Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 9

ft A ctcir oming Saturday, December 24, 1 988 Star-Tribune, Casper, Wyo. Legislation calls for amendment prohibiting tax without public vote 7 .1 Wy Bl jXir-M ft 1 'i i it 4 Candy Moulton A portion of a stream near Encampment still runs freely despite the cold winter weaiher hanging over the state. personal property, which would include industry, homes, ranches and small businesses, be taxed at eight-tenths of a percent times the lull cash market value. The 1989 Legislature opens Jan. 10 for a general 40-day session.

Rick Miller, director of the Legislative Service Office, said Friday that legislators have submitted 660 bill-drafting requests. Miller said this is 125 more requests than had been received at the same time two years ago before the 1987 general legislative session. The batch of pre-filed bills includes two one ready for the House and the other for the Senate to ban dumping garbage in open pit or surface coal mines. Other bills ready for the session would: Prohibit capital construction at the University of Wyoming or the community colleges unless the institutions set up a maintenance fund equal to 20 percent of the total con-struciton costs. Require public employees who lobby the Legislature on behalf of government entities to register with the Legislative Service Office and file monthly disclosure statements to show the amount of public funds being spend on the effort.

Make Martin Luther King's birthday the third Monday in January a legal state holiday. The slain civil rights leader's birthday is celebrated as a federal legal holiday but now is only a day of recognition in Wyoming. The LSO estimates overtime pay for the holiday will cost state government, the Wyoming Highway Department and the University of Wyoming $81,000. Allocate $3 million from the state school foundation program for legislative grants for educational initiatives. Limit the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to ownership of 1 50,000 acres of land in the state.

By JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE -Two Fremont County Democrats are sponsoring a bill calling for a constitutional amendment to prohibit a state income tax without a vote of the peo-pie. The anti-income tax proposal, sponsored by Reps. Eli Bebout and Scott Ratliff, is one of several bills pre-filed for the 1989 Legislature that would place a constitutional amendment on the 1990 general election ballot. Other proposed constitutional amendments would take away sheriffs' rights to keep fees collected for services in civil cases; to prohibit use of state retirement system money for anything other than for the benefit of retirement system members; and to require that every bill before the Legislature be considered on its merits. Another proposed constitutional amendment would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to impose any new or higher tax.

The author, Rep. Ron Micheli, R-Uin-ta, is also sponsoring another proposed constitutional amendment to set percentage limits on taxes for personal and real property and minerals in the constitution. Voters in November approved a constitutional amendment that legalizes the state's historic tier property tax system whereby minerals and industrial property is assessed at higher levels than homes, ranches and small businesses. The new constitutional amendment sets three property tiers. Micheli 's bill recognizes only two classifications minerals and all other real and personal property.

The proposal sets varying tax rates for minerals. The bill sets the rate for oil and gas at 12.5 percent times the full cash market value of oil and gas and at 15 percent for coal. The bill provides that all other real and Westerner to head Interior he knows very little about Lujan Tv 1 'fx Running freely Sullivan glad Governor says By SCOTT FARRIS Siar-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE Gov. Mike Sullivan Friday said he knows very little about Interior Secretary-designate Manuel Lujan, but is glad President-elect George Bush decided to put a Westerner in the position. The selection of Lujan, a 20-year member of the U.S.

House from New Mexico, caught many observers by surprise because he had emphatically denied he wanted the job. At a Cheyenne news conference, Sullivan said all he knows about Lujan is what he read in newspaper accounts about his selection Thursday. "I know very little about Congressman Lujan," Sullivan said. "I am pleased that he is a Westerner From that standpoint, he understands the problems of public lands. Beyond that, I know very little (about him)." Sullivan added he was "very disappointed" Bush did not tap former Wyoming House Speaker Warren Morton for the post.

Mor- ff )r I Sullivan visits pen, praises handling of hostage situation 1 liVg.4." 1 Inmates to act as own attorneys RAWLINS Two Wyoming Slate Penitentiary inmates charged with kidnapping and aggravated assault in connection with a Dec, 2 hostage situation at the prison can act as their own counsel in court proceedings, a county judge ruled Thursday. Carbon County Court Judge Ken Stebner granted motions by Donald Calkins, 25, and Abdula Amin, 37, to act pro se, as their own attorneys, during further county court prececdings in the case. The judge denied motions by the two men that their trials be joined. The two claimed they could present better defenses together, however. Carbon County Deputy Attorney Michelle Burgerner argued against joining the cases.

