NEWS ROUNDUP

Forest Service kills environmental analysis of forest plans Long-term management plans for national forests will no longer go through a formal environmental impact statement, the U.S. Forest Service announced Tuesday. The Forest Service said writing the 15-year plans has no effect on the environment, making the impact statements unnecessary. That conclusion was based on changes to forest planning rules made last year and a past U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says a plan is a statement of intent and does not cause anything to happen. Individual projects, such as logging, were cut out of forest management plans in last year's rule changes. Those projects will still have to go through a formal analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, known as NEPA, said Fred Norbury, associate deputy chief for the national forest system. Norbury said cutting the environmental impact statement process out of the management plans should shorten the time to produce them to about three years, he said. Plans now take five to seven years to write, at a cost of $5 million to $7 million. Rep. Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va., the incoming House Resources Committee chairman, said the new rules are part of a continuing effort by the Bush administration to reduce wildlife and watershed protections and make it harder for the public to challenge illegal logging....
Grizzly reparations fluctuate Compensation paid for cows, sheep and other livestock killed by grizzly bears fell in Montana this year but increased in Wyoming. Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation group that pays ranchers for livestock losses to grizzlies and wolves in Montana, cut checks totaling $9,194 this year, down from about than $19,000 in 2005. "We hope to see an even more dramatic drop next year," said Minette Johnson, the group's representative in the Northern Rockies. In Wyoming, a record amount was paid in claims for grizzly bear losses by a similar program run by the state. The decline in Montana is partly because grizzlies in the northwest part of the state had plenty of food this summer and early fall, so they didn't wander into low-lying areas where they're more likely to go after livestock and get into trouble. Earlier this year, a 74,000-acre sheep grazing allotment on U.S. Forest Service land that had been plagued with conflicts between predators and livestock was retired - one of eight such moves outside Yellowstone National Park in recent years. "Nearly all the livestock conflicts in the ecosystem are in Wyoming," said Chuck Schwartz, head of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team. The state paid more than $110,000 during the 2006 fiscal year to ranchers who lost livestock to grizzlies, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Losses included 131 calves and 23 sheep....
Editorial - Preserving Montana's Rocky Mountain Front Legislation to permanently ban gas, oil and mineral exploration in the Rocky Mountain Front is on President Bush's desk as part of a larger tax relief bill. Bush's signature may become the last act in decades of debate about protecting that 100-mile stretch of wild land. A land of incomparable beauty teeming with wildlife and outdoor recreational value, the Front has inspired its friends to protect it. Sen. Max Baucus, a longtime proponent of conserving the Front, added the protection language to the tax legislation last week. Sen. Conrad Burns had already included protection language in the Interior appropriations bill. However, the lame-duck Congress failed to pass the budget bill, leaving it for the new Congress that convenes next month. Rep. Denny Rehberg remains a staunch opponent of the drilling moratorium. But a diverse group of Montanans and Americans has come to the conclusion that this is one special place where the cost of development would exceed the cost of foregoing development. Even the Bush administration had issued a temporary moratorium....
Craig casts aside opposition to Idaho wilderness bill Sen. Larry Craig told congressional leaders he would not stand in the way of a bill to designate new wilderness in Idaho's Boulder-White Cloud mountains, though the measure died in last-minute negotiations before the Senate adjourned. Craig's spokesman, Dan Whiting, said Monday that the Republican senator - who had placed seemingly deal-breaking demands on the bill sponsored by Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho - made the pledge to supporters who nearly brokered a compromise that would have attached the wilderness measure to a tax bill in the final hours of the GOP-led session. Simpson had convinced House and Senate negotiators to include the wilderness bill as a rider to the bipartisan tax bill. Despite support from incoming House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, top Republicans removed the wilderness rider hours before the tax package cleared Congress early Saturday morning, according to lobbyists and congressional staffers who followed the negotiations. Before the frantic midnight negotiations, Craig decided not to block the wilderness measure - a promise Whiting said will extend into next year, when Simpson has said he will try to revive the legislation....
Governor pushes for more water storage Speaking from his office and surrounded by California-grown farm products, Gov. Schwarzenegger thanked family farmers and ranchers for their continuing support and outlined plans for the future. As he prepares for his second term, the governor said projects to store and move water must be a priority in the state's next set of public-works bonds. Schwarzenegger hailed voters' passage last month of $42 billion in bonds to rebuild roads, schools and other public facilities. He told the Farm Bureau gathering that he will insist that water facilities be a priority in future bond measures. "Even though I want more infrastructure and to have more bonds approved, it would never happen unless above-the-ground water storage is part of this package and unless we also have conveyance," Schwarzenegger said.
