Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 1

9 Dinner a video: Succulent scenes Another swing in public opinion. seen in au pair case 2A U.S. optimistic for council support of resolution against Iraq 2A Thousands gather at Vietnam "wall of healing" ID from your favorite films ic LINCOLN 50C LJ; 7 Of" 1f (Ha Despite vets9 warnings, wild horses dying at Elm Creek BUFFALO BY MARTHA MENDOZA Associated Press 6 COUNTY They're doing the best they can. Dr. Barry Llttell, a local veterinarian 9 suffocated under a snowdrift.

Another 14 horses have died during the past month from strangles, a bacterial respiratory infection with coldlike symptoms. The BLM operates a holding facility in Elm Creek as a rest stop for about 5,000 wild horses and burros captured in the West each year and trucked to Eastern and Southern states for adoption. The deaths come just four months after a team of veterinarians reported that 70 percent of the horses at the facility showed some sign of strangles. there are 793 horses and burros at the facility, 193 more than it was designed to hold. Of those, more than 60 animals are sick and 32 already have died, according to the report Shea said his special assistant, Henri Bisson, and a veterinarian were flying to Nebraska on Tuesday and would evaluate management of the facility.

"If what they find is not to our liking, we will make some changes," Shea said. Staff at the facility did not return calls Tuesday. A local veterinarian, Dr. Barry LittelL said: "They're doing the best they can." WASHINGTON Federal investigators are heading to Elm Creek this week to try to figure out why dozens of captured wild horses and burros awaiting adoption are dying. "It's just unacceptable to me that we have the stewardship of these horses, and then we're letting them die," said Pat Shea, who was sworn in as director of the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management on Oct.

2. Two weeks ago, during a severe snowstorm, 17 burros and a horse Area of Detail 7" 1 Vw-v Lincoln DANIEL JENKiNSLincoln Journal Star The team made a series of recommendations: Haul manure away more often; build sick pens and segregate horses with contagious illnesses; spread hay out on the ground so horses don't cluster at a feeder while they eat; call veteri narians when animals are sick; examine animals that die; and keep health records on all the animals. "If those recommendations had been taken, it looks as if this would not have happened," said Shea. An internal BLM report shows Sodom 7 A -v LI BY KAREN GRIESS Lincoln Journal Star 'iJ'. i i Jj.i." I KL v7r v-v tw 4 'v 'i i require future state funds.

It would be built near the University of Nebraska Technology Development Center, an incubator for start-up companies in northwest Lincoln. If funded, the building could be finished by mid-1999. The idea, which arose out of a Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development group, has been endorsed by Southeast Community College, the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and Nebraska Economic Development Association. "The more the state of Nebraska can do to enhance technological growth of the state, the better the economy and quality of life," said Chuck Henderson, who oversees the Technology Development Center. "It's not going to be a competitive thing.

It will do nothing but enhance the technology sector." It also will complement the $37 million Peter Kiewit Institute of Information Science, Technology and Engineering at Ak-Sar-Ben, said Kelvin Hullet of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce. Groundbreaking for that building, which will house the institute by August 1999, was earlier this year. An electronics center is a logical step in enhancing Nebraska's technology growth, Henderson said. More on CENTER, Page 4A PHOTOS BY TED KIRKUncotn Journal Star Lee Oberle, a member of a tree-trimming crew from Kansas, was critically injured when a branch (left foreground) struck him in the head after it fell off a tree. In inset photo, Oberle's cracked hard hat sits on the edge of a fire truck.

Leaders in the state's electronics industry are ready to wake a sleeping giant. They are proposing the Nebraska Center for Excellence in Electronics, a state-of-the-art facility to enhance and expand Nebraska's electronics industry. The center would provide technical training, as well as test new products to ensure compliance with U.S. and foreign laws, regulations and standards. "This would be a great magnet for companies already here to help us grow or companies looking to start or move," said Marshall Bor-chert, CEO of Riser-Bond Instruments.

"It's another good drawing card for people to look at Nebraska." Nebraska is already well grounded in the electronics business. There are about 90 electronics firms, many of which are Nebraska owned and operated, employing more than 12,000 people. More than half sell their products in the international market and employ 25 or fewer people. Officials plan to ask the Legislature for a one-time, $5 million appropriation for land acquisition, construction of the center and initial equipment. Once off the ground, the center will be self-sufficient and not Limb injures tree worker during cleanup experience and keep this young man in our prayers," Morgan said.

The weighty limb was among several hanging precariously from a large elm tree at 221 S. 29th St. Oberle and another worker were trimming the branches around 9 a.m. and had parked their bucket truck in the middle of the street in order to reach the limbs more easily. A witness said Oberle was readying a chain saw in the street while his co-worker had maneuvered the bucket to the branch hanging about 30 feet above the yard.

Oberle was not standing directly under the branch. However, the limb swung toward the street as it fell and struck the man on the head. He was knocked unconscious; his hard hat cracked. Corey Cashmere, 29, was watching the workers from inside his home and saw the limb fall. "It's a pretty big piece of wood.

