The Chilliwack Progress from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada • Page 1

C.nM.ONV.F fU 1 Villi t'F 1 1 to 3 01 10 A SN CflLtUHY At HOW DID THE CHIEFS DO? SPIRITED ANNIVERSARY The Salvation Army has served Chilliwack for 75 years and looks forward to another 75. A7 BARK TIME Rumours of the demise of the Rotary bark mulch sale are greatly exaggerated. 6 South Surrey and Chilliwack square off in an old-fashioned hockey rivalry, gl Ski The Chilliwack Progress They were whipped and beaten as they walked. Then they had to turn around and walk back and were whipped again, and again. -i 'vmHu! fe" I Lift Ultrasound backlog blamed on doctors Health region says slowdown designed to get approval for private clinic in Chilliwack By Robert Freeman Staff Writer A seven-week backlog of patients waiting for elective ultrasound scans at Chilliwack General Hospital is largely due to the "reduced activity days" taken by local radiologists, say Fraser Valley Health Region officials.

Yet the same radiologists are using the hospital's growing wait list to justify an application to set up their own private clinic here in Chilliwack, they say. "We are advised (by the radiologists) that it is their intent to perform those scans that are quick and pay relatively well on the fee schedule, leaving the slower, more complex and relatively less paying procedures with the hospital," says FVHR operating officer Walter Hiller in a letter to the Medical Services Commission. Our ViewPage A4 "Through such business decisions, the applying radiologists would possess the means to turn the hospital's outpatient ultrasound section from a profit centre to a loss centre," he says in the letter opposing the application by Valley Medical Imaging. Mr. Hiller emphasized in a telephone interview yesterday that emergency ultrasound cases at the Chilliwack hospital are handled on the same day and urgent scans within three days -still better than the 10-day average in B.C.

But Barb Baker, business manager for Valley Medical Imaging, says a private clinic could provide elective scans to outpatients faster and more efficiently, an option that will be denied if the group's licence application is rejected by the commission. "The hospital gets paid a per diem rate that covers in-patient and emergency patients, which are their priority being a hospital," she Please turn to Doctors, Page A2 Editor's note: Fear of retaliation to herself and family members is so great, the woman in this story would only speak to The Progress if she was guaranteed anonymity, rick Collinsprogress Persecuted Beyond Belief Imagine living in a country where your religious beliefs can get you thrown in jail and even killed. Sandra Thomas talks to a woman whose faith has to be intensely private. were fined the equivalent of $5. This woman, and the other Baha'is in the group were sent to court and she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

"I remember one time they took three friends of mine, a man and two women, and made them walk down a long hall. They were whipped and beaten as they walked. Then they had to turn around and walk back and were whipped again, and again." This session lasted an hour and a half. One woman's mouth was so dry from screaming she could only make small sounds. The guards accused her of laughing and whipped her even more.

Another woman friend was tied to a bed, had her mouth stuffed with rags, and had the soles of her feet whipped over and over again. These torture sessions were meant to force each prisoner to denounce the Baha'is religion but were unsuccessful. The woman was finally allowed to leave the prison, but sick with worry for her children she attempted once again to cross the border. Again she was caught and was sentenced to six more months in prison. Please turn to Baha'is, Page A2 For some reason prisoner officials didn't confiscate her watch so she was able to keep track of each second, each minute, each hour, each day of her four months spent in a 2 metre by 2 metre cell the Iranian equivalent of solitary confinement.

The next 14 months were spent in another small cell situated next to the room where inhuman tortures and atrocities were carried out on a daily basis. Because of her advanced age, and the fact she held no office, she was spared any physical torture, but the anguished screams and cries of friends and fellow prisoners still ring in her ears. "All I could do was cry and pray," says the 68-year-old Iranian Baha'is (through an interpreter) sitting safely in the home of a Chilliwack relative. She says it was her Baha'is faith that saw her through her two-year ordeal. And it was this same faith that saw her sent to jail.

