By Anna Marie D'Angelo g News Reporter ALLAN Douglas Widdifield was in charge of purchasing at a North Van business when he wrote $81,646.08 worth of cheques to his friends. Widdifield was jailed for two years less a day for the fraud on Sept. 4. North Vancouver provincial court Judge Jerome Paradis ordered the 36-year-old North Van man to pay EVS Consultants Ltd. $81,646.08 in compensation. The fraud involved 30 cheques issued over a 15-month period between August 1992 and NV school computers outdated From page 1 edge of the wedge in administra- tion deciding how funds raised by # parent committees are spent. B. “It relieves government of pro- j viding computers at a time when im they should be an integral part of Wthe curriculum,” ,he said. “It becomes a new fundraising arm of the government.” ; North Vancouver superinten- @ dent of schools aRobian Brayne agreed some schools will be able to raise more furids than others... : Last year more. than 1$340,000 was raised in the: district and. ‘spent on comput- B crs and technology, said Killeen. This year, the. 13 schools being wired will have to contribute $10,000 of the’ $29,000 | to $50,000 wiring tab, said Killeen. The wigalda dict sheds. QYOUP’S rescue capabilities To offset concerns of some Fundraiser aimed at aiding By Robart Gaister October 1993. A vice-president in charge of finance and administration for the company first realized there was a problem when two cheques had not been returned with a company bank statement. The two cheques totalled $10,500. The vice-president looked at the unreturned cheques at the bank and noted that her name had been forged. According to Crown evidence, she did some digging and discovered seven company cheques were missing from a cheque book and that a sec- ond company imprinting machine was being used. A financial investigation of the environmental services consulting company cn Pemberton Sunday, September 15, 1996 - North Shore News — 3 ed for defrauding company Avenue revealed that two people who were issued the 30 cheques had no connection to EVS Consultants, The cheques made out to the two people ranged in amounts from $675 to $7,200. The two people receiving the cheques said Widdifield owed them money. The cheque recipients were not charged with any offences, Regional Crown lawyer Kevin Marks sought a two- to four- year jail term for Widdifield. Widdifield’s lawyer argued that a one-year teri would be more appropriate. Widdifield has a criminal record for a similar offence. In 1989 he was convicted of theft over $1,000 from an employer. NEWS photo Cindy Goodman A fully recovered Phillip Gander displays photos depicting his comatose frame during the 16-day — _ period he spent in an induced coma following his Mi. Seymour hiking accident. state before doctors tried bringing kim out. Until that date, the longest known stretch lasted only 12 days. ~ However, after much hard rehab work, Philip has made a complete recovery. ; Throughout the ‘ordeal, J Phillip’s Venturer iscout North Shore bus cuts looming By Robert Galster Contributing Writer NORTH Shore residents relying on a bus to take them over the Lions Gate Bridge may have to look to the SeaBus when mak- ing the trek after 8 p.m. The Vancouver Regional Transit Commission (VRTC) is considering proposed cuts to existing transit services that include the termination of the No. 240 15th Street bus service after 8 p.m. Also under consider- ation is the elimination of one of the three afternoon rush-hour buses running between UBC and North Vancouver. The changes were scheduled to take effect on Dec. 9. Although the proposals are not yet final, they have some people criticizing not only. the plan itself, but also its timing. “To do that in December is, in my opinion, somewhat ludi- crous,” said North Vancouver District Mayor Murray Dykeman at the commission’s Wednesday sitting, expressing his concern for Christmas shoppers. Dykeman is a member of the VRTC, which is entrusted with making the final decision on the cutbacks. He said. the commission das postponed making that decision until Sept. 25 to allow members’ to have an opportunity to study the impact of the changes. : “We'll have move facts and the dollars invoived in the vari- ous chanyes,” said Dykeman. .