Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 1

ii i 1 vNrr Gnrnn tmm Tr pi mm i ii if SEE SPORTS, C1 literary classics turned culinary concoctions SECTION SttjG A Rp" JIM Hl(R igy, March 30, 2007 WYOMING'S STATEWIDE NEWSPAPER, 1 T1 H)T 1 1 JUL JLJLLNm mr 1 -v- 1 storm cuts power to nundrcus, Snowed iimdei if0 clogs travel throughout the stat areas, and travel was impossible or treacherous over much of the state. For more News Tracker I Last we knew: A severe spring snowstorm slammed Wyoming. The latest About 600 households were without power late Thursday in the Buffalo, Clearmont and Ucross to a whopping 5 feet of the white stuff in the mountains. Especially hard hit are the eastern Wind River and Big Horn ranges. In the Buffalo, Ucross and Clearmont areas of northern Wyoming, some 2,200 rural Please see STORM, A10 By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER Star-Tribune staff writer with wire reports About 600 homes in north-central Wyoming remained without power Thursday evening as high winds and heavy snow persisted for a second day.

In much of the state, the storm closed roads and schools and stranded travelers, leaving folks to dig out as the wintry weather was expected to give way to warmer, drier conditions today. The National Weather Service expected up to a foot of snow in many areas of the state before the storm let up, with up WhafsnextRepaircrewsexpect Storm slams Plains, Midwest A5 to restore powerin coming days. The Complete weather forecast B6 stormwas to move out today. Bebout gets another shot Get out of Iraq? Defiant Democrats vote to begin troop withdrawal By DAVID ESPO AP special correspondent WASHINGTON A defiant, Democratic-controlled Senate approved legislation Thursday calling for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within a year, propelling Congress closer to an epic, wartime veto confrontation with President Bush.

The 51-47 vote was largely along party will urn ii. i i miii (I in inm in lines, and like For more Details on the bills A10 House passage of a separate, more sweeping By JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE A former state House speaker, the president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and a Fremont County commissioner are finalists for the Wyoming Senate vacancy caused by the death of Bob Peck of Riverton. The Fremont County commissioners will pick one of the candidates Tuesday during their regular meeting. One of the five commissioners who is a candidate is Doug Thompson of Jeffrey City. Thompson told The Associated Press Thursday he did not plan to vote Tuesday on who will finish out Peck's Senate District 26 term, which expires next year.

The other two finalists chosen by Republican precinct-men and precinctwomen from Senate District 26 who met Wednesday night are former House Speaker Eli Bebout of Riverton, who ran for governor in 2002 but lost to Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal, and Lois Herbst of Riverton, president of the Stock Growers Association. Herbst ran for House District 34 in the 1992 Republican primary election but lost the nomination to Rep. Frank Philp, R-ShoshonL Philp was one of the 12 candidates who failed to make the cut for the Senate seat. Another was Peck's son, Steven, publisher of the Riverton Ranger Inc.

Please see SHOT, A10 Dan Cepeda, Star-Tribune Frank Ammerman carries flower arrangements to the delivery vehicle at Nate's Flowers Gifts on Thursday afternoon in Casper. Amrnerman, along with fellow deliverer Dennis Isbell, continued making deliveries through blizzard conditions on Thursday. Deliver us Sy TOM MORTON unny how "snow" rhymes with "slow," and sometimes even "no." The biggest snowstorm in central Wyoming in several years couldn't stop many of the drivers who deliver passengers, car parts, posies, pupils, passengers, pizzas and patients. See DELIVER, A10 challenge to Bush's war policies a week ago, fell far short of the two-thirds margin needed to overturn the president's threatened veto. It came not long after Bush and House Republicans made a show of unity.

"With passage of this bill, the Senate sends a clear message to the president that we must take the war in Iraq in a new direction. Setting a goal for getting most of our troops out of Iraq is not not, not cutting and running," said Sen. Robert C. Byrd, shortly before the vote. Passage cleared the way for a compromise with the House.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky rebutted quickly. "Nothing good can come from this bill," he said. "It's loaded with pork that has no relation to our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it includes a deadline for evacuation that amounts to sending a 'Save the Date' card to al-Qaida." Several blocks away, the commander in chief stood with Republican House members and told reporters they were united. "We expect there to be no strings on our commanders, and that we expect the Congress to be wise about how they spend the people's money," he said. In private, Bush was more emphatic, according to participants at a closed-door session with the GOP rank and file.

"He said he will veto a bill that comes to his desk with too many strings attached or too much spending," said one official speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed to the press. While both sides have spoken positively about a need for compromise, there also was strong political pressure within boih parties for a veto fight. Bombers Mil 122 in one of Iraq's deadliest days A U.S. soldier guards an arrested man after a gunfight in central Baqouba, Iraq, on Thursday. Seven gunmen were killed and 14 were arrested.

i f4i I "if, i Khalis and the Shaab neighborhood in Baghdad during the busiest time of the day, timing that has become a trademark of what are believed to be Sun-ni insurgent or al-Qaida suicide attackers. Three suicide vehicle bombs, including an explosives-packed ambulance, detonated in a market in Khalis, 50 miles north of the capital, which was especially crowded because government flour rations had just arrived for the first time in six months, local television stations reported. At least 43 people were killed and 86 wounded, police said. In the north Baghdad bombings, two suicide attackers wearing explosives vests blew themselves up in the Shalal market in the predominantly Shiite Shaab neighborhood. At least 79 people were killed and 81 wounded as they jammed the market to buy provisions on the eve of the Muslim day of rest and prayer.

The carnage in Iraq cast a shadow over Ryan Crocker's first day as ambassador. He takes over in the midst of the U.S.-Iraqi security sweep, for which Bush committed nearly 30,000 additional troops to dampen what had become uncontrollable violence in the capital. By STEVEN R. HURST Associated Press writer BAGHDAD Five suicide bombers struck Shiite marketplaces in northeast Baghdad and a town north of the capital at nightfall Thursday, killing at least 122 people and wounding more than 150 in one of Iraq's deadliest days in years. The savage attacks came as a new American ambassador began his first day on the job, ana Senate Democrats ignored a veto threat and approved a bill to require President Bush to start withdrawing troops.

At least 178 people were killed or found dead Thursday, which marked the end of the TalalM.ilOeaaAP rounding regions. The suicide bombers hit markets in the Shiite town of seventh week of the latest U.S.Iraqi military drive to curtail violence in Baghdad and sur The Weather Index Casper Area A3 Classified E1 Comics C6-7 Markets C8 'It was awesome' Quillows Skeletons found Pressure K37 cv, 1X326 No sentence yet Kent Alan Proffit's penalty for arranging a killing in 2005 is postponed by tne weather. SeeBI They're pillows that can double as quilts. And they're ready for use. See A3 Movies Obituaries Opinion Puzzles Weather Eight of them, located on a Florida coast.

But no one knows how they got there. SeeA7 Attorney General Alberto Gonzales knew about process to fire U.S. attorneys, his former top aide says. SI That's how one Cowgirls player describes the triple-overtime thriller win in the TNIT. Seed B4 B3 A6 E3 B5 B1 Would a chorus of 'Let It Snow' be inappropriate? Wyoming SeeA5 'M18134I42749' Weekf nder D1 fc Hi in.