The momentum pulled it out into the street," said Cashmere, who quickly called 911 and brought some blankets out to the injured man. When paramedics arrived, Oberle was bleeding badly, said Lincoln Fire Department Capt Will Ernst. Paramedics stabilized his neck and rushed him to the hospital. Oberle was taken to Lincoln General Hospital, where he remained in critical condition Tuesday night with head injuries. Morgan, of the Parks Department, said More on INJURY, Page 4A BY J.

CHRISTOPHER HAIN Lincoln Journal Star A large tree limb sent a stern warning Tuesday to all those cleaning up from the October snowstorm and sent one 21-year-old tree service employee to the hospital with critical head injuries. The 10- to 12-inch thick tree limb fell on Lee Oberle, a worker with the Shawnee Mission (Kan.) Tree Service. The tree service had contracted with the city of Lincoln to help with tree removal. Lincoln Parks and Recreation Director Jim Morgan said the accident was a reminder of just how dangerous working with trees can be, even for those with professional training. "We need to use this as a learning AP recognizes six or transforming lives 1 iuvn Bridge building, Part II slated to begin Sunday Interstate 100 dctcurs Starting Sunday through August, the northbound lanes of Interstate 180 will close while bridges north of downtown are improved.

Southbound 1 0th Street will be closed for seven days ending Nov. 23. BY ANN HARRELL Lincoln Journal Star Births 2B Bridge 7C Business 3B CityState 1B-6B 4C-10C 7B Deaths 2B Food 1C-3C Horoscope 8C Lottery 1B 63 Nation 2A-6A Opinion 8A People 6A Puzzles 10C Sports 1D-4D TV 6B World 2 7A 4. W. Cornhusker Highway () Lake jf i BY CINDY LANGE-KUBICK Lincoln Journal Star For years, Michael Fields was an alcoholic, plain and simple.

He was raised by alcoholic parents, watched them and two siblings die from the bottle, and still he kept drinking. Drinking away his life, ending up in treatment programs, in and out of jails and the Nebraska State Penitentiary. Not anymore. These days Fields is stone-cold sober. He holds a job where he was honored as employee of the month in October, has his own apartment and tries to help his "brothers and sisters" still struggling.

And today he will be honored at an 11:45 a.m. luncheon at The Cornhusker as one of six recipients of the Lincoln Action Program's Phoenix Award. The honor is presented annually to low-income individuals who have made significant progress toward or have achieved economic self-reliance. Gov. Ben Nelson will present the awards.

Fields was nominated by Day-Watch, a daytime shelter and gathering place for the homeless where he spends many hours volunteering, reaching out hanging out. "He's just a genuinely kind person," said DayWatch outreach worker Melissa Dorssom, "He's a good man." the construction. "We can get (customers) into town, so it should be a lot less painful than before," he said. "We don't anticipate a drop in business at all." Polly McMullen, president of the Downtown Lincoln Association, echagreed. "The whole construction process last year went so smoothly and was finished quite a bit ahead of time," she said.

"The contractors and the state were very accommodating of downtown business." The routine will similar to when the southbound bridge was replaced last year. Officials hope for the same success as welL The southbound 1-180 bridge opened last June 61 days ahead of schedule. Hawkins Construction Co. received a bonus of $1.22 million, or $20,000 a day, for finishing the work before the scheduled completion date of Aug. 9.

Employees and subcontractors shared in the bonus. Hawkins Construction also is doing the northbound bridge phase, and Nebraska Department of Roads District Engineer Rich Ruby said the same bonus was being offered. The contractor also faces a late penalty plus $16,000 for each home football Stocks The Dow closed at 7558.73 Pages 6D-7D It's time for bridge construction, Part II. The second phase of a project to replace the Interstate 180 bridges just north of downtown Lincoln begins Sunday, when the northbound lanes will be closed until August The timing was arranged so the work could begin after the last home Cornhusker football game on Saturday. The job is expected to take 266 days, ending Aug.

8. Southbound 10th Street will be closed for seven days until Nov. 23 while the old bridge carrying the four northbound lanes is removed. Temporary local detour routes for that week will be marked. Once work begins: Truck traffic will be detoured to West Street, north on Sun Valley Boulevard to First Street, then east to Cornhusker Highway and back to 1-180.

Automobile traffic will be de-toured to 10th Street, north to Cornhusker Highway, then back to 1-180. Like many neighboring business owners, John Klimpel, general manager of the Ramada Plaza Hotel at 141 N. Ninth St, isn't worried about Weather Northbound truck detour Northbound car detour XXX 1-180 Northbound closed Source: Nebraska Department of Roads KIM STOLZERLlncoln Journal Star HIGH LOW TODAY TONIGHT 37 29 Weather details on 8B RANDY HAMPTONUKdn Journal star Mike Fields, a recipient of the Lincoln Action Program's Phoenix Award, helps in the kitchen at DayWatch. Fields was nominated by the daytime shelter and gathering place for the homeless, where he volunteers many hours of his time. Fields seems a good maa His eyes are warm, his smile as big as his belly.

He talks with sturdy hands that wrap easily around a morning cup of coffee. And when he tells his life's story it's easy to imagine why he ended up More on AWARDS, Page 4A 36 pages, 4 tectiont 0 1997 Lee Enterprises Lincoln, Neb. game affected. For moro info The project office phone number is 471-8341 An information message can be reached at 471-834Z 2i.