Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 14

Wyoming Friday, OBITUARIES WEATHER. February Casper 1, Star 2002 B6 B3 Tribune In Brief FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS Skier falls down hole, suffocates TETON VILLAGE A skier died at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort after falling into deep snow and suffocating. Jason David Kyle, 37, of Reston, was pronounced dead Sunday afternoon at a clinic at the base of the resort. It appeared he had fallen headfirst into a tree well and was pinned upside down in the snow, the Teton County Sheriff's Office said in a release. A tree well is a deep hole in the snow formed at the base of a tree where branches keep snow from reaching the ground.

In this case, the well was roughly 7 feet deep. About 2:15 p.m. two skiers spotted Kyle's skis and boots sticking out and dug him out, the release said. He was unconscious and not breathing, and one of the skiers started CPR while the other went for help. A third skier then stopped and aided resuscitation efforts.

The ski patrol arrived at 2:40 p.m., three minutes after being notified, and continued CPR. Kyle was transported in a toboggan to the medical clinic but never regained consciousness. An autopsy performed Monday concluded Kyle died of asphyxiation. Sullivan to head IENR Former Wyoming governor and U.S. ambassador to Ireland Mike Sullivan has been appointed chairman of the University of Wyoming's Institute for Environment and Natural Resources (IENR) board of directors.

Sullivan replaces John Turner, who resigned to accept the position of assistant secretary of state for U.S. State Department Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. IENR was established in 1993 as a partnership among more than 200 research faculty and as an advisory board of leaders in the field of environment and natural resources. Hight Proffit dies at 90 Former Uinta County commissioner, state representative and state senator Hight M. Proffit died on Wednesday at his home in Evanston.

He was 90. Proffit served as Uinta County commissioner for 24 years. He served in the Wyoming state House from 1975 to 1977. He was a Wyoming state senator from 1977 to 1985. He was also appointed to the state judicial nominating committee.

Flu season running behind CHEYENNE The flu season will peak a little later than it did last year, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. The department confirmed the first flu cases of the year in a report Thursday. At the end of January, five culture confirmed cases and 185 positive rapid test cases of influenza were reported in Wyoming. A culture confirmed test means a swab from a patient is tested to see what type of influenza virus they have. All five culture -confirmed cases of influenza were influenza A (H3N2), which has been included in this year's flu vaccine.

A rapid test is a throat or nasal swab that produces quick results, but can yield false positives. Jim McKinna, the Wyoming Department of Health's Immunization program manager, reminded the public that even though it is the beginning of February, it is still not too late to receive vaccination for influenza. More information regarding influenza is available online at http://wdhfs.state.wy.us/epid/fluVA State Editor Nadia elections likely in for new wards start to take at-large member of the council, and seek reelection in 2004. Her announcement broke a stalemate over whether to have one or both of the two atlarge seats provided for in the city's new ward system appear on the ballot this year. The new system sets the stage for a lively contest for city council seats this year.

In addition to the at-large seat that will be at stake, voters will select new council members for two wards in which no Laramie veterinary clinic burns Some animals die, residents evacuated By W. DALE NELSON Star-Tribune correspondent LARAMIE An incumbent city council member's decision Wednesday to roll the dice and run for an at-large seat rather than a seat in her own ward broke an impasse and allowed Laramie to move forward with its new election system. Laramie City Council member Anni Nordin announced at a work session Wednesday that she will continue to serve as an LARAMIE (AP) Fire likely sparked by a heating vent destroyed a veterinary clinic and killed about 10 cats and dogs trapped in kennels, authorities said. Three or four pets housed at Snowy Range Vet Clinic survived and horses in several stalls outside the clinic were saved, Laramie Fire Chief Randy Vickers said. Firefighters received a report of the fire at 7:47 p.m.

