The Winona Daily News from Winona, Minnesota • 2

2A MINNESOTA Sunday, March 5, 2000 Winona Daily News tews. 5 P.M. Powerball: Is anyone millions richer? 10 P.M. Habitat home: Area program needs a boost. 10 P.M.

SPORTS Looking sharp: River Rats unveil new uniforms. GAStf COUNT OKI INTHESKY. TODAY'SREGIONALFORECAST ml StormTeam8 FORECAST -v For roAd roport. f- LJ WonMtlOli eaH. Moon rise: 6:36 a.m: Moon sab 5:32 p.m.- Monday, March 6, 2000 Sunrise: 6:32 a.m.

Sunset: 6 p.m. Moon rise: 7:06 a.m. Moon set: 6:38 p.m. DuluthSuperior A By forecaster HOWARD JOSEPH Mar 19 Mar 27 Mai: 5 Mar 13 Sunday, March 5, 2000 Sunrise: 6:34 a.m. Sunset: 5 59 m.

5937 Ashland Daytime High 73 w. 44 CD Nighttime Low rODAY. Very warm and plenty of sunshine. MONDAY. Still sunny and warm.

St. Cloud 6241 At Winona Lock and Dam No. 5A. the discharge was 27.300 cubic feet per second as of 4 p.m. yesterday.

Stage Chg. 73 Green Twin Citiesi EauClaire 6" I 6342 Winona- 6540 7344 --La Crosse 6844 1,7244 68 lid RIVERSTAGES As of 7 a.m. off previous day -Riverflood stage Fid Stage MISSISSIPPI Lake City 16 Wabasha Alma TW 16 Fountain ......13 Trempealeau, Dam 6, TW 9 Dam 7. Dam 7, La Crosse-. 12 Dam 8, .......17 Dam 8, Tailwatef .,...18 Dam 9, Dam 9, Tailwater McGregor.

...16 Dam 10. Dam 10, CHIPPEWA at Durand ZUMBFtO at Zumbro TREMPEALEAU at Dodge. 9 BLACK at Galesville ,12 ROOT at Houston. 15 KICKAPOO at LaFarge. KICKAPOO at .12 LA CROSSE at West AiDen Lea Madison Milwaukee) Decorah 6945 6840 9.5 nc 8.9 nc 6-7 nc 4.5 nc 7.3 nc 6.6 8.4 9.4 nc 5.2 nc 7.2 nc 13.2 nc 9.1 9.1 nc 11:3 .1 10.0 10.4 nc 10.3 t.3 93 2 60 -9 77 .1 49 -2 6.0 4.5 30 2.9 TUESDAY: Increasing clouds and continuing warm.

WEDNESDAY: Showers and storms possible. Ram could mix with snow late. THURSDAY: Rain or rainsnow mix 'possible. 7045 Waterloo 6940 55 Dubuque 6840 Rockford 6544 fl 43 IB HERE'S WHY: Winds blowing in the upper atmosphere are keeping March locked up in Canada for the early part of the week. As a result, mild temperatures will continue until the middle of the week, when the upper air pattern will change.

This change will also bring a chance of precipitation by Wednesday. TODAY'SN WINONAWEATKERALMANAC NATIONWORLD 6433 24-hour total 3516 Month-to date 3026 Year-to-date none 0.20" 2.44". Yesterday's highlow Today's normal Last year TODAY'S RECOHUS High LOW. The AccuWeather forecast for noon, Sunday, March 5. Bands separate high temperature zones for the day.

62 in 1986 18 in 1890 SNOWFALL- 24-hour total Total depth on ground Month-to-date Year-to-date none none none 14.6", JUS' EXTf.EMFS High 86 in Hollywood. Fla. Low 1 in Yellowstone. Mont. Channsl 6 weather watcher 1-600-259-4464 Weather data through 6 30.

pm the previous day Hi UPrc Ottk Hi Lc Pre Ottk Ni Pre Otlk -Arehorage j3 Cldy 26 -''klti'. Ore 46 'if 75 PCloy Atlanta. 59:50 .71 Clr Flagstatt m'- 23 Om-Pmitm S3 33 PCidy Baftmore 56 -29 Clr GianoRajwIs: St 23 Clr RaoKldty. Clr lligs 68 3S Or: HeWa 65 -25'- -CkJy Reno' 65 32 -Ram Bmritfigham 63 49 3.1- Clr' Honolulu" 82 70 -POcy Richmond 59 27 Clr Bismarck 69 25 Clr: Houston fo 42 Cldy Sacramento 63 44 -CWy 66 '3B' Rain -Wanapblis ,26 Clr Use 57' 29 'Ck- Kttr- Jm 34 .02 PCidy Salt Lake Crry 60 3t Ram Buttalo 42 25 62 29 Sin Mono 72 45 Cloy Bursngton.Vt 25- Cldy Las vejas i 68 54 -V Cloy Diego 61' 52 Ram: Cm 65 32 PCldy Little Hoc '58 42 Or. Clr San Francisco '58 50 Charleston C.

