The Billings Gazette from Billings, Montana • 11

The Billings Gazette Saturday, February 8, 1992 3-B es MoinitaGiee need ansuirciiHice commiss CITY STATE on? ance mandates now in Montana law. There's not enough time or money for that, said O'Keefe, who is the sole Democratic candidate for state auditor. Maine spends $500,000 --Til Dave Evanson, administrator of the Montana University System's employee health insurance plan, estimated that mandated benefits cost $138 per employee annually 11 percent of total benefits paid. A preliminary proposal for an insurance commission called for an 11-member panel headed by the state auditor. But some speakers Friday said 11 was too many; others said it was too few.

This discussion may be moot in a few years, according to James Ahrens, president of the Montana Hospital Association. The federal government eventually is going to define a minimum level of benefits, Ahrens said. Ahrens also said that no matter what a pre screening panel does, individual legislators can still bring bills to the Legislature. Carl Bodek, representing Montana Mental Health Counselors Association, wanted to know how much the commission would cost "Will the commission become an to $1 million to evaluate every health insurance mandate, he said. Instead, the subcommittee has focused on "a system of evaluating mandated benefits outside the political arena," O'Keefe said.

Montana's list of mandated benefits includes coverage for newborns, mental illness and chemical de By PAT BELLINGHAUSEN Of the Gazette Staff A state health insurance commission could help legislators by screening proposals for mandated benefits or it could just add another bureaucracy to state government, a panel of lawmakers was told Friday in Billings. The Subcommittee on Mandated Health Insurance Benefits met Friday at the Yellowstone County Courthouse to hear comments on an idea of forming a commission to review all proposed requirements for minimum health insurance coverage. Subcommittee recommendations could be introduced as bills in the 1993 Legislature. Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Mark O'Keefe, D-Helena, reminded everyone in the crowded Yellowstone County Commission room that the Legislature actually had instructed the panel to review each of 35 insur other bureaucracy contributing to rather than solving problems?" he asked.

Gregory Daines, coordinator of Health Care for Montanans, the governor's task force on health care improvement, said an insurance commission "in some form is necessary," but must work with other health care entities in state government State Rep. Tom Nelson, R-Billings, who sells health insurance, asked why the governor's basic insurance bill for small businesses didnt include any mandated insurance coverage. Tonya Ask, representing Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, provided an answer: to lower the price. Blue Cross is marketing a basic insurance product permitted under House Bill 693. So far, the company has one group on the plan, Ask said.

"The cost of mandated benefits is only one area in which we're having a cost-containment crisis," Nelson said. He said healthy people tend to drop coverage as prices rise, leaving sick people who know they need insurance in the risk pool This pushes rates even higher. Nine states have some kind of commission that reviews proposed new health insurance requirements, according to Susan Fox, a Legislative Council staff member working with the subcommittee. An attorney for St Vincent Hospital questioned whether any proposal "would see the light of day" with the review criteria suggested for the commission. Larry Akey, representing the Montana Association of Life Underwriters, commended the subcommittee for the draft proposal Akey said the commission ought to examine the numerous existing mandates as well as any new proposals.

Don't water down the review criteria, he told the subcommittee. O'Keefe said he hopes the subcommittee will finish its work by April so members will not be taken away from primary election campaigns. O'KEEFE chairman pendency treatment The 1991 Legislature added requirements ranging from coverage of acupuncture to preventive care like mammography and childhood immunizations. 3BE 3 i Bozeman group sets downtown art event A free lunch is included Call 656-2300. St Francis Upper School, 205 N.

32nd St, will host grades 6, 7 and 8, from 8:10 a.m. till 2:50 p.m. Lunch will be served. For more information, call 259-5037. Parents will have an opportunity to ask questions about Catholic education at 7 p.m.

Feb. 19 in the Central cafeteria. Parent Night for St Francis Schools will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Upper School, 205 N.

32nd St Benefit dance on tap The Light Hearth Inc, a non-profit organization working toward establishing a group home for abused, homeless and at-risk Montana youths, is sponsoring a citywide junior high Valentine's Day dance. Admission to the dance, which will be held at the 4-H Building at MetraPark from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Feb. 15, is $5.

The price includes refreshments, a dance contest and giveaways of prizes donated by local businesses. The organization is also sponsoring its second annual junior high talent show on March 7, from 7 to 9 30 p.m, at the Lincoln Education Center. Admission to the talent show, which features seventh- and eighth-graders, is and the public is invited. Light Hearth is raising money to buy property east of Billings on which to establish the family-centered group home for youths aged 13 to 17, according to the group's executive director, Mary Aude. Its goal is to raise $100,000 for the project, of which about half has been raised.

trustee Richard Schieffelin. Free blood-pressure readings will be given, along with physical-fitness evaluations for those who make appointments by calling 657-1040. During the open house, memberships to the Health and Recreation Club will be offered at a discount For more information, call 657-1040. Schools open for inspection Billings Catholic Schools will host their annual Discovery Day and Parent Nights this month. Discovery Day will be Feb.

