Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 11

A Gispcr Starl Yibune TyTV'f "71 "TV fC Tuesday, August 22, 2000 vJ YWll ill! 1 11 I JAJ' OBITUARIES B3 pti fj WEATHER B4 In Brief Flying cross State wants RR tax suit dropped timKummmmn uji.ii y.wiiiimiiiiiuuji iimuiuih I I By BILL LUCKETT Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE Claiming constitutional immunity Irom lawsuits, Wyoming has asked a jude to dismiss two lawsuits filed in May by railroads seeking to block thp state from collecting new taxes the Legislature imposed last winter. In two separate lawsuits, defendants Johnnie Burton, director of the state Department of Revenue, and Sleeter Dover, director of the state Department of Transportation, are officially "contesting the court's jurisdiction" to hear the matters, according to U.S. District Court documents filed I'riday. "The grounds for this motion are that the defendant is immune from suit in this court under the Eleventh Amendment (to the U.S. and that therefore this court has no jurisdiction over the defendant," according to the identical motions to dismiss the cases.

The Burlington Northern and Please see RAILROAD, B2 grows ill i ini iirriTTriiniil h'i 1- DEWEY VANDERHOFFStar Trlbune correspondent An unidentified Cody boy beats the summer heat by jumping off the Hayden Arch Bridge 50 feet down to the ice-cold Shoshone River west of Cody Monday afternoon. Releases from Buffalo Bill Reservoir for downstream sugar beet crop irrigators have deepened the river through the Shoshone Canyon. escued bear moved as fire FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS Wyo urged to vote today CHEYENNE Secretary of State Joe Meyer appealed to pride in encouraging voters to head to the polls for Tuesday's state primary. "Voter participation has been disappointing in many areas of the country," he said. "We have traditionally been a leader in voter turnout and I hope that voter participation will far exceed what we have seen in other states." Polls will be open from 7 a.m.

to 7 p.m., and voters can register on Election Day, he said. "We should take pride in self-determination through the election process," he said. "I know several Western states are touting their projected turnout, but I'm betting on bragging rights for Wyoming." Meyer reminded employers to allow an hour off for workers to vote if they do not have three or more consecutive non-working hours when polls are open. Candidates receiving the most votes in the primary will advance to the Nov. 7 general In legislative and congressional races, only one candidate from each party will move on.

In some races for local office, more than one candidate will advance. Girl hit by road sealing machine JACKSON -A 7-year-old girl has been recovering from head and leg injuries after a chip-sealing machine rolled down a hill and struck her. Megan Holland was hospitalized at Eastern Idaho Medical Regional Center after last Tuesday's collision. A witness and the girl's parents said Megan was standing near a street when the chip-sealing machine veered off the road and ran into her, injuring her head and breaking her leg. The parents, Tim and Robin Hofland, said doctors removed bone fragments from Megan's brain and it will take a while for her injuries to heal.

Capt. Jim Whalen of the Teton County Sheriff's Department said the heavy machine also struck the passenger side of a street sweeping vehicle. Teton Village resident Aurelia Floyd said she suffered a broken knee and arm when the chip sealer crashed into her car. Corrections Lorraine Saulino-KIein is a Democrat and Phil Nicholas is a Republican running for House District 14 in Laramie. Each is unopposed in today's primary.

Their party affiliations were listed incorrectly in the Star-Tribune Primary Voters Guide. Sweetwater County Commission candidate Ted Ware Is president of American National Bank. His employer was misnamed in this space Sunday. The public-interest lobbying group Equality State Policy Center (ESPC) did not establish, and does not provide funding for. the Wyoming 21st Century Political Action Committee (PAC), said ESPC Director Sarah Gortn.

The PAC Is a coalition of labor, legal, educational and other political donor funds, The ESPC Is a nonprofit educational corporation which does not fund candidates or PACs. A story on this page Sunday about the Senate District 10 primary was unclear on the ESPC's relationship to the PAC. By SUSAN GALLAGHER Associated Press HELENA, Mont. An orphaned bear cub with bandages on its burned paws was moved out of a veterinary clinic Monday and became a symbol of survival in Montana's long summer of wildfires. The military prepared to send soldiers from Kentucky and Marines from North Carolina to the front lines to help the thousands of firefighters already battling the flames.

Thirty major fires have burned more than 600,000 acres in Montana, more than one-third of them in the Bitterroot Valley. Large fires also burned in Idaho and a number of other Western states. In Hamilton, wildlife officer Joe Jaquith caged the bear cub and moved it out of the Bitterroot Valley veterinary clinic that provided care over the weekend, after the animal's rescue from scorched land in the Bitterroot National Forest. Jaquith drove north, intending to relay the animal to other officials for transport to a state shelter in Helena. "I gave him an apple and a drink of water before we started," Jaquith said as he drove.

