Star-Phoenix from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada • 30

C12 NATIONAL Thursday, August 29, 1996 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan The StarPhoenix Tteoic remains haooltedl by bad lock illuminate the lift prompted one crew Titanic partygoers drugged: police report HALIFAX (CP) People affected by a mysterious illness there," Dr. Jeff Scott, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer, said at the time. The head of the province's outbreak investigations team said officials were suspicious from the start. "We were concerned about this from early on," Dr. Maureen Baikie said in an interview.

"But there could have been other kinds of toxins, including of plant, animal or chemical "We had a big list of items to go through. However, drugs were very close to the top of our list because of the symptoms." The Hollywood movie Titanic is being directed by Canadian-born James Cameron and stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. Portions of the movie were being shot in the Halifax area. after a wrap-up party for a movie about the Titanic were drugged, police said Wednesday. About 80 people were sent to hospital in nearby Dartmouth earlier this month with what was thought to be food poisoning, apparently caused by some lobster chowder served at the party.

I'Testing revealed (the lobster chowder) contained the drug phencyclidine PCP or angel dust," regional police said in a statement. "Further tests will be conducted with other foods that were served at that meal." Police are now interviewing the partygoers from Ontario, California and Nova Scotia in an attempt to track down the culprit "People had felt light-headed, as if they were not quite ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) The aura of misfortune that plagued the Titanic's maiden voyage showed no sign of dissipating Wednesday as technical glitches stalled a salvage operation for the second straight day. Salvagers stopped granting interviews late in the day, more than 24 hours after carrying out the first steps of the operation.

But they were optimistic a 10-tonne piece of the Titanic's hull could be retrieved by the end of the day. Earlier in the afternoon, a mini-submarine carrying former astronaut Buzz Aldrin attempted to manually release a problematic gas-filled bag. The programmable release mechanism on the bag one of several designed to lift the steel slab more than four kilometres failed during the first attempt Tuesday, leaving the plate suspended overnight 500 metres from the ocean floor. Capt. Michael Strong, who commands the ship that will bring the wreckage out of the water and lug it to the United States, said the effort is further hampered by crucial factors that have until now been unknown.

"It's a moving equation in the amount member to suggest the lights only be used once the wreckage was out of the water. "Dontyou understand you can't bring this thing up with no one looking," said Tulloch on the Discovery Channel's Internet web site that is chronicling the expedition. "This is theatre." Those involved, along with many of the passengers who paid between $1,800 and $5,900 US for the trip, argue it will help people understand the magnitude of the disaster, when the supposedly unsinkable ship sank on her way to New York from England. More than 1,500 of the 2200 passengers and crew on board died in the icy waters. The wreck was located in 1985.

The salvage operation is the culmination of a $5-million project co-ordinated by the Discovery Channel and RMS Titanic Inc. in New York. Other aspects of the project include the filming of two documentaries and on-site research into the way the ship sank and how long it will last. RMS Titanic Inc. plans to bring the hull section from Boston to New York on Sept 1 and make it part of a permanent exhibition.

on two cruise ships were waiting in suspense to see what the ocean deep has held since 1912, when the famed liner hit an iceberg and sank 680 kilometres southeast of Newfoundland. The cruise-ship passengers including three Titanic survivors have sailed from Boston and New York to the site in the North Atlantic. They were to watch the lift operation via a live video feed. Organizers of the expedition have been accused of everything from grave-robbing to turning it into a money-making entertainment extravaganza. George Tulloch, founder of RMS Titanic a New York-based company with sole legal rights to the wreck, recently expressed his desire to make it an event to remember.

Problems earlier this week with underwater lighting towers designed to of lift we have and the actual weight of the plate," Strong said in a ship-to-shore interview. "They've tried to establish the weight from videos, calculations and drawings but with the accretion of marine growth and rust, who knows what the real weight is." The lift equipment has been designed to withstand 17 tonnes. Topside, more than 1,700 spectators Pot plants put purchaser in panic SALMON ARM, B.C. (CP) Home buyers beware those weeds in the yard may indeed be weed. RCMP got a call from a panic-stricken home buyer who wished to avoid a run-in with the law.

The man apparently had purchased a home west of Young offenders set to put feet in boot camps TORONTO (CP) An Ontario government task force will recommend today that about 50 high-risk young offenders be part of a pilot project to introduce boot camps in the province. A report will suggest that the "strict discipline" idea be later phased in slowly through the rest of the province's youth jails, said Gary Carr, the Conservative legislator who headed the task force. As a possible model, the report points to the Sgt Henry Johnson Youth Leadership Academy in Delaware County, N.Y, he said. Inmates there follow a strict regimen of marching, work and rehabilitation programs, and do without frills such as television and video games. "It's all toward empowering the kids to take responsibility for their lives," Carr said.

