6 - Friday, December 12, 1986 - North Shore News Peter Speck Noel Wright Barrett Fisher Linda Stewart Publisher: Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Advertising Director Display Advertising 980-0514 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution 986-1337 Subscriptions 986-1337 Cr “ic i a | ti iy j if] Gg Eater be fer es te 1139 Lonsdale Ave. HE CORONER'S inquest into the tragic Pryce North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 family murder-suicide case in North Vancouver is over, but questions still linger as to whether police handled the incident appropriately. North Vancouver RCMP Staff Spi. Fred Zaharia testified that a specially-trained Emerpency Response Team was being assembled before the Sept. 10 shootings that left Ron Pryce and his four young children dead. va The police were first notified by Pryce’s wife Darlene that her husband, armed with a gun, had taken the children and was threatening to kill them. She called police around 11:30 a.m., but Zaharia said the earliest his team would have been on the scene was 1:30 p.m. Why the delay? Her warning should have prompted police to put the emergency team in place immediately. Instead they sent regular members, who testified they had never been involved with so serious an incident. That isn’t surprising, considering murder-suicides are rare in Canada. Statistics show that of the approx- imately 40 murders in Vancouver cach year, only three or four are followed by suicide. Three officers had been instructed to keep the house Pryce had entered under surveillance. But when fire broke out at 12:45 p.m. they made the decision to enter and try to rescue the children. Their heroic actions were commended by the five- man jury, and justifiably so.-But the question still re- mains — where were the specially trained officers? The police force should take a closer look at the timing of its Emergency Response Team for future emergencies. wuard 7 _ . ce “ : ' reals Cee ng He a IP News Viewpoint 4.4% AN independent subuttst nee tanenlay Fray and Se. at Beitrahon buritar 3H! He WHICATE Gul we Cannot Entire contents «> 1986 North Shore Free Press Lid. All nights reserved. 58,287 (average. Wednesday Friday & Sunday) Were fies (ae, NP Does B.C. Tel expect us to be mind-readers? OPEN LETTER TO NORTH VAN CITY COUNCIL As a long-time resident of the City of North Vancouver at 254 East Keith Rd., I wish to voice my dpposition to any rezoning of the Park and Tilford Garden property. Over the years we have watched Keith Rd. East traffic build to a Joint where at times one cannot oreak into the flow for minutes at 1 time. A change to retail jevelopment at Park and Tilford vould make the traffic situation inbearable. The city needs manufacturing industries to create jobs. We can- not continue to allow developers to build retail space when what we have available already is not being utilized. Service and retail businesses continue to go broke at an alarming rate. As an ex-operator of the Shell Service Station at Pemberton and Marine Dr. for 20 years 1 speak frorn experience when I say it is becoming increasingly difficult to turn profits in the retail business. The city has just spent millions of dollars on developing Lower Lonsdale and | commend them for this; but if they allow this development to proceed at Park & Tilford it will be a disaster for the Lonsdale Quay, the Lynn Valley and Capilano Malls, merchants of” Marine Dr., etc. 1 implore city council to work to this end, and not be swayed by the glitter of a mega project. The Ed- monton Mail is a good example of what not to let happen, even on a reduced scale. I am urging all business people and residents of North Vancouver to oppose this zoning change and expect council to listen to the voice of the people most directly af- fected. Robert Gladwin North Vancouver W/V alderman thanks voters i look forward to working with all members of our Dear Editor: 1 would like through your paper to express my most sincere thanks to the people of our community, West Vancouver, for the generous support I received in be- ng re-elected as an alderman. { would also like to extend very special thanks to ny family and close friends who helped during the few weeks of campaigning. Mark Saper Alderman West Vancouver Best wishes to new W. Dear Editor: ' wish Mayor Lanskail and his ‘ouncil success in their delibera- ions and actions so they can keep Nest Vancouver the unique com- aunity so highly valued by all its citizens. 1 also sincerely. thank all those who worked for my re-election and also those who voted for me on Nov. 15. . I am sure though you share my new council and wish to express my appreciation to those members of the former council who I have had the honor of serving with. Van council disappointment with the result you join me in wishing the new council success. Don Griffiths West Vancouver Dear Editor: I perceive myself as the victim of a large, impersonat corpora- - tion, a small victim but nonetheless, a victim. Fifty-five cents is not a large sum of money, but this involves a prin- ciple. The story is as follows: on my phone bill I found a directory assistance charge for 55 cents. Upon phoning the number in- volved | discovered that it belonged to Social Services and Housing. Look it up in the tele- phone book. It isn’t there. Not in the white, blue or yellow pages. I happen to know that Social Services and Housing is what was previously known as Ministry of Human Resources. The person who was looking for the phone number did not know this, look- ed in the telephone directory, could not find Social Services and Housing, then phoned in- formation. The operator gave this person the phone number but did not tell them that the phone number was listed under a dif- ferent heading. I contacted B.C. Telephone inquiries to find out about this charge. The first operator told me there was nothing that could be done. I was stuck with the charge. I phoned back a few minutes later and talked with another operator, I was told the same thing. This time I asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor told me that I was responsible for all calls made from my number. I was also told that I had a valid point but the charge still stands. I am not arguing with a legiti- mate charge for information when the individual, company or government office is listed in the telephone directory. I cannot see how they can make a charge when the individcal, company or government office is not listed in the telephone directory. Are we all supposed to be mind-readers and know when somebody changes their name or office heading? David Parsons North Vancouver og killer a ‘creep’ Dear Editor: It is hard to believe that in this beautiful village of West Vancouver there is such a creep around who would feeve the dearest gentle little dog Fifi to die in agony in an open garage in a quiet dead end lane off of 17th Street behind Fulton Ave. If they hit it accidently, leaving it there to die is most unforgivable. It was found in the open garage by a good friend who thought it may have been beaten with a club or big stick, its injuries were so severe. Synnove Guinan West Vancouver