The Independent-Record from Helena, Montana • 2

2A The Independent Record, Helena, Saturday, September 16, 1995 i i MONTANA BQBEFS Coyotes may become targets as protection for rare ferrets Border petrol (arrests aliens perk By MATT BENDER The Billings Gazette The Havre Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol an 6 They should at least try non-le nounced the arrest of 15 un thal control methods before they decide this is documented aliens Sunday in West Yellowstone, accord MPC hires manager BUTTE (AP) Montana Power Co. announced on Friday the retirement of John Lahr as manager of governmental affairs. Lahr has been with MPC for 30 years and will be replaced by Kenneth Williams of Entech, a subsidiary, said Daniel Ber-ube, utility chairman. Lahr is a 1952 University of Montana graduate in economics.

Williams, a native of Broadus, is a 1972 UM graduate in history. Ram prices down MILES CITY (AP) Buyers paid roughly 10 percent less for rams this year during the 46th annual Montana Ram Sale in Miles City. About 400 head of rams sold for an average of $361, down about $30 from last year's average. The top selling ram, a Targhee range ram, sold for about $2,000. ing to a Border Patrol press release Thursday.

The arrests were the result of a joint operation be By MICHAEL MILSTEIN The Billings Gazette Federal wildlife managers are proposing to cull coyote populations at Eastern Montana's Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge to keep the predators from killing endangered black-footed ferrets slated for release there next month. At least one environmental group that opposes federal programs to kill predators that attack livestock questioned whether biologists charged with restoring ferret populations are setting a double standard. "They should at least try non-lethal control methods before they decide this is necessary," said Tom Skeele of the Predator Project, a Boze-man-based pro-predator organization. But with the black-footed ferret's toehold in the wild tenuous at best, federal authorities must do all they can to better the odds of those ferrets turned loose, said'Kemper M.

McMaster, field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Montana. Coyotes killed at least half of the 40 ferrets freed at the Wildlife Refuge last year, most within three days of their release, and killed nearly all of a group of 14 older ferrets turned loose in South Dakota last winter, said Bill Berg, acting refuge manager. "The thinking is if we can get them through the tween the Havre Sector and the Helena District office of Immigration and Naturalization Service. It was the third operation of its kind conducted in the West Yellowstone area during the past year.

The release didn't offer any further details and the Border Patrol office in Havre said no further comment would be available until today. first few days on the ground, their outlook really improves," Berg said. Once ferrets learn the layout of their new home without the threat of coyotes, biologists suspect, they can easily evade coyotes from then on. Last week, the Fish and Wildlife Service issued an environmental assessment that calls for erecting an electrified fence around ferret release sites and employing federal predator control agents in helicopters to shoot coyotes before new ferrets arrive. The measures would cost about $42,000, according to the environmental assessment, which is open to public comment until Sept.

29. Biologists plan to release three sets of 15 ferrets each beginning in October as part of a federal plan to restore the species in the wild, McMaster said. Coyote reductions would take place for two or three days, for four to six hours each day about the time of the first and second ferret releases. Depending on how the initial coyote control works, authorities may again go after coyotes in concert with the third ferret release. BIA drains lagoon to check for body 'Dead' man wants obit 0 HARLOWTON (AP) Harold Lewis of Beaverton, walked into the Times-Clarion office and asked to see a clipping describing his death 63 years ago.

He isn't buried here afterall. To help solve the mystery, Lewis had this explanation: He ran away from home in Missoula at the age of 12, hopped an east-bound freight, but was kicked off as the train passed through Harlowton. He then made his way to Nebraska where he found his father, only to learn that he had been reported killed in the central Montana railroad yard. The day before Lewis was kicked off the train, another boy was killed in a switching accident and Lewis' mother mistakenly identified a picture of the body as her son, he later determined. Times-Clarion publisher Jerry Miller said Lewis had never reported the mistake and now the question is who is buried in the unmarked plot at the local cemetery.

Parade will feature tank HAVRE (AP) With a stack of state, Hill County and city permits in hand, the Montana Army National Guard planned to drive one of its tanks down the streets of Havre in Saturday's Festival Days Parade. The M-l Abrams tank, powered by a 1,500 horsepower engine, will get people's attention, Sgt. Jim Keeler said. "The diesel will make it sound like a jet is coming down the street," he said. Guard personnel planned to accompany the tank along the parade route to make sure no one gets too close to the hot exhaust, he said.

Howard, 32-year-old mother of four who lived in 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 sewage lagoon on Thursday afternoon.

The impoundment is 12 miles east of Poplar. Family members have criticized the BIA for not checking the lagoon report sooner. POPLAR (AP) Draining the Brockton sewage lagoon east of here may take days, but it should settle the long-standing rumor that Jody Howard's body was dumped there four years ago, the acting superintendent of Fort Peck Agency said Friday. "We decided to lay these rumors to rest one way or the other," said Howard Bemer. The lagoon is composed of two side-by-side cells, or ponds, each about 50 yards square, Bemer said.

"We're pumping (water) from one cell into the other, and men we'll reverse the process," he said. "We might be into next week before we're able to do any actual search of the contents, of the silt, of that lagoon." He said an engineer from the Indian Health Service arranged for the necessary equipment and is overseeing the operation. Cancer Treatment Center of St. Peter's presents a free Community Health Lecture "Cancer in Women" Elder Granger, M.D. Board Certified Oncolog tstHematologlst Monday, September 18, 1S95 7:30 PM Helena High Little Theater 1300 Billings Avenue Learn about: 4 the most common cancers In women prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer in women Bring your questions! Powerball winner claims prize A Missoula woman claimed her $100,000 Powerball Prize Friday.

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