Burgerner said she believes it would be "virtually impossible" to guarantee a fair trial to the two men if the cases were joined, particularly with the inmates acting as their own counsel. A preliminary hearing is pending for the two, but the date has not yet been set, Burgerner said Friday. Amin and Calkins are charged with holding Wyoming State Penitentiary counselors Barbara France and Betty Lewis against their will for nearly 1 1 hours Dec. 2. The women apparently were threatened with homemade knives, but were later released unharmed.

Referendum on tribal enrollment planned SHOSHONE (AP)-The Shoshone Tribal Council plans to hold a referendum on a controversial ordinance that has caused tribal infighting since its passage in September. Ordinance 59 relaxed tribal enrollment requirements allowing people with smaller percentages of Eastern Shoshone blood to enter the tribe. The ordinance would allow approximately 600 additional people to be enrolled in the tribe. Oniy about 150 of 1,700 tribal members voted in the September election. "This ordinance has caused so much fighting, even turning families against each other, that we need to let everyone vote on it rather than just a few," said Wes Martin, tribal co-chairman.

"Obviously, this would impact tremendously on per capitas, services, Indian Health Service the Bureau of Indian Affairs." Meeting in Wheatland on MBNF projects LARAMIE i he U.S. Forest Service will hold a public meeting about projects under way on the Medicine Bow National Forest at the Platte County Public Library in Wheatland Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. According to a release, the forest "is completing an environmental assessment for several proposed projects designed to reduce the tree loss from the mountain pine beetle epidemic, improve habita" for bighorn sheep, increase forage for wildlife, reduce fire hazard, regenerate dying stands of trees, salvage timber that is usable for commercial products, and maintain other multiple use values in the area." For more information, contact Wally Chesbro, interdisciplinary team leader at 745-8971 or write Team Leader, 605 Skyline Laramie, 82070. Panhandle to sell N.

Antelope portion GILLETTE Panhandle Eastern Corp. is planning to sell its portion of the North Antelope Coal Co. in Gillette to Powder River Coal, a subsidiary of Pcabody Holding Co. According to King's Western Coal, Panhandle has a preliminary agrcemeni to sell its 50 percent interest in the company's Campbell County mine, which produces about 6 million tons of coal annually. "Panhandle is moving out of the ccal business to concentrate its resources in natural gas pipelines, the company's primary concern," according to Western Coal.

Supreme Court overturns drug conviction By SCOTT FARRIS Star-Tribune capital bureau RAWLINS Gov. Mike Sullivan said he went to ihe Wyoming State Penitentiary to express "the appreciation of the state" for the way prison officials handled this month's hostage crisis. At a news conference in Cheyenne Friday, Sullivan said he flew to Rawlins Thursday when he realized it would be impractical to send all the prison employees and local law enforcement officials a thank-you note. But Sullivan said he felt compelled to compliment the workers "for the work that they did and the resolution of thai problem without any violence or loss of life. I simply went to say thanks." Two inmates serving lengthy prison terms for violent crimes, Abdul Amin and Don Calkins, held two women prison counselors hostage for nearly 1 1 hours on Dec.

2 to protest alleged racism in the prison. Two schools up CHEYENNE (AP) Cheyenne Central High School and Laramie High School have been recommended as recipients of the 1988-89 Drug-Free School Recognition Award, by the State Department of Education. The award will be presented next year by the U.S. Department of ton "certainly" was one of the top two or three finalists for the post, Sullivan said. "I think it would have been a real benefit for the state to have someone of Warren's stature and knowledge of public land problems and problems of our state in the Interior position," Sullivan said.

"I 'was looking forward to having someone that we knew personally to call on." Sullivan he has heard no reason why Lujan was selected over Morton, but credited Bush with being "sensitive" to requests by Western governors and senators to have a Westerner head interior. Asked what issue he hoped Lujan will be most responsive to, Sullivan said federal mineral royalty payments. "I hope that there is sensitivity to the fact that every time they change a rule or regulation or something in interior that it has rippling effect back to the stales," Sullivan said. The Interior Department, for example, last year unsuccessfully sought to deduct administrative costs from federal mineral royalty smoke a marijuana cigarette with Gist's brother Roger before the alleged transaction and had instead "simulated the use of that cigarette." On cross examination, Gist's attorney asked Lauck if he had ever used drugs and the officer said no. His answer was not allowed by the trial judge after an objection from the prosecution.

Later in the trial the judge allowed some questions concerning drug ue hut he would not allow witnesses to be called to refute Lauck's testimony. The trial judge said the evidence was not allowed because of a law that does not allow outside evidence for the "pin pose of attacking or supporting his credibility. The Supreme Conn ruled the evidence should have been allowed because it had several other purposes oilier than the one prohibited. Lavigne said the project fulfilled many of its goals during his three years in Somalia and helped establish programs that will benefit the country for years to come. "I'd say our project's achievements wre considerable," he said.