11 at St Francis Schools and Billings Central Catholic High School. The day will be an opportunity for students to learn about academics, activities and sports. A popular event Discovery Day usually attracts about 200 visiting students to Central and a similar number to St Francis schools. Central's Discovery Day will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

on Feb. 11 and will include a free lunch. Parents of visiting students need to get permission for absence from the students' regular school. For more information, call 245-665L Preschool, kindergarten and grades 1 and 2 are invited to St Francis Primary School 511 Custer Ave. from 9 a.m.

to 10:30 a.m. or from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Feb. 1L Call 259-6421 for information.

Students in grades 3, 4 and 5 may come to St Francis Intermediate School, 18th Street West at Yellowstone Avenue, from 9 a.m. until 11 50 a.m. Power knocked out A power outage that left a large section of the lower West End without power Friday afternoon was traced to a burned transformer at Billings Logan International Airport The power went out at about 2:20 p.m. along a section of residences from Montana Power substation on Eighth Street West, south of Central Avenue, going north on either side of Fifth Street West to the airport, according to Mike Penberthy, division superintendent for Montana Power. Crews had the power restored by 3 15 p.m., then found the cause of the outage at the airport The problem occurred in an electrical vault a room in the basement where transformers and electrical equipment are housed, Penberthy said.

He was not sure late Friday afternoon what caused the transformer to burn, as crews were still at the airport working on it Rocky plans open house Rocky Mountain College will hold an open house on Feb. 23 in the Fortin Education Center to celebrate renovations to its Health and Recreation Club. The open house, from noon to 5 p.m, will offer a choice of three free step-aerobics classes on the new suspended dance floor recently donated by Mary Alice Fortin. Strength trainers will be on hand to give free pointers and demonstrate new exercise and weight equipment, much of which was donated by RMC ers, painters, weavers, photographers, sculptors and wood workers. "This project is a way for us to get to know each other," said Ganjeau.

And its a way for the public to meet local artists, she added, by watching through the windows and by going inside to try their own hand at a particular medium. "This is like a show-and-tell for the artists," explained photographer Rick Keating. Actor John Hosking also pointed out that applications will be available at Art Leap for a fourth artists directory to be published by Bozeman United Artists. The new group plans to help members with other concerns, such as organizing accounting procedures or writing grants, and hopes to work with public schools to involve more students with the arts. Eventually, the group might be able to hire someone as a liaison between artists and businesses to develop knew exhibit spaces, Keating said.

"I have no idea how many artists are in Bozeman," said Ganjeau, "but I have a hunch it's an incredible number and more artists are moving here all the time." Artists interested in joining Bozeman United Artists or participating in Art Leap are encouraged to call Ganjeau at 586-2326. NANCY KESSLER For the Gazette BOZEMAN Artists often need isolation to create great works, but they also need contact with each other for inspiration, information and acknowledgment That's why more than 80 local painters, performers and other artists have joined Bozeman United Artists, a new non-profit group promoting the arts in the Gallatin Valley. "Artists are so isolated," said actor Gwyn Ganjeau. "We dont know who is out there. We hope by working together we can develop more awareness and appreciation for the arts, and find out what artists in Bozeman need." Encompassing both the well-known as well as the as-yet unknown, the fledgling art group will sponsor its first cooperative event at the end of this month.

"Art Leap," celebrating visual, wearable and performing arts, will be held on leap year day, Feb. 29, along Main Street downtown. About 40 businesses between Rouse and Grand avenues have agreed to take down their displays and let artists perform or exhibit their works in store windows from 1 to 4 p.m. The nearly 60 participants include belly dancers, poets, folk singers, actors, ballerinas and banjo pick She finds mate but no answers ONCE A YEAR WE HAVE TO COUNT EVERY SINGLE ITEM IN OUR GIGANTIC 412 ACRE I 111 1 II There, for the first time in 17 months, she faced her husband who was accompanied by a companion named Kristin, Debbie Tanner said The ensuing scene ended with Bo Tanner being carted off to jail Douglas police, responding to restaurant callers who said they thought the couple had been on "Unsolved Mysteries," asked Tanner to identify himself. "He lied" said Debbie Tanner.

"He said he was John TerreL He'd been going by "J.D." in Douglas. Even after we got to the police station, he refused to tell them who he was." Tanner was jailed in Douglas for giving false information to officers, said Douglas police. At the request of Flathead County sheriffs detective Pat Walsh, the Wyoming authorities questioned him at length about the incidents at Polebridge between 1986, when the Tanners moved there, and his departure. The incidents included extensive vandalism to a tent used by Tanner as a church, an arson-caused fire that destroyed a log cabin then used for the church, and numerous incidents of vandalism and threats to the couple. Walsh said Tanner told Douglas police the same things he had told local authorities about the matters.

