First Prize
 Wins $50
Congratulations to
Ethel Kirkpatrick!





World Famous Hell's Gate Airtram, located in the Scenic Fraser Canyon on Hwy #1, is going to have a fresh new look in 2003.
"It is a first for us in our 33 years of business" says Maintenance Supervisor Ian
Newbigging. Hell's Gate Airtram, Inc. is currently working with Western Bus in North Vancouver to undergo a complete refurbishing of their two gondolas.
"It is a costly venture, but is required" says General Manager Debbie McKinney. "When you are in the business of moving people, you have to perform the preventative maintenance. We are excited about the brand new look as we have seen some of the work that Western Bus has performed with other operators"
Hell's Gate Airtram opens for the 2003 season on April 17.

Hope - Visitors to Hope will soon have a new way of locating the community's bountiful supply of hiking trails.
A comprehensive marketing brochure is the goal of a new project developed by Free Rein Associates and Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC).
The Youth Service Canada Project will hire 10 youth to survey, research and map out local trails that will be promoted in a high-end brochure.
Program Coordinator, Hilary Kennedy says the program partners several community groups.
“We will be working together with the chamber, the district and trail-user groups,” said Kennedy. “Both the Hope Outdoors Club and Mountain Biking Group are keen to help with the project.”
Kennedy explained that everything is in place other than participants.
“We need a group of people between the ages of 19 and 30,” she said.
The participants will develop on the job skills by working with Free Rein to produce the brochure.
“There is an increasing need for workers in media and publishing,” said Kennedy. “And understanding technology is essential in that field.”
The Free Rein program will run from January through to July.  For more information call (604) 869-2279.


  When a regional health care company called in a network protection to find the vulnerabilities in its systems, the Chicago-based security company knew a sure place to look. Retrieving the password file from one of the health care company's servers, the consulting firm put "John the Ripper," a well-known cracking program, on the case. While well-chosen passwords could take years -- if not decades -- of computer time to crack, it took the program only an hour to decipher 30 percent of the passwords for the nearly 10,000 accounts listed in the file.
  "We have yet to see a company whose employees don't pick bad passwords."said the company's director of consulting.   Some choose words straight out of Webster's dictionary, others use a pet's name, and still more choose the name of a secret lover. Many who think themselves tricky append a digit or two on the end of their chosen word. Such feeble attempts at deception are no match for today's computers. Even the most paranoid security group and high-tech digital fences can't do much if the chief executive secures his critical files with "god123." Worse, most companies and organisations still rely on a password , and nothing else ,to authenticate their employees. In security circles, experts have been studying the problem for decades.
    Of nearly 3,300 passwords examined, it was found about 17 percent consisted of three characters or less, nearly 15 percent had four characters that were a letter or a digit, and another 15 percent appeared in one of the dictionaries available at the time.  The only defence is to make passwords nearly impossible to guess, but such strength requires that the password be selected in a totally random fashion. That's a tall order for humans, said David Evans, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Virginia.
    "When humans make passwords, (they) are not very good at making up randomness," he said.
The idea is to make something that is easy to remember but that will make up a good password.   A common technique takes the first or last letter of each word in a saying or phrase familiar to the user. For example, by using random capitalization and substituting some punctuation marks and digits for letters, "Friends don't let friends give tech advice" might become "fD!Fg7a."
    Security companies in Canada and the US are discussing the possibility of a graphical password system called Deja Vu.  Deja Vu creates collections of digital art from which a user chooses several selections; then the system trains the user to remember the selections. But while the resulting password tends to be more random than one made of characters, the training has to be done in secret. "Pictures are going to be easier to shoulder-surf than keyboard passwords" say some experts.
    Many nervous companies are adopting so-called two-factor authentication, where the second factor is a chip card or biometric (fingerprint scan). For the extremely security conscious, three-factor authentication is available as well. Say,  a password;  a smart card; and  a biometric ." But here's some good news for the casual user, password hackers are not interested in reading your e-mail and seeing your family photos.  Hackers want into the computer systems of credit card companies, government agencies, banks; any place where they can steal an identity, change records for personal gain and so on.  So while the paranoia grows around security issues you generally don't need to worry, unless you have a snoopy family member.  E-mail viruses and the havoc they wreak should  remain your number one concern for some time yet.  
    “Computing With Confidence” sponsored by Wee Bee Tunes, Web and PC's, Hope BC



