Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 13

Wtrw I A TT 7l" 0 Caspe-StarVIVibune llowstones dirty alrB2 Jlf I fLr OBITUARIES B3 Ql -tt Wyoming Supreme Court Sweetwater methanol plant delayed again Trona lease underlies construction site Naramore malpractice dismissal upheld are leased to General Chemical, one of the five trona mining and soda ash processing facilities west of Green River. "American Methanol is concerned they'll be undermined," Maldonado said. "And General Chemical says they have every right to do that." Maldonado said the parties involved are talking to each, in an attempt to resolve the conflict. Talks were even convened in Gov. Jim Geringer's office about two months ago, he said.

financial backing was secure and that construction would begin in February. But now, according to Sweetwater County Commission Chairman Carl Maldonado, a conflict involving mineral leases that underlie the plant site is causing further delays in the start of construction. American Methanol purchased a 33-acre parcel of Wyoming trust land about 15 miles west of Green River as a plant site. But the mineral rights that underlie the tract One possible solution, he said, is to relocate the American Methanol plant site closer to Interstate-80. No spokesman for either American Methanol or General Chemical was available for comment.

Once operational, the plant will produce between 30 million and 40 million gallons of methanol yearly. Methanol, or methyl alcohol, is the primary component in the manufacturing of other chemicals and is produced by the catalytic reaction of natural gas and steam. By KATHARINE COLLINS Southwest Wyo. bureau HOCK SPRINGS The long-awaited construction of a methanol processing plant west of Green River Ms run into more delay, Sweetwater County Commission Chairman Carl Maldonado confirmed Thursday. Announced in 1994, the American Methanol, plant plans remained on hold until recently as backers sought financing.

Last fall, arfcampany official announced that V. National Western trim layman teens die in head-on Naramore prescribed medications for Mize's pain and ordered bed rest. On the. second visit, Naramore admitted Mize to the hospital, and Mize left one day later. Mize saw another doc-, tor three months later who, diagnosed him as suffering from chronic back pain with symptoms of a herniated disc and a possible narcotic addiction.

Mize and his wife sued Naramore, but before the: trial could begin, Naramore was extradited to Kansas to face the murder and attempted murder A state district court granted Naramore's re-T quest for a summary his favor, dismiss-, ing the lawsuit because it said Mize failed to prove Naramore was responsible for his medical problems. Justices pointed to evidence submitted on Naramore's behalf showing Mize had suffered from' back pain for some time and had used painkillers' and other drugs before see-1 ing Naramore. The court said Mize-failed to prove his prob-. lems were a result of Naramore's treatment, so. there was no reason to re-" instate the lawsuit.

CHEYENNE (AP)- Wyoming's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss a malpractice lawsuit against a doctor who has been convicted of murder in Kansas. The court agreed Thomas Mize did not prove in his lawsuit that former Dr. Stan Naramore made him a "virtual cripple" as he claimed. "(Thomas Mize and Robin Crowley-Mize) failed to marshal any specific facts from which the district court could find a genuine issue of material fact as to the cause, proximate or otherwise, of Mr. Mize's ills," the ruling said.

Naramore practiced in Lovell for six months, until July 1994, when he was arrested on charges of second-degree murder and attempted murder filed by Kansas officials. He has been sentenced to 5 to 20 years in prison on his conviction on the charges and is appealing his conviction. According to the ruling, while Naramore practiced in Lovell, he was visited twice by Thomas Mize, who complained of back pain. On the first visit, crash firom staff and wire reports Fountain view Two young Lyman women were killed In a head-on wreck on Highway 414 that also injured one of the 2-year-old son, officials ssaJd. L.

Burge, 19, and Anna Stocks, 17, and her 2-year-jOjd son, David were in a ,1974 Chevy pickup truck heading north, about one mile south of.Mountain View about 3 p.m. Tuesday. A Dodge pickup truck driven by Kevin Scott Adams, 37, of Lyman, traveling south, left the road and then was over-corrected crossing over into oncoming traffic, the highway patrol said. Burge was pronounced dead at the scene. Anna Stocks and her son were taken to IHC Evanston Regional Hospital where she later died.

The child was taken by life flight to Primary Children's Center in Salt Lake City. No information was available from the hospital about his condition Thursday. Adams was treated at the Evanston hospital and released. citations were given at the time of the accident, the WHP spokesman said. Highway officials said neither victim was wearing a seat belt.

