FSJ MAN BRINGS BACK WORLD'S BIGGEST JADE
Fort St. John prospector Karl Ebner hauled home a piece of jade measuring seven feet by eight feet, the Alaska Highway News reported on this day in 1978.
The world's largest piece of jade—at the time—was found near Watson Lake, but Ebner, proprietor of King Jade Mines, wouldn't say exactly where.
"Some way to keep this piece of rock intact and in the north should be found," Ebner said. "As the world's biggest, it is unique and quite special."
Ebner had been carving Yukon jade and selling the pieces to tourists at Mile 42 of the Alaska Highway.
Local tourist co-ordinator Don Ashley agreed, saying the possibilities were endless, from developers using it as a centrepiece or the Chamber using it as a tourist attraction.
"They have been taking our natural resources down south for years," he said.
"Now is the time for us to keep something special right here. Fort St. John, the jade capital of Canada. Why not?"
PACPETE BACK TO WORK, NEGOTIATING
Maintenance workers at the McMahon Plant in Taylor were back at work after walking out and setting up picket lines two days before, the News reported on this day in history.
Members of Local 9686 were seeking redress for "unfair labour practices," and were unable to reach an agreement with Pacific Petroleum.
"There is one member of the management staff who has caused enough friction and activated the militancy of the membership to the point that they don't care whether they are acting legally or not," Union President Joe Breti said the night before.
Plant Manager Gordon McLaren said PacPete and the union were negotiating a new contract when the trouble boiled over. He said negotiations were at a standstill as the company refused to negotiate while an illegal picket line was outside the gate.
Breti said workers returned to work and intended to resolve the contract dispute.