Wednesday. They tried to break through the front entrance but were beaten back by heavy smoke, authorities said. The clinic was located about a mile south of town on Fort Sanders Drive. Ten to 12 area homes were evacuated and residents stayed overnight in a motel courtesy of the American Red Cross, Lt. Rob DeBree of the Albany County Sheriff's Office said.

The residents returned home Thursday morning. Most of the animals were dead by the time firefighters were able to reach them, Vickers said. "I think the veterinarian felt worse about that than losing her place," he said. The fire, which was extinguished in about 12 hours, was probably caused by a heat ventilation pipe on either a wood stove or gas heater inside the clinic. Vickers said.

The blaze was probably accidental, he said. All people had left the clinic, formerly known as Allen's Vet Clinic, about three hours before it ignited, he said. incumbents live, and for the West Laramie ward for which Nordin chose not to run. Nordin, a long-time advocate of a greater voice for West Laramie in city affairs, said she made her decision in order "to help that area, for the betterment of that area." She explained that her continuance as an at-large member assures West Laramie of having two of its residents on the council for the next two years at least, longer if she is re-elected. Vice Mayor Fred Homer applauded Nordin for "making that choice and perhaps taking a chance" that she would not win reelection to an at-large seat.

Three incumbents holdover Amy Moon, Mayor Joe Shumway and Dave Williams live in the same ward near the University of Wyoming campus. The same holds true in the ward in the eastern part of ul TIM Laramie animal control officer Gene Lang leads a dog named Cassie from the icy, burned-out ruins of the Snowy Range Veterinary clinic. The clinic burned Thursday morning. Cassie survived but 10 pets died in the fire. Yellowstone fugitives face new charges ST.

PAUL (AP) Minnesota authorities have charged two Wisconsin men with attempted murder in a beating and robbery last September that left an elderly New Brighton woman in a coma. The two men, Patrick James Engelbrecht. 18, and Thomas Jay O'Flanagan, 19, are still being held in a Wyoming jail, where they face other charges in a crime spree that ended with their arrests Sept. 7 in Yellowstone National Park. They were originally charged in Minnesota with burglary and assault.

The more serious attempted murder charges were added Wednesday in Ramsey County. Conviction would carry a 20-year maximum sentence. The men who are both from Superior, Wis. are accused of beating Edmund Stich, 80, and his wife, Eleanor Stich, 78, in New Brighton on Sept. 5 and stealing their son's truck.

The Stiches were "doing an act of kindness, they thought. Letting them into their home to use the telephone. And then they are brutally beaten. It's Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner said. After the assault, the men fled Minnesota.

They were spotted two days later in Yellowstone and were eventually arrested. A 17-year-old girl who was found with them returned to Minnesota, where she is now being held as a material witness, police said. Engelbrecht and 'Flanagan remain in Wyoming facing two separate sets of charges there. 'Flanagan and Engelbrecht are accused of breaking into a cabin outside of Cody, Wyo. Both are charged in state court with burglary.

Engelbrecht was scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Cody. No arraignment date has been set for 'Flanagan. Because Yellowstone is a national park, O'Flanagan and Engelbrecht were also charged in federal court. Engelbrecht earlier this month pleaded guilty to federal charges of burglary, transporting a stolen firearm in interstate commerce and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle. As part of the deal, he was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison.

O'Flanagan also reached a plea agreement and will be sentenced Feb. 15, federal officials in Cheyenne, said. Ramsey County officials expect to bring Engelbrecht back to Minnesota early next week to face the attempted murder charges. The pair is suspected in a crime spree that spread from Wisconsin to Wyoming. They are accused of taking a truck in Superior and burglarizing two homes there.

Authorities allege they then traveled to New Brighton, where they got a flat tire and then conspired to steal a vehicle. Saying they had a flat, they approached the Stich home and asked for help. They are accused of beating the couple once they were inside. Eleanor Stich suffered a fractured skull during the attack, causing severe bleeding in her brain. She remains in a coma, New Brighton police said.