72- -49 ,67 Clr Lbs Angeles 57 49 .27 flam San jgan.PR. 85 7 Va 60 35 Memphis. -S3 431 02 66' 26.. .63 CKJy Miami 82 St Sle Marie 4J 31'. Clr Chicago 82 27 Clr' Milwaukee 58 31 Seame 44 42.

68 PCIdy 57 30 Clr" Mpls-StPaiil 61? PCy' Sioui EaM 67 26 Or. 54' Or tehville 59 41 Spokane 47' 40 .19 Cldy CoumtusOho 57 26 Clr. Ne0rieanj 63 52 Syracuse 45 23 PCHy ConcorONH. '45 30 PCkly "ie York City 53 34 -i mm. Tampa-St Ptrsogil 68 Clr Dallas-F) Wonh 64 CUy Oklahoma City 62 32 PCWy Topeka 66 '28 Clr Dayton 56 26 Or Omaha 70 31 Clr Tucson- 81 47 tnm Denver 67 PCWy Onanoo -65 61 01 Or 61 '35 POdy 'DesMomet 69 .30 Clr Philadelphia 54 31 Or 58 35 Detroe- 25 Or Phoenu 73 54 Cldy Wthita 6i 29 Or Duluth 56 28 Clr PittsOuigh 54 22 Clr, Witkes-Barre Ktif Faroankj 21- ,5.

Kldy. 49 33 POdy Wilmington.Del. 53 Clr. HI Lo Otlk HI Lo Otlk Hi Lo OHk LOCALWE ATM ER WATCHERS Lo Pre 36 0 La Crosse 67 33 31 36 35 0 "SL 60s -Tf 50s3p.X TOf 50s 60s l( I -J on. I JJ .....63 32 Prairie du .63 32 Rushford '28 St.

29 Sparta 62 30 Town Hi .....60 Altura Arcadia .......:............66 Black River Falls 64 Caledonia ....63 Cashton ii64 1 Fountain City ............66 ...,64 Holmen .....64 La 63 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Spring 32 29 32 34 24 30 30 33 32 33 30 32 31 31 31 32 31 35 27 37 30 Tomah 61 ....66 .62 Westby .64 West Salem .....64 Amsterdam Athens Ohahran Dubkn -Helsinki hong Kong Istanbul Jerusalem, London Sapporo Seoul Singapore Stockholm Sydney Taipei Tel Tokyo Toronto Vancouv Vienna Warsaw 'Zunch, 35 23" Cdy 37 32 Cldy 86 tidy .80 61 86 59 Clr 54 46 Ram 32 24 Cldy 50 37 Bam 62 75 Ck 59 53 Cldy 83 67 Clt 84 52 Clr. 86 69 Cldy Montreal.1, Moscow Nairobi Nassau New Delhi Osaka -Oslo: Pans BlO Rome' San Juan'. Santiago Paulo 49.: 33 Bam 60 4t Clr 55 36 Cldy 49 35 Cldy 73 54 7146 Clr 47 29 Cldy' 34 .30 Sno 78 .61 Cldy 55 42 Cldy 57 43 Clt -51 35 Clr 80 51 Cldy 52 34 dy 55 '40 Cldy- 90 77 Cldy 37 21 Sno 75 66 Cldy 77 .63 Cldy 68 46 Clr 61 47 Bain 40 25 Cldy 47 41 Bain 50 42 Cldy' 43 36 Cldy 50. 37 Bain 80s 0TE Temperatures and precipitation from previous da FRONTS: 408 70. SOLARLUMAR COLD WARM STATIONARY" 2000 AccuWeather, Inc Start your day with StormTeam8 meteorologist Bill Graul Weekdays 5:30 to 7 a.m.

TODAY TOMORROW Major: Major: 12:30 p.m. and 12:05 a.m.' Minor: 6:35 a.m. and 5 p.m.' Minor: 7 a.m. and 6:10 p.m.. Universal top fishing times; for best results, start one hour before and fish one hour longer.

High Low Showers Ram T-stormt Flurries Snow let Sunny Pi. Cloudy Cloudy Vta Associated Press Officials getting ready for harsh fire season Reform Party separates from national party, reclaims Independence Party label of Natural Resources has held its tirehghter training courses. "We've reached a spring (fire awareness level) across the entire state at one time, i 1 '4- nnmKn tVtof a I seethe national party heading for a sharp right. 1 want to be involved in a centrist common sense approach to government. i- Diane Goldman, former state Reform Party Chairman Associated Press Wary firefighting officials have started preparing for a season of brush fires expected to come early and fierce as a result of a warm winter.

Because there is virtually no fire-buffering snow anywhere in Minnesota, fires will emerge across the region simultaneously. In past years, fires started in the southern Minnesota, burning dead grass, leaves and brush in suburban and rural fields and woodlots. They eventually followed the retreating show line north and, by late April or early May, the danger of wildfires increased in the northern forests. But that pattern won't be followed this year and the spring fire season has arrived even before the Department rial campaign. Among those who wanted to stay tied to the national party was Lynn Woodward of Edina, who said he left the Republican Party because of the Christian right and wanted to stay with the national party to fend off Buchanan "I don't want the Christian right to hijack the $12.5 million," he said, referring to the federal money, the Reform Party's presidential candidate will receive.

