The Missoulian from Missoula, Montana • 14

B2 Missoulian, Saturday, September 16, 1995 MONTANA is mm Lawmakers won't challenge ruling allowing the public to see draft bills By BOB ANEZ Associated Press HHhese legislators think JL of themselves as little gods rather than the representatives of the people. Rather than make things more accessible and encourage citizen knowledge and participation, they are making it more difficult. -Jim Jensen Grass fires fuel valley smoke KALISPELL Lingering hazy smoke over the Flathead Valley since Tuesday is apparently the result of fall burning of grass fields in the Spokane area. No fires were burning on national forests in northwestern Montana, according to Dennis Jones, a spokesman for the Flathead National Forest. He said agency fire officials had traced the smoke to fires in the Post Falls area of northern Idaho near Spokane, where grass is grown for commercial seed and stubble is burned in the fall.

Don Schwennesen, Missoulian Motorcyclist faces criminal charge KALISPELL A Billings motorcyclist whose passenger died when his cycle crashed near Hungry Horse eight days ago has been charged in Flathead County with negligent homicide. Richard Ellis, 54, was arrested on Friday after his release from North Valley Hospital, where he had been hospitalized with a broken shoulder. He is accused of causing the death of Teresa Sable, 48, of Whitefish, when his westbound motorcycle left U.S. 2 west of Berne Park about 1 a.m. on Sept.

8 and struck trees. Neither wore helmets. A lab report indicated that Ellis had a blood alcohol content of 1 percent, the point of legal intoxication. His bond was set at $50,000. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Oct.

11. Don Schwennesen, Missoulian available to the public before they are finalized will mislead Montanans about what is intended by a measure and discourage legislators from submitting their ideas at all. They also feared an onslaught of requests to see bill drafts will swamp the staff and prevent them from doing their work. House Speaker John Mercer, R-Polson, said the legal dispute is an attempt by lobbyists to control the bill-drafting process. But, he added, the controversy makes lawmakers look bad.

"Our case is not a good case. It sounds like the Legislature is trying to keep something secret," said Mercer, a council member. "We don't have secrets. We're only trying to make sure information (in bill drafts) is accurate." Senate Minority Leader Mike Halligan, D-Missoula, said the council should take no action and wait to see what, if any, problems are created by the ruling before and during the 1997 Legislature. participation, they are making it more difficult." TrTe case arose during the 1995 session when the Montana Environmental Information Center sued lawmakers after being denied access to early versions of a controversial mine reclamation bill.

District Judge Thomas HonzcJ of Helena ruled Aug. 7 that the public's constitutional right to know, means citizens must be allowed to see draft bills and related documents. Friday's decision not to appeal was made by the Legislative Council and Environmental Quality Council, which oversee legislative staff involved in preparing bills. The two committees were told by Greg Petesch, chief staff attorney, that any appeal would be based on the claim of legislative immunity. That constitutional provision protects lawmakers from being forced to turn over their bill drafts and should extend to their staff as well, he said.

But committee members were skeptical an appeal would succeed. At the same time, they expressed concern that making proposed bills HELENA Lawmakers decided Friday they will not challenge a court decision requiring legislative staff to let the public see draft versions of bills, but looked for a way to soften the ruling's impact. They formed a committee to suggest changes in legislative rules that would make it easier for legislators to keep their proposals secret until they are introduced during a session. The eight-member panel, composed of representatives from four committees, will consider eliminating the requirement that bill drafts prepared by private parties be submitted first to the Legislative Council staff for review. It is when drafts are in the hands of the staff that they must be available to the public, last month's court ruling held.

By bypassing the staff, proposed legislation can remain confidential until submitted to the clerk of the House or the secretary of Senate. Jim Jensen, executive director of the environmental group that sued Drowning victim was C. Falls man over access to bill drafts, said the rule change is another attempt to keep public information from the public. "These legislators think of themselves as little gods rather than the representatives of the people," he said. "Rather than make things more accessible and encourage citizen knowledge and Missoula mrnmi claims lottery prize HELENA A Missoula woman claimed her $100,000 Powerball Prize Friday.