Rancher offers haven for crows A rancher has offered his property as an alternative roosting site for thousands of crows that spend each winter in town. Up to 15,000 crows could move over to Ed Fowler's ranch - if they follow the light. So far, the city hasn't succeeded in several efforts to drive the crows out. Mayor John Vincent had police shoot more than 5,000 of the birds last year. He said their droppings were a health hazard. The survivors came back. This year, the city has been chemically treating and installing electronic deterrent devices in trees. The city spent at least $8,000 on a falconer. The latest proposal involves setting up an attractive, well-lit spot for crows on the Fowler ranch. Lights provided by the Fremont County Emergency Management Agency will illuminate a group of trees at night. The idea came from City Councilman Lars Baker. "Crows will go to the brightest spot," he said at a recent council meeting....
Trails plan wins tentative OK, with strict conditions Rejecting arguments that trails near agricultural land will erode property rights and lead to food contamination and agro-terrorism, the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday tentatively approved a plan that allows such trails but sets strict constraints when they can be built. Supervisors acted after a four-hour hearing attended by about 150 people. Some 70 spoke, divided for and against the county’s trails plan. It was the second such hearing in a month. The emotional discussion once again placed the supervisors in a vise between property rights fervently defended by ranchers and farmers in San Luis Obispo County and the recreation opportunities and open space that are part of the county’s appeal. Many landowners told the board they already had to endure vandals, trespassers, attacks on their livestock and the danger of fires. But the most impassioned argument of those opposing the trails plan was a defense of their property rights. "You’re stealing our land. It’s theft. That’s what’s going on," one property owner told the board....
Ravens, crows and magpies: more than meets the eye The mere presence of these birds gives rise to fear, loathing, respect and admiration. Across the American West in places like the Wood River Valley, they can be seen occupying a wide range of habitats including the highest peaks, mixed forest and meadow areas, riparian corridors and vast sagebrush seas. Likewise, they also can be seen in the contemporary world's downtown city streets and suburban neighborhoods. They have even found their way into the shared lore of numerous native societies and onto the pages of many famous works of literature. They're our mysterious and highly intelligent neighbors: the common raven, American crow and black-billed magpie—masters of adaptability and cunning....
Wild Pigs Menace U.S., Whet Appetites in Europe There is an omnivorous menace spreading across the American farmland and now reaching into suburbia. It is smart, fast and dangerous, and is multiplying at an almost unstoppable pace. It is the feral pig, and its population has been exploding. It is now found in nearly 40 states. Farmers and ranchers have been reporting more and more damage from wild pigs. In Texas alone, the crop damage last year was estimated at $50 million. Part of the problem is that the pigs have few predators that are up to the challenge of killing them. Barefoot Bob Richardson has been a hunter for most of his life. He also hunts quail and deer, but wild pigs present the most dangerous prey. He has been gored a number of times by their sharp tusks, lost hunting dogs to wild pigs and been on hand when others have been charged by the strong, quick animals. After so many years hunting the beasts, Barefoot Bob has come to respect them. "They're the smartest animal we hunt," he said. "They're smarter than a dog. They're really prolific, and a lot of people think of them as stupid because so many young ones are out there that haven't learned the ropes. "You know, they learn to avoid traps," he added. "They learn not to go to deer feeders during deer season." But now, with the exploding population and a well-established appetite for their meat in Europe, catching and trapping wild pigs has become a business, too....
Ranchers hope to block auto racing complex When he's not busy branding his cattle or herding them across a lazy country road to pasture, Martin Machado gazes forlornly at the vast swath of farmland cater-corner to his spread. He sees a future he dreads. That 1,200-acre expanse of almond trees and row crops is poised to become one of the West's premier motor-sports facilities, eight racetracks for everything from motocross to top-fuel dragsters and, perhaps eventually, a bona fide NASCAR event. Backed by the chamber of commerce and other local boosters, the $250-million project is slated for a Merced County Board of Supervisors vote this evening. Foes like Machado fear they're about to be run down. "This is the place I want to get old on," Machado, 41, said of his cattle ranch with its antique red barn and cozy farmhouse. "Now there's going to be a stoplight right at the corner of my place, and some days 50,000 people will be coming through here." The battle over Riverside Motorsports Park has riven this agrarian county in the heart of the Central Valley. On the back roads, folks are eager to hold onto the region's agrarian past. Closer to town, foes say the proposed raceway represents a hairpin turn from the clean industry and highbrow housing that the new UC Merced campus should help attract as it matures. "We need to be patient and encourage the growth of industries that are cleaner and high-tech," said Tom Grave, a retired educator who helped form Citizens Against the Racetrack....
