Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 3

1 Change of venue sought for man accused of baby abuse By GREG LIVOVICH Star- Tribune staff writer CASPER -The lawyer for a 21-year-old Casper man charged with seriously injuring a 10-month old girl during an alleged sexual assault Dec. 5 wants the trial to be heard outside Natrona County. Defense lawyer Robert Monteith filed the change-of-venue request, along with several other pretrial motions, Thursday in 7th District Court. The man, accused of thrusting his fingers into the anus and vagina of the girl and tearing her flesh while shaking her violently, pleaded innocent to the first-degree rape charge during an arraignment Thursday morning. The injuries required surgery.

The girl has been released from Memorial Hospital of Natrona County and is living with her mother. The change of venue motion, a single-page document containing no detailed argument supporting the request to move the trial, notes only that Natrona County has "so great a prejudice against the defendant that he cannot obtain a fair and impartial trial." Defense lawyers have subpoenaed a tape of a KCWY televison newscast about the county court preliminary hearing that found the man liable to stand trial on the felony charge, according to court records. Another defense motion alleges that Casper police and the Natrona County district attorney's office "flagrantly violated the rights of the defendant," and asks that 7th District Court Judge Dan Spangler dismiss the sexual assault charge. During the county court preliminary hearing before Judge Michael Huber, Monteith closely questioned a Casper police department investigator about alleged rough treatment his client received from a fellow police officer during a post-arrest interview shortly after the alleged assault on the baby. Mike Bachert admitted during the hearing that Dave Anderson, the other investigator questioning the defendant, was visibly upset and at one point placed his hand on the defendant.

But Bachert maintained that Anderson's gesture was not violent. Defense lawyers also filed a motion to suppress statements the defendant gave police and another motion forbidding prosecutors to mention the man's juvenile record to trial jurors. A 7th District Court hearing dale has not yet been set to consider the defense motions. The man was arrested within several hours of the alleged attack, after police brought him to the Hall of Justice from Memorial Hospital of Natrona County where the girl was being treated. The man was called to the hospital from his job, according to preliminary hearing testimony.

Prosecutors allege thai he attacked the girl, dropped her on a bed, then covered her with a blanket and went to work. The defendant, who lived with the girl and her mother, was babysitting at the time of the alleged assault, according to police. Prosecutors claim he became angry when the baby began crying and wouldn't stop. He allegedly grabbed the girl and began snaking her. Monteith argued during the preliminary hearing that no evidence was introduced indicating that injuries the girl sustained were the result of an intentional, sexual assault.

Judge Huber, before binding over the defendant to district court, ruled that the wording of Wyoming's rape law indicates that any alleged attack on the genitals of a victim is a sexual assault. Slar-TribuneBill Willcox Registration day traditionally is a joyless and hectic time at American colleges, as reflected by these tired faces at University of Wyoming-Casper Thursday. Jami Meyers talks to UW Casper Assistant Director of Admissions Stewart Harris, while other students stoically wait their turn. Next? Presidents leave local American banks Half of downtown bank's board members reportedly resign Ice Arena business up; Hogadon bucks down i Omaha, John Martin, "technically" may have assumed the bank's presidency until replacements are found. Meanwhile, American National Bank of Eastridge President William Woodworth resigned his postion Dec.

15, moving to First Interstate Bank of Casper as a vice president. He was replaced as president by former Earlham, Iowa, Savings Bank Vice President Richard Wolf. Woodworth said he left to advance his career and not because of any company shakeup. "1 saw that my future was going to be further enhanced at FIB," he said. Butler blamed the downtown bank's resignations on its continued inability to obtain liability insurance for directors and officers.

