Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 1

I If WEATHER 1 pNj Partly sunny and breezy NATIONAL V1 Telescope deployed 4 Ul Llf f-' I I rsJ Home and 8Way-B4 i Keep hostages captive -as xmnm Nicaragua Chamorro sworn in as president She puts end to draft, grants political amnesty 45feji 'j i Ism t- is Inaugurated 5 is' 1 AP President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro of Nicaragua waves to supporters as she arrives for her inauguration Wednesday at the stadium in Managua. Flitner criticizes huge land acquisition plan MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) Violeta Barrios de Chamorro took the presidential oath Wednesday, ending 1 1 years of leftist Sandinista rule in Central America's largest country. She immediately proclaimed a political amnesty and ended the military draft. "This blessed Nicaragua, instead of burying its sons in a fratricidal war, will bury its weapons forever, so the cannon will never roar again," Chamorro told a crowd of 20,000 inside a Managua baseball BLM backs Canyon for By DAN WHIPPLE Star-Tribune staff writer CASPER About 5,500 acres of Sweetwater Canyon would become wilderness under a new recommendation by the Bureau of Land Management, but the agency has recommended against wilderness designation for five other areas in its Rawlins District. According to a BLM environmental impact statement, BLM is recommending that 5,538 I i By ANDREW MELNYKOVYCH Star-Tribune Washington bureau WASHINGTON A proposed $1 billion-a-year parkland acquisition program would result in a massive land grab aimed at farmers and ranchers, critics told Congress Wednesday.

"We fear that this will result in the widespread confiscation of agricultural land by federal, state and local government agencies," Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation President David Flitner told the Senate parks and public lands subcommittee. "People who have farmed and ranched all of their lives on lands farmed and ranched by their parents will face the chilling prospect of losing their livelihoods so that others may play." The American Heritage Trust Act would set up a trust fund that eventually would, generate at least $1 billion a year to fund land pur wtMitfbv map 4 Landsbergis: U.S. giving in to Kremlin -blackmail9 MOSCOW (AP) Lithuania's president on Wednesday accused the White House of succumbing to Kremlin "blackmail" by failing to impose sanctions against the Soviet Union in response to Moscow's economic blockade of the I breakaway republic. "The logic in this is hard to understand, but blackmail does not require logic," the Lithuanian leader, Vytautas Landsbergis, told lawmakers. His remarks were released by the parliamentary press office.

Lithuanian leaders have expressed frustration with the failure of the States and other Western nations to come to the republic's aid. It has been locked in a stand-off with Moscow since President Mikhail Gorbachev rejected its March 11 declaration of in- dependence. The United States has never recognized the Soviet annexation of Lithuania and the neighboring Baltic states Estonia and Latvia in 1940. However, it has refrained any strong criticism of Gor-' bachev's handling of the matter. President Bush has called for di- alogue to resolve the dispute.

In Washington, Bush responded Wednesday to critical remarks by Landsbergis a day earlier: "I don't need any defense." He said the U.S. public supported his stance. "The policies, decisions I've taken have had strong support from "the American people, and that's who I work for," said Bush. The president did not reply when asked by a reporter how Lithuanians view Please see LITHUANIA, A2 GEORGE BUSH 7 don 't need any defense' Casper Area A3 Classifieds B8-12 Comics B7 Community A7 Crossword A2 Landers, Omarr B3 Letters A9-11 Markets A6 Movies B3 Obituaries, Diary B2 Opinion A8 Sports B4-6 Wyoming Bl Old Grouch The little woman says Wyo needs feminine touch. I say she's just touched.

RESULTS The Star-Tribune Classified Section is not )ust for selling unwanted items! If there is something you would Ike to buy or trade for, don't wait for someone else to plane a Tor Sale' ad in the paper running your own advertisement in 136-Want to BuyTrade. Right now, you can buy a classified ad there lor jus $6 for 7 day! Just cal 266-0555 or 1-800-442-6916 (in WY toll-free) for more detatel TV )J Wilderness study areas grey area is Lander Resource Area MALCOLM WALLOP Consider reducing land holdings opposed by agriculture, timber, mineral, and other business interests. Lawmakers from Western states, where the federal government owns vast tracts of land, said they oppose any expansion of the federal estate. "We've got enough federal lands Please see LAND, A12 WYOMING Casper I Worland Karpan announces bid stadium. But some combatants were not ready to lay down their arms.

Outside the mountain hamlet of El Destino, several hundred Contra rebels rejected a call by a U.N. peacekeeper to begin handing over their weapons about two hours after Chamarro's inauguration. An estimated 9,000 Contras inside Nicaragua are to gather in coming days in five security enclaves inside Nicaragua for Please see NICARAGUA, A12 Sweetwater wilderness acres of Sweetwater Canyon become designated wilderness, with 3,518 acres of the canyon declared non-wilderness. The EIS also calls for non-wilderness for five other wilderness study areas (WSA): Lankin Dome, 6,316 acres; Split Rock, 12,749 acres; Savage Peak, 7,041 acres; Miller Springs, 6,249 acres; and Copper Mountain, 6,858 acres. Sweetwater Canyon is in Fremont County, about 15 miles east of Please see WILDERNESS, A12 Star-Tribune graphic by Greg Kearney the benefit of its policyholders.