The persecution of the Baha'is in Iran has been on-going throughout this past century, but began in earnest in during the 1979 Islamic revolution under Ayatollah Khomeini. It came down that no Baha'is were allowed to leave the Home care fight not over for CRED A local group fighting cutbacks to government-funded home support will meet Wednesday to decide their next step. The Chilliwack Region Elderly and Disabled (CRED) task force is inviting people opposed to recent cutbacks that have left more than 700 with fewer or no home care benefits. Organizer Alice Buckell, 82, says she continues to meet people hit hard by the cutbacks. "I just talked to one man; he can't walk very far, he's alone, he's so depressed and lonely a lot of people are talking to me about life not being worth living," says Ms.

Buckell. "Perhaps we can do something about it." The meeting, which features guest speaker Barry Penner, will be held at the Chilliwack Public Library, starting at 6:30 p.m. For more information call Ms. Buckell at 824-0281. country, but this woman had just relocated two teen-aged children to India to begin school so she was worried for their well being.

About five years ago, determined to reach her children, she joined a group who were attempting to cross the border at an unmanned crossing. They were caught. The Muslims One more fee to enjoy an outing at Cultus Lake Inmates might have TB Two inmates showing symptoms of tuberculosis at Mountain prison were hospitalized last Wednesday, but whether they have the infectious disease won't be known for at least three weeks. Meanwhile, other inmates and prison staff who may have come in contact with the pair are being screened for any signs of infection, says Corrections Canada spokesman Dennis Finlay. The two inmates were taken to a prison hospital unit at Matsqui Institution for tests to determine if they have in fact been infected with tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis was a "major killer" in the 1950s but is now "perfectly treatable" and "perfectly preventable," says Dr. Kevin Elwood at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. TB is caused by a germ that is spread through the air but usually requires frequent close contact for successful transfer. An infection responds rapidly to antibiotics, although treatment requires a minimum six months.

By Penny Lett Staff Writer If you're planning to visit Cultus Lake for a little and during the high season, bring along your change purse. From the Victoria Day weekend in May until Labour Day or even the end of September, visitors will be charged to park at the Cultus Lake Parks Board parking lots at Main Beach, West Side, and to some extent, at the Plaza. "We've been looking at this for a year," says Parks Board chair Ruth Midzain. "It's part of an overall parking plan that will be operated by a parking company." Ms. Midzain says the board is trying to make the entire transition as user friendly as possible and that the new plan will have definite advantages to everyone.

"Firstly, the parking-by-fee program will there have been problems in the past," says Ms. Midzain. "Secondly, it will solve some of the parking problems for residents who until now, have sometimes found it impossible to park by their homes. Finally, the new plan will give the Park Board at least a limited revenue source." Ms. Midzain says currently many of the day park users contribute nothing toward the upkeep of the area.

The people who live there have to pay for it all. So, visitors will give their fair share by paying $1 for three hours, or $3 for a full day. While it is not yet definite, Ms. Midzain says a 'day' could be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Parking at the Plaza will be charged only after a certain time the car has been left there. "The idea is to have an overall parking plan Please turn to Trial, Page A2 i ft fe Get ready to pay for parking privileges this summer. offer security as the lots will be patrolled and BESSIE LiSi.1 51 HERTS WHAT WE DO FOR YOU; ROW) TEST AND EVALUATION CLEAN PAN 1 SCREEN ADJUST BANDS UWAGF INSTALL NEW PAN GASKET CDCIAie SERVICE SPECIAL -o I SECURITY SYSTGlYI ASK FOR DETAILS CHILLIWACK 792-7728 45839 Road, ChiStiwack, D.C. (Next to Tim M-vl Ramamfcei Dw a prevartva i 111,11 i Reg. $36.45 ftatyhavealiarwnaaHnpnftajm (Plu fluids Filter) tK HkM Mm eeivaa 46241 Chilliv 792-' COUPON MUST Bf PRFSf NTF 0 AT TIMF OF SfflVICE r- laaLLBI www.contactsecurity.com.