"The kids are at a young age when they can still be changed." The task force also learned from experiments in strict discipline in Manitoba and Alberta, he said. The Manitoba experience showed that introducing the idea too quickly throughout the system can cause problems. Alberta's program underlined the importance of having good staff to run the Salmon Arm in south-central British Columbia and found eight marijuana plants growing in the yard. Police removed the plants and said no charges would belaid. Thief leaves wallet at crime scene STRATFORD, Ont.

(CP) A woman suspected of stealing wallets from shopping carts at a supermarket inadvertently identified herself by dumping four wallets into a produce bin while fleeing the Zehrs store. One of the wallets was her own. It contained photo ID readily recognized by one of the shoppers who had a wallet stolen. Later the woman phoned police to report she had lost her wallet "It's falling into the stupid category here," acting Insp. John Hagarty said Wednesday.

Hagarty said a 33-year-old woman from Guelph was facing a number of charges. Mulroney libel suit set for next Jan. MONTREAL (CP) A judge has set Jan. 6 as the date when Brian Mulroney's libel suit against Ottawa goes to trial 15 months after the former prime minister filed his $50-million action. Justice Andre Rochon of Quebec Superior Court, who has been in charge of pre-trial arrangements, announced the trial date Wednesday after listening to arguments from lawyers for both sides.

The trial is expected to take about three months. First woman to head Que. court named Man's best friend No matter where Doug Wilkinson, of Port Franks, goes Miss Bailey is sure to follow. Decked out in gogglesv Miss Bailey patiently sits in a spe cial platform on the rear of his Harley Davidson motorcycle and watches the passing landscape. (CP Photo) Impact of social program cuts on crime to be considered: Rock Boot camps or what the government OTTAWA (CP) Throwing away the key on mur-called "strict discipline facilities" for derers won't keen the streets safe if provinces slash ly in certain areas, he should perhaps start at home," said the federal minister.

Rock is moving to tighten Section 745 of the Criminal Code, which allows first-degree murderers to serious young offenders were a key Con- social programs that help set kids on the straight and narrow, says Justice Minister Allan Rock. servative campaign promise in last year's election. Solicitor General Bob Runciman said Wednesday that the recommendations will "by and large" be very helpful down the road. But he said he may turn thumbs down to some of the proposals. "I do have some concerns about some Rock, speaking Wednesday to a national meeting of police chiefs, also maintained his refusal to abolish the "faint-hope" clause that allows first-degree murderers to apply for early parole.

The justice minister, under intense public pressure to scrap OTTAWA (CP) Prime Minister Jean Chretien has appointed Lyse Lemieux chief justice of Quebec Superior Court the first woman to hold the top spot on the province's senior trial court. Lemieux had been associate chief of the recommendations and how they the clause, instead launched a justice of the court since 1994. She has seek a judicial review and possible parole after 15 years instead of25. He refuses to abolish the provision outright. Instead he has introduced legislation that would bar applications by multiple murderers such as Clifford Olson or others convicted of especially heinous killings.

"Section 745 was put there for a purpose, as a matter of principle it serves a purpose," said Rock. "I think it is impossible to say that all those who commit murder are (in) identical circumstance." He said there are legitimate cases where there should be a review after 15 years for example, for murders committed at a iV. been a member of the court since 1978. Before her appointment to the bench, she was an associate deputy minister in the Quebec Department might be applied to an Ontario environ- political counter-attack, ment" he said, without elaborating. "Making streets safer has as Carr said the task force rejected the much to do with literacy as it does idea your face" boot camps tried with the law," he said following in some U.S.

states where military- his speech to the annual meeting style staff bark orders at fatigue-clad of the Canadian Association of Lemieux of Justice. She replaces Lawrence Poitras, who is retiring as Chiefs of Police. chief justice. Man shot during drug bust VANCOUVER (CP) A man died after being shot by "It has as much to do with the strength of families as it has to do with the length of sentences. It has as much to do with early intervention as it does with ALLAN ROCK keep faint-hope' clause young offenders.

But he said inmates at the jails should face a vigorous 16-hour day of duties and classes, including regular school plus courses in anger management, drug rehabilitation, dealing with physical and sexual abuse and seeing crimes from the victim's viewpoint police during a drug bust in a hotel parking lot Vancouver police Sgt. Bob Cooper said the snooting mandatory supervision." A day after Ontario Solicitor General Bob Runciman used the same platform to attack the federal took place as officers were approaching a parked vehi At the Sgt. Henry Johnson facility, days cle at the Fraser Arms hotel. "In the process of removing the suspect from the vehi begin at 6 a.m. and end at 9:30 p.m.

with government for failing to crack down on crime, lights out Rock gave his own analysis of what causes crime. The academy says it has cut repeat Runciman told police chiefs many provinces are offence rates among former inmates to upset because Ottawa has been moving so slowly to about 10 per cent from 50 per cent since deal with crime. cle a single shot was fired by a 25-year veteran of the RCMP," Cooper said. Cooper said the suspect was struck in the chest and young age or where the killer was reacting to abuse. Public outrage was sparked when child killer Olson applied to take advantage of the faint-hope clause this month.

