Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 1

1982 CASPER MURDER VICTIM IDENT1FIEDC1 BREEZY, RECORD WARMTHA2 k- Casper, Wyoming Smffivaim signs Midget toil Vetoes scholarship condition; DCI cut remains 'v Unemployment officials: New rates, numbers bogus State 's jobless ranking shoots frvm 37th to 9th By TOM MORTON Star-Tribune staff writer CASPER A new federal model for measuring the labor force overestimates Wyoming's unemployment rate significantly higher for January, and the state's chief analyst of those rates said they're worthless. "We don't have better data, we have worse data," said Tom Gallagher, manager of the Employment Resources Division of the Department of Unemployment. The overestimation challenges the credibility of officials in Wyoming and other sparsely populated states that have protested the new policies to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. "We've lost a means to inform policymakers," Gallagher said. The new statistics are way out of line from what else is known about Wyoming's economy, and should be rejected, Gallagher Please sec JOBLESS, A10 By JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE Gov.

Mike Sullivan Tuesday signed the 1995-96 budget bill but used his line-item authority to veto 1 3 parts of the budget, most of them minor. Among the items vetoed by the governor was a footnote that would have required the University of Wyoming to offer at least 10 percent of full-ride athletic scholarships to Wyoming high school graduates. The budget outlines $1.3 billion in state General Fund spending for the bicnnium that begins July I Total state spending, including federal money and other force last year. Although some legislators expected Sullivan would veto another budget footnote that eliminated two field investigator positions in the Division of Criminal Investigation, Sullivan said Tuesday he couldn't find any such footnote. "Had there been one I would have stricken it," Sullivan said.

"I was told there was a footnote at one time." But the two DCI slots and funding for them were incorporated in the total budget for the DCI and therefore could not be separated out and vetoed. Sullivan said the DCI will de-Please see BUDGET, A10 funds, will total about $3 billion over the period. Sullivan said the budget bill approved by the Legislature is very near to his recommendations for spending for 1995-96. "There wasn't a lot of wiggle-room anywhere," Sullivan said, referring to the tight agency budgets that have been developed in recent years as a result of restricted revenues. One of the centerpieces of the budget bill is a pay hike for state employees intended to alleviate problems with the state pay system identified by a legislative task GOV.

MIKE SULLIVAN Close to his recommendations Workers' comp bill goes to conference St 1 i I 7 House Bill 126 Major changes to Wyoming workers' compensation system under House Bill 126: The 8.5 percent "cap" on workers' comp premiums paid by the highest-risk Industries will be lifted through the use of "swing limits" over the next four years. The common law rule of "liberal construction" will no longer be applied in workers' benefit cases. Any mental injury must be caused by a compensable physical injury to be covered under workers' comp. A partially disabled worker may choose between receiving a one-time monetary award or participating in a vocational rehabilitation program. A new "labor-market" formula replaces the old "loss of earnings" category by considering an injured worker's age, education, work experience and training.

i By KERRY DRAKE Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE A conference committee today will try to resolve the last major difference between the Wyoming House and Senate in a major workers' compensation reform bill. The bill effectively lifts the caps on workers' comp premiums for high-risk industries over the next four years. It also gives injured Workers who have been partially disabled a choice between accepting a one-time monetary award or vocational rehabilitation. Some state officials and many business lobbyists have praised the bill as a positive step that will soon end the practice of the safest industries subsidizing those which now pay a maximum rate of $8.50 per $100 of payroll no matter what their accident experience has been. But organized labor has heavily criticized portions of House Bill 126 it claims have cost workers benefits they receive under the current system.

The final issue a conference committee must resolve is the rate of increase or decrease of workers' comp premiums based on a company's accident claims in the preceding year. The rate currently cannot exceed 40 percent annually; the House set the figure at 50 percent while the Senate raised it to 80 percent. The House voted 16-44 Monday not to concur with the Senate over this single issue because Rep. Eli Bebout, HD55, D-Riverton, said the 80 percent rate could heavily penalize small businesses that may have a single but major accident in a year. A conference committee is Ar An unidentified woman holds her hands up to shield Palestinian bystanders as an Israeli police officer threatens her with his M-16 assualt rifle fitted with a rubber bullet attachment in East Jerusalem Tuesday Rabin says it's time to negotiate scheduled to meet at 8 a.m.

today. The House chairman of the panel, Rep. Frank Moore, HD6, R-Dou-glas, said a discount or penalty of up to 60 percent is a likely compromise. Beginning in 1995, the reform bill limits the increase in the base rate for each employment classification to either 75 percent of the base rate the previous year or $2 per $100 of payroll, whichever is less. Director of Employment Frank Galeotos said these "swing lim-Please see COMPENSATION, AI0 By BARRY SCHWEID Associated Press writer WASHINGTON Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin offered Tuesday to speed up Palestinian self-rule but ruled out compromises on Jerusalem and security as he appealed to the Arabs to reopen Mideast peace talks.