Edmund Stich, who also suffered head injuries, has since been released. Veterans must wait seven months for care CHEYENNE (AP) Veterans needing routine care must wait until September to see a doctor at the VA Medical Center in Cheyenne. Last year, the wait for routine care ran about 30 to 60 days. Officials blame a lack of money for the longer waits. "A commitment was made to veterans when they were asked to serve their country," Cheyenne VFW Post 1881 quartermaster Phil Harris said." "A plan is needed to fully fund the VA so veterans can get the medical care they deserve." Medical center Director Dr.

David Kilpatrick braced for budget cuts last fall, but when the fiscal year began in October, the U.S. Congress delivered good news: His budget wasn't cut. It was increased. The Cheyenne Veterans Affairs Medical Center got a 3.5 percent hike when the budget was finalized last month. That is slightly more than other medical centers in the region received.

"Yes, the budget has in- creased, but we still have significant budget concerns," Kilpatrick said. "Three and a half percent won't allow us to do everything we did last year at the level we did it at." The medical center saw a 15 percent rise in patients between 2000 and 2001. And the increases are expected to continue. In the first quarter of this fiscal year, Kilpatrick said the center has seen about 700 to 800 more patients than last year. In 1997, the center treated 6.700 patients.

The number increased to 12,091 last year. Inadequate funding will not result in staff cuts, but it means no new staff positions will be added to keep up with the expanding patient load, Kilpatrick said. He said that he has met with staff representatives and is monitoring staff stress levels. "We've always prided ourselves on providing quality care," he said. "No existing area will suffer." New patients will feel the Please see VETERANS, B2 Nadia White.

For information, questions and comments about this page, call the news desk (307) 266-0583 or (800) 442-6916; e-mail fax shape town where Homer, Erik Stone and Trudy McCraken live. Homer was elected in 2000, but the terms of the others expire this year. With one seat in their ward already filled by a holdover, Shumway and Williams will have to run against each other or retire from the council. The same is true of Stone and McCraken. The wards for which there will be no incumbents running, Please see WARDS, B2 Health budget irks JAC Panel cuts $15M, adds $6M By BILL LUCKETT Star-Tribune capital bureau YELLOWSTONE VA MEDICAL NATIONAL PARK CENTER CHEYENNE The state government's $900 million gorilla began to seriously weigh on legislators sometime in their seventh hour of work Thursday on amendments to Gov.

Jim Geringer's $1.51 million General Fund budget for the fiscal year 2003-04 biennium. Rep. Mike Baker, R-Thermopolis, cochairman of the Joint Appropriations Committee (JAC), became frustrated when only two or three of the panel's 12 members voted on the Department of Health's budget for administration of the Substance Abuse Division. "I need more votes here," Baker said in an effort to get his colleagues' attention. The panel then voted not to pass the division's $165,000 standard budget for administration and took a 15-minute break.

JAC members returned from their break, flipped a few pages forward in the budget, and found that the person whose job they had just failed to fund was responsible for administering $20.9 million in the Substance Abuse Division. The governor's budget seeks $908 million for the health department. It is the single largest agency budget the committee will grapple with. Meanwhile, skyrocketing costs for prescription drug coverage was a recurring source of irritation for some members of the committee. The JAC has convened at 7 a.m.

every day since Tuesday and spent nearly all its time Thursday on the health department's budget. By 4:45 p.m., the panel had cut about $15 million in General Fund spending from the agency but added another $6.2 million to Geringer's recommendations. Some major General Fund cuts included: $5.8 million in the Mental Health Division in new spending requests for a wide variety of projects and cost increases. The JAC left in spending increases of $759.000 to add four community mental health providers and $250,000 to help the program gain accreditation. $3 million, or Geringer's entire requested spending increase, for the Women, Infants and Children program.

The majority of that money was for equipment and computerrelated work for the Health Passport program. Please see JAC, B2 (307) 266-0568..