Motorized users to appeal Gallatin plan Motorized-vehicle users of the Gallatin National Forest will appeal the travel plan. "It's got to happen," said Kirk Hewitt, a Bozeman motorcyclist and snowmobiler. "The gloves aren't off yet, but I'm taping up." The final travel plan was released Friday after four years of work and a lengthy public comment period that was extended 72 days last spring. The plan will be published Monday in the Federal Register, which starts the clock on a 45-day appeal period. Under the plan, motorized use on the Gallatin's 1.8 million acres was widely restricted: Snowmobilers lost access to about 50 percent of the terrain they used to ride, motorcyclists lost 40 percent of trails open to them, and ATV riders lost 50 percent of their previously accessible trail miles, users said. The plan included additional acreage and trails from what was originally proposed last spring in forest officials' preferred alternative....
Forest Service, Cache County at odds Cache County and Forest Service officials are traveling in opposite directions regarding ownership of public roads in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. The Cache County Council voted 7-0 Tuesday night to accept all of the public roads identified in the county's Wasatch-Cache National Forest Service Logan Ranger District Travel Plan. County attorneys George Daines and Don Linton agree that this single step gives the county jurisdiction over the roads within Cache County. Forest Service disagrees. After consulting with the attorney for the Wasatch-Cache National Forest Service, Robert Cruz, Logan Ranger District manager, told the council he welcomes road maintenance assistance promised by the county, while disagreeing with its assertion of ownership of the roads. "We're supportive of working together with the county to provide good roads for the public that we both serve . . . I can't agree that they are county roads," Cruz said, adding that the court process required for claiming roads is time-consuming and costly. The two groups are at an impasse over who originally owned the roads. In a prepared statement, Daines said the county is not "now acquiring roadways, but simply preserving the rights that already exist." Council Chairman Cory Yeates said county road ownership records date back to 1878 - prior to the establishment of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest....
Snowbird tunnel draws user raves The tunnel and its people-mover conveyor had been open only an hour or so Tuesday when skier Bernd Schlickeiser slid out its back side into cloud-enshrouded Mineral Basin. "That is something new in my life," he yelled back to his trailing partner, Yves Harel. And that is saying something. Schlickeiser is 61, hails from Germany and has skied most of his life, often in Europe, where the concept of moving from one side of a ski mountain to another through a tunnel is not commonplace, though not unheard of. But this tunnel is in North America. At 11 a.m. Tuesday, Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort became the continent's first resort to incorporate a tunnel into its system for transporting skiers and snowboarders. And to Snowbird mountain operations director Jim Baker, who oversaw the excavation and development of the 600-foot, $1.4 million tunnel, bringing that system online is creating the kind of buzz about Snowbird that Schlickeiser's comment epitomized. Snowbird President Bob Bonar praised the designers, miners, construction workers and planners from Salt Lake County and the U.S. Forest Service who aided in construction of the project, and the legislators who supported it....
Peak’s south side focus of policy, access debate Outdoor groups are crying foul over Colorado Springs Utilities’ proposed rules for access to the city’s 28 reservoirs, complaining there won’t be any access to the South Slope of Pikes Peak. Last week the city-owned utility unveiled a draft watershed access policy designed to protect the city’s water supply. The plan divides watersheds into three zones: zones closed to the public, zones open to the public and trail corridors through closed zones. City officials fear a fire on the South Slope could cause massive pollution to small reservoirs — pollution that would take years to reverse, because there would be no way to
quickly flush out the little lakes....
Citizen groups eyeing wilderness plans And for the most part, local wilderness areas are relatively uncrowded, at least compared to some of the most heavily visited wilderness areas in the state, like the Indian Peaks, near Boulder, or the Holy Cross Wilderness Area, near Vail and Minturn. Other areas of concern are some of the popular 14,000-foot peaks in wilderness areas, like Mt. Bierstadt. On some busy summer days, more than 300 people visit Bierstadt's summit. It's that intense visitation, combined with projected population growth in Colorado, that has the U.S. Forest Service taking a long-term look at future management of the congressionally designated sanctuaries, where the humans are supposed to tread lightly and leave the land untrammeled. But in some wilderness areas, recreation use exceeds Forest Service standards and guidelines for visitation, resulting in resource damage. So for the past several months, a volunteer group of citizens has been meeting to compile a set of recommendations as to how the state's wilderness areas can best be managed in the future....