In a speech to a pro-Israel lobby group, Rabin gave no ground to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, who is holding out for a U.N. Security Council resolution to challenge Israel's control of Jerusalem and to deploy an international force on the West Bank. Rabin then met with Secretary of State Warren Christopher on the stalemate that threatens to permanently derail peace talks between Israel and four Arab parties the Palestinians, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. "We are going through difficult times," Christopher acknowledged as he posed for pictures with Rabin at Blair House, the presidential guest house across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. In Tel Aviv, Israel, tens of thousands of right-wing demonstrators, including many Jewish settlers from the occupied lands, defied threatened Muslim fundamentalist attacks Tuesday to protest the government's peace policies.

The army was on high alert against the Please sec RABIN, A10 3 Two companies cited after Granger blast probe By KATHARINE COLLINS Southwestern Wyoming bureau GRANGER The operators of a gas processing facility and a contractor working at the site failed to inform employees of emergency procedures, including escape routes, before a Dec, 8 fire and explosion at the facility in which three men were seriously injured, state officials say. The operator of the company also failed to give workers critical information needed to safely handle the tank that exploded, according to the state Division of Occupational Health and Safety. Three workers were critically burned in the blast at the Mountain Gas Resources, gas processing plant six miles west of Little America. The state Division of Occupational Health and Safety has determined that Mountain Gas Re sources, and Moneyhun Welding Co. were guilty of a combined five violations of workplace safety rules.

State OHSA Director Steve Foster and OHSA compliance officer John Hall announced the violations Tuesday. Mountain Gas received three serious violation citations, with suggested total fines of $7,500, and Moneyhun received two, with suggested total fines of $1,000, state officials said. They said the violations are still subject to negotiation with company officials, who have until the end of March to present mitigating information that could result in lesser penalties, or removal of penalties. A Mountain Gas spokeswoman said company officials are still conducting their own investigation of the blaze, and are engaged Please see VIOLATIONS, A5 Border To Border B3 Calendar A2 Casper Area CI -2 Classified C7-10 Comics C5 Crossword C10 C3 Legislature A3 Letters A7-9 Markets C4 Movies C2 Obituaries B2 Opinion A6 Sports Dl-4 Wyoming Bl Rostenkowski challenged by 3 Democrats in Illinois Old Grouch 8 2 bills to fix counseling law killed By HUGH JACKSON Star-Tribune capitol bureau CHEYENNE The Legislature has failed to take any action to fix a mental health licensing law passed last year that was blocked by a district judge who said it raised a constitutional question over equal protection. Two bills to fix the 1993 law were introduced in this year's budget session, but both died Tuesday, one in the state Senate and one in the House.

The dual death appears to be unintentional. The Senate laid House Bill 110 back on general file Tuesday was the last day for House bills to be heard in the Senate on general file on the assumption that the House would pass the other bill. But then the House killed Senate File 78 on general file by a 33-23 vote. In speaking against SF 78 on the Senate floor. Rep.

Wende Barker, HD45, D-Laramie, said that the bill offered no protection to consumers because it would al- Plcase see COUNSELING, AI0 Looks like I'm still In the counseling business. $2.5 billion income tax increase. Democratic leaders nervously watched a slate of Lyndon LaRouche follow ers on their party's ballot, hoping to avoid a repeat of LaRouche victories in 1986 that threw the party into disarray. In Chicago's suburbs, conservative Rep. Philip Crane, who challenged Ronald Reagan for the 1980 GOP presidential nomination, faced a tough three-way primary race.

Crisp, sunny weather prompted Chicago election officials to boost their voter turnout projection to 42 percent, but state election officials predicted it at less than 30 percent of Illinois" registered oters. Rostenkow ski's main challengers were state Sen. John Cullerton and former Please see PRIMARY, AS By DAVID DISHNEAU Associated Press writer CHICAGO Rep. Dan Rostenkowski matched his clout as one of Capitol Hill's premier power brokers against challengers who bet a federal probe into his finances could lead to an upset in Tuesday's primary. Rostenkowski, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and a prime mover behind President Clinton's legislative agenda, faced two vigorous Democratic foes who mounted the toughest election challenge of his 36-year congressional career.

Illinois voters also decided whether to hand the Democratic nomination for governor to a candidate who proposed a i True You can choose the price of your own ad! If the value of the item you want to sell the ad is few $51-5125 the ad is ad is HQ Call 266-0555 or 1-800-442-6916 (Tolt free In Wyoming) for more information. i tt 4. AP US. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-I1U talks with reporters after voting Tuesday in Chicago.