The Billings Gazette from Billings, Montana • 9

wm I 1 Section o) o) The Billings Gazette THE SOURCE Friday, November 7, 1997 SNOWMOBILE STUDY Dart to ire(CDDSDdIir! rYSTATE A.M. EXTRA Wyoming governor wants his state to have input CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) Gov. Jim Geringer on Thursday asked the superintendent of Yellowstone National Park to reconsider his decision denying Wyoming special status in development of a federal study. Geringer and U.S.

Sen. Mike Enzi, had asked Mike meet the criteria to be considered a cooperating agency. He said that under federal regulations, a cooperating agency is any federal agency with jurisdiction or special expertise in an area to be studied. State and local agencies with jurisdiction or special expertise may become a cooperating agency under an agreement with the lead agency. In his response, Geringer wrote that he was disappointed in the decision and asked Finley to provide information to back it up and to sent him the criteria he used to deter Finley to grant "cooperating agency" status to Wyoming and local governments surrounding Yellowstone in a study of a temporary snowmobile trail closure in the park.

The two said the state and local governments should be named cooperating agencies allowing them to help write the study as a way to ensure that the social and economic consequences of a trail closure are included. On Wednesday, Finley said the state and local governments did not tal impact statement on the park's winter use and to prepare an environmental assessment on the closure of at least 14 miles of snowmobile trails each year for the next three winters. The effect of the closure would then be studied. Geringer said Kathleen McGinty, chairwoman of the President's Council on Environmental Quality, wrote in a letter to Geringer Aug. 11 that state and local governments routinely should be given cooperating agency status.

mine the state and local governments' eligibility as a cooperating agency. The study is required under the recent settlement of a lawsuit over winter use of Yellowstone. The lawsuit, filed by the Fund for Animals and Biodiversity Foundation, alleged that the National Park Service had not adequately determined the effect of the park's winter use, especially by snowmobiles, on wildlife and habitat. The settlement calls for the Park Service to develop an environmen the Rims i2f r- Roping on lems, he said. The Union Pacific, which merged last year with the Southern Pacific, is plagued by gridlock throughout its network.

Burlington Northern blames its problems on a big crop of winter wheat, soybeans and corn, lo cope with its delays, the railroad ii requiring grain elevators to load trains seven days a week; Sunday had been a day off. The Agriculture Department says those two railroads and the Kansas City Southern are delivering only 16,000 carloads of grain a week 21 percent less than they shipped during a severe shortage of rail cars in 1997. In some areas, grain may start SCHOOLS EVACUATED Bozeman area hit by minor earthquake From Gazette Staff and Wire Service Reports BOZEMAN An earthquake rattled parts of Gallatin County Thursday afternoon, but no damages or injuries were reported. The magnitude 4.0 quake was felt in the Bozeman, Belgrade, Manhattan and Amsterdam areas Thursday afternoon. "Just a little rattling of the dishes," said Mike Hoey, Gallatin County Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator.

He said residents from around the county reported the earth moving at about 2 p.m. Hoey said calls were received from Amsterdam west of Bozeman, Springhill area northwest of town and occupants of the top floor of the Federal Building in downtown Bozeman. The quake also was felt in the Belgrade city offices, Hoey said. The Manhattan schools were evacuated and then classes were dismissed for the day after the 2 p.m. quake, he said.

"It's a general wake-up call for our community to be aware that we live in an seismically active area," said Hoey, who noted that aftershocks were possible. The quake was confirmed by the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, but it was unclear where the earthquake was centered. It measured 4.0 on the Richter scale. Hoey said the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is required to inspect dams that may have been affected by earthquakes of magnitude 3.5 to 4.5. He said the agency would inspect the Hyalite Dam and Cottonwood Dam in Shields Valley on Friday.

Southwestern Montana, especially near Yellowstone National Park, is a hotbed of quake activity, second in the nation only to California, according to Hoey. Generally, a quake measuring 2.0 in magnitude is the smallest that can be felt by people. A quake measuring 4.0 has enough power to cause moderate damage. A reading of 7.0 or greater is considered a major earthquake 'i to deteriorate, said Michael Dunn, an assistant agriculture secretary. I The Surface Transportation Board last week imposed some 30-day emergency measures designed to get the Union Pacific's trains moving faster.

The actions included granting trackage rights Texas to a competing railroad and ordering Union Pacific to report weekly on its grain shipments. The Union Pacific said it loaded 7,601 grain cars last week, down from 9,414 the week before. Drew Collier, a Union Pacific vice president, said the railroad expected to make "considerable progress" over the next two months in working off its backlog. Meanwhile, grain elevators say Today's Highlights .1 Drama "The Dresser" by Rocky Mountain College 8 p.m. Nov.

7-8 and 14M5, Billings Studio Theatre, $8 general admission, $6 students and seniors, $4, Rocky community and students, for reservation, call 657-1 091 i Marketplace Magic noon to 8 p.m. Friday, 1 0 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday, shopping event sponsored by Junior League of Billings, Montana Pavilion, MetraPark, children under 12 free Meadowlark School Book Fair before and after school through Friday in library, 221 29th St. W. Global Village Christmas open house 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Saturday, 2910 Seventh Ave.

N. i 4 Silent vigil community witness for Tibet noon, northeast of McMullen Hall, MSU-Billings Friends of the Library book sale 10a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, third floor, Parmly Billings Library 1 Charity bazaars: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pleasantview complex Community fioom, 825 Ave. 10 a.m.

to 9 p.m. West Park Plaza; 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. American Legion, 1540 Broadwater Ave. Skull identified as from missing man MILES CITY A human skull found east of Miles City in late September has been identified ashelonging to a man who disappeared in the area in 1988.