Wildlife crosswalk unveiled When Arizona Game and Fish research biologist Norris Dodd unveiled the nation's first technologically advanced wildlife crosswalk Monday, he said the system should accomplish one goal: Behavior modification. "Hopefully, we'll get people to slow down and change animal behavior," Dodd said. The roadway animal detection section (RADS) -- just east of Star Valley -- will improve driver notification and wildlife monitoring to reduce the number of vehicle-wildlife collisions on a three-mile stretch of Highway 260. Speed and traffic, combined with more than 2,500 large-animal crossings in four years, has increased the rate of wildlife collisions. In 2005, AZGFD recorded 15 deer and elk accidents in Preacher Canyon alone. RADS is based on a system of fencing and surveillance, which works with existing infrastructure such as bridges and underpasses, to discourage highway crossings. "We know this fencing is critical," Dodd said. An electrically-charged, barbed-wire fence sits 60 feet off the highway. Animals that encounter the barrier are met with a minor jolt of electricity -- 4 milliamps. The zap is enough to guide the animals along the fence, encouraging a pathway to the crosswalk. "The fence serves as a block and funnel," Dodd said. "This is one of the most aggressive projects in the world." The crosswalk system incorporates a network of military-grade infrared cameras, Linux-based tracking software, speed gauges, global positioning system and other surveillance equipment. As the cameras detect wildlife, a radio signal is sent to a large, flashing warning sign on the side of the highway, alerting drivers to the presence of animals. Simultaneously, AZGFD monitors the movement of animals. A separate system, contracted by ElectroBraid Fence in Halifax, Novia Scotia, records and archives the images and data....
Santa Maria horses avoid trap The second band of wild horses to take up residence in the Santa Maria Ranch subdivision east of Dayton is getting harder to fool. Mike Holmes, program manger for the Nevada Department of Agriculture, set up a trap Tuesday morning to remove the band of seven or so horses, but not many entered it, so he'll have to go back today. Though Holmes had planned to remove the horses to the hills south of Highway 50, they are the responsibility of the Bureau of Land Management. Don Hicks, field manager for the Carson City BLM office said they will be taken to a holding pen at Palomino Valley. Hicks said the BLM assumes jurisdiction over wild horses south of Highway 50 and the state is responsible for the animals north of the highway. He said this band came down out of the hills south of the Carson River and then crossed the river at Santa Maria. He added that the previous 22 horses that were rounded up from Santa Maria in August were believed to have crossed Highway 50, making them the state's responsibility. Holmes said that although the state of Nevada has a fence-out law, meaning it is the responsibility of the property owner to fence horses, cattle or other animals out if they don't want them around, it is left to the counties to enforce the law. "In this instance here, because of the destruction the horses are doing right now, you can't sit around waiting for someone to put a fence up," he said. "But the long-term answer is fencing."....
Archaeology finding a boom of its own in oil country The oil and gas boom of the West has also opened vast lands to discoveries by an unlikely group: archaeologists such as Kevin O'Dell. With crews spaced 100 feet apart, O'Dell and other archaeologists are walking thousands of acres of sagebrush highlands, valleys and hills, and they're achieving a remarkable increase in identification of prehistoric and historic sites - from those of ancient American Indians to the homesteaders of the last century. Because the Bush administration is pushing for more energy extraction on federal property, and because laws require cultural resource surveys before any such drilling, private archaeologists are enjoying a boom of their own. At one site, old postholes, charred seeds and burned bones of small mammals were deemed remnants of American Indian dwellings during autumn gatherings from about 6260 B.C. to 2640 B.C. Bone fragments from a 7,290-year-old burial structure nearby are believed to belong to an old woman with severe arthritis who was laid to rest with a funerary offering of cactus. Since 2000, the archaeologists have been discovering so many sites - several thousand a year - that Wyoming has become the top state for new sites that are deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, said Tim Nowak of the Bureau of Land Management's Wyoming office....
Mule deer losses abate, report shows Mule deer numbers in the Pinedale Anticline area of the Upper Green River Basin appear to have stabilized after several years of dramatic losses, according to a report on how natural gas development affects deer. The annual report by Western EcoSystems Technology Inc. is funded mainly by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Questar, the main gas drilling company on the Pinedale Anticline. According to the report, mule deer numbers in the area have fallen by as much as 46 percent, probably because energy development has made it more difficult for deer to survive. Also, slightly less than half of those areas frequented by deer before development still had large numbers of deer after development. "Direct and indirect habitat losses reduce the size of the winter range available to mule deer and may reduce the carrying capacity of that range," the report said. But the report also said efforts to reduce truck traffic and other habitat disturbance seem to have helped deer. The report suggested reducing the numbers and size of well pads and helping ensure that migration routes remain intact....