In return, has been paid insurance premiums and received assets owned by Commercial General founder Roy Thigpen. But in a hearing that concluded Monday in Judge Dan Spangler's state district courtroom in Casper, argued that an asset it received property in New Mexico was subject to a prior mortgage. Through its attorney, Steve Freudenthal of Cheyenne, asked to be freed of its obligation to pay pre-Oct. 1 claims. It also asked to continue serving policies made after that date.

But lawyers for the Wyoming insurance commissioner and for a taxicab cooperative facing a pre-Oct. 1 claim were successful in convincing Spangler that should continue to be liable for pre-Oct. 1 claims. In a decision letter filed Tuesday, Spangler ruled there was no suffi-Please see INSURANCE, A12 I nmmmiummmmuJ -A CoPPf. S.

Mountain flHf Miller Springs Under'. 1 Pinedale iJarWn Savbge yjSweetwater Canyon WSAj i chases by local, state and federal governments. Thirty percent of the money would be designated for federal land purchases. Unlike the present land acquisition funds, the money from the American Heritage Trust Fund would be spent automatically each year. Creation of the AHTF is largely a response to the fact that past Congresses and administrations have failed fully to fund authorized land purchases even when the money was available for the land acquisition.

As a result, there is an unspent balance of about S9 billion in the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Historic Preservation Fund. Under the measure, those unspent balances would be converted, in a paper transaction, into the American Heritage Trust Fund. The measure has received broad support in the House and Senate, and is backed by conservation and outdoor recreation groups. It is legitimate businesses to defraud the people of Wyoming. During a press Karpan, a Democrat, said her honorary campaign chairman will be Casey Herschler, wife of the late former three-term Gov.

Ed Herschler. She also didn't rule out later political ambitions that may include higher office, such as Congress or the U.S. Senate. She described herself as a "long distance runner" with a nearly lifelong interest in politics. "This is the right office at the right time for me," she said.

She added that if there is another political opportunity down the Une, the secretary of state's job is good preparation. Nevertheless, she said she doesn't view the post as a "consolation," although she acknowledged it isn't a glamorous job. Karpan said she feels she has He also said it's possible the GOP executive committee may decide to dispense with the required straw poll in uncontested races, like governor, secretary of state, auditor and treasurer. The withdrawal of Rep. Carroll Miller, R-Big Horn, from the GOP governor's race Monday left Mead as the only apparent contender.

Miller was the last of eight potential or announced Republican gubernatorial candidates who have dropped out of the race since late last year. "I suspect very much that we may not have another candidate," Hughes said Tuesday in telephone interview. He said it is getting a little late in the political season to start working on a political campaign. Can By JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE Secretary of State Kathy Karpan announced her candidacy for a second term Wednesday and said the economy will be the critical issue in all election races this year. Karpan, 48, said she has made KARPAN the secretary of state's office "business friendly" since she became the state's second top elected official in January 1987.

She said her office has a "two-handed" approach. The staff offers a "helping hand" to legitimate business but also holds a "hammer" to block efforts of il- Judge Spangler decides insurance claims case enhanced the secretary of state's office but believes its operations are "under-appreciated." Karpan apparently will have no primary election opposition this year. Tom Zollinger, a Rock Springs lawyer, is the only announced Republican candidate for the office. In the 1986 general election, Karpan defeated K. C.

Thomson, son of veteran Secretary of State Thyra Thomson, by nearly 12,000 votes to win the post. Karpan said Wednesday she still has mixed emotions about government reorganization, which will dilute the authority of the five elected state officials over many state functions and particularly state institutions. She said she realizes that while something needs to be done, she fears reorganization will diminish Please see KARPAN, A12 didates, he said, must be raising funds, and setting up a statewide organization with key people in each county. "I look for Mary to go to the state convention unopposed at this point," Hughes said. "She obviously will be on stage at the state convention and delegates will get a flavor of what she will be like.

I think it will be a great showcase for her because nobody else is running." The GOP state convention will be held May 4-5 in Gillette while the Democratc state convention is scheduled the same weekend in Riverton. Although the Republican party by-laws call for a straw poll on candidates, Hughes said the ex ecu-Pleas MEAD, A12 Hughes: GOP ready to 'showcase' Mead By MATT WINTERS Star-Tribune staff writer CASPER A Caribbean-based insurance firm must continue to cover soise pre-existing claims against Casper's defunct Commercial General Insurance a state judge has ruled. The ruling means that at least some parties with claims against former Commercial General policyholders will be able to collect damages from a $500,000 trust fund. Others, however, may be out of luck. Under an agreement made with the state last September, Fidelity Casualty and Indemnity Ltd.

of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean agreed to cover some claims made before Oct. 1, 1989, against Commercial General. As part of the agreement, complied with a state law requiring it to set up a $500,000 trust fund for By JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE With no other visible candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, the Republican state convention next month will provide a "showcase" for Mary Mead of Jackson. State Party Chairman Mark HUGHES Hughes said Tuesday. Hughes said he knew of no other Republican who plans to challenge Mead, a Jackson rancher and businesswoman, for the gubernatorial nomination..