"He is a suspect in some of those incidents, but we have no physical evidence either to charge him or clear him. While the reports dont necessarily make sense, we cant do any more," Walsh said Tanner left Polebridge with the clothes he was wearing and his wallet The rest of his personal belongings are still there, undisturbed said Debbie. "Personal things dont mean anything to Bo. He sees them like a toothbrush: get another one." Meanwhile, she struggles to deal with everything from investments to property and credit cards that have his name on them. She criticized law officers for not seeking Tanner diligently enough, and for neither charging him nor clearing his name.

"Bo has hurt so many over the years, and messed up so many lives. But nothing happens to him. It's like the law says that's OK. And that gives the message that all he has to do is open the door and walk away. That's not right that's a wrong message," she said KALISPELL (AP) Debbie Tanner's dogged pursuit of leads supplied by television viewers finally took her last week to Douglas, Wyo, where she found her long-lost husband, Bo.

But Bo, confronted in a Douglas cafe, had a new girlfriend and a new name to add to the long string of aliases that were uncovered in the 1-year search for him. And his bewildered wife, who says she still loves him, went home to Zillah, Wash, without resolving their relationship. She expects him to seek a divorce, and she will not oppose it she says. Debbie Tanner moved to Zillah to be with her family after her husband disappeared from their Polebridge home in 1990. She went to Wyoming last week not knowing what to expect, nor exactly what she wanted from the meeting.

"I just had to see him, to try to understand why he just left and to ask him his plans," she said. But she still does not understand. "He told me he wasnt going to run anymore. But when I asked him what he was going to do, he said go on a canoe trip in Texas and go to Alaska," Debbie Tanner said. "He told me, 'I have no place in your life, no He talked about freedom, saying he had to be free.

"In the end, I told him I wasnt going to get the divorce. I wasnt the one who left But I told him if he'd do the paperwork, that I'd sign it I think he wilL "I dont think I could take him back, not unless he got straightened out and would be honest about who he is," she said Bo Tanner, minister of a Polebridge church, vanished in September 1990, after telling his wife, "I love you. Goodbye." He left behind a series of unanswered questions about the burning of his church and alleged threats to him and his wife. NBCs "Unsolved Mysteries" featured the bizarre case of the missing minister last November. Reports from television viewers who had seen him pointed the wife-turned-detective to Wyoming.

We'd Rather "Sell If than "Count It" I 1 I PSltL iflMl SF COMPUTER mWSmnm4 flm station tew desk oo IU ipsa iptl MSU biochemist at Conoco lab organizations. The company win seek opportunities for its own scientists to spend a year working with these organizations. Wolfram holds a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of New Hampshire. His areas of expertise include biore mediation, fermentation biochemistry, analytical biochemistry for carcinogens and biocorrosion. Wolfram win be working at Conoco's research laboratories in Ponca City, Okla, to identify and study microorganisms with an appetite for oil and other hydrocarbons, Conoco said Through this process, called biore mediation.

Wolfram is seeking ways to better use these bacteria to hasten the breakdown into environmentally benign element of oil and other hydrocarbon contamination in water and soil Wojtanowicz also is in Ponca City researching more effective ways of removing water from drUl'iig mud in order to reduce the total volume of drilling aste material that must be disposed of. Conoco is a Du Pont subsidiary and operates a refinery in BSings. By CLAIR JOHNSON Of the Gazette Staff A Montana State University scientist is one of two environmental science experts to be selected as the first recipients of Conoco's environmental fellowships, Conoco announced Friday. James Wolfram, of MSlTs engineering college, and Andrew Wojtanowicz, a professor at Louisiana State University, will spend the next year helping Conoco's researchers find better ways to reduce waste from oil drilling and to remove oil from soil and water. "We're making good on a promise," said Harry C.

Sager, Conoco executive vice president of exploration production. "As one of our nine environmental initiatives announced in 1990, we promised to create the environmental fellowship program with the goal of opening doors for people from outside our industry to see our challenges and to help us find solutions. Wojtanowicz and Wolfram mark a bold beginning to this important process." To further improve understanding between Conoco and outside environmental professionals, Conoco plans to expand the fellowship program to major emironrnental THIS IS ONLY A SAMPLE OF OUR VAST RFI FCTION DP READY TO ASSEMBLE FURNITURE 1cm wbrt to prior sate oi' ixr urnuure Tiencai AN 1600 MAIN ST. BILLINGS, MT (406) 259-6490.