Search and Rescue, North |. i Shore’ Rescue: Team. and - the. | : RCMP. ' Hypothermia, he said, might 3 have posed problems for the § . | tobogganists had the’ six. had | been found a few hours later. f “It would have; been. very | hard for them if they had to stay 9 - out the whole night,’ said Jones. Jones added that Frazer and | | the five youngsters, all aged eight to 11, began climbing the mountain at approximately |: i p.m. so they could toboggan } down a Hydro road. : But while they climbed the tails to their destination, snow and then nightfall: disoriented them, said Jones. | They were reported missing I to the Bowen Island RCMP in the early evening ' by Frazer’ wife. ; Lions Bay Search and. Rescue joined the search’ at about 10:15 p.m. In total 21 res- y cuers and one dog combed the, mountain for the six lost sled- search manager Greg Miller | said the group should have left earlier. a “They were caught by dark- j ness, off the trail and unpre- J pared,” Miller said.