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₆5    3063? .12/>4/2003

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JIM PARKĘ

E YANDELL

Goodmorning

Weather

saw little risk

rair- Cloudy and breezy, maybc snów. High 30, Iow 17. Pag«A2

MagictVatxf.y

InspectkMi: IWin Falls’ historie grain silos will get some expert attention.

Page BI

Money

■b M.

• ** * ^V

- J*

Modest rtse: Investors extend Wall Street^ rally into second session.

Page Cl

COMIHriKRS

<ScTkciinol(x;y

lnvlslWe cash: France is mov-ing to a smart card that rcplaces cash.

Page C4

S.ĘORTS

A 'xyr.

y*v. -

Surprise showlng: TWo VS.

women won medals in tho World Alpinc Ski Champion-ships Super Gcvcnt Monday.

Page Dl

OlNION

A cruel shame: lnvestigation into animal cruelty at local dairy doesnt help Idaho dairics, today^s cditorial says.

* ' PageAS

COMING UP

Try these homfrstyle dlshes -

ABuhl cook has compiled herown . cookbook.

Wednesday In The TImes-News

THE SHUTTLE DISASTER ¹

LooK fot meso Stones lnsidc:    _

•    NASA tmesUplofs look for *mł$smg Dnk.* Pag, A2

•    Recomy team finds shuttle'* nose ceno. Pag* 06

•    Columtka Ccbris nugnt be too dom-oged to grve useltA dues. Pag* oe

Index

Classified ..C56 Comics ... .05 Corrmjnity Computers .C4 Crossword. ,B5 OeałAbby ..B5 Horoscope ..B5 LM. Boyd . .B5 Magie Vaiiey .BI

Money ...Cl-3 Movies —85 Natan A3JB6J06 Obituaries . .B2 Oprton .. A6.7 SpOfls .. .01-4 Weather .. J2

West_______B4

Wortd......B6

Animal rights group pushes cruelty charges

Log on to

[Thermie»Ngws

wwMnijOen n©y.eom

Falling insulation was a recurring problem •

Th* Washington Port .

Eighty seconds after Columbia blastcd off Jan. 16, NASA cngincers saw a puff on the underside of the left wing and immediatoly began investi-gating whether an orrant piece of foam had scriousiy damaged the shut-tle.

Over the ncxt rwo wecks, engineers po red ovcr film elips of the iaunch and used modeling tcchniąues to guess at the exient and locadon of the damage,

NASA officiais said. One important faccor stood out as they wcighcd whether the problem was serious. lt had hoppened before.

Columbia's first mission, in April 1981, had almost cxactly the same problem. Shortly after Iaunch, about 13 to 15 tiles were thought to bc dis-lodgcd and engineers had to decidc whether that would pose a risk to the spacccrafc'durit5g~thc~flery re entry into Eanh’s atmospherc.

In włtat was to be Columbia‘s lost mission, engineers rcachcd the same condusion that they had during the first and others: Althougłi therc was a "potentlal for a large damago area to the tilc,” according to a NASA Inter-nal flight report released Monday. the spacccraft was not at serious risk.

Ptease seeSHUTTlE. PageA3

Anfera Gwosdz of the Clear Laka Te«as High School Girls Golf tean praya after the team ylsłted a memoriał to lh« space shuttle Columbia crew outaldo tha the Johnson Spaea Centor In Houston Monday.

In harm’s way

Idaho Air National Guard Master Sgl. Klrk Welnert of 8uhl posei In front of an A-10 altcraft neor Kuwnlt City. The A-10s ha»e baen fnvolved In dropplng leafleta to lraql cMliens, sald Welnerfs fathar, Ron Welnert.

Middle East deployments worry families

On duty

Ptopie ttnlrg In tht Pertitn Oalf wfio ftovc (aay-y in in> Magie Voiley mciude:

• Aimy Pvt. Colt FTttnoc, Twin Falls. seryng in Kwa t • Ntvy Cunntrt Mttt Rytn Wat ton. Kuna. on ooanJ tr>c USS NttSftl.

.• Idaho Air NtUontl GuertJ Muter Sft. KWc Wtlnert. BuN. sersrng ncar Kuwfrt City.

• Merint Lence Cpł. Jothu« VtnCti(trtn. Twin Felis, locat on unhnowo *

• Merint Lence Cpł. Cofy Snów.

