The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 9

1 Question: Liyig Here Iowa Oiiz i i Faction Des Moines and Suburbs The Des Moines Police Department budget for the 1 998-99 fiscal year is about $31 .2 million. Salaries, employee benefits and witness fees account for about O7iof is the late Lissie Bartholomew of Qelmondfumousfor in Iowa history? I i I RANDY EVANS, Assistant Managing Editor, 515-284-8065 eljc Des JWoms Agister WEDNESDAY 1f April 8, 1W8 ITX 85 percent of the total. ST I April 2: Karen Hawley of Panora won the drawing among people correctly answering tjie question, "What is the 'official' nickname of the University of Okoboji's athletic teams?" The answer: Fighting Phantoms. Scarviile General Store closing its doors 'I just worry we'll even have a town laments Mayor Teresa Feldmann, who works part time at the store. Page 2M Stephen Blumberg's case; tried before law students IOWA QUIZ appears here daily.

Mail your answer on a I postcard with your name and address to: Iowa Quiz, I P.O. Box 957, Des Moines, la. 50304. Or send your 1 answer to mmillsdmreg.com. Today's answer will be I published a week from today.

The mnvicteri hnnk thief trial wa; mnupri tn the? Drake University Legal Clinic to give students a ringside seat at a criminal proceeding. Page ZM trS 4 I Chase ends in shot, death rj Project will link parts of southeast Iowa develop a five-mile stretch of the Raccoon River Valley Trail from Yale to Herndon. The project will include the final interior renovation of the Jefferson depot, which serves as a trail head at the north end of the Raccoon River Valley Trail, said Towers, Greene County conservation director. The opening date for the new trail segment is uncertain because the Union Pacific Railroad hasn't completed the abandonment of railroad DOT Turn to 'age 8M 'Ir! Approved plans for a $39 milliopv four-lane bypass of New Hampton on U.S. Highway 63, The project will extend II miles, starting at the north edg of New Hampton and extending west around the town and south past the Wil-liamstown Corner.

The road is to be paved in 2001 or 2002. Awarded $340,875 to conservation boards in Greene and Guthrie counties to Catherine Dunn of Dubuque said she agreed with a recommendation from the department staff to proceed with the plan eventually approved Tuesday. "This doesn't please everybody, but we want to try to make the best of it," she said. Other Decisions On other matters, the commission: new alignment. The project is expected to be completed be-i fore the end of 2004.

Two Choices The plans include an Ottumwa bypass route that! will bei closer to the east edge, of the, city than a. second alternative would have been. The 'approved route will- require the displacement of 44 homes and businesses, compared with the 11 that the second option i would have required, Iowa Department of Transportation officials said that 'southeast Iowa residents were generally in favor of the project, but that there was controversy over which route should be followed. Each alternative had strong support, -said-Roland Weigel, a DOT engineer. Commission Chairwoman don't see the inside of stars we only see their outside.

pulsations tell us what's going on inside a star in the same way earthquakes tell us about the insides of the Earth." By WILLIAM PETROSKI Kkc.istkk Staff Writf.r Ames, la. State officials approved plans Tuesday for a $67 million, four-lane road project between Ottumwa and Fairfield that is to be part of a southeast Iowa expressway to Des Moines. The Iowa Transportation Commission authorized work to proceed on a 24-mile stretch of U.S; Highways 63 and 34 that will include bypasses of Ottumwa, Agency and Batavia. Most of route will follow a 1 ti! MS. i1 iJ ff; v' "We The r-i 1 i.

7 I 1 i p.M. man is shot when it looked as if hevould run over a state trooper. By TOM ALEX Kkoistkk Staff Wkitf.r After a chase that reached 115 mph, a West Des Moines police officer shot and killed a Des Moines man Tuesday afternoon when it appeared the man might run into a state trooper, authorities said. Michael D. Pickard, 39, was declared brain dead at 2 p.m.

at Mercy Hospital Medical according to Michael Gross, Polk County medical examiner investigator. An autopsy was to be performed today. Pickard was killed by a single shot fired by Sgt. Steve Hoffman, a 20-year veteran of the department, near 71st Street and Westown Parkway in West Des Moines. "Upon officers approaching the suspect vehicle, the driver accelerated forward placing a state trooper in immediate 'danger," a news release from the department stated.

West Des Moines police, one of four agencies involved in the chase, released few details about the shooting at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. It remained unclear whether Pickard had a gun, whether a routine investigation will follow or whether Hofunan has been placed on it looked like he could run over the state patrolman." Scott Anderson Des Moines police leave pending the conclusion of ah invest igation. Polk County court records show Pickard had been driving without a license and had an extensive record, although no felony convictions. Charges for which he was convicted included fifth-degree theft, possession of drug paraphernalia, operating a vehicle without consent and driving with a suspended license. Since 1993, he liad been charged 15 times.

Tfje chase began after a car that had been reported stolen AprU 1 by Pickard's mother was spotted at 11:23 a.m. by Des Moines police near the Door of Faith Mission at 1006 Grand Ave. The car disappeared after police went around the block. Officers Scott Anderson and Michael Woolman put out a description of the car and its last known locution. It later was spotted neaj Sixth and Arlington avenues.

Anderson said the driver of the 1991 Pontiac dropped off a passenger. When Offic er Frank Scakello tried to get the driver to sop, he sped away. Police pursued the car on Interstate Highway 235 at speds up to 115 mph, Anderson said. Officers said Pickard was- slowed by a set of stop sticks, sharp hollow tubes that were stretched across the freeway. Near the end of the chase, Pickard was being followed by three Des Moines officers, a Windsor Heights officer, a state patrol trooper and a West Desi Moines officer.

