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New 2016 Chevrolet Malibu LEAP YEAR SPECIAL $29 DUE AT SIGNING With dealer arranged In stock vehicles only. ADVISERS A10 CASPER A3 CLASSIFIEDS B8 COMICS B6 MARKETS A9 OBITUARIES A5 OPINION A8 PUBLIC RECORD A5 PUZZLES B11 SPORTS B1 WEATHER A2 WYOMING A3 $1.50 Volume 122, Issue 349 A Lee Enterprises Newspaper Copyright 2016 Follow us online: facebook.com/CASTribune instagram.com/wyo_exposure MOSTLY SUNNY 55 29 FORECAST, A2 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2016 trib.com News Source Founded in 1891 I prefer my advice without a timeline. The Grouch LAURA HANCOCK 307-266-0581, Laura.Hancock@trib.com CHEYENNE The state Sen- ate defeated a measure to expand Medicaid to 20,000 low-income Wyomingites on Friday after- noon, delivering the nal blow to the Obamacare provision this legislative session. The amendment to the two- year state spending bill failed with 10 senators in favor of it and 20 opposed. No budget amend- ment appeared in the House, as lawmakers who supported Med- icaid expansion said they attempt it because the opposi- tion was even sti er.

This is the fourth consecutive year the Legislature has rejected Medicaid expansion. At least 32 states have adopted the program. Gov. Matt ce esti- mated it would bring $268 mil- lion to the state at a time when revenues are down and some hospitals are struggling to absorb costs of people who cannot pay for health care. But lawmakers in the Senate argued expansion would be endorsement of a pro- gram they ultimately believe the federal government will not be able to sustain.

Mead included expansion in his recommended budget for the Wyoming Department of Health. The Joint Appropriations Com- mittee slashed it. budget amendment was the last oppor- tunity in 2016 to add it back in. Other arguments included claims that people would move private health insurance for Medicaid and people would re- tire early if they knew they would be covered by Medicaid. The proponents for Medic- aid expansion include Mead and Healthy Wyoming, a coali- tion of 37 business, health care and religious groups.

Healthy Medicaid expansion defeated PHOTOS BY ALAN ROGERS, STAR-TRIBUNE Michael Farkas of The Wiyos directs students in an exercise to learn about music dynamics on Thursday at Evansville Elementary School. The band led workshops at six local schools ahead of their Friday night performance at the Wolcott Galleria. Brooklyn band brings sounds of ragtime to local students HEATHER RICHARDS 307-266-0592, Heather.Richards@trib.com In about fourth grade, in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Michael Farkas found a silent movie projector in his attic. He lugged pots and pans up the stairs and set up a kit to play along with the lms. was just the creativity of he said.

know there were people who did those things, I just said, so boring with no This week Farkas and his band impressed hundreds of fourth- and fth-graders in the Natrona County School District, per- forming at six schools in three days. The Wiyos were brought in by the Discover Program, an enrichment opportunity where artists, professionals and scien- tists go into classrooms giv- ing kids access to experts and allowing teachers the oppor- tunity for professional devel- opment. The band also gave a workshop for high-schoolers and Casper College students on Thursday, and closed out their time in Casper with a concert Friday night at the Wolcott Galleria. The vaudevillian trio com- bines ragtime, blues and swing with a variety of instruments. They are named after a historic Brooklyn street gang.

Their ex- uberant stage presence and their creative instruments go over well with the kids, said Rachel Bailey, executive director of the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra. A big hit was a plas- tic-wrapped comb, played by Farkas. kind of sounds like a horn. So many kids have been asking, do you do hop- ing that they are going home and trying it Bailey said. are like giant sponges.

They are in awe of Part of the reason the Wi- yos are in town is to replace a yearly staple. The Wyoming Symphony Orchestra typically puts on a concert for fourth- and fth-graders. an age when students are about to choose their instru- ments for band or orchestra in school. The orchestra was unable to do the concert this year. Their usual performance space, Na- trona County High John F.

Welsh Auditorium, is being renovated. Exposing kids to a symphony performance shows them the variety of instruments they can learn and that music can be a career choice, Bailey said. This is also the fth year the program has ered a music se- ries geared to high-schoolers. For the older kids, the experi- ence is more in-depth. The Wi- yos can teach young perform- ers how to develop their unique style, Bailey said.

if you are a wonder- ful musician, if you have stage presence, or sort of that shtick, really hard to make it in the she said. take away of the ex- perience is the transformative power of music, how it can make you feel, how it changes the way that you think about the Bailey said. The visit is a collab- oration between the district, Casper College, the symphony and a private partner, Sinclair Casper nery. me, this is the perfect way to bring somebody Bailey said. have a local organi- zation supporting the school district and also support from the Follow education reporter Heather Richards on Twitter BENJAMIN STORROW 307-335-5344, Benjamin.Storrow@trib.com Arch bankruptcy was supposed to be orderly.