Eden. on bootf tnc USS • N«vy Sttmtn Xevtn GIBty. Eden. serying In Kuwaa

Ftmliltt.wtM htve ky%td ocet

Ing m me Pcfslan Golf or AJgfiomstan. of ickeły 10 bc dcp*oycd tncfc. picasc eon r»me$ Wews feotiirct cdito/ Stcvc Cromp ot 73S3223. Of omorf crvmp^mag»cvalfcy com. Wc’rc łooking fo< nomes and omal eddfcsscs of iocoi pcopfc sctwrg ovcrv?as. omong Wer infomittion.

ByNate Johnson Tlmesłlewa wrtter

TWIN FALLS - For families across the Magie Vallcy, International nesvs has become personal.

On Jan. 23, Jim VanCastcren learned that his son, Joshua VanCastercn, a lance corporal in the Marincs, was sdteduJcd to słiip out from his base in Califomia the ncxt day. The destination: Kuwait.

“We madę a mad dash to Califomia,” Jim VanCastercn said.

The Madnes didn*t leave until the cvcning of Jan. 25, and Jim VanCastercn wns able to spend some timc with his son and mcct his friends in the Marines. The men were traincd to show confidence, which madę Jim VanCastercn feel better, but-undemeath their poi-' ished calm the soldicrs seemed a little ncrvous, hc said.

Back in Twin Falls, Jim VanCastcren himself rcadily admits he*s nervous. Suddcnly the talk of wcapons inspcctions and negoriations at the United Nations is important to him.

^MI watch the news tjuite a bit

The Blue Star - B2 -

eloser unęl scc uhat's going on," hc said. .

If inspcciors find Chemical wcapons, it isn't only proof ihai lraq has lied to the world; it also mcans there will bc fcwer Chemicals thai could kill Joshua VanCasicrcn.

Othcr pcople with family mcm-bers in the Penian Culf have the oppositc reaction.

“I don’t dwcll on tlić news, not any morę than I havc to," said Lila Watson of Twin Falls* wfiosc grand* son, Ryan Watson, is al>oard the USS Nassau. ^MIt docsn’t do any good. It kind of tears at >oa"

- The news doesTncntlon Włtcre the USS Nav%au is, though. allow-ing family to follow Ryan WatsonN course.

Car>* Snów of Eden didn’t have a chance to talk to his son, Córy Snów, before he left. The Marinę had to help toad the USS Boxer, the

Picase see FAM1UES, PageA3

Bush budget plans for record deficits

Elemenis incJude lax culs, rise in NASA funds

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Presidcnt Bush shippćd l.twm.iker\ a $123 milion budget for 2004 on Monday hearing record deficits and sccking dccp new ux cuts. an ambitious expanston of Mcdicarc iind bolstering security at homc.and abroad at the cxpcnsc of domestie progr.imv Tliough Republican majoritics in Congress mcan Buslfs plan> will get a better reception than l;tst year's did whett Denmcruts ran ihe Senate, some element* will clcarly be reihapetl, likc lii* cali for a fresh 10->x*ar. $1.3 tril* lion tax cut. Whaterer luippen*. the pjnposal vcts the stage for a parti*an hattlc ovcr fiscal priori-tics likely to rumhle riglu into next year‘s Wliitc Mouse and eon-gressional elcciions Democrats >.iid the budget would decpen govemmcnt debt

Money for wildfires - B4

jiiNt as it should be shoring up Sncial Security and Medicare for the approaching rctiremcm of the 7fi million*>tnmg b;ib\' Ininm gener.it icin.

-Buricd in Presidcnt Bush\ budget is a plan tn dismantlc Sociol Security and Medicare.** said Rep. Charic* Rangi-I nf New York, the Mouse Ways and Menn^a* Committee** top Dernocrat. “By denunding large tax cuts ugain even tlNiugli tlierc arc no longer surpluse*. ilu-administration wili Mam* ilu-giicernmeut nf fundv^aa

The pre*ulent sald hi* plan fncu*cd uli the mn*t int|>nriani challenge* faciitg the natniit.

“A recessum aml a war we dni not chiMiM* luw kii tu the return

Rease sec buoget. Page v?