On  Jan. 4th, a vehicle was pulled over and the passenger was discovered to have two unendorsed warrants out of Vancouver.  Police sent him back to face the judge
On Monday Dec. 30, a vehicle was stolen from the Canyon Husky in Boston Bar.  The vehicle was left running when the owner went inside to buy a coffee.  It was later located in Kamloops and the thief was arrested  running from the vehicle. One other vehicle was recovered in the area.  It had been stolen from Salmon Arm and it was discovered that the plates had been stolen from Chase.  Police are investigating a possible link.
Early Morning Monday Dec. 30th, A pickup was stolen from Boothroyd, and later recovered from near Kanaka Bar in a ditch on Siwash Road. The vehicle's ignition had been broken out and  blood was located splattered around the interior.  It appears to police that the driver had been injured in the incident, possibly around the face and head, but was able to leave the scene.  Police contacted local hospitals but have no leads.  Locals are asked to watch for people bragging or displaying recent unexplained injuries and to report these to the police.
Dec. 27th, numerous motor vehicle accident occurred due to inclement weather conditions.  At least 8 vehicles were in the ditch and two others rolled over.  A woman was injured in one incident and was sent to hospital.  She will recover but has suffered the loss of several fingers.
An Assault occurred in the maintenance yard of Emil Anderson and  charges are pending against an employee.  Alcohol was a factor and the incident is under investigation.
The Meet and Greet, on Dec. 20th went quite well according to officers.  Inspector Mercer was well received.  Residents expressed the most interest in a Citizens on Patrol and we may be looking into implementing such a program in the future.
Christmas and New Years was quiet and relatively uneventful.  No injuries were reported and no impaired drivers were arrested.  

   Elva Clarice Wallick 1934-2002

    On Saturday December 28, 2002 Elva Wallick of Greenwood BC passed away at home in the arms of her family after a brief courageous battle with lung cancer. Elva leaves behind her devoted husband of 51 years. Bill, and their three children: Will(Lenora) of Grand Forks, Cheryl (Wayne) of Oliver and Patti (Bruce) of Kamloops. Mourning the loss of their beloved grandmother are Elva's nine grandchildren : Kristin Wallick, Hilary, David, and Caitlin Bauman, Shannalee, Jade, Nina, Bruce and Melinda Johnson and also her six step grandchildren: Lee Haggard, Brianna, and Ben Vere and Kyla, Liam and Neil Dennill. Elva
was predeceased by her parents, Clarence and Alice Culbert and her brother Melvin. Elva is survived by her brother Joe Culbert of Midway BC.  Elva was born on January 23, 1934 in Gladmar Saskatchewan. She and Bill were married in 1951 and moved to BC in 1957 Bill and Elva were always a team who owned and operated many successful enterprises together in Vancouver, Kamloops, Quesnel, Hedley, 100 Mile House and Boston Bar. Elva was an
excellent businesswoman and many young people benefited from her tutelage as she passed on her strong work ethic based on honesty and integrity. Her legacy lives on in the fond memories of many past employees.
    Bill and Elva retired in 1988 and made Greenwood their home where it quickly became the focal spot for the whole family. All the grandchildren will cherish their memories of the summers spent swimming , playing and working with their grandparents on their beautiful farm. Grandma was always passionate in her zest for life and dedication to her family. No
wonder the grandkids called her "the Grandma who hugs til it hurts!". Elva's kindness, hospitality and generosity were legendary.. She will be remembered as a loving wife, mother and grandmother and loyal friend to many. She will be missed.
    A memorial service was held at the Oliver Alliance Church on Highway 97 in Oliver on Saturday, January 4th 2003 at one p.m. Reception to follow. Arrangements entrusted to Graham Funeral Home. Elva's ashes will be interred in the family plot in Regina at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the B.C. Cancer Agency. The family gratefully acknowledges the kind support of the Cancer Centre for the Southern Interior during Elva's illness, the Kelowna General Nurses as well as the palliative care at Boundary Hospital and the home support workers. We appreciate all who eased Elva's way to Heaven and especially wish to express heartfelt thanks to our dear friend Phyllis Blomquist for her loving and expert nursing care during Elva's final hours.