Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 1

Jppt weather' fei We need the moisture The common touch A4 France's new premier A9 State track i meet begins 1 1 I 'Y: EIJUL. nLi JJ.I,. J.IU Reintroduction plan facing trouble on Hill Bush supports favorable trade status for China it a fr- it' By DAVID HACKETT Star-Tribune Washington bureau WASHINGTON The Federal Wolf Management Committee's plan to reintroduce gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park may be dead on arrival when it reaches Capitol Hill. Related story, A3 Several key members of Congress have already voiced opposition to the plan, saying that it violates the Endangered Species Act. The Congressional leaders contacted did not necessarily state a position on wolf reintroduction on general, but did express strong views on the integrity of the Endangered Species Act.

The committee's plan was sup 1 for free this year without making significant improvements in human rights." Bush has been at odds with lawmakers on China ever since he resisted penalizing Beijing for the 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square. Human rights problems aside, there also are growing concerns about China's arms-sale policies. Bush sent Undersecretary of State Robert Kimmitt to Beijing last week to warn against the sale of ballistic missiles to Syria and Pakistan. The deep strains in relations surfaced anew early this month when China's ambassador to the United States, Zhu Qizhen, heatedly denied that his country has violated its citizens' human rights or that it has a problem trade surplus with the United States. He said China would retaliate with high tariffs to drive U.S.

companies out of its markets if the most-favored-nation status were denied. To underscore U.S. unhappi-ness with China, Bush met with the Dalai Lama, the exiled leader of Tibet, last month despite ob-Please see CHINA, A14 WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush said Wednesday he strongly believes China should continue getting most-favored-nation trade status despite "major problems" with its human rights record. "I look at the big picture," Bush said, adding that China had been supportive during the Persian Gulf War and that its system was "an awful lot better" than when he served in Beijing as the U.S. envoy in the mid-1970s.

Bush's stand sets the stage for a new battle with Congress, which must ratify his decision. Liberal and conservative lawmakers, believing Bush has been too easy on China's hard-line, aging leaders, have teamed up behind legislation to deny most-favored-nation (MFN) status. If a motion of disapproval were approved by Congress, Bush probably would veto it. Mike Gendrzejczyk, Washington director of Asia Watch, a private human-rights monitoring organization, said: "We're deeply disappointed in Bush tipping his hand on his MFN decision. He's basically told the Chinese that they have MFN 7 PeTlTldN MILV ISAM? AN.D Livestock donT Afi3 HEIR Guts Anderson defends timing of 'Lighthouse' process i LeRoy Smith of Buffalo posed to be sent to Congress Wednesday but an Interior Department spokeswoman said it was still under departmental review late Wednesday afternoon.

The committee's recommendation calls for congressional action to change the protective status of existing gray wolf populations in Montana under the Endangered Species Act from "endangered" to "experimental non-essential." Federal officials, meanwhile, would proceed with an environmental impact statement on wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park. The proposed plan also could ultimately lead to introduction of wolves in central Idaho. The plan also would give states authority to manage wolves outside federal boundaries and allow private individuals to kill wolves. Rep. Wayne Owens, D-Utah, a long-time advocate of wolf reintroduction and a member of the Please see WOLVES, A14 Monday night's school board meeting that the decisions were made too quickly and did not sufficiently involve parents and the public.

Neste objected in an interview this week that all the implications of the four proposals both logistical and philosophical have not been thought through. And she further questioned the legitimacy and the mandate of the Business Advisory Committee. Neste says that school-district officials have not thought hard enough about how students for the new programs will be selected, provided there is greater demand for the new programs than there is space. Nor has the district thought hard enough about how children would be transported to the new programs, she said. BAC and district officials have said a lottery system may be necessary, and also that students in the new programs must represent a socio-economic cross-section of the community.

Neste also questioned the extent of public involvement sought in the process. The Business Advisory Committee and the school district "should have been out knocking on doors" to see what the public wanted, before deciding which proposals to recommend, she said. "There was no vehicle, unless Please sec SCHOOLS, A14 Analyst: Uninsured more likely to die in hospitals IS fa Dewey VanderoflStar-Tribune says 'no to wolves in Cody rious illness, and death. Breast cancer, he said, treated early, "should have a fatality rate of almost zip." Yet "it's the third leading cause of death in females in Wyoming." Meanwhile, Van Why said, the insurance department is "continually receiving calls from individuals and employers who are saying, 'I simply can't afford (health insurance). I've got to drop it." In 1989-90, he said, health insurance costs rose between 25 percent and 28 percent in Wyoming.

