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DECEMBER

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Home & Garden
Heaith Trends
: North Shore Alert
: Pel Page seo 2
? Seniors ove 14
: Talking Personals e** 32

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36 Pages

Gang war
failout
continues

TWO of four co-
accused in a 1996 vio-
lent kidnapping and
extortion bid are now
dead.

Bindy (Bhupinder) Johal, 27,
was shot in the head and killed on
Dee. 20 on a crowded Vancouver
nightclub dance floor. Earlier this
month, Roman Mann's body was
found in Richmond. He was 21.

A third co-accused, North
Vancouver resident: Mani Rezaci,
was shot in the head about 2
month atier Lotus gang associate
Randy Chan was kidnapped in
1996,

Rezaei, 22, survived the shoor-
ing. He pleaded guilty to the
armed kidnapping cartier this vear
and was sentenced to tive vears in
jail to be served concurrently to a
14-vear jail sentence for an unre:
laced attempted murder.

The surviving kidnap co
accused awaiting, tial, Davinder
Singh Gady, 20, is not concerned
about his safety and. is not inter
ested in police protective custody,
said Vancouver Police Const.
Anne Drennan, Gady’s jury tial is
slated for Jan. 25, ‘Vhe kidnapping
victim, Randy Chan. 20, is the
young brother of Lotus gang
member Raymon Chan.

Martina Millerchip

News Reporter
taartin@nsnews.com

VANCOUVER Wharves Ltd. got an carly
Christmas present from the provincial gov-
ernment this year but it’s North Vancouver
District taxpayers who will be paying for it.
By a Dee 17 goverment: order it council the company's

1$4-acre waterfront property south of Stewart Street and cast of
Capilano Road will have ity municipal tases capped retroactively to

SVT RE RST TM QE ete ETSY SEMPRE TONE PADRE SG OTA TI HATE A ME IEE

Sunny San Catlos °°:

Dry conversation 2:
Winter weather can take
its toll on your skin

Victoria cuts NVD taxes
owed by Van Wharves

1¥97,

According to district mayor Dan Bell it’s another evample of
fiscal downloading: “If Vancouver Wharves needs a tax break to
be competitive with other ports that’s a provincial or tederat
responsibility. Why should the neighbouring municipality and its
residential and business taxpayers be providing the subsidy?”

The property is currently assessed at just over $34 million.

Bargain beer
at Mexican vacation spot

Rt eter 1h ee

and great golf

Top stories
from 1998

The year
in news 23

NEWS photo Brad Ledwidge

A snowboarder catches some big air atop Grouse Mountain on a recent sunny day. Cold temperatures and plenty of the white stuff
have given North Shore snowboarders, skiers and ski-hili operators a great holiday season.

The unilateral provincial action removes $323,000 trom the
discict’s 1999 tas devs and erases over $400,000 of tases “owed”
to the district for 1997 and 1998.

Vancouver Wharves wis acquired by BC Lo’ an arly 25,
1993, becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cro. corpo:
radon by the end of that year. In 1994 Vancouve harves then
claimed exemption trom taxation on the same ba its parent
company is exempted by the British Columbia Railway Act.

Instead, BC Rail pays an annual grant in dicu of taxes on its
Properties (already reduced and capped by the provinge) and since
1994 Vancouver Wharves has done the same.

PAS

See Tay pane 13