The Billings Gazette from Billings, Montana • 3

i jJahnke's sentence commuted CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) Gov. Ed Herschler said Thursday he A r.i A Western artist Terry Bateman never figured he'd become an artist. Now he makes a living off his sculpture and paintings. ENJOY! is commuting the 5-1 15 year prison sen-j tence for 17-year-old i Richard J.

Jahnke, the Cheyenne youth who shot his abusive father to death, i Herschler said Xhat, instead of the prison term, Jahnke (would undergo at least 60 days of psy-j chiatric evaluation and treatment at a Denver hospital and thanking Herschler and urging people to listen to other abused teenagers seeking help. His attorney expressed "extreme relief at the governor's action. Jahnke was convicted of shooting his father, Richard C. Jahnke, from the garage of the family's suburban Cheyenne home on Nov. 16, 1982.

Testimony at his trial indicated the father had tormented the teenager, his sister and mother for years; The youth was tried on charges of first-degree murder but was convicted of manslaughter. District Judge Paul Lia-mos sentenced him to serve a minimum of five years and a maximum of 15 years behind bars. The Wyoming Supreme Court, in a 3-2 decision, last week upheld the conviction and sentence. I But Herschler said in a news confer ence Thursday that he thought the young man was a very troubled individual who had led a troubled family life and said "I personally thought the sentence was too harsh." Herschler said he believed a full pardon was improper, but he contended that treatment at Bethesda Hospital in Denver and incarceration at the Wyoming Industrial Institute in Worland, the state's juvenile detention center, was a viable alternative to a prison term. He sentenced the teenager to a term of three years, 13 days, until his 21st birthday.

"I have a feeling the young man has been subjected to a great deal of problems," Herschler said. "The court record characterized the father as a cruel, sadis- (More on Jahnke, Page 14A) ir fLrzi JAHNKE killed father men be sent to a state juvenile detention center until he is 21. Jahnke later issued a statement June is, iy4 rri Billings, Montana 100th Year, No. 44 sS Copyright 1 984. Th Billing! Gazette ii Re vife VA Rl WASHINGTON (UPI) President Reagan, softening his insistence that a detailed agenda must first be agreed on, opened the door Thursday to a summit conference with Soviet President Kon-stantin Chemenko.

Carefully avoiding the harsh anti-Soviet rhetoric that has characterized much of his first 3 years in office, Reagan in his press conference said: "If they're ready to talk, we are too." Significantly Reagan said the possibility of setting up a summit Is not tied to a demand that Soviets resume the suspended weapons-limitations and nuclear-test-ban talks. But Reagan said he is not necessarily optimistic about an early summit with Soviet leaders, especially before the 1984 elections. "I am willing to meet and talk any time," the president. "So far they have been the ones not responding." "The door is open," Reagan said of a summit. "Every once in a while we're standing in the door waiting to see if anyone is coming up the steps." Earlier in Moscow, Soviet Communist Party spokesman Leonid Zamyatin said Chernenko would be ready to meet Reagan only if a summit "has been properly prepared, when problems arise that require the participation of heads of government." Reagan revealed that his administration has been conducting "quiet diplomacy" with the Kremlin about setting up a summit, and he said he had written personally to Chernenko.

He did not elaborate. Talk of a superpower leadership meeting dominated Reagan's 25th formal news conference, with only a handful of questions on other issues. When asked if he is committed to serving a full four-year term if re-elected, the 73-year-old president answered with a joke: "What the devil would a young fellow like me do if I quit?" at -II frii, ii lii.iHn! Hi.in It.liiH Hfc itliiyi'MT Gazette photo by Larry Mayer Gladys Fletcher stands near a shed pierced by a cottonwood tree limb. 'I Child to get liver Insurance to pay transplant costs By SUE SAARNIO Gazette Glendive Bureau Twister hits ranch south of Ashland By ROGER CLAWSON Of The Gazette Staff and News Service Reports ASHLAND A tornado struck the Fletcher Ranch south of Ashland Wednesday night, according to a rancher who saw it, while violent weather swept southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming. Hailstones as big as golf balls bombarded Birney, 20 miles from Ashland.

Cloudbursts swept the Cheyenne Reservation, pushing the Tongue River near flood stage, and high winds broke trees in the uplands. Montana-Dakota Utilities electric customers throughout Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota were without power briefly Wednesday night when MDU lost power from its Western Area Power Administration source. Leroy Erickson, MDU division manager in Glendive, said the first of three outages hit at 9:45 p.m., with the last outage lasting long enough to kick in backup generators in Miles City and Glendive. In Wyoming, hail fell in Sheridan County, and windows (More on Storms, Page 14A) 'V U.S. to sell weapons to China statement saying that Weinberger and Zhang had expressed "pleasure over the success of the meeting." Pentagon sources said the weapons sales probably will unfold publicly later when formal notifications are sent to Congress.