Many legal experts predict he will fail, but parents of his 11 victims are upset that he is even getting a hearing. Rock defended his record, saying the federal government has tightened overall parole requirements and is reviewing the Young Offenders Act. He plans to bring in proposals this fall to monitor dangerous offenders after release from prison. But his stand on Section 745 didn't satisfy Thomas O'Grady, president of the police chiefs association, who said murderers have enough rights without early parole. died later in hospital.

it opened in 1992. Rock retorted that Runciman's provincial Tory Cooper said the 64-year-old victim had a criminal The report was supposed to be ready record dating back to 1949 that included armed robbery last April in time to implement recom government should start worrying about the impact of welfare and education cuts on the crime rate, instead of simDlv demanding toueher federal and forcible confinement. mendations by this fall. Sources said the No names were released, but Cooper said the victim was a Vancouver-area man. retorms nave Deen aeiayea Decause siait laws.

in Runciman's ministry were busy with "Rather than him bash the federal government other matters. for changes he thinks we ought to make more quick- Bombing may be first salvo in new logging war Temagami dispute 1 rT- Temagami -tt I I Jm Quebec Temagami ssi -til w-L i zt a i i a i YrC uwain Lane area i I Protest scheduled i fToOkrnli I weeks," said Earthroots spokesperson Dan McDermott, whose group disavowed the bridge bombing. "We plan on being there in the forest to stand between the trees and the loggers." Municipal officials have derided the environmentalists as "tree-huggers" from southern Ontario who want to keep the area scenic, but economically stricken. Mike Leahy, president of the Northern Prospectors Association, said the explosion has him worried about more trouble. He said Wednesday there were areas in Temagami he and his colleagues would stay away from.

"I think there could be terrorism or sabotage and I don't want to be around that," he said. Francis Boyes, of the local environmental group Friends of Temagami, says tensions will continue to rise as the deadline approaches for opening up new prospecting and logging. The government has approved the logging of 35 per cent of Temagami's old-growth trees beginning next month. Mining companies can stake claims in some parts of the region beginning Sept. 17.

"It's not surprising that people are getting pissed off," Boyes said. "It is symptomatic of people's frustrations at this." An'ishinawbeg tribal group, said Tuesday the bridge was blown up to protest the expansion of logging and mining in the region's old-growth pine forests. Becker did not show up for a news conference he announced for Wednesday at the damaged bridge, near the village of River Valley. Reporters, television crews and curious onlookers waited for hours, while nearby police divers and investigators continued probing the bridge. Provincial police were also investigating a fire Tuesday at another bridge in nearby Armagh Township.

It was extinguished before it caused serious damage. Many local residents support increased development as a badly needed source of jobs and revenue for the economically depressed region. Many people in the community expressed frustration Wednesday over the blast and other protests by aboriginals and environmentalists. "People are pretty fed up," said Jane Larente, a waitress at the Busy Bee Restaurant. The environmental group Earthroots has threatened civil disobedience to stop loggers from cutting old-growth trees in the Temagami area, including having members chain themselves to trees.

"There will be more and more (news) on Temagami in the next couple of TEMAGAMI, Ont. (CP) An explosion that knocked out a bridge in Northern Ontario's Temagami wilderness may be just the opening shot in a looming battle over increased logging and mining in the area's old-growth forest. "There's a lot of tension around here and unfortunately that's not new," local outfitter Leona Alleslev-Krofchak said Wednesday. "People's positions are hardening they're becoming entrenched." An aboriginal group has claimed responsibility for the explosion, which ripped a gaping hole in a bridge across the Temagami River about 75 kilometres jiorthwest of North Bay. No one was injured in the blast, which went off late Monday or early Tuesday.

The Ontario government has approved new logging and mining in the old-growth area of the Temagami forest, a focus for protests by environmentalists and aboriginal groups since the late 1980s. Alleslev-Krofchak said she is one of the few "neutral" parties in this small township of 900, which has been split down the middle over the issue of logging. "The fact that there is actual ly going to be logging and prospecting coming in a couple of weeks it's actually going to happen that has heightened the tension. It's not hypothetical anymore." Woody Becker, of the Ma-Kominsing Valley Al River' Bridge knocked An aboriginal group says it's responsible for the bombing of a bridge in the Temagami region, the latest flare up over the area's old-growth forests. out on logging road 2rm -17 Some of the players: Environmentalists: Groups such as the Friends of Temagami and Earthroots want to stop mining and logging in the forests of ancient pine.

Aboriginals: Oppose mining and logging in areas they have land claims. Locals: Residents split: some say development will bring badly needed jobs while others complain most of the work is being done by outsiders. Loggers: Claim current logging and mining plan will preserve most of the old-growth forests and that development will bring economic boost. Sean Vokey-CP.