Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 11

Gisper StarnTVibune Big money The Natrona County Commission is set to approve a $17 million budget MondayB3 worn Sunday, July 19, 1998 OBITUARIES B3 WEDDINGS B6 TT XT O) mm of Manager may curtail Pole Mtn. shooting Hazard to recreation, Forest Service says By JASON MARSDEN Star-Tribune staff writer LARAMIE Widespread and often unsafe recreational shooting of firearms "almost everywhere in the Pole Mountain area" must be curtailed to protect recreational users of the land east of here, according to a new U.S. Forest Service study. The agency's draft environmental assessment (EA) for grazing and other land uses of 55,700 acres of USFS land in the Laramie Range north of Interstate 80 suggests shooting should be banned between March 31 and Sept. 10 annually.

This action would reduce resource damage and property damage while increasing habitat effectiveness for big-game species during nonhunting seasons," the document concludes. "It would also make Pole Mountain a safer place to recreate." The proposed management change would use primarily educational methods of addressing shooting in and near developed recreation sites as well as such unsafe practices as shooting without backstops, and firing rounds across canyons and along roads. The Forest Service's proposal which would still allow shooting during all of the big-game and most of the small-game hunting seasons are a response to six years of public complaints from the Pole Mountain Cattlemen's Association, recreational users and law enforcement, the draft EA says. Shooting is one specific resource-use adjustment being made in an EA originally designed to study the environmental impacts of seven livestock-grazing allotments under a 1995 congressional mandate. Under the proposed action outlined in the EA, the Forest Service would write new grazing management plans for six cattle allotments and one sheep allotment before the 1999 grazing season begins.

Between the seven allotments, 2,086 cattle and 1,200 sheep would be permitted to graze from approximately June 1 to October 15. All allotments are broken down into pastures which each would be managed under a deferred-rotation system in which only one pasture of an allotment is grazed at any given time. Livestock grazing would also be reduced to the last two Please see SHOOTING, B2 DAN CEPEOAStar-Trtbun Upward Bound Coordinator Janet Kummerfeldt, left, reviews a computer exercise on the University of Wyoming campus with high school students Sonja Rowley, from Delta, Utah; Alesha St. Clair, from Missoula, and Becky Schreiner, from Kalispell, Mont. 'For me the proudest moment is when the students graduate from high school.

The families are very proud, but I also get to share in that "I like it a lot better than my regular school," said St. Clair, whose summer class schedule includes English, mathematics, computer science, biology, astronomy and dance. "But I think there are too many rules." Bridge scholar Primo Rodriguez of Casper, who will attend UW this fall, said Upward Bound's rules, which include a "lights out" policy at 1030 p.m., are needed to maintain the stability of the program. "These kids go to class every day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.," he said.

"If they're up past a certain time Please see PROGRAM, B7 Bound allowed me to see I had options, that there were funds out there to help me pay for college." Blanton, a four-year veteran of the program, is one of the "bridge scholars" in Upward Bound who graduated from high school and is spending the summer taking seven hours of college credits in algebra and acting. "We provide them with the academic and social support to try and bridge that gap between high school and college," Gallegos said, adding that the program pays for their tuition, fees, books, and room and board. Blanton said her four summers in the UW dormitories have helped her prepare for "the college experience you're put in a hall with a ton of people you've never met before." She was so homesick during the first summer, Blanton recalled, she ran up a $250 phone bill calling her mother twice a day. Alesha St. Clair, a 15-year-old from Missoula, said she got over her homesickness after the first week but she was still adjusting to the program.

The court said such secondhand evidence was acceptable in some circumstances. The prosecution used the report to show that both doctors agreed on the evidence. Hodgins' attorneys also contended the prosecution team asserted its personal beliefs when jurors were told "we believe" Hodgins committed the crime. Jurors also were told its verdict would set a community measure for dealing with shaken baby syndrome. 'Upward Bound' gives high school students a preview of college life By KERRY DRAKE Star-Tribune staff writer LARAMIE Back when he was In high school in Cheyenne, Manuel Gallegos had a chance to participate in the Upward Bound program but decided he'd rather spend the summer playing baseball.

Now, as director of the program, Gallegos understands when teens are reluctant to spend six weeks away from home to live on the University of Wyoming campus. But he also knows how much they can benefit from the experience and how It can help them make the transition from high school to college. Upward Bound instructor Cindy Jessen said the students are "really motivated, but they haven't always been successful in the public schools so sometimes they're really frustrated." The federally funded program has been active in Laramie since 1969, giving students who are either from low-income families or whose parents do not have a four-year degree a chance to prepare for college. Gallegos said Upward Bound's budget is $368,000 per year. The program reimburses UW for the cost of housing and feeding the students.

Gallegos said during the past three years 100 percent of Upward Bound's Wyoming students have graduated from high school and 96 percent have enrolled in a post-secondary academic institution. About 70 percent choose UW. "I always wanted to go to college, but because I'm low-income I thought I'd never be able to," explained Lynette Blanton of Casper. "Upward Wyoming CHEYENNE (AP) The Wyoming Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a Riverton man convicted of shaking his infant son so badly that the child suffered permanent brain damage. In his appeal, attorneys for Travis Hodgins asked the court to overturn his conviction because the jury was presented with hearsay testimony and inappropriate statements by the prosecution.

