VIEW POINT:

‘Sweet home

NE of the more puzzling

behaviors of people who live

in and around Vancouver is the way they leave town when the going gets great right here.

For the information of those of you who are new to the Wet Coast, this is about as good as it gets.

The parks are blooming, the water is warmish, the outdoor pools invit- ing, the sites spectacular, and there are no major crowds to contend with.

What more could you want?

The reason why Vancouver becomes so great in August is the

.. peopie. - » “There are none. Or so it seems for those of us caught in the daily grind. . This month marks the finals in an irrational yearly race for the many who choose to fry in ferry lineups or cook on the Coquilhalla Highway.

mailbox

The imperative is to leave town in search of a better paradise just beyond the horizn.

For those of us who do make 2 point about sticking around in the city there are perks to be had: easier traffic, a better shot at parking, room to move.

Just getting to most places when you feel like it without penalty is something worth staying home for. That happens in August in the Big Smoke.

In a few weeks from now, every- thing will change.

The exhausted locals have to come

home for clean laundry.

Their vacation rat race will end by the start of the school year.

Now is our chance to dance in the somewhat empty streets.

Enjoy.

entennial

ee,

Cor Specie 6S 5. pono 5

Making’

Gun registry won't deter criminal use

Dear Editor:

Regarding the letter in Sunday’s North Shore News claiming that the new gun registry was responsible for the ‘uncovering of a gun smuggling piot.. If you believe this report I have a fast ferry flect to sell you.

~The offending shipment, mostly old Second World War U.S. surplus Garland siffes (10-12 Ib. in weight) not the choice of the average criminal, was probably destined for

movie lots or collectors, We should ask ourselves how the -

U.S. authorities gained knowledge of the offensive shipment, it sure made for some timely political press.. ; More importanily have any international arms dealers ever come close to being threatened by this expensive legislation. Only the dumbest_of crimin and ‘then commit a crime with the same weapon, in other words only law-abiding citizens are affected..As someone: ‘ence remarked “It’s fike a shepherd, unable to catch the wolf raiding his flock, going home and kicking his dog.”

-yThe original registry plan was to have cost some $80 mil- fion; it has now snowballed to some $350 million. Was the local NDP oversceing its implementation?

-: What would be wrong with copying the serial numbers of a firearm and going to lccal RCMP and getting a licence like. the drivers’ licence with photo ID? Too simple.

Ron Espin vs a North Vancouver nvron@telus.net |”

SB to pb

Sunday Focus applauded

Dear Bditor: . Your ‘article:on Sunday. Focus, .The- Nature of Maplewood, was great. ~*~ ‘Thank you for printing it. Michael Becker did a superb job and great photos. by Julie Iverson. -— Sharon Christian. “. Cs West. Vancouver ©

North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published . each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by HCN

~" Publications Cumpany and distributed to every door’:

on the North Shore. Canada Post Canadian” Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing rates available on request. Entire,

“contents © 2000 HCN Publications Company. All =|" tights reserved. Average circulation for Wednesday, Friday and Sunday is 61,582,

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reer enevas

would register a firearm —

NORTH Shore music lovers: What do you want to hear first: the good news or the bad news?

Bad news first, in deference to the underying journalistic belief that good news is an oxymoron:

4s of this writing the hoped-for Sept. 22 gala premiere (black tie, champagne) of the spanking new Sinfonia

rchestra of the North Shore under North Vancouver’s own Clyde Mitchell will be post- poned — because the Centennial Theatre’s sparkling renovations, original target completion date Sept. 16, won’t be fin- ished. The Sinfonia’s premiere would also have been the first function at the

revamped theatre — a double celebration.

Instead, general contractor Vanbots Construction promises by Sept. 20. Tests and getting the required permits will take about another week, said Margo Gram, who manages the theatre.

So the distinction of first booking

- accrues to the Vancouver Symphony

Orchestra, which contracted for a concert there Sept. 28. Sinfonia’s concert had only been “pencilled in,” Ms. Gram explained. The Centennial’s official open- ing will probably be on the weekend of Oct. 1B. ee, an This is undoubtedly a disappointment

for Sinfonia, a brave, bold undertaking

led by the charming Mitchell, who has

wor widespread popularity as the innova-

tive assistant conductor of the VSO. *- His enthusiastic and informative intro-

ductions at VSO concerts on the ‘North

BW Sersy Peters © 4 Editorial Manager 985-2131 (160) .

985-2131 (133) doo gnsnews. com

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Shore skillfully give the average concert- goer valuable insights into the music, without the sort of condescension that annoys the musically sophisticated. They're “well edited” too: Mitchell knows when to stop talking and start the music. Though Mitchell care- fully avoids such talk, inevitably the Sinfonia will compete with the VSO for the same audi- ence when the fatter plays on the North Shore. : Of course the fledgling Sinfonia isn’t likely te - ; be in the same league of musicianship as the long-established VSO. Mitchell realistically expects it will take two or three years to reach its goals. But — to philistinically use a baseball

~ term — Sinfonia’s lineup doesn’t lack for

heavy hitters. It includes concertmaster Nancy DiNovo; violinist Gwen Hoebig, concertmaster of the Winnipeg Symphony, acciaimed percussionist Phillip Crewe, and principal piccolo player Sarah Jackson, Mitchell's bride. .

(“I guess we still qualify as newlyweds

‘—— we've been married just over 11

months,” he says, a bit shyly)... Mitchell looks forward to future’... -- appearances by a young favourite of his,

~’ North Vancouver’s Ryan Karchute, cur- *- ',, gently attending the Juilliard School in- - New York, whose parents Bob and Cheryl have done much to get Sinfonia

launched. And — its dreams? I wondered

_ why a major North, Shore business does-

n’t offer a public-private partnership to

- build a proper concert hall on the North

Shore. '-

LETTERS 0 THE EDITOR must inciude your name, full address and. telephone number. Submit via e-matl_ te: mbecker@nsnews.com _ | After Hours News Tips? 885-2131 (press 3)" = Timothy Renshaw B Executive Editor 985-2131 (756) .

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A ae OTE WORKERS’ Bsc

delay a sour note

Think of the Scotiabank Dance’ Centre. This striking, mostly-glass, Arthur Erickson-designed structure at; Granville and Davie (completion date ~~~ December) will have five rehearsal stu-.° dios, a 150-seat production studio, and more. Mitchell is dubious about such a possibility but muses: “Thirty per cent of the VSO's audience lives on the North: ° - Shore. I'd be delighted if there were'a partnership like that.” But the 30 per: ° cent carn their bread at the big institu-— tions across the inlet, which predictably |. prefer, downtown Vancouver as the site, - for their showcases. — _ - ths

Ah yes, the good news at last:

Sinfonia, with several! of its leading mus cians taking part, is holding au introdu tory mini-concert — part benefit, part romotion — at West Vancouver’s Silk urse next Thursday at 7.30 p.m... Mitchell is openly advertising for.-. 3-0": “angels.” My advice to such prospective, angels is: Flap over to the Silk Purse and: slide down a sunbeam into the front row. This is your chance to lay gold on 2 right-here, right-now, North Shore ar tic enterprise. Burnish your halo:

Was that-an earthquake? No, only a

- shift of the North Shore’s centre of gra “ty this week when CKNW’s Rafe Mair ; moved house from North Vancouver to.

to it): Will Sam Bawlf’s revelations of Sir. Francis Drake’s 16th-century expl

of our coast have any bearing cnn

claims, for example affecting the sta!

the Royal Proclamation of 1763: : = |“ Iautens@axionet.com

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