The Daily Sentinel from Grand Junction, Colorado • 11

TelevisionCrosswordLandersObituaries Saturday, April 1, 1800 AisrflriUmme power Budget bill wins 1st OK in Senate Associated Press DENVER A $4 8 billion budget proposal, clouded earlier in the day by threats of a lawsuit over votes taken in a Senate GOP caucus, gained initial approval in the state Senate Friday night One significant change in the budget came in the section to finance kindergarten through 12th grade education The Senate voted to add an additional $28 3 million to the $1 billion education appropriation. The Joint Budget Committee had recommended $60 million additional and the $28.3 million would go on top of that. Senate President Ted Strickland, R-Westminster, said the additional funds would come out of the state's surplus Senate Republicans had been conducting caucus meetings on the budget throughout the week and had been closing sections with votes of 18 or more, assuring passage on the floor of the 35-member Senate. On Friday morning, news of a lawsuit threatened by a citizens group swept through the Capitol by word of mouth, and the GOP caucus abruptly ended its show-of-hand voting The Republicans sent the bill to the Senate floor on a voice vote that not only approved Stricklands motion to add the money for education but to approve the entire budget packiige. Education was the only section not closed in the GOP caucus by Friday morning Briggs Gamblin of Colorado Common Cause said he was hesitant to pursue a lawsuit under a contention that Republicans had violated the GAVEL amendment to the state constitution after the GOP caucus cleared the budget proposal to the full Senate without the 18 votes.

The GAVEL amendment prohibits binding caucus positions, among other things. Gov. Roy Romer met with Senate Democrats during the afternoon and said he would prefer to see the bill "cured" to eliminate any chance of state government being without funds while the matter was prisoner transportation with the savings made possible by the Cessna 210 he flies. Pilot Chet Howard says that the Mesa County Sheriffs Department could buy a new plane each year for searches and Sheriffs pilot: Skys the limit on savings Hayt Daily Sentinel of patrol cars to transport prisoners. Tuesday, for example, Howard and a deputy left Grand Junction with three prisoners.

They flew to Rifle to pick up another. Then they dropped off a passenger at the Buena Vista Corrections Facility and traveled to Pueblo, where they released a patient to the state mental hospital. They then flew into Denver Centennial Aiport and picked up a prisoner, and it was on to Broomfield to drop off two. The last stop was in Greeley, where they picked up a prisoner for transport to Grand Junction. The nearly eight-hour day cost $629, including wages for the pilot and deputy, he said.

The same trip by automobile would have required two working days using two cars and four deputies. That trip would have cost $1,700. It doesnt take much to pay for an airplane, Howard said. The aircraft was purchased late in 1986 when the sheriffs department traded in a 1979 Cessna 206 and a 1967 Piper Aztec. The Piper had been confiscated in a 1983 drug bust, but because of bureaucratic holdups didnt become the property of the department until 1986 It was then that Williams complained the twin-engine Piper Aztec was too expensive to operate.

Large engines, and the fact that neither it nor the Cessna could fly at higher altitudes, made it costly, he said. The Cessna 206 was good for air searches, but not transporting prisoners, because the cabin wasn't pressurized It got to where it wasnt adequate because we were transporting all the time and we weren't on searches anyway," Howard said The current aircraft has a pressurized cabin and retractable gear, allowing it to fly at higher altitudes and faster speeds than the Cessna 206 and Piper Aztec, Howard said Without the new plane, Howard said the department couldnt meet its court orders because of the lack of manpower Two years ago, Mesa County Sheriff Dick Williams was complaining that his departments airplanes were too expensive to fly. Now, he and his pilot are reaping savings with their new plane. The department saves enough money transporting prisoners in the six-passenger, single-engine Cessna 210 to purchase a new plane each year, pilot Chet Howard contends. Most of the people in the county dont realize the amount of transports we do.

Were in the air almost every day, said Howard. Each year, the department moves 1,000 prisoners between Grand Junction and Buena Vista, Canon City, Pueblo and Denver. In addition, Howard and a deputy often fly to neighboring states to pick up and drop off prisoners. Howard said the county saves about $100,000 annually by using the plane instead Gunman had unusually high cocaine levels AMOoteted rr sons body far exceeded any standard levels Stork said there was no way to determine how long before Thompson went on a rampage he took the cocaine, or in what form it was taken He said paramedics had to put intravenous needles into the gunman's arm in an attempt to save his life, so it was impossible to determine if he injected the cocaine into his veins. He said there is also no way to determine how much cocaine Thompson had He said associates of Thompson said he usually injected the cocaine into his veins.