It will likely be anything but. A committee of the unsecured creditors objected this week to request for $275 million in interim nancing, calling the loan unnecessary and framing it as part of a wider ef- fort to reduce payments to junior lenders. The objection was one of sev- eral led this week. Environmen- talists also issued their cial opposition to the mining reclamation deal with Wyoming, which would secure $75 million of $485 million in esti- mated cleanup costs. And the U.S.

ce of Sur- face Mining Reclamation and Enforcement led a pleading reserving its rights to object to the Wyoming-Arch deal. The nine-page ling, which outlined legal authority to intervene in the matter, comes amid a growing war of words between federal and state regu- lators over coal rec- lamation responsibilities. But the objection of the un- secured creditors was perhaps most important, as it signaled a potential battle over the dis- tribution of the bankrupt assets. In their lings, the junior lend- ers noted Arch entered Chapter 11 with $620 million in cash, of which the company expects to spend $22 million over the rst 13 weeks of bankruptcy. Arch nevertheless sought what is cially known as a debt- or-in-possession loan, which provides nancing for manage- ment to operate the company during bankruptcy.

The $275 million loan ered by secured creditors comes with high interest rates and prohibits Arch from spending $575 million of its own cash, junior lenders wrote. most Chapter 11 cases, the debtors are not running out of they said. Logan Bonacorsi, an Arch spokeswoman, said the company was its unsecured creditors recognized the strength of the mining portfolio and cash position. have a shared goal of maximizing liquidity and we are dent that our current (debt- or-in-possession) nancing is prudent and she wrote in an email to the Star-Tri- bune. The objection marks a reversal from last summer.

Arch at that time was attempting to swap its Arch Coal lenders object to request to restructure plan BENJAMIN STORROW 307-335-5344, Benjamin.Storrow@trib.com RIVERTON State regulators said this week there is no rm timetable for moving forward with a series of recommenda- tions on how to address linger- ing concerns about the source groundwater contamination near Pavillion. Those comments were deliv- ered at the rst Pavillion Work- ing Group meeting in two years and followed the release of the Department of Environmen- tal draft report into groundwater contamination in the area. Residents pressed state of- cials on whether DEQ would install groundwater monitoring wells, which industry experts have said are essential to iden- tifying the source of pollution. Three state reports into the mat- ter have said regulators should consider installing groundwater monitoring wells. But $300,000 budget request for additional work in Pavillion does not call for the in- stallation of such wells.

It would instead pay for further water sampling. Kevin Frederick, director of water quality division, said a decision on monitoring wells will be made after the de- partment nalizes its report. There is no deadline on when that report will be nalized, he told residents. more than likely is go- ing to take some time. I tell you how long going to Frederick said.

going to de- pend in large part on the extent of public comments we The public comment period ends March 18. Pavillion rose to the fore of a national debate over the safety DEQ: No timeline for putting advice to work MIXED RESULTS The Wyoming basketball team is hopeful the long-term outweigh the of its losing record brings. SPORTS, B1 Medicaid expansion vote Yes (for expansion): Sens. Cale Case, R-Lander; Bernadine Craft, D-Rock Springs; Fred Emerich, R-Cheyenne; Floyd Esquibel, D-Cheyenne; John Hastert, D-Green River; Wayne Johnson, R-Cheyenne; Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne; Tony Ross, R-Cheyenne; Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie; Michael Von Flatern, R-Gillette No (against expansion): Sens. Jim Anderson, R-Casper; Paul Barnard, R-Evanston; Eli Bebout, R-Riverton; Brian Boner, R-Douglas; Bruce Burns, R-Sheridan; Leland Christensen, R-Alta; Hank Coe, R-Cody; Stan Cooper, R-Kemmerer; Dan Dockstader, R-Afton; Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower; Gerald Geis, R-Worland; Larry Hicks, R-Baggs; Dave Kinskey, R-Sheridan; Bill Landen, R-Casper; Curt Meier, R-LaGrange; Phil Nicholas, R-Lander; Drew Perkins, R-Casper; Ray Peterson, R-Cowley; Charlie Scott, R-Casper; Je Wasserburger, R-Gillette Students listen as The Wiyos perform a song Thursday at Evansville Elementary School.

The visit was part of the school Discover Program, which brings artists, professionals and scientists into classrooms. PAVILLION Please see Expansion, Page A14 Please see Arch, Page A14 Please see Pavillion, Page A14.