But Wolf whose Eastridge bank also is without liability coverage said his bank's board remains intact, and he added that many banks pursue business as usual without the insurance. American Bank Corp. was taken over in September by Omaha National Bank of Omaha and Denver National Bank of Denver after the then-Casper-based holding company defaulted on loans. The holding company was relocated to Omaha, and Martin, also a vice president at Omaha National, became president of the holding company. Butler said American Bank tem wins special-merit award of John Story's rape trial Rocket-Miner shares honor for daily newspapers By DAN NJEGOMIR Star-Tribune staff writer CASPER In a scries of unannounced changes, both presidents and a vice president of Casper's two American banks have left their posts, leaving key vacancies, bank officials said.

The recent resignations at the larger bank, the American Bank of Casper, were accompanied by the resignation of half of that bank's eight-member board of directors in recent months, according to one of the bank's remaining board members. The changes came only months after American Bank the holding company for the two Casper banks and several other American banks statewide, fell victim to a foreclosure by out-of-state lenders. American Bank of Casper President Herbert McCulla resigned his position Jan. I and has assumed a consulting role, according to bank director William Butler. McCulla also has relinquished his position as chairman of the bank board although he remains a director, Butler said Thursday.

The bank's vice president and cashier, Richard Fredrick, resigned his position in October to take up a banking career in Goshen County, Butler said. Both positions remain unfilled, Butler said, although he said the holding company's new president Star-Tribune for coverage Rock Springs Daily CASPER The Casper Star-Tribune earned the Wyoming Press Association's 1985 award of special merit for its coverage of the rape trial of Lovell physician John Story. The honor marked the second consecutive year the Star-Tribune took the award. Last year it won for its coverage of the natural gas issue in Wyoming. The series was written by reporters Catherine Warren, Linda Bean and Joan Barron, and included cartoons by Greg Kearney.

The Star-Tribune shared the merit award for daily newspapers with the Rock Springs Daily Rocket-Miner, for a story titled "Honored at Last." Weekly newspapers winning special merit awards were the Lusk Herald, for a letters-to-the-editor campaign and the Lovell Chronicle, for a series honoring veterans. Warren's series on Story also took first place in Series Articles. Charles Levendosky, a Star-Tribune columnist and editorial page editor, won first place for column writing for his weekly "Another View." Candy Moulton, a Star-Tribune correspondent, won first place in the feature story category with a story about the rape of an Encampment woman. Former Star-Tribune sports Editor Bill Landen won first place honors for his sports column, while current Star-Tribune sports editor Bill Plunkett won second place for his column. Levendosky's 1985 Arts edition of the Star-Tribune took first place porarily has employed two new presidents in the days since Mc-Culla's resignation, but the out-of-state men whose names were not immediately available did not remain because of the lack of insurance.

Butler said the four board members who resigned former Casper City Manager Ken Erickson, geologist-consultant Ken Farmer, Pepper Tank President Dean Morford and state Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Natrona, did so because of the lack of liability coverage as well. "They just couldn't expose themselves and their families to that kind of exposure," he said. In an unusual development, bank officials repeatedly refused to say McCulla had resigned his presidency. The resignation was confirmed only after both American Bank officials and Omaha National Bank officials refused to say if McCulla was still president of the downtown bank.

On Wednesday, a spokesman for the bank said she was advised to give no information on the bank, and she would not confirm if McCulla had resigned or if the bank had a president. On Thursday, bank Administrative Officer Sally Minihan said, "We can't give you any information on the bank. All information on the bank is to be released only by Omaha." But the Omaha bank referred all calls back to the Casper bank. Chronicle, "Sports Desk," by Stackpole. Sports feature story Lovell Chronicle, "Winterhollcr a three sport standout," by Stackpole.

Use of editorial spot color Lovell Chronicle, Patricia Parmer. Use of editorial process color Evanston Post, Bill Alexander, Michael Matts and Michael Johm. Large weekly newspapers winning first-place editorial awards were: News Story Jackson Hole Guide, "Skier Killed," by Jean Heller. Feature story Jackson Hole Guide, "Living with dignity," by Jean Heller. Column writing Wyoming State Journal, Tom Rush Series article Pinedalc Roundup, "Exxon's LaBarge Project," by Dean Krakel.