"I just knew that I was going to win someday," said Sunee Milstead, a hairstylist who was born in Thailand. She is the 12th $100,000 Powerball winner in Montana. She purchased her ticket at a Buttrey Food and Drug store in Missoula. Associated Press Paftee Canyon pileup .,1 BIA searches lagoon for body POPLAR Bureau of Indian Affairs investigators are draining the Brockton lagoon east of Poplar to check rumors that a woman who disappeared four years ago was killed and dumped there. "We decided to lay these rumors to rest one way or the other," said Howard Bemer, director of BIA law enforcement services in Poplar.

Jody Howard, 32, of Frazer was last seen on Oct. 7, 1991, at a Wolf Point service station. Her family reported her missing a month later. Officials have been unable to trace the origin of the rumor that she was killed and her body dumped in the lagoon. Investigators and tribal workers began draining the first of three cells of the lagoon on Thursday afternoon.

The impoundment, 12 miles east of Poplar, is about half the size of a football field. Family members have criticized the BIA for not checking the lagoon report sooner. Associated Press i By DON SCHWENNESEN of the Missoulian KALISPELL The man who drowned in the Flathead River on Thursday was identified Friday as Jerry Tavis, 39, of Columbia Falls. Tavis, who was initially thought to be from Kalispell, was in a canoe with three female companions on Thursday afternoon when the canoe hit a whirlpool northeast of Kalispell and capsized. Jim Dupont said the other three swam to safety, but Tavis, who wa not wearing a life jacket, tried to stay with the canoe and was pulled under the water.

Two of the women were wearing the ir life jackets, but the third wasn't. One of the women ran to a nearby house and phoned for help within less than five minutes, Dupont said. Nearby search and rescue volunteers responded immediately and pulled Tavis from the water within 20 minutes, but efforts to revive him failed. The whirlpool is north of Lybeck Dike and roughly three river miles south of Presentine Bar, where two river channels merge. Dupont said it forms a depression up to 3 feet deep at times.

4 O'. vV i MICHAEL GALLACHER Missoulian Firefighter wants back on the job LIVINGSTON Kevin Harrington has filed a District Court suit to make the city of Livingston reinstate him to his job as a firefighter. The move preempts the City Council's decision earlier this month to file its own suit to overturn a ruling by an arbitrator who said in July the city must rehire Harrington. He was fired last December over allegations that he fondled a 13-year-old girl. The former department captain and the union arbitrator contend that the council violated Harrington's union contract, due-process rights and city policy by firing him the way it did.

The International Firefighter's Union agrees and has signed on with Harrington. City officials say Harrington poses a health and public safety risk to future ambulance service users, especially young girls. The Fire Department operates the ambulance service. Associated Press Montana Highway Patrol officer Tim Monzon inspects the wreckage of a 1976 Chevrolet pickup truck Friday after the vehicle slipped off the shoulderless road when the drivei, Orman Ketchem of Missoula, was distracted and failed to negotiate a turn on Pattee Canyon Road Friday afternoon. Ketchem, who was not injured, was cited for driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Convicted killer asks high court for new trial A THE UNIVERSITY CONGREGATIONAL Pre-School(UCCC) has openings in the M-W-F4year class fs Companion's arrow kills hunter WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS A Wisconsin bowhunter, hit in the neck by a companion's arrow, died Thursday before he could reach a hospital, Meagher County Sheriff Rick Seidlitz said Friday. Ronald E. Molback, 41, of Bristol, was hunting with three companions in the Atlanta Creek area of the Big Belt Mountains about 15 miles west of White Sulphur Springs. Seidlitz said Doug A. Elsering, 38, also of Bristol, shot at what he thought was a deer about 7 a.m., but hit Molback in the left side of the neck.

