Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 1

771 Variety Baseball '98 special section it hr Close-up look at the 19S8 Twins Pase 2 What do kids JVcallicr Lew: vj Sunrise: 5 S3 Sunvt: x'X I i I think of gay i Who's to blame for the poor pitching Page 3 Both leagues welcome new teams Page 4 Team4y-team look at the AL, NL Page couples? B5 El si Z3 nn A A Minneapolis Edition Monday MARCH 30, 1998 LQly NEWSPAPER OF THE TWIN CITIES rasico am i ymamitiiiiiriiiii SMS One dead, dozens hurt as National Guard dispatched to Comfrey, St. Peter Where severe weather hit Hundreds were left homeless as storms raced through southern Minnesota Sunday night At least one person was reported killed. loff said via cellular phone from outside a Comfrey school building. "Every house looks like it has severe damage and, at this point, you can't get into town. These people are in desperate need of shelter," she said.

TvrtiCltles where witnesses said there was extensive damage to Gustavus Adolphus College and the Nicollet County Courthouse. Gov. Arne Carlson said Sunday night that he plans to cut short a trip to Washington so he can visit the southern Minnesota communities that were hardest hit by tornadoes, said John Dyke, Carlson's deputy chief of staff. More than 100 of Comfrey's residents almost one-fourth of the town's population of 426 were left without homes after a Karen Wright, community relations coordinator, for Immanuel-St. Joseph's Hospital in Mankato.

The actual cause of death could not be confirmed at 11:20 p.m. Sunday. The child's name was being withheld. Sixteen others from St. Peter were admitted to the hospital, three in critical condition.

Overall, at least three dozen people were injured by the storms. The National Guard was dispatched to Comfrey and St. Peter, tornado ripped through the center of town around 4:30 p.m., nearly leveling the fire house. Other residents of the town just southwest of New Ulm were told to evacuate their homes because of a gas leak iri town. Many were staying in homes and motels outside of town.

The town also lost electricity and telephone lines were down. "Trees are down, houses are down, there's debris everywhere and now the fog is setting in," Red Cross volunteer Sandy Rad- By Paul Levy, Susan HoganAlbach, Randy Furst and Beth Podtburg Star Tribune Staff Writers Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms exploded through southern Minnesota Sunday evening, devastating and forcing the evacuation of the small town of Comfrey, and raging through St. Peter, Hanska and Lonsdale. A 6-year-old boy, believed to be from St. Peter, was killed in a storm-related death, possibly after being blown out of a van, said Le Center NewliTm -1 Lonsdale Comfrey-1 StPetef Turn to STORM on Debris from St.

Peter was found 55 miles away. Damage was widespread. Star Tribune map i I ii 3 i- fa. 4 St Peter, Minn, residents Mary Ann Lurth and Susan Gray comforted each Associated Press photos other In the wake of severe storms Sunday. One boy was killed and 16 from Residents of a storm-damaged house along N.

7th Street In St Peter surveyed what was left of their home Sunday. In nearby Comfrey, almost one-St Peter were admitted to Immanuel-St Joseph's Hospital In Mankato. fourth of the town's population of 426 were left without homes after a tornado ripped through the center of town around 4:30 p.m. Today's top skaters would have to bend over backward to match the skills of Werner Groebli, who wowed Ice" Follies audiences for 40 years. Mr.

Frick made ice antics Treatment of addicts collides with drive to contain costs 7 INSIDE Towns shield kin It seems that Ostrander, and neighboring Spring Valley have come together to prQtectthe kin of Mitchell Johnson, the boy with southern-Minnesota roots who's accused in the Arkansas schoolyard slayings. Turn to A7. 4 if By Chuck Haga Star Tribune Staff Writer It may not be on skates and it certainly won't be in his trademark cantilevered position: knees bent, body suspended straight back, head just inches off the ice. But Werner Groebli Mr. Frick plans one more 1 Please read and recycle triumphal turn around Minneapolis, a city that cheered him for more than 40 years.

As you settle in to watch the World Figure Skating Championships, opening Tuesday at the Target Center in Minneapolis, be prepared to marvel at the skaters' grace and daring. Gasp at their quadruple jumps. But none of them will do what Mr. Frick did. World Figure Skating Champioiiships Marchil-AprilS Target Center General Information 673-4000 Classifieds 673-7000 673-4343 or 1-800-775-4344 As Congress considers reqiJLiiiiig insurers to cover drug treatment as they do other illnesses, the programs' price and quality become the issues.

By Sharon Schmlckle Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin held a Senate panel spellbound last week as he described the stumbles and climbs in his recovery from alcoholismthrough Veteran's Administration programs, hospitals and treatment centers. "It took time and it took many exposures," Aldrin testified. Does it follow that health in surers should write blank checks for addiction treatment, giving alcoholics and drug abusers unlimited chances for recovery? If so, how does that square with the drive to contain health costs? Those are among the questions prompted by a call in Congress and on TV this month for giving addiction the same standing as diabetes, heart disease and other maladies. Many insurers say they agree with the spirit of that call.

But they counter with their own call for efficiency and accountability from an area of treatment that heretofore has been hidden in shame and the mysteries of the brain. Turn to TREATMENT on All for. Rep. Jim Ramstad, who is recovering from alcoholism is a key figure in the debate. I El People old enough to remember liking Ike will remember Mr.

Frick. He was the more enduring half of Frick Frack, a made-in-Switzerland novelty act that charmed Ice Follies audiences from 1939 until 1954, when Mr. Frack Hans Mauch retired. Turn to MR. FRICK on HSfon Frack (Hans Mauch) died in 1979.

Frick (Werner Groebli) and Frack grew up together in Switzerland. 00002' 572731 103308 Photo by Leita Cowart, special to the Star Tribune Werner Groebli returns to Minneapolis from Palm Springs, this week to watch championship skating and recall fond memories. Monday, March 30, 1998 Copyright 1998 Star Tribune Volume XVINumber 360 6 sections.