June Varner of Little Falls said, "To bail out' now is to appear a quitter." Wanting to leave was former state Chairman Diane Goldman of Plymouth, who compared mixing the state and national parties to mixing oil and water. "I see the national party heading for a sharp right," she said. "I want to be involved in a centrist common sense approach to ST. PAUL (AP) The Minnesota Reform Party officially separated from the national party Saturday, reclaimed the name Independence" Party and gave itself the slogan "socially inclusive, fiscally responsible." Supporters of the moves were upset with the unrest in the national party and concerned about the im pact of potential Reform Party presidential nominee Patrick Buchanan's conservative, views. Opponents wanted to.

stay and fight for the future of the party. Party members 'followed the lead of Gov. Jesse Ventura, who urged them to come with him when he left the party Feb. 11. He didn't attend Saturday's meeting, but the votes were overwhelming.

Activists meeting at Metropolitan State University: debated for less than two hours, then voted 151-23 to leave and 131-10 for the name change. on your shoulders and start; shoving marbles up your nose. Is it time to go home?" he asked. Last month at a contentious-: national Reform Party convention in Nashville, members ousted Chairman Jack Gargan a Ventura ally. The move came -after months of bickering over everything from the site of the national convention to presidential candidates: and the.

platform. Minnesota's Independence Party initially grew out of, but was not directly connected to, Texas billionaire Ross Perot's 1992 third-party presidential campaign. The state party changed its name to the Reform Party of Minnesota in 1996. The Minnesota Reform Party has often been at odds with, the national party since then, including in 1998 when Perot declined to help Ventura's cash-strapped gubernato tUtU 1 Villi I C1IIC111UC1 HIUfc -4 happening before," said Joe Hudick at the Minnesota Inter-Agency Fire Center in Grand Rapids, Minn. "We've already called in a (firefighting airplane) and put it in Princeton, and that has to be a record for doing that this early." Planes are available in Ely and the state is in the process of leasing more aircraft.

The DNR and National Weather Service will begin fire weather forecasts Mon- day, the earliest that has ever happened. DNR crews began staffing regional fire offices last week. Sandra Colmen of Minneapolis opposed the disaffiliation, calling it "Minnesota elitism- and likening it to a child picking up his marbles and going home. Activists laughed and applauded when Neil Levine of Minneapolis spoke in favor of the break by directly countering her argument. "What happens if they sit 50 OFF 2Qsk to Custom Order Briefly Associated Press 4T 1 Wallpaper Borders horse had been bred, but he drug deal gone bad in February was shocked to find out she ary 1999 was having twins.

The twins' 1999. were born within a half an hour of each other. Abducted woman found in Arizona Of 70 of Custom Order Window Treatments Twin horses born on Leap Day COURTLAND Twin horses are rare and having twin horses born on Leap Day is rarer still. Lynn Folsom's 17-year-old mare; Sorry, gave birth Tuesday to twin fillies. 'v Veterinarian Kirk Smith said it's quite rare for live twins to be born.

Most twins will spontaneously abort before they are born because they run out of room in the uterus! When a horse-has twins, there is a likelihood that if the twin, horses are born alive they will usually be smaller than normal foal size or they may be- born prematurely, Smith said. Sorry had her twins about one week earlier than expected. Folsom said he knew his the town of 2,800 people 110 miles northwest of Minneapo-lis. Witnesses said they saw her struggling with her husband and that she was dragged from her apartment about 4 a.m. Hours later, the divorce papers arrived with James Sarffs mail Connie Sarff was ending a 30-year marriage with the man who once pum-meled her so badly that doctors had 10 remove a kidney.

The case became more complicated when a co-worker of Connie Sarff, David John, killed himself two days after he reported the abduction. John, who had been dating Connie Sarff, had been sleeping at her apartment when she was taken. A suicide note mentioned personal problems. and referred to his guilt over not being able to help Connie Sarff, police said. Rudy i I Johnson Kohl's Bemidji man pleads guilty in conspiracy BEMIDJI A Bemidji man pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to commit' manslaughter after spending more than a year in jail awaiting trial.

Brandon Castonguay also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and having marijuana in his jail cell. Castonguay, 21, will be sentenced April 3 in Beltrami County District Court. He was originally charged with felony conspiracy to com- mit murder for his part'lir" gathering weapons to be used in a planned scheme to kill three men in retaliation for a LONG PRAIRIE A woman suspected of being kidnapped by her husband was found in good condition, along with her husband, in Arizona at the Mexican border on Saturday, the Todd County Sheriffs office said. James Warren Sarff was apprehended by U.S. Customs agents.

Connie Jane Sarff was with him and both were in good health, officials said in a news release. James Sarff is accused of dragging his estranged wife naked from her apartment Feb. 19. Authorities charged Jame Sarff, 50, with abducting his wife, Connie Sarff, 49, from JQPTslSOrsJ Chi-Chi's McDonald's HWY 16 1 1 -J 542 Lester Onalaska Hours Mon: 7:30 pm "Tucs. Wed.

Thurt 7:30 pm Fn: pm Sat: 9-00 pm Phone 783-6925 1-800-524-3915.