Cruiser crash NORTH VANCOUVER RCMP are investigating a motor vehicle accident that sent one of the police department’s cruisers crashing into a house on Sunday morning. A police spokesman said Const. Carlos Gutierrez was in 2 marked police car travelling west in the 300-block of East Keith Road at about 9:40 a.m. in response to a call of theft of equipment in progress. According to the police, a 1984 Toyota Tercel, driven by 24-year-old Patrick Sutherland of North Vancouver, came along St. Andrews Avenue and collided with Gutierrez’s police car. The crash sent Gttierrez’s car on to a sidewalk. It then crashed through a chain-link fence and a shed before coming to rest against a house at 307 East Keith Road. Sutherland and a passenger in his car, Ester King, 25, were (reated for minor injuries at Lions Gate Hospital. Gutierrez was not injured in the accident. A police investigation is continuing. Talks expected THE HEAD of the North Vancouver Disirict 44 School Board (NVSE) said he expects that contract talks will resume with the North Vancouver Teachers’ Association ' (NVTA) before the start of the new school year in September. * “There are no meetings plauned, but I anticipate there wil! be meetings before schoo? starts,’ NVSB superin- tendent Robin Brayne said Tuesday. The: teachers’ union has been without a_ collective agreement since June 30, 1992 and has been in a legal - strike position since April. ‘Last week, NVTA president Keith Denley announced . his memforship will hold a full-scaie strike if no contract settlement is reached by Sept. 7, the first day of classes. .. Both sides in the labor dispute have accused the other of failing to bargain throughout the summer. . Labor Relations Board (LRB) chairman Grant MeAr- thur had speat nine days with the two sides in May and Juae. He was able to reduce the disputed issues from 35 to 18, Denley said the union had asked the school board to enter into binding arbitration. School board chairman Don Bell said the board was willing to go to binding ar- bitration, but. the union wanted to hire an independent ‘grbitrator. . ° Bell said the NVSB was not willing to pay for a private : arbitrator who was not aware of the issues as McArthur wes. He added that the school board cannot offer the union arc swage increase. The union bas yet to table a wage pro- Strike stalemate THERE APPEARS to be no end in sight to a strike at North Vancouver-based BC Rail. ° The rail shutdown entered its 3151 day today. .. “I wish there was something to report, but there isn’t,’? BC Rail spokesman Barrie Wall said Tuesday. .. . ‘He said the provincial cabinict was scheduled to hold a * ‘meeting today, but Wall did not know if ihe BC Rail strike was on the agenda. ., The Council of Trade Unions (CTU), which represents 1, 600 BC: Rail employees and seven unions, went on- strike against the Crown corporation on July 19 to back contract demands. . The company bas offered the union 2% wage increases - in each of the first three years of the 42-month contract, a " 1% wage hike in the last six months and a performance bonus pian for each year of the contract. The CTU is asking for a 30-month contract, with a 2.05% wage increase in the first. year, a 2.2% salury hike and a cost of living allowance (COLA) in the secord year and a 1.1% wage increase and a COLA adjustment in the third year of the contract. “CTU chairman Ray Callard said the union refuses to accept a ‘‘2% dictate’’ because that would mean BC Rail employees would be ciassified as public sector employees _ and would therefore be bound by a 2% wage cap impos- ed on public sector workers by the provincial govern- ment. The sirike, meanwhile, has cost North Shore and northern BC Rail customers millions of dollars in lost. reventie. Tony Jarrett, president of North Vancouver-based Fibreco Export, which exports woodchips to foreign markets, said his company has lost $4 million, $2 million of that being lost sales to Japan. He, and other industrial operators, have called for the provincial government to step i in and settle the labor . dispute. THE REPAVING of north viaduct and the replacing of a wind con- nector and truss bearings on the Lions Gate Bridge will soon be under way. Project costs, which total $363,426, include engincering, supervision and materials supplied by the min?stry. “These contracts are in keeping with the commitment I made to keep the Lions Gate Bridge in a high state of repair until the bridge has either been rebuilt or replaced,’’ said Transportation and Highways Minister Art Char- bonneau. Both projects were deemed essential in the Buckland and Taylor . bridge condition report released to the public in May. A contract for $224,826 was awarded to Imperial Paving Ltd. of Burnaby for the repaving of the north viaduct of the bridge. Work is expected to be com- pleted by the end of August. A contract for $67,350 was awarded to Pro-Stcel Erectors of Delta for the replacement of the wind connection and two new truss bearing assemblies at the south abutment of the bridge. ‘Work is scheduled to be com- pleted by Dec. 10. The job will entail three full night closures of the bridge. The ministry will advertise the closures in advance. A public consultation process on the future of the bridge was ; PROPANE FRIDGES, STOVES & LIGHTS (NEW & USED) * New Fridges - Test Firad & Checked * Tanks — ‘Tubing ~ Fittings + Instant Hot Water Tanks $299 * Propane Tanks Re-dated « Propane Rapairs + Servel Fridge Parts & Repair - § PROPANE APPLIANCES & ROCRSTOVES LTD. 2671 Ba. 3.82, Richevod ab) B (north end of No3 Ad) th i Wednesday, August 18, 1993 — North Shore News - Lions Gate Bridge contracts awarded the announced in July. The Buckland report states that the Lions Gate Bridge is safe but frequires a comprehensive maintenance program to ensure that it is fully serviceable for at least the next five years. More than $30 million has been spent on bridge rehabilitation over the last 17 years. An additional $19 million could be required to maintain the bridge over the next five years, according to the report. The bridge deck requires the “pawdy. profane. | hilarious Chicago Sun Times “ayaunty. two-hour tour de force” Boston Herald most attention, needing up to $2 million worth of work, annually during a five-year maintenance program. Victoria is considering putting a toll on the bridge to raise the money. A Lions Gate Crossing infor- mation centre is open in Van- couver from 8 to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday. The centre is located at suite #330-900 Howe Street. The tele- phone number for the centre is 683-0360. two outstanding comedy /eramas. 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