If you or I took that much cocaine, it would probably kill us, Stork said "However, drug users build up an immunity First they try a couple of grains, then they try a little more, and a little more Stork said he does not actually know how much cocaine Thompson had in his bloodstream, because the test doesn't go above 10,000 nanograms for urine was kicked out after being caught stealing Lakewood Police Detective George McGlynn said Thompson "had an appetite for drugs mostly for cocaine that he couldn't keep up with Stork said Thompson was tested for other drugs, but only cocaine tested positive Meanwhile, two burglary suspects, Belinda Hoyt and Ronnie Ellis Brown, reportedly associates of Thompson, were arrested Thursday in Nevada about six or seven times the average amount found in other drug users. Stork said he talked with a toxicology laboratory in Missouri and was told that a normal" level is about 1,500 nanograms He said both blood and urine tests were performed, but that the urine sample came back first because it is the easiest to measure "There has never really been established a normal level of cocaine because it is not a normal drug," he said, but the level in Thomp- On March 23, Thompson kidnapped a Jefferson County woman, killed her and her mother-in-law, stole a car, raped another woman, shot two deputies during a manhunt, and shot a hostage in the back before shooting himself in the head Thompson was a suspect in at least 140 thefts and burglaries, and was wanted on arrest warrants for probation violations Thompson had been enrolled in a cocaine treatment program as part of his probation for thefts but LITTLETON A drug addict who went on a rampage with an assault pistol last week and killed three people had six or seven times the level of cocaine in his body as that of an average drug user, the Arapahoe County deputy coroner said Friday Deputy Coroner Jim Stork said a toxicology report showed Eugene Frank Thompson Jr had in excess of 10,000 nanograms of cocaine per milliliter of urine in his body. Mfesaviimg visiouu Family helps man beat coma after fall A Moolwte ri Ptm Disbelief and amazement accompany every word he uses to describe the tragic Jan 15 accident Perched atop a driff-covered slope that afternoon, Bremers wasn't sure which way to ski A sign before him signaled a dropoff nearby, but he couldn't tell in which direction it was As he slashed left, the snowdrift collapsed and he fell 35 feet, land ing square on his head on a tree stump Bremers was airlifted to Denver Presbyterian Hospita, where he spent the next (wo weeks in a coma Doctors initially gave Bremers hours to live But Bremers said he ft It subconscious he would survive Doctors then gave Bremers a muscle paralvzer to prevent him from ripping out life sustaining tubes and needles "Even though I was in a coma. I remember thinking, Oh, my God, I'm paralyzed," Bremers said "At that fftnnt, I thought, This is the decision point for me If I give up my fight. I II be dead in five minutes I decided I would keep trying Mrs Bremers said she kept a determined vigil throughout the ordeal, whispering continually in her husband's ear, You didn't break your neck, you're not para lyzed We need you Please get bet ter "He's a miracle man," Mrs Bremers said "Touch him and you'll be healed No one gave him a chance to survive, and now look at him Bremers, who always prided himself on his purely scientific perspective on life, admiLs he has experienced spiritual enlighten-menl Please see Skier, page 2B LOUISVILLE A piercing image of his wife and children flashed in Robert Bremers' mind as he tumbled 35 feet down a cliff while skiing at Vail "The instant I felt the cliff give way.

I could see my family," Bremers, who once skied profes sionally. said recently "Some people say they see their life flash before them, but that im age was all the motivation ed, he said of his wife, Stacy, and two children, Ashley and Austin At that moment, I felt I was so loved and needed by my wife and kids, I knew I could get through it Just over two months since doctors gave him six hours to live. Bremers, 34. spends his days tend ing to the home, doing rigorous daily therapy and thanking God for his miraculous recovery River rescue Divers from the Denver Fire Departments Underwater Rescue Unit use paddle boards to get two boys off an island the South Platte River Friday. Alfredo Serna, 10, and Leroy Manzanares, 9, became stranded after riding a makeshift raft down the river..