"He's doing great." The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said the bear was recovering from burns to all four paws but is too young to be in the wild alone. Jaquith, who rescued the animal Saturday, suspects fire killed the mother. The rescue rekindled the story of Smokey Bear and the cub who symbolized the fire-prevention mascot after being plucked from a fire in New Mexico 50 years ago. Major fire battles began about a month ago, and even with help from military and Canadian crews, personnel shortages have been chronic. The National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho said an Army battalion from Fort Campbell, would be sent to Montana late this week and Marines from Camp LeJeune, N.C., would follow within a few days.

Firefighters in Montana include more than 700 toiling between Helena and Bozeman on the Maudlow-Toston fire, which has destroyed buildings and left cattlemen wondering whether grazing livestock survivt J. The fire was measured at 75,000 acres, after weekend estimates that ranged from 45,000 to 100,000 acres. "We're looking pretty good." said Graver Johnson at the Gallatin County emergency operations center. "We had a good night. They were able to do some mop up in certain areas and secure the lines." The fire has forced people from their homes and caused some ranchers to TOM BAUER, A young black bear cub that had its paws burned in a forest fire near Hamilton, lays in a kennel at a veterinary clinic in Hamilton on Sunday.

A game warden trapped the bear after it was spotted near a deer carcass with no sign of its mother. It has been transferred to a clinic near Helena. and relocate them." Donations of goods and money have been arriving in the state as news of Montana's calamitous fires spread. Please see FIRES, B2 cut barbed-wire fences so cattle could roam and perhaps find safety. "We do have livestock wandering throughout the fire," Johnson said.

"We're trying to help the ranchers find late: rut lads Bebout 'leaning' toward 2002 governor's race care on shopping list 8,000 Wyo families unaware of eligibility MIOSHONI (AP) -W yoming House Speaker Eli Bebout, R-Kiverton. said he is "leaning" toward a run fur governor in 2IMIJ. l5etK)Ut made the remarks during a Shoshoni Boys and Girls Club award and recognition breakfast. A graduate of Shoshoni High School. Bebout was the honored guest and received praise for his civic service to the commu health cording to outreach coordinator Darci Wilson.

An estimated 40.000 Wyoming children are uninsured, among 11 million in the United States. Wyoming Kid Care health coverage is generally available to children in households earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty threshold. The child health insurance program, being touted extensively this fall in all 50 states by the federal Covering Kids initiative, provides coverage for regular check-ups. prescription drugs, immunizations, dental and visual care, as well as mental health services, physical therapy, hearing tests and both inpatient and outpatient treatment. "The Wyoming Kid Care and Medicaid for Children health plans are designed to provide comprehensive coverage, just Please see HEALTH, B2 nity and state "The man we honor this morning is well-positioned to become the next governor of the state of Wyoming." state Sen.

Bob Peck. R-Riverton. said. "He has the track record of accomplishment. He has the experience of state government." Peck, the keynote speaker, said "He's not a Please see BF.BOLT, B2 The bullet grazed the shoulder of Chris Irwin.

21. also of Cheyenne, and hit the headrest, according to Cheyenne police. The incident occurred alxiut 930 p.m. Sunday on East Lin-colnway near Hot Springs Avenue. "Investigation shows that Please see DISPUTE, B2 By JASON MARSDEN Star-Tribune staff writer State health officials are adding an item to parents' back-to-school shopping list, health insurance for their children.

Unlike crayons, notebooks and paints, child health insurance is available free or at low cost from the state for children in some 8.000 income-eligible Wyoming families, many of whom are unaware that their children qualify for the coverage, according to the state Department of Health. The agency's Wyoming Covering Kids initiative part of a nationwide campaign is meant "to inform working parents that their children could qualify for Wyoming Kid Care or Medicaid for Children which provides low-cost or no-cost coverage," said the agency's Kristina Musante, In a release. The agency's efforts this fall include maintaining a presence at school registrations, orientations and open houses and at sports clinics, immunizations and screenings. Teachers and other school officials are also spreading the word about coverage options, and schools will send health-care information to families whose children apply for free or reduced-price school lunches. "Getting the word out and simplifying the application process will increase the numbers of children who are enrolled in these coverage programs," said Sarah Shuptrine, director of the Covering Kids National Program Office.

About 3,500 Wyoming children have been enrolled in the subsidized insurance plan since its inception In November 1999 but more than twice as many are eligible and not taking advantage of the program, ac Man shot in driving dispute liy the Star-Tribune staff CHEYENNE Cheyenne rev Ident Teno Frank Roncalio, 37, was arrested on a felony charge of aggravated assault Sunday alter he allegedly used a handgun to shoot from his truck into another tru k. injur ing a passenger. State Editor Nadia White. For Information, questions and comments about this page, call the news desk (307) aHMttfl or) 442-filW; email edrtorsatrib.rom; fax C)7) WCiU. i.