Committee members heard Wednesday about a gamut of health care access and cost issues from state health officials, doctors, hospital representatives, insurance company spokesmen, and others. Jane Sabes, director of the Wyoming Department of Health, said that 63,000 people, or 13 percent of the state's population, do Please see HEALTH, A14 Gulf war not likely to cost U.S. taxpayers, GAO says WASHINGTON (AP) The Persian Gulf War should not cost U.S. taxpayers any money because contributions from the allies should cover the conflict's expenses, congressional auditors said Wednesday. A Defense Department official said that he believed the United States would ultimately spend less than the $15 billion in U.S.

funds Congress has already provided. But he said the precise total remains uncertain because many post-war costs including equipment replacement and veterans' benefits are not known. The war's price tag has become a sensitive political issue for the Bush administration. On the one side are congressional critics demanding that the countries that benefited from the U.S. defeat of Iraq reimburse the United States for the costs of the struggle.

On the other side are officials in some of the nations that have promised $54.6 billion to help the United States pay its war tab. Some of them, notably in Germany and Japan, want parts of their payments refunded because of the possibility that foreign contributions will be so high that the United States will actually make a profit from the war. Sean O'Keefe, the Defense Department's comptroller, told the House Budget Committee Wednesday that the war and its Please see COSTS, A14 ByTOMREA Star-Tribune staff writer CASPER A parent of Casper school children objected in an interview this week to the process and speed by which the school district and a committee of business people have selected the "Lighthouse Schools" proposals which may be implemented here next fall. But a member of the ad-hoc Business Advisory Committee, which is working closely with the Natrona County School District on the program, said that she ANDERSON thought the process was reasonable. And though it may have gone faster than some people would have liked, the committee felt it was better to launch the innovative programs sooner than later, committee member Susan Anderson said.

Change "will never be comfortable," whether it begins now or a year from now, she said. Diane Neste and Margo Sabec, among others, parents of Crest Hill School students, objected at Casper Area A3 Classified Comics B9 Community Crossword B3 Enterprise A7 Landers, Omarr B3 Letters Al 1-13 Markets Movies A9 Obituaries, Diary B2 Opinion A10 Sports B4-7 Wyoming Bl Old Grouch If it rains one more day, I'm getting the ark out of the garage. RESULTS The Star-Tribune Classified Section is not just for selling unwanted items! If there is something you would like to buy or trade for, don't wait for someone else to place a 'For Sale' ad in the running your own advertisement in 136-Want to BuyTrade. Right now, you can buy a classified ad there for just $6 for 7 days! Just call 266-0555 or 1-800-442-6916 (in WY toll-free) for more detailsl 1 in By BILL LAZARUS Star-Tribune staff writer CASPER Uninsured individuals die in American hospitals three times more often than insured individuals die, a consultant for the Wyoming Department of Insurance told a legislative committee Wednesday. "Perhaps they were receiving good care in the hospital but it was too little too late," Sam Van Why told the Select Committee on Health Care.

The committee established by the 1991 Legislature to study health care costs, health insurance problems and availability of health care held its first meeting Wednesday in Casper. Van Why said, as did a number of speakers during the day, that in Wyoming as elsewhere across the nation, people without insurance commonly fail to get the basic care that can prevent more se Surf's up wmmmmuiusAmKMmmmmmmmmmmiiimm -j I j.umm 1 4 Sullivan, delegation criticize tax report By JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE A recent report from the Citizens for Tax Justice that labeled Wyoming as having one of the 10 worst tax structures in the nation was off base and ignored the low personal tax burden of Wyoming citizens, Gov. Mike Sullivan and Wyoming's congressional delegation say in letters to The Washington Post. In their letter, Sens. Alan Simpson and Malcolm Wallop and Rep.

Craig Thomas said the report was "a most disturbing example of loose statistics running amok." The CTJ study said Wyoming's tax structure is bad because it requires low and middle income families to pay a greater percentage of their income in taxes than do rich families. The combination of Wyoming's sales, excise and property taxes Please see TAXES, A14 Opposition to Idaho mike plant brewing in Jackson By LARRY RUMMER Star-Tribune correspondent JACKSON Some residents here say they are concerned about possible plans to build a nuclear reactor at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory near Idaho Falls only 90 miles from Jackson Hole. Officials with INEL and the U.S. Department of Energy who came to Jackson recently to discuss operations at the facility ran into questions about the impact the proposed reactor might have on Teton County. The DOE is looking at new locations for producing tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen necessary to increase the explosive power of "advanced" hydrogen bombs.

The locations under consideration include INEL and sites in South Carolina and Washington. Public hearings are scheduled this week in three states, and final decision is expected by December Please see NUCLEAR, A14 Kick borensonbtar- tribune Using a snow shovel, Randy Ridgeway makes a dent in a puddle as he tries to keep water out of the warehouse at Chemical Supply Company on Glenn Road in Casper..