Photo layout Jackson Hole News, "Broncs go crazy," by Cammie Pyle. Sports news story Jack- son Hole Guide, "King of the Mountain," by Jospeh Piccoli. Sports column Powell-Tribune, "From the sidelines," by Scott Hagel. Sports feature story Jackson Hole Guide, "Scott racks up miles," by Piccoli. Use of editorial spot color Jackson Hole News, Diane Kaup-Benefiel.

Use of editorial process col- or Jackson Hole Guide, Jim Mountjoy and Wayne Tichenor. Meanwhile, income is running well past projections at the ice arena, Harms said. Daily income is averaging four times what the arena needs to meet its operating costs, he said. Since the facility opened New Year's Eve, Harms said more than 25,000 skaters have hit the ice, generating $17,000 in revenue. Skate rentals have earned $2,500 and novice skaters have spent $3,000 to learn, he said.

The arena's popularity should hold out through the winter, but probably will "drop off" when it re-opens after a two-month closure in the summer, he said. tain View Addition. Jack Eugene Garner, 132 N. Sixth told deputies the coins were worth $960 and the pistol was valued at $150. Cpt.

Ron Ket-chum said deputies know the whereabouts of the suspect have been in contact with him. An arrest is pending, Ketchum said. Thornton leaving prosecutors' office CASPER Nancy Thornton, a deputy district attorney since January 1983, will leave the Natrona County district attorney's office Jan. 29 and move to California, District Attorney Scott Evans said Thursday. Evans said he will begin advertising immediately for a lawyer to replace Thornton, who "has been involved with one-quarter of our workload and has a substantial percentage of our juvenile cases." Thornton's departure cuts to four the number of staff lawyers in the office, which is budgeted for five fulltime attorneys, including Evans.

Thornton also served as a deputy Natrona County attorney under then-county attorney Bert Guetz in 1980-81, Evans said. "I hope to have a replacement as soon as possible because we are not able to function without five people," Evans said of the office, which prosecutes criminal cases in district and county courts. During many working days, prosecutors are needed simultaneously in the two county and two district courtrooms where criminal cases are heard. Local water quality topic of meeting CASPER The quality of Casper's drinking water will be discussed Tuesday by the Casper League of Women Voters at a 7:30 p.m. meeting at the United Methodist Church, Second and Durbin.

Abe Knapp, water quality engineer for the Natrona County Health Department, will discuss a pilot program that will allow the county to administer the federal Safe Drinking Water Act on a local basis. The meeting is open to the public. CASPER Business is booming at the new Casper Ice Arena, while revenues are melting with the snow at the Hogadon Ski Area, Casper Parks and Recreation Director Larry Harms said Thursday. Snow cover is meager after a bitter November that failed to drop enough snow at the ski site and a mild December and January, Harms said. Snow was an average 15 inches deep in December, just more than a third as deep as the 42-inch base Hogadon boasted in the 1983-84 season, he said.

Revenues in the December of that snow-laden ski season were Group opposes greater Yellowstone system CASPER A Fremont County group newly formed to buck what it calls a "preservationist trend" will ask the 'Legislature to formally oppose a proposal to establish a greater Yellowstone ecosystem, a spokesman says. Don Smith, elected president of the Wind River Multiple Use Advocates (WRMUA) at its organizational meeting in Riverton this week, said the proposal would be "catastrophic to this sector of the state economically." Forty-three environmental groups, in a proposal pending before Congress, have asked Congress to extend extra protection to about 8 million acres surrounding Yellowstone National Park. About 100 people representing the area's agricultural, oil and gas, retail trade and services, mining and other sectors attended Tuesday night's organizational meeting, Smith said. Fifty-nine people became paying members of the new organization. Officers elected to lead the group with Smith are Ed Young, vice president; Lew Diehl, treasurer; Rob Kindle, secretary; and George Reynolds, publicity chairman.