$2.23trflf1on

Mandatory spendlng

What can bo changed

44% Income taxas 4%

40% -J    9%

Payroii taxos    Corporale

(Social Security,    income

Medicere. other)    taxos

noh r-ę^óo^cnofji WS

Out lo

42%

Social Socunty.

Modicar©.

Med^;cald

13%Oth© ontiUemenis

8% Inierost on dobt

17%

Delonso

19%

Domoslic^-

uk+c* i^rw^oęr

Highiights

■ SI 5    ■ $27 bllUon ■ $15.5

billlon lor Homeland billlon (or moro for Security NASA. a dolenso Dopt.. up 5% 3% nse

US O-K.cl Włn

■ S28 billlon lor Vcterans Affairs. an n-cinereaso

Ar*

r"*i<W------ “    “

■ S11.5 billlon (or Labor Depl. a i®, cut

• fcłcomnr

Officiais question Medicaid ‘self-declaration’

Lawmakers hope to root out firaudulent claims

ByJuUePeoce Tlme»4łewi wrttw

BOISE - Offidals of che Idaho Department of Health and Welfare say they belicve their dients usuaUy tell the truth. That is why they iet them cnroll for Medicaid by mail without having to proYTneed.

But some lawmakers question the policy, and as a result, the relatively " new enrollment procedurę could get sotrie scruńny as they look for ways to recjuce govemmem wastc and erad a tax hike. ■

Under a jjolicy caJJed “sclf-dcc-laration," Health and Welfare

officiais say allowing pcople to sign up for Medicaid without prov-ing how much they make - or even providing Sncial Security numbers - without going to a Health and Welfare office works well. The practicc -ia place for about tlirec ycars - has modę no differenfc in the number of. cascs the agency hnds to be either fraudulent or plpccd in the wrong programs, . said Bill .Walker, a spolcesman for the agency.

Before self-declaration, people signing up for medical assistancc had to fili out o 28-page form so compticated that it discouroged them from getting help, >aid

Newcomb wants to audit schools' books - BI

Health and Welfare Director Karl Kurtz in his presentation to the Lcgislaturc's budget committee last wcck. In addition, dients had to go into officcs to apply. which net only was limc-consumingior-casc wx»rkcrs but also dcmcaning to dients orlu-rehaye said.

In an^eTfort to streamiine the process, the appltcation was reduccd to four pages. Clicnts can simply prim the forms off the Internet, fili them out and put them in the mail.

Before sommlining the upplira-don process, the agenc/s intemal

Please sec MEDICAID, Page A2

By Jennlfer SancJmann

Tlma»łtewf wrtfr____________

TWIN FALLS ^'Animal riglu* activists want the Twin Fali* Coumy prosccutor to bring animal cruelty charges againsi ;i local dairy operator.

Prosccutor Crant Loebs i* standing firm in his upinion that hc does not ha\x enough e\*idence to charge Dutch Touch Oairy owner Jack Tuls in conncction with cruelty to onimak

TTie contmwńal Penjile for the Ethical Trcatment of Animal* announeed Monday that it urged Loeln to prosecutc Tuk The orga-niiation sent Loebs a strongly worded letter and faxed a copy of it to the ncwjpapcr.

^Mlt is incxcusable that no chargcs havc bccn filed agamst Dutch Touch Dairy," wrote Li>ri Kcttler, o PETA attomey.

Contacied Liter by The Time*

AV»X Ket tJer siid sfic had spoken with Uxrh* In* phunc. Whiie it still seems that tlierc is the prucntial for dinrges. *lie s;ud, sile was morę *ym|Mthetic to Livl>*^a ]Xf*icion con-cenung the e\idencv he lus.

An Idaho Department of Agriculture invotigaii«»Ji at Tuls* Dutch Touch Dairy in August dctermiitcd that the Filer-area dair>’ d»d not prm kk "reasnnalik* care cvr sustcnance tn cnpidetl ih sick animal*" and that the dairy subjectcd the ccm* tu “nccdk*** suffering and inflicted uiuiect-*-sury crtK-lty liydragging. lifting and Iwryinfc Cw animal*.",

Loebs prm ideil 77re Tintc$-Xavs with new information Monday about his office** tnvolvcmcnt in the casc.

*Tm disturbed b>* it. I think it*s an important ca*c and nccds to Ih* prusecutcd," he said.

Pieose sec CRUELTY. PageA2

m AVAILABI£ C0PY

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