But the court ruled recently that Hodgins had been given a resolution tactic with the Flying clerk who wouldn't accept his gas card. The trucker, Rickey Barney, called the police in hopes they would make the store accept his fuel card. But when they showed up, a routing check of Barney's driver license showed he was wanted for two counts each of first -degree kidnapping, rape and sodomy in Portland, Ore. The Rock Springs Rocket-Miner reports lie was arrested, held on $1.5 million bond and waived extradition to Multnomah County, Oregon, whose deputies coiiiIhhI the semi-truck for evidence. Pleane er TALK, B2 Supreme Court rejects 'shaken baby' appeal The court ruled that the statements were appropriate.

The justices concluded the "we believe" merely assert the prosecution's case and the prosecution may suggest the jury consider the need to protect its community. During his trial, witnesses testified that Hodgins' son, Tyler, has permanent brain damage probably resulted from "shaken baby syndrome." Hodgins maintained that Tyler's half-sister fell on the infant. fair trial. Hodgins is serving nine to ten years in prison after being convicted last year of aggravated assault and battery. Hodgins was 20 at the time of the October 1995 incident.

Hodgins' attorneys challenged as hearsay the testimony of a doctor who had read a medical report written by another doctor. The report said hemorrhaging in Tyler's eyes was compatible with "nonaccidental trauma." Eco-friendly The whole town's talking about Cardboard aboard truck treads lightly in park MANUEL GALLEGOS, UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM DIRECTOR The court rejected Hodgins' appeal of his sentence. Hodgins said he could not afford to pay $2,117 monthly to cover his son's health care costs. The court noted that nearly two-thirds of Tyler's brain tissue had been destroyed and he undergoes extensive physical therapy to perform basic functions. "The trial court's order is reasonable given the circumstances of this case," the justices wrote in their order upholding the conviction.

AG: Public funds can't pay for training seminar By the Star-Tribune staff CHEYENNE The Wyoming Attorney General's office ruled that public funds cannot be used to send candidates for state treasurer to an investment seminar. Retiring State Treasurer Stan Smith asked during a recent meeting of the State Board on Loans and Investments whether money saved on discount securities trades could be used to train the candidates for his job at an investment seminar. Smith highly recommended the seminar. The candidates for state treasurer are Republican Cynthia Lummis and Democrat Charyl W. (Butch) Loveridge, both of Cheyenne.

But the attorney general's opinion sent to Gov. Jim Gerin-ger, who is chairman of the state board, and to the other board members said any such use of public funds is contrary to Wyoming's Constitution because it is not for a public purpose. "Arguably, training an elected official serves a public purpose," the opinion said. "Training a potential public official does not." The biodegradability and low emissions of the fuel indicate that alternative fuels are a viable solution for environmentally sensitive areas such as MICHAEL FINLEY, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK SUPERINTENDENT MOOSE (AP) Yellowstone Park rangers are treading lightly around the environment with the help of a special pickup. They have logged 96,000 miles on a 1995 Dodge pickup with a specially designed engine that burns fuel derived from vegetable matter.

It is part of an experiment to evaluate how well low pollution alternative fuels work in environmentally sensitive areas. The project, called "truck in the park," is touted as the first alternative fuel vehicle pro ject in the world, according to a news release from the National Park Service. The first phase of the project has ended. Now the University of Idaho and engine's manufacturer, Cummins Engine Company, are taking the truck apart to analyze it. "We are very pleased with the results," said Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Michael Finley.

"The biodegradability and low emissions of the fuel Indicate that alternative fu- John Falb is no "pa)or tiger" in the world of recycling. The Cody retiree who "just wanted to do something for the environment has picked up pounds of cardtxtard in the four and a half years since he retired from the life of a BuRec civil engineer Falb bought a fix 7x 12-foot covered trailer and spent a month mapping out a route through town threading from BC's Fumi ture to Sears via the main drag and the hospital, reports the Cody Enterprise. He collects every night and in every kind of weather in leather pant covers and an old straw hat. And gloves, new ones every two weeks. "One million pounds of cardboard is his goal and he's more than halfway there," the Enterprise put it.

Falb says philosophically, "I've left a pretty big hole in the landfill that they don't have to dig Alternative dispute resolution: A 39-year-old Springfield, truck driver was arrested in Rock Springs last Monday after trying out an alternative dispute els are a viable solution for environmentally sensitive areas such as Yellowstone." In the future, park officials may use the fuel in concession tour busses, national park vehicles and winter snow grooming machines. USDA grant to improve Torrington water supply TORRINGTON (AP) The U.S. Department of Agriculture presented $1.8 million dollars to Torrington officials recently to build a well aimed at supplying leaner, safer water to residents Torrington's water supply does not meet federal standards for nitrate levels, officials said. to begin operation in two or three years. It would provide 8,000 gallons per minute to residents.

Torrington and the Shoshone Tribe are among 87 communities in 38 states receiving help from the USDA in its campaign to improve rural water quality. Without a new well, treating the town's water supply would be costly, said Torrington facility planner Gary Gerhard. The Wyoming Water Development Commission plans to provide a $2.7 million grant to cover the rest of Torrlngton's expenses. The well is scheduled or iulomiatkHi, questions and comments a I tout this page, call the news desk Cl7) or (SfXIl email newstrib.com, fax (.107) 2li05i8. I.