Kane backs off OHV stand Bowing to legal pressure, Kane County commissioners have rescinded a controversial ordinance that permitted off-highway vehicle use in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and other federally owned lands, including hundreds of miles that had been previously closed. Under the action taken by the commission on Monday, the county will remove OHV decals from signs it had placed on roads inside and outside the monument, effectively reinstating closures and restrictions that were put in place by the federal Bureau of Land Management. Kane County Commissioner Mark Habbeshaw acknowledged Tuesday that "legal issues" - a lawsuit filed last year by environmental groups challenging the ordinance - forced the county's hand. But he called the retreat only a temporary setback in the county's larger battle to assert its right of way claims on federally managed lands. "It's essentially too big a bite of the apple to defend our property rights and the management of OHVs at the same time," Habbeshaw said. "We're trying to secure our rights-of-way under RS2477, and that is being overshadowed by the issue of OHV damage on federal lands, whether it's a real problem or not."vised Statute 2477 is an old mining law that granted rights of way across public lands. Congress repealed the statute in 1976, but existing routes were grandfathered in, leading to numerous road ownership disputes in Utah....
Interior's Energy Inventory: Abundant Domestic Supplies Off-Limits The more we look for oil and natural gas in the United States, the more we find. A new Department of the Interior (DOI) report concluded that there are substantial onshore deposits of energy on federal lands. A companion study of offshore energy reserves released earlier this year reached the same conclusion. But in both reports, DOI found that much of this energy is either explicitly off-limits or hampered by regulatory constraints that effectively make it so. At least part of the solution to high oil and natural gas prices lies right under our feet, but Congress has thus far failed to change the laws and regulations that keep this domestic energy locked up. The 2005 energy bill required DOI to update its inventory of oil and natural gas deposits on federal lands. Federal lands are critical to the energy policy debate because most of America's onshore energy is located in the West and in Alaska, where more than half the land is under federal control. DOI was also required to consider the legal and regulatory impediments to leasing these lands to oil and gas companies and quantify how much energy is off-limits due to these restrictions....
Montana wilderness bill still elusive despite Democratic takeover It's been 18 years since Congress tried to protect Montana wilderness from development and, despite Democratic control again, it's not likely to try again any time soon. At least that's what observers of past Montana wilderness battles are saying. Some of them have continued to work quietly behind the scenes, trying to find other ways — short of an act of Congress — to protect special federal wildlands and to open up other federal lands, which are now off limits, to development. Since 1988, when Congress passed a bill that would have protected 1.4 million acres of wilderness areas, the issue has been too controversial even for the Democrats to take up, lawmakers and environmentalists say. Democrats tend to favor federally protected wilderness areas more than Republicans do. In 1988, at the request of Montana's newly elected senator, Republican Conrad Burns, President Ronald Reagan vetoed that bill, saying it was too ambitious and was a threat to timber and mining interests. Last month, Burns lost his bid for a fourth term to Democrat Jon Tester. "It's one of the most emotional issues in Montana," said Rep. Dennis Rehberg, R-Mont. "It affects virtually everyone, from hunting and fishing to the environmental community, to mining, to ranching, to the elderly who want to access their public properties." Montana has 3.4 million acres of federally designated wilderness areas....
Cow, car collide at site of fatal 2004 accident Another car crash involving loose livestock has occurred near the spot where a Washington woman was killed in 2004, leading to a manslaughter charge against a local rancher. A Garland woman crashed into a black breeding bull belonging to Jeff Kunzler early Sunday morning while driving on State Road 30, sending her to the hospital for treatment of a laceration on her head. The crash could impact the recently-settled criminal case involving Jeff Kunzler’s father, Darrell, if prosecutors determine that Darrell Kunzler has any ownership interests relating to his son’s bull. It could impact whether Kunzler will still be charged with manslaughter, a third degree felony, stemming from a November 2004 incident in which a Washington woman was killed after crashing her vehicle into one of his black Angus cows. Earlier this month, Darrell Kunzler entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors that would have resulted in the dismissal of a manslaughter charge if authorities had no further problems with cows owned by Kunzler or his related business entities....
Carrizozo Heritage Museum ready for the holidays Thanks to a generous donation of luminarias from Isabel Hernandez, the Carrizozo Heritage Museum is decked out in traditional southwest holiday cheer. Santa and his favorite elf, Perrywinkle, are loaded up in the sleigh ready to greet visitors throughout the month. Museum volunteers remind the community that the museum is a great place for holiday shopping with a fine collection of books to offer for that special someone. Joe Hobbs is the newest member of the museum board of directors. Born and raised in Carrizozo, Hobbs' barbwire collection has been on loan to the museum and is a