The group's next meeting is planned for Jan. 28, Smith said. Sullivan mulls entering gubernatorial race CASPER Mike Sullivan, a Casper lawyer and prominent local Democrat, said he is considering running for governor. "I have had some discussions," Sullivan said Thursday. "1 have made no decision." Nor has he set a deadline by which he will decide whether to enter the race, he said.

Sullivan is a member of the board of Memorial Hospital of Natrona County. He also has represented Northern Utilities in its legal battles with Casper over natural gas franchising and gas prices. His brother Dan is a Republican state senator from Natrona County. If he enters the Democratic race, Sullivan will join Casper woodcutter Keith Brian Goodenough and perennial candidate Al Ham $62,000. Income was only $45,000 last month, however.

Nearly 5,000 skiers visited Hogadon through December 1985, down from the 7,400 that made their way to the Casper Mountain ski facility over the same time two years earlier, Harms said. Snow-making machines are picking up where nature has left off, but conditions are icy on the mountain, Harms said. The ski area will remain open as long as it is possible to ski and enough skiers show up to make it worthwhile to the city, he said. Hogadon has lost money ever since the city obtained it in 1 98 1 burg. Democratic Gov.

Ed Herschler is retiring after three terms in office. Republicans who have entered the race include State Treasurer Stan Smith, Douglas businessman and former GOP state chairman Fred Schroeder and former Wyoming Mining Association Executive Vice President Bill Budd. State senator Dave Nicholas, R-Albany, has announced he will formally enter the race when the Wyoming Legislature ends its upcoming budget session. Women's commission meets at Holiday Inn CASPER The Wyoming Commission for Women will commemorate 20 years of existence at its quarterly meeting here today and Saturday. The meeting begins at 3 p.m.

today at the Holiday Inn and a banquet is scheduled for 7 p.m. The general session resumes at 7:15 a.m. Saturday and ends at noon. The agenda includes discussion of the Women's History Week Project, women in non-traditional careers, day care, the Wyoming Futures Project, women and the agricultural crisis, child abuse concerns, older women, women in athletics, comparable worth and other topics. Thieves take pistol from county residence CASPER Thieves broke through a rear window to get into a Blue Sage Road residence Wednesday and made off with a magnum pistol worth $150, according to Natrona County sheriff's deputies.

Ralph Parker, 3577 N. Blue Sage, told deputies that burglars did $200 damage to the window and window frame when breaking into his home. The burglary occurred sometime between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., deputies said. Deputies have suspect in silver-dollar theft CASPER Natrona County Sheriff's deputies said they have a suspect in a recent theft of 80 silver dollars and a Ruger pistol from a home in the Moun in the Special Section category for the third year, and in the use of editorial process color in a photograph titled "Lily." Other first-place editorial awards given to daily Wyoming newspapers were: News story Rawlins Daily Times, "Victoria Dixon convicted," by James Tiemann.

Photo Layout Riverton Ranger, "Moonlight Coon Hunt," by Todd Adams. Sports news story Riverton Ranger, "From First Tap," by Dave Perry. Sports feature story-Rock Springs Daily Rocket-Miner, "A Long Road Home," by Tony Ouadagnoli. Use of editorial spot color Riverton Ranger, Dave Perry and Sherry Richardson. Small weekly newspapers winning first-place editorial awards were: News story Lovell Chronicle, "Dr.

Story sentenced," by Scott Stackpole. Feature story Saratoga Sun, "It's a Life," by Kathy Baker. Column writing Medicine Bow Post, "On the Home Front," by Jonene Day. Series articles Medicine Bow Post, "Famous People in Wyoming," by Phil Roberts. Photo Layout Glenrock Independent, "We're No.

1," by Randall Stalker. Sports news story Lovell Chronicle, "Girls Sweep to Consolation Crown," by Stackpole. Sports column Lovell.