"Prior to our efforts, there had been no effective dtyland agricultural projects in that area. Ours was the first successful effort." The university team helped the Somalis initiate long-term production trials and introduce new crops. It also helped the country introduce a farming systems approach, initiate on-farm trials with proper follow-through, and expand researcher education. The Americans also helped the Somalis identify a lack of CHEVENNE (AP) A defendant should have been allowed to present evidence to challenge a narcotics officer who was the only witness against him, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Friday in overturning his conviction. The justices reversed the lower court conviction of delivery of marijuana against Steve Gist, ho in 1985 was accused of selling the drug to an undercover narcotics officer for ihe Campbell County Sheriff's Department.

The ruling was the second time the Supreme Court granted an appeal by Gist. After his original conviction in 1987, the court reserved the conviction, concluding that Gist was given ineffective help by his attorney. After a remand, he was found guilty again in a second jury trial. The sta'e relied on Agent David Lauck as its sole witness. Lauck testified in the trial that he did not The men surrendered when they were told they would be allowed to make a brief statement to reporters.

While prison officials are considering some policy changes to prevent a similar situation in the future, Sullivan said the peaceful conclusion to the ordeal "reflected their procedures were in prettv good stead." Sullivan also praised the Carbon County Sheriff's Office and Rawlins Police Department for their cooperation in helping to resolve the hostage taking. Sullivan said he met with the two counselors who had been taken ho-tage, Batbara France and Betty Lewis. "They told me they were okay," Sullivan said. "They were worried about the warden (Duane Shillinger) because he was worrying about them." The women were taken hostage on a Friday, but were back at work Monday, Sullivan said, but he said the women "can't help but have some psychic scars that will take a lot of healing." for drug award Education. "The purpose of the program is to give special recognition to public and private schools that have implemented comprehensive prevention and intervention programs which substantially reduce drug, alcohol, or tobacco use among students," said Lynn Simon, slate supt of public instruction.

Lavigne came away from his experience with a stronger conviction that developed countries must continue assistance to underdeveloped countries by offering improved, basic agricultural production methods. Such efforts not only help these countries improve their standards of living, he says, but provide them with the ability to devote their sometimes limited resources to other problems. "It's cheaper to train people in agriculture and improve the conditions for a lot of local farmers than to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars annually into drought relief or other food programs," said lavigne. "And by improving their standard of living, we increase markets for U.S. goods." MIKE SI I.I.IVAN Disappointed Morton not chosen payments before they were distributed to the states, a change that would have cost Wyoming several million dollars each year.

"The first purpose was to contradict Agent Lauck's assertion in his direct testimony that he merely simulated the use of drugs with suspects but did not use (hem. Second, the evidence was offered to show thai because Agent Lauck used drugs on prior occasions, he likewise used marijuana with Roger Gist on May 17, 1985, and, as a result, his perception was impaired at the time of the transaction," Chief Justice G. Joseph Cardine wrote in his opinion on the case. The justice also wrote thai the credibility of the witness was especially important in a trial with only one witness. "That testimony may have been false.

Vet, it is suggested that there should be no opportunity to prove it false; that there should be no opportunity to attack the credibility of lie only itness who testified against the appellant," Cardine wrote. phosphorus as the reason for poor sorghum growth, and introduced computers for word processing and statistical analysis of collected data. Though Lavigne's appointment was a 50-50 split between administration and entomological research, he found himself doing far more administrative work than he expected. Besides overseeing the efforts of the university team and various visiting consultants, he worked closely with the U.S. AID, World Bank and various Somali government ministries.

As part of his research duties, Lavigne was head of the BRADP Plant Protection Resea-ch Section and of the Bay Region Plant Protection Service. He conducted Team of agriculturalists from UW spend tluee years helping Somalia LARAMIE (AP) A team of University of Wyoming agriculturalists that spent three years in Somalia has helped the East African country achieve numerous accomplishments, according to its members. Robert Lavigne, professor cK entomology, served in Somalia from mid-1985 through August 1988 directing the university's Bay Region Agricultural Development Project. The project, coordinated through the College of Agriculture Office of International Agricultural Programs, was the focus of a five-year agreement between the university and Somalia in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International research on biology and control of sorghum stalkborers, control of other pests attacking sorghum, control of insects attacking legumes and oil seed crops and control of stored grain pests.

For all of the team's successes, Lavigne said there were some problems. Communication with the College of Agriculture and other U.S. qgencics was sometimes difficult. Transmitting information across miles in an abbreviated style did lead to some misinterpretations, Lavigne said, yet the telex was the only rapid method of communication since diplomatic pouch mail takes from 4-8 weeks to arrive at its destination..