At one point, it appeared his car was stuck in mud, but he broke free aiid" was headed toward the trooper, authorities said. "I think just about everybody but me had their gun drawn," saiCAnderson. "It looked like he could run over the state patrolman." Angelina Lopez contributed to this report. Reporter Tom Alex can be reached at Alextnews. dmreg.com or (515) 284-8088.

Gambling debate is put on hold Neither side has enough support to mold a moratorium bill to its liking. By THOMAS A. FOGARTY Kkc.istkk Staff Wkitkk A proposed moratorium on gambling wobbled Tuesday in the Iowa Senate, but it didn't fall down. Lawmakers suspended debate on the measure when it became clear that neither side of the issue had a sufficient number of votes to fashion the bill to its liking. With lawmakers aiming for adjournment April 17 or shortly thereafter, the suspended Senate debate raises questions whether lawmakers will approve a moratorium this year, or simply walk away from the issue.

The bill itself calls for prohibiting for five years the issuance of state gambling licenses in excess of the 13 already held by Iowa riverboats and racetracks. On a 25-25 vote, Sen. Andy McKean, R-Anamosa, failed to extend the proposed moratorium to the number of slot machines and floor games now operating or authorized. The House took that action earlier this session. With more than 9,001) slot machines now operating, McKean said, Iowans have plenty gambling opportunities.

Anyway, he said, the alternative of freezing only the number of gambling licenses does nothing but free existing casinos from the threat of competition. Sen. Jack Rife, R-Durant, argued against McKean's amendment. "You can't hamstring these people with the fact that there'll be no expansion" for five years, Rife said. McKean responded by saying Rife wants to fashion a moratorium empty of meaning.

"Senator Rife is not interested in any real restraints on gambling in this state," said McKean. Following defeat of McKean's amendment, Rife offered lawmakers a version of the moratorium bill that would permit, with state approval, expansion of gambling at casinos and tracks. By a vote of 27-23, lawmakers rejected that, too. After that defeat, Rife used his prerogative as the bill's floor manager, and called for the debate to be suspended. Whether the impasse can be broken, and lawmakers can resume the debate, remains to be seen, said Senate Majority Leader Stewart Iverson, R-Dows.

Said Iverson: "It's my intent to keep working on it. That's all I can tell you." Reporter Thomas A. Fogarty can be reached at fogartyt0news.dmreg.com or (515) 286-2533. HOBNANIKUrilK Kmiistkr Steve Kawaler, an Iowa State University physicist, shows a map of be linked together by computer to study a white dwarf star 11 light the globe with flags marking the astronomy observatories that will years from Earth. Twinkling diamonds in the sky? Gould be, says ISU physicist parrot under suspicion, adding that he caught a glimpse of one when he got home.

He said the family members smelled smoke when they got home and then heard the microwave timer go off. They found Winston inside. "It's sick," Freiburger said. "If they're doing this to animals now, what are they going to do next?" Whole home at: very first that a star's If the the star, carbon By THOMAS R. 0'DONNELL Of TiikKkiiister's Amks large as 5 times 10 to the power of 33 carats that's a 5 with 33 zeroes after it, Kawaler said.

The largest diamond ever mined, by comparison, is a puny 3,106 carats. It probably isn't the kind of diamond someone would want on their wedding ring; however. If one theory holds true, "It's impure diamond, because there's oxygen and a few other heavier elements in it," Kawaler said. "It may be it's more industrial quality than gem quality." i Another theory, however, says the oxygen could WEB SITE For more information on the Earth Telescope, visit its page on the World Wide Web http:www.wet.iitap.iastate.edu round-the-clock observations could represent "the opportunity we have to directly say interior is crystalline." theory is correct, Kawaler said the core of BPM 37093, is composed of crystalline diamond, in other words. It could be as Ames, la.

The childhood rhyme "Twinkle, twinkle little star" has a different meaning for Steve Kawaler than for most adults particularly the line, "like a diamond in the sky." That may be exactly what some stars are, said Kawaler, a professor of physics and astronomy at Iowa State University. To find out, the global alliance of scientists he heads will soon be turning telescopes skyward to focus on an unusual white dwarf star. "It's a pretty wild theory," Kawaler said. The TELESCOPE, to ''0u8M killed during burglary BETTEND0RF Family's By SHUVA RAHIM Km.istf.r Staff Wuirm When John Freiburger and his family came home from an Eric Clapton concert Sunday night, they found their pet parrot dead in the microwave. Between 9:30 and 11p.m., police said, the Bettendorf home was burglarized.

Freiburger said two teens were Winston, a Senegal tropical breed, was in his covered cage when the burglars broke in through a basement window, Freiburger said. Before they left, Freiburger said the burglars stole a CD player and a camera. The Freiburgers bought Winston from a local pet store six months ago. Bettendorf Police Chief Phil and cruelty to animals. Freiburger was confident police would arrest the suspects, who he said had bite marks on them.

"He got a piece of them," he said of Winston. "Too bad he wasn't bigger. He would've gotten a bigger piece of them." Reporter Shuva Rahim can be reached at (515) 699-7043 or rahimsnews.dmree.com Redington said this was the first burglary in which he remembers an animal being killed. He said it was unusual because Winston was not a threat to the intruders. "The intent was to kill the animal," Redington said.

Redington said two people are under investigation in the crime. He said he expects them to be charged with burglary.