No dates were set. According to these officials, the Chinese delegation was reluctant to make any public showing of a weapons-purchase agreement during its visit to Washington because Zhang and the Chinese leadership did not want to make a public point of an increasingly close associations with the United States. under some form of licensing. No formal agreement was signed before Zhang, after three days of talks in Washington, D.C., headed for a tour of some key American military bases and defense production plants on a visit that is due to end June 23. Zhang, the first defense minister of the People's Republic of China to visit the United States, will travel to Canada after his U.S.

tour. The transaction would be the first U.S. sale of weapons and military technology to the communist government that has ruled China since 1949. The Defense Department issued a WASHINGTON (AP) Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and Chinese Defense Minister Zhang Aiping have reached agreement in principle for the first sale of U.S. weapons and military technology to China, Pentagon sources said Thursday.

These sources, who spoke on condition they remain anonymous, said the United States will probably sell the communist nation Hawk air defense missiles, TOW anti-tank missiles, improved artillery and some military technology. Ultimately, these sources said, the Chinese are expected to produce TOW missiles in their own plants, perhaps 1 WIBAUX A new decision by a Minnesota insurance company will mean that 3-year-old Stephanie Efta of Wibaux soon will be waiting for a liver transplant at University of Minnesota Hospital. Stephanie suffers from a premature case of cirrhosis of the liver, which her Minnesota doctors have attributed to a rare genetic disorder known as alpha 1 anti-trypson. Until Thursday, Stephanie's parents, Leo and Elsie Efta, feared they would have to raise the estimated $150,000 for Stephanie's surgery on their own. But early Thursday morning, while Elsie was straining fresh lk at their rural Wibaux farm, a representative of the Federated Mutual Insurance Co.

of Owa-tonna, called to say that Stephanie's recommended liver transplant was no longer considered "experimental" and that the company would pay for the operation. The news that the liver transplant has luined the comer from "experimental" to "life-saving" in insurance-company terminology could mean a new lease on life for children like Stephanie who suffer from liver disorders. Without the transplant, Stephanie's doctors say she would probably die within a year. If the transplant is successful Stephanie could go on to lead an otherwise normal life. With the first financial hurdle cleared, the Eftas now must play the waiting game until a compatible liver donor is found from a child who shares Stephanie's blood type and approximate weight.

Within hours after a donor is found, Stephanie must be flown to Minneapolis for the transplant and the doctors' battle to keep her body from rejecting the new organ. The fragile nature of Stephanie's life has put a strain on Leo and Elsie Efta and their four other children from the very be- sMto ABC deal could delay TV station in Bozeman 'i '4m 'mar Mtm Gazette photo bv Sue Saarnio Action Line Markets 10B A. Landers Movies 14D Classified 8C Opinion 5A Comics 15A Region 1B Deaths 14A Sports 1C 1D Television 11 A Stephanie Efta suffers from rare disorder. Weather 17A Living Federal Communications Commission to build a television station in Bozeman, but he has taken no action since it was awarded 18 months ago. In previous interviews Bee has stressed that he would need to have an affiliation with one of the three major networks to make a Bozeman station a success.

Stocklin said Eagle's agreement with ABC means that all three of the major networks are apparently locked-up in the Bozeman area for the time being, since the FCC says the two Butte stations offer full coverage of the Bozeman area. Stocklin said that ABC approached his firm to set up the new arrangement and that there was no competition that he was aware of from Bee for the ABC rights. (More on TV, Page 14A) By WILLIAM NELL Gazette Bozeman Bureau BOZEMAN A deal between Eagle Communications and ABC-TV could delay the establishment of Bozeman's own television station another two years. Mike Stocklin, vice president of the Missoula-based firm, said Thursday that Eagle has signed a contract with the ABC network to carry its programming, in addition to NBC, which is its primary affiliation. Eagle owns stations in Missoula, Kal-ispcll, and Butte.

The signal from the Butte station, KTVM, serves the Bozeman area. The Montana Television Network, which dropped ABC in early June, carries the CBS signal. Whitefish radio broadcaster Benny Bee has a construction permit from the Sunny today with a chance of afternoon and evening thundershowers. Cloudy Saturday with scattered thundershowers. Highs today 75 to 80, lows 40s to 50s.

Highs Saturday 70s to 80s. for three years, fighting off temperatures, viruses and endless rounds of doctors poking and prodding her small, bloated body. "We've just known that the longer she lives, the better chance she has of surviving," Mrs. Efta said. The Eftas have known for a year that Stephanie eventually would face the prospect of a liver transplant.

But it wasn't until a trip to Minneapolis last week that the doctors ruled that (More on GirL Page 14A) ginning. Stephanie's genetic deficiency was identified before her first birthday when the Eftas learned that another branch of the family had lost a child to the same disorder. "I was so scared to love her because I was afraid she was going to die," her mother Elsie recalls now. "There were times I couldn't hold her I was so scared she would die in my arms." The tiny blond-haired, blue-eyed Efta tot grew to be a real fighterStephanie has held out Call 652-2000.