Molback was dead when the other hunters got him to the Mountainview Medical Center in White Sulphur Springs, the sheriff said. Associated Press years vv by Sept. 10th to register Lester Killsontop contends prosecutors withlield inforimtion about Diane Bull Coming, a key witness against him in the 1987 kidnapping and murder of Marty Etcliemendy of Miles City. 3 a i Call 549-8937 or 721-6413 for info. 5 0iieMiiiiviWiiiif Officers arrest stabbing suspect WILLISTON, N.D.

North Dakota authorities say a tip that a pickup truck driver had left a service station without paying $5 for gasoline led to the arrest of a Montana woman in connection with the stabbing of a man from Canada. Faith Melody Portra, 24, of Culbertson, was jailed in connection with the Wednesday stabbing death of Roy Thomas Bear, 31, of Saskatchewan, outside her house. She was charged Thursday with deliberate homicide. Montana authorities contacted the Williams County sheriffs office about 4 p.m. Wednesday, asking officers to watch for a white pickup they thought might be carrying suspects in Bear's death.

About a half-hour later, a service station employee west of Williston reported that the driver of a white pickup had left without paying for gasoline. The victim died of a stab wound in his upper left chest. Reg. $419.95 BILLINGS (AP)-The Montana Supreme Court on Friday was asked to overturn the conviction and death sentence of Vernon Killsontop and order a new trial, one step beyond what it did earlier this summer in ordering resentencing of Lester Killsontop. The court said it would take the arguments under study and issue a ruling later.

James Thompson, a California lawyer, told the high court his client should receive a new trial because prosecutors withheld information about Diane Bull Coming. She was one of the key witnesses against the Killsontops in the 1987 kidnapping, robbery and murder of Marty Etchemendy of Miles City. The request is based largely on the same arguments the court heard in Lester Killsontop's appeal last July. It unanimously overturned his death sentence and ordered resentencing, but a resentencing date hasn't been set. Friday's hearing was in Billings as part of the court's attempt to make itself and its work visible outside of Helena.

The session was sponsored by the Yellowstone County Bar Association and drew about 50 people. Vernon Killsontop remained at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge. The Killsontops, Bull Coming and another woman met Etchemendy outside a Miles City bar and offered him a ride. Testimony showed the Killsontop brothers severely beat Etchemendy, robbed him and them placed him naked in the trunk of a car. After the group separated, HAAfl With 20" bar.

Associated Press mrrmr5 Gov ign for salmon Lester Killsontop and Bull Coming drove to an area near Gillette, where Lester beat the victim to death with a tire iron and dumped the body, according to trial testimony. In separate trials, the Killsontops were convicted of robbery, aggravated kidnapping and murder. Both were sentenced to death. Bull Coming pleaded guilty to robbery and agreed to testify against the two brothers. Vernon Killsontop contends prosecutors acted illegally when they failed to disclose that Bull Coming had accused a jailer of raping her after she was arrested in connection with Etchemendy's death and that she had a significant criminal record herself, including an assault charge.

Assistant Attorney General Clay Smith argued that other witnesses supported Bull Coming's testimony and that Killsontop had independent information about the alleged rape. Smith conceded that a hearing may be necessary to determine when Killsontop knew about Bull Coming's claim. STIHC The 029 Stihl Farm Boss' Smooth running 3.3 cu-inch engine STIHL SEATTLE The governors of Washington and Oregon joined tribal leaders, environmentalists, timber and fishing representatives on Friday to launch an effort to improve habitat for Northwest salmon. In a ceremony on Seattle's waterfront, the charter was signed for an organization called "For the Sake of the Salmon." It will encourage local efforts to restore spawning streams and watersheds throughout the two states. After years of arguing over how best to protect salmon while runs of the fish continued to dwindle it's time "to put up or shut up," said Billy Frank, chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and one of those who signed the document.

A $125,000 grant from the National Marine Fisheries Service set up the new organization. Associated Press Worldwide MISSOULA fifla CHAIN SAW supply TI" 201 COMMEBCE 549-8159 pcrittiOAf'tt? deawt 8 Sat. 8.