Sand Dunes user fee plan scrapped DAVID ZALUTOWSWAP Julie Barnes, 18, of Kemmerer, trims wool from her SuffolkHampshire crossbred wether with the help of her mother, Sue, as they prepare for a showing at the 91st Annual National Western Stock Show and Rodeo on Wednesday In Denver. By JEFF GEARINO Star-Tribune state reporter ROCK SPRINGS A proposal by the Bureau of Land Management to collect user fees at a popular off-road vehicle site north of Rock Springs won't be implemented this year, a federal official says. The pilot fee program at the Greater Sand Dunes Off-Road Vehicle Area near the Red Desert region of Sweetwater County will most likely begin in 1998 and will run initially just one year, said BLM Rock Springs District outdoor recreation planner Andy Tenney. He said the agency had considered implementing the fee program this sum: mer, but decided to wait" until 1998 to give the public more opportunity to be-' come familiar with the proposal. "I hate surprising pie and we would rather give this the best shot we! can and try and make it work," Tenney said.

"And if it doesn't work, at least we tried." The purpose of the fee." would be to improve facil-c See SAND DUNES, B3 Senate panel eyes Highway Patrol raises DOT director balks at pay proposal 'The inequities described are not limited to the Highway Patrol, they go across the board in the GENE ROCCABRUNA, WTO. DEFT. OP TRANSPORTATION DIR. Department Director Gene Roccabruna told the committee he supports the concept of the bill, but could not support legislation that would provide raises to only a certain group of employees in his agency. 12337 LEGISLATURE Worland suspect By JON SARCHE Associated Press writer CHEYENNE The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday began considering ways to solve pay inequities among Wyoming Highway Patrol officers but delayed action until later.

Several members expressed concern not only with Senate File 53, which would provide the Highway Patrol's 157 officers with raises totaling about $600,000, but also with a proposal by thft Transportation Department to provide raises touting about $272,000. The bill would require the department to take an annual survey of salaries paid to officers in the three largest law enforcement agencies in the state and adjust Highway Patrol officers' salaries to meet that average. The department's proposal would adjust the salaries to the average of the 20 largest law enforcement agencies in the state. The inequities described are not limited to the Highway Patrol, they go across the board in the DOT," he said. "We're trying to develop a system to accommodate all those employees.

This situation Just brought it to a head and hopefully we ran accommodate all of this." Committee members asked Roccabruna and other DOT officials to present detailed information on the administrative pay-raise proposal and delayed action on the bill until that time. Supporters of the bill said it would help the Highway Patrol retain officers for whom it spends hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to train. Many officers choose to leave the Highway Patrol for other, higher-paying law enforcement agencies after going through training, said Sen. Grant Larson, -Jackson. "Wyoming has become a training ground for other states and that's costing Wyoming money," he said.

"I want (Highway Patrol officers) well-trained, experienced, and to do that you have to pay them at least as much as people in comparable areas." Please see RAISES, B3 jrV V4 At- i I', Border to Border Thomas pushes private sector bill ROM ST AFT 1EPOITS Grizzly bear LsTTsuit settled i CASPER In what conservationists are calling a historic op- PUtJunity for grizzly bears, the U.S. sh. and Wildlife Service has agreed to develop a habitat-based recovery effort for the bear as part of a lawsuit settlement Under the settlement between the USFWS and several dozen conservation groups, USFWS must develop recovery targets for the amount and quality of grizzly bear habitat needed for the species recovery. The settlement awaits final approval from a federal Judge. More than three dozen conservation groups sued the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service In 1993 when the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan waa WASHINGTON Sen. Craig Thomas, has re-introduced a bill that would require government agencies to examine the possibility of contracting for services provided by the private sector. Though they would be required to compare the cost of contracting services out to the current cost of producing them in house, agencies wouldn't necessarily be required to do so, he said. Agencies should use that review to look at ways of restructuring their operations and changing the way they deliver services, Thomas said. "If the agency takes some of these functions and simply contracts them out, nothing much will have changed," he said.

revised, saying it violated the Endangered Species Act in part because It didn't adequately address the habitat requirements of the bear. A federal Judge agreed in part with the lawsuit in Oct. 1995. The conservation groups and the USFWS both appealed. Enzi makes GSPAN appearance WASHINGTON Sen.

Mike Enzi, is getting a quick introduction to a U.S. senator's Washington routine. Enzi appeared on the C-SPAN network's "Washington Journal" Thursday morning, and also ran part of the Senate's routine morning business from the president's chair that afternoon, a Job that is usually rotated among senators. Appearing on C-SPAN with Sen. Harry Reid, Enzi spoke principally about his support for a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget.

Enzi repeated the Republican position that without a budget amendment, the White house can use "smoke and mirrors to evade strict requirements for a balanced budget. KEN BUCKBIROAP Marty Olsen, 27, of Worland, is led to an appearance at the Washakie County Courthouse in Worland on Wednesday, where he was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of a woman and two men at the Little Chief bar and service station late Monday. Olsen also was charged with armed robbery for allegedly taking money from a cash register at the establishment around the time of the shootings. 8Ute Editor Charles Brown. For information, questions and comments about this page, call (307) 2660582 or (800) 442-6916; email statetrib.com; fax (307) 2660568..