°Dykernan said the commis-: sion staff's proposal is based on an existing policy regarding’ tran- sit’s costliest routes and -is. not political. fot “My immediate reaction..was’ there aze a lot of people working in Pacific Centre and the down- - town core,” said Dykeman.. » Nathan’ Davidowicz, a - self-- proclaimed transit critic, was left scratching his head following the.. announcemeiit of the proposals, “That’s really punishing.a for: troop, of which his brother Adam is 2 leader, banded schools being left behind, the tech- together to form a support network for the Ganders. nology budget contains a $30,000 of people, making them go down. Contributing Writer | ' to the SeaBus,” said Davidowicz.: ategory for equity grants to schools. : . Those grants go to schools with fewer than one computer for every 60 students, said Killeen, He added that the best way to ddress equity is te put in a bigh- capacity computer network as the board is doing. Burt while the wiring will Rincrease access to the Internet, Amany of the district's computers ren’t capable of accessing the AInterner, “Killeen said that in 1987 the chool districe spent hundreds of Bthousands of dollars on technology, Apurting computer fabs in all schools. “Those. out-of-date machines now form the backbone of the dis- trict’s computer inventory, he said. BNone. is capable of accessing the em fiternec. Only 30% of the district's nachines meet. the government standards calling for 386 or better ‘or PG compatible processors or LCHI ‘for Apple computers, said Killeen. 7. The province’s targeted funds Mor technology for 1996-97 in RNorth Vancouver District are 285,762, -down trom the 8$309,000 provided last year. ' GRATITUDE knows no bounds while the uninhibited appreciation of life grips a fami- ly that has experienced a recent brush with death. The Gander family is currently under such a spell and last Tuesday made an $1,100 donation to the North Shore Rescue Team, The Ganders’ lives were turned upside down last Feb. 10 when their now 19-year-old son Phillip stipped while hiking on Mt. Seymour and plunged down an icy slope. His lifeless body came to rest 150 metres (492 ft.) later and would not be moved for six hours. “When they brought him in (ro the hospital), ey didn’s think he would make it,” said Phillip’s mocner Rosemary. It turned out Philip suffered a serious head injury. Hospital doctors submerged the unconscious Phillip inta an induced coma to limit the already severe swellings of his brain, He spent the next 16 days in the comatose The “magnificent” bunch took turns with household chores such as cooking and walking the dog. . “This was a group that made a difference for-us asa family,” said Rosemary. She also made inquiries into who was involved in her son’s rescue. It was during this time thar she became aware of the sorry state of the rescue team’s systems. The discovery led to a bottle drive by friends and family of the members of Phillip’s Burnaby-based scout troop, with the proceeds benefitting the rescue team. “It’s a typical fundraiser we do, but we thought it would be a good idea to have a fundraiser for the North Shore Rescue Team,” said the fully recovered Phillip, North Shore Rescue Team's Tim Jones is naturally thankful for the unexpected injection of funds, but said the team also values the family’s recognition of the team’s efforts. “Tes a big, morale booster for our team,” said: [ones adding that with the exception of a smail municipal grant, the team relies exclusively on donations from the public. release his name. The initured North Unlicensed driver Charged coc omc Os uien v ay Anna Marie B’Angelo News Reporter A scheol-bound 10-year-old boy escaped with a cut ro his chin on Friday after he was hit by a car on Capilano Road near Fullerton Avenue in North Vancouver. . The driver of the car, Wang Le- 1992 Lexus. Hsiang Hung, 56, of. Taiwan, was charged with disobeying a red light and driving without a valid driver's licence. She was leaving for Taiwan the day of the accident. The registered. owner of the vehicle was charged with permitting an unlicensed driver to drive his Police declined to hospital, where he received about five stitches to his chin, said North Vancouver RCMP traffic section Const, Al Steinhauser, Steinhauser said the boy was going, to his sitter’s house. The sit- ter was then going to accompany him to school, The incident happened at 8:31 a.in,, said Steinhauser. i cight and “They'll have to take.a bus to the SeaBus, take the SeaBus. and then’ take another bus on the other side.” Co, He said the planned cutbacks were proposed without any con- sulration with any of the North Shore murticipalities or the pub- lies” Dykeman, who supported the motion to delay making a deci- sion on the cuts for two weeks, said consultations with munici- paliues are on the commission's agenda during the extension. Davidowicez also pointed to the SeaBus’ ceasing nightly oper- atious shortly after midnight at which time another bus takes over and continues plying the North Vancouver roure vie the Lions Gate Bridge, “No bus service between 12:30. when the SeaBus closes —- haw do you explain that the public? It’s somewhat — ridiculous,” said Davidowicz. : The cuts are part of a B.C. Transit effort to streamline its operations by cutting 41,300 hours of service per year throughout ‘the — Lower Mainland.