Custer County Sheriff Tony Harbaugh said Thursday that dental work confirmed the skull was that of Daniel Robert Wilson, who disappeared while driving from Spokane, to Longmont, where his family lives. His ear was found Aug. 27, 1988, about 15 miles east of Miles City. 1 Wilson had a history of mental problems. An extensive search fojind no sign of the man, and an episode on the disappearance aised a few months later on Unsolved Mysteries." Harbaugh said the skull was found by a ranch worker about six mjles south of where the car was ft)pnd in 1988.

The skull was near a CTfek, and Harbaugh said it could have been moved by high water or animals. No other remains were He said he doesn't suspect foul play and believes Wilson may have become disoriented and died from Closure. District 2 offers preschool screening Billings Public Schools will Conduct a free preschool screening of children, ages birth through 5 years, on Friday, Nov. 14, at the Lincoln Center, 415 N. 30th St.

Speech, vision, hearing, thinking skills and motor development will be checked by appropriate profes- siQnals. This service is for children ho are not in kindergarten and who currently live in the Billings Public Schools attendance area, for an appointment or further information, call 247-3836. "A Idaho ticket wins i Tri-West jackpot I HELENA A ticket sold in Fdfiho won the $375,000 Tri-West lotto jackpot Wednesday, but Montana's two other major lotter-M did not have jackpot winners. I'i Winning numbers were: PowerbaU 2, 19, 24, 28, 35 Powerball26 11 Tri-West 3,13,14,26,27,32 Vi Montana Cash 4,13,30,34,37 Players matching all five numbers and the Powerball would have won or shared the $10 million jack-pdt. The prize goes to an estimated $12 million for Saturday.

4 The Tri-West jackpot goes to for Saturday. Montana players won $5,018 on sales of $34,907. XX The $40,000 Montana Cash jackpot climbs to an estimated $50,000 for Saturday. Players won $7400on wagers of $37,320. 61 DAILY MILLIONS' 6-11 7-19 6-11 mi i Gazene photo by Ken Blackbird A Montana Livestock Department brand inspector ropes a 1 steer that got away from a truck that was taking it to PAYS Auction Yards Thursday afternoon.

Billings police said two steers somehow escaped from the truck near Billings Logan International Airport at about 3 p.m. and wandered across Airport Road to the edge of the Rims. The men hauling the cattle took the rest of their load to the auction yard before returning to help police and the brand inspectors corral the stray steers. Railroads way behind in moving grain harvest they're losing money and farmers are worried that their crops may go to ruin. Corn can't be moved after a snowstorm or hard freeze, said Mike Randall, a farmer from Dell Rapids, S.D.

His local grain elevator is five trains behind schedule this fall. One was canceled and four others are late, and those five trains are needed to move a million bushels of soybeans. A sixth train was loaded but is still sitting at the elevator waiting for Burlington Northern to move it, he said. In LaSalle, none of 600 cars that had been promised to the local elevator showed up over a 90-day stretch. WASHINGTON (AP) Railroads have fallen up to a month behind schedule supplying trains to ship the grain piling up on the ground in the Midwest, lawmakers were told Thursday.

As of Monday, the Union Pacific was 30 days behind in delivering hopper cars, and there are two- to three-week delays at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, railroad officials told a House Agriculture subcommittee. "We have a train wreck in this country, a wreck that is directly affecting many sectors of our economy, none worse than agriculture," said Rep. Bill Barrett, R-Neb. The approaching cotton harvest in the Southwest will add to the prob MSU-B GETS EXXON GRANT Students learn by cdoiiig' Newman 6th-graders taught math with new technique JLUU.UWBH..L. III UEMI.

I.I.IU.m.JL II. i I i i i n.in giving them direct information that they need. As teachers we have to have questions ready more than direct teaching." Blackwell said the gold-mining exercise helped students comprehend the concepts of calculating the perimeter of a plot and finding its area in a more meaningful way than if they were simply doing assignments out of a math book. Diana Herndon, also an MSU-Billings student, helped students learn the concept of measurement by having them toss a large plastic bug. Students then measured the distance using measurement units of their own making, such as their feet and their hands.

"The kids worked in teams, and they determined together what kinds of measuring systems they would use," Herndon said. (More on Teachers, Page 2B) do," Doughten said, explaining the teaching method used in the exercise. Meanwhile, teachers asked questions and provided tips to make sure students were making progress toward reaching the correct answer. The student-directed teaching technique "pretty much left it up to the kids" to find out how to solve the problem, Doughten said. "We didn't tell them whether we thought their plan would work or not," added Roxana Blackwell, a sixth-grade, teacher at Newman whose students participated in the exercise.

Despite some frustration on the part of students, "They soon realized the fact that they wanted to cover the most area they could, and it helped them organize and arrange their plots," Blackwell said. "It's kind of a different way to teach," Blackwell said. "It lets kids explore without By TOM HOWARD Of The Gazette Staff As part of an effort to improve how math is being taught, sixth-graders at Newman Elementary calculated the perimeter and area of a hypothetical gold mine, plotting it out on the school's playground using string and stakes. Christy Doughten, a senior education major at Montana State University-Bilhngs, introduced Newman students to the gold mining simulation as part of a field-work project in which she spends two days a week working in the classroom. For the project, students developed a mine plan by first drawing graphs.

Eventually, they figured out how to maximize gold production by calculating the perimeter and area of their plots. "Part of the time they were pretty confused about what they were supposed to Gazette photo by Bob Zeliat David M. Davison teaches elementary education students at MSU-Billings how to become better math teachers. 1.