Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 1

On TV OQO Sports American Derek Parra wins a speedskating gold medal with a world record time in the 1,500 metersDl BIATHLON 2p.m. ALPINE SKIING 6p.m. SHORT TRACK 6 p.m. SKELETON 6 p.m. SPEEDSKATING 6p.m.

Today's schedule All telecasts on NBC unless noted Sport Time HOCKEY 11 a.m. MSNBC4 p.m. CNBC6 p.m. SALT LAKE 2002 I nC A Rf lime Milosevic keeps up combative argumentA5 WYOMING'S STATEWIDE NEWSPAPER New snowmobile releasedBl FOUNDED IN 1891 i (O TT3 1 i 11 barren Morton 1924-2002 11 mi' Water call placed oe North Platte Order affects users upstream from Guernsey reservoir i 1 T' i v. z.

f. I A (0 By CANDY MOULTON Star-Tribune correspondent ENCAMPMENT Wyoming State Engineer Patrick Tyrrell has placed a call on the North Platte River that affects both agricultural and municipal water users in the region from the Guernsey reservoir to the Colorado border. In Wyoming, the right to use water is based on the date a filing is made with the state, the so-called "First in time, first in right" doctrine that rules most water law in the West. A "call" also known as an adjudication is the administration of water rights by priority date of allocation. The U.S.

Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the North Platte project reservoirs which hold the Pathfinder and Guernsey rights, requested the call. It is necessary due to the continuing drought leaving a snowpack that is about 40 percent below average, Tyrrell said. "It's the drought that's causing the call," Tyrrell said. "My snow survey as of yesterday morning was 61 percent in the Upper North Platte drainage." That compares with an 80 percent snftwpack in that region above Pathfinder at the same time last year. The snow-pack in the lower basin between Pathfinder and Guernsey is just 56 percent of normal, he The February storage and runoff forecasts for the coming season total just more than 822.000 acre-feet, which is well under the 1.1 million AF "trigger" value that represents full ownership supply in the Please see WATER, A14 FILEStarTrlburw Warren Morton works at his Casper office in the 1970s.

He died Monday in Arizona at the age of 77. Former House Speaker dies at 77 Casper oilman Morton devoted much of life to civic service Showdown set on school finance She said Morton had been aware he had Alzheimer's Disease; "He had a very good sense of humor about it," she said. "He was very open and honest about it. "We had an awfully good time together," she added. "We were married 54 years." Morton served in the Wyoming House from 1967 to 1980 He was speaker in the 1979 and 1980 sessions.

He was the Republican candidate for governor in 1982 but lost to Democratic incumbent Ed Her-schler. He had a long history of public service. By JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune staff writer CHEYENNE Warren Morton, Casper oilman, former Wyoming House speaker and a former member of the Casper College Board of Trustees, died Monday evening in a hospice at his winter home near Phoenix, Ariz. Morton, 77, had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease for about four years but led a normal life until recently when he also developed Parkinson's Disease, a combination that was fatal, said his wife Katharine. Gov.

Jim Geringer issued the following statement about Morton: "I'm deeply saddened at the news of WarreiTMiwton's passing. Sherri and I extend our sympathy and support to Katharine and the rest of the family. Warren set a high standard for public service with his involvement in community activities, as Speaker of the House in the Legislature in 1979, as a member of several commissions and study groups, including the Tax Reform 2000 Commission, the Wyoming Futures Project and the 1991 commission that studied judicial salaries. Please see MORTON, AH ators who said they couldn't predict whether Senate File 51 will get through the Senate. "I can't tell if it will pass or not," Coe said Tuesday.

"It will be a close vote." Coe said there are three factions on the floor of the Senate: Senators who think the bill authorizes too much spending. Please see FINANCE, A7 By JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune staff writer CHEYENNE A school-finance bill that has been branded a fatally flawed rush job that may not even be needed this year comes up for third and final vote in the Senate today. Senate President Hank Coe, R-Cody, was one of several sen Court OKs letting students grade classmates' papers Says 'peer-graded' work not an education record Related storyA3 I v. -X By DAVID STOUT The New York Times WASHINGTON The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that there Is no violation of federal privacy law when students grade their classmates' work, a practice that is common in schoolrooms across the country. In a 9-0 decision arising from released without the written consent of their parents.

The case, Owasso Independent School District vs. Falvo, No. 00-1073, has been closely watched by school administrators and teacher unions, by people interested in privacy issues and very likely by many parents like Kristja F. Falvo of suburban Tulsa. Please see COURT, A14 a case in Tulsa, the court ruled that the practice does not violate the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

The act authorizes the withholding of federal money from school districts that permit students' education records to be Gardner faces his toughest opponent Frost-bitten toes put wrestling career in doubt By TO! DAHLBERG AP sports writer IDAHO FALLS, Idaho Exhausted from trying to find a trail and his clothes frozen, Rulon Gardner just wanted to sleep. Not too long, though, for with deep sleep would come certain death. Dozing oil In the snow, he dreamed of a warm bath and sitting beside a heater at his family's farm. Then he awoke to the frightening reality he was soaking wet and all alone In the Wyoming wilderness, on a night when the temperature would drop to 25 Ix'low zero, "I said to myself, be strong and be focused and don't give up," the 30-vearold Gardner said Please see GARDNER, All Bush to urge N. Korea to open negotiations his counterpart's "sunshine policy" of reaching out to Pyongyang and said the United States would be willing to open talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong II.

But he made clear that he has reservations about the regime he lumped in with Iran and Iraq as "an axis of evil." The provocative phrase clashed with Kim's policies and caused allies to wonder whether the United States was Please see BUSH, A7 By RON FOURNIER AP White House correspondent PANMUNJOM. Korea -President Bush pledged Wednesday to defend South Korea from the "despotic regime" to the north, yet sought to assure U.S. allies that he was not driving toward war. "We have no Intention of Invading North Korea," the president said. In a joint news conference with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, Bush endorsed RANDV HAtESAP i Om -i II Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner describes being stranded in the backcountry near Afton while snowmobiling last week.

Gardner spoke Monday about his ordeal while recovering at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center In Idaho Falls where he is recovering from frostbite to his feet PRESIDENT BUSH To renew offer to negotiate with North Korea Today The grouch 3 Folks at Enron graded their own papers then sliredded them. Wyoming: Seven candidates for governor discuss similar goals, including diversifying the economy and retaining youth, at the annual Business Day at the LegislatureBl Letters, A13 Markets, A8 Movies, A9 Obituaries, B3 Opinion, A12 Sports, Dl Weather, B4 Wyoming, Bl Inside: Casper Area. A3 Classified, C3 Comics. A10. C4 Crossword, C4 Enjoy, CI Landers, Jiilson, A9 Legislature, A4 -Tnn 082 76" 2 79 Cool, knti) tad 1 1 mow ibowrrl 4120 For Star-Tribune customer service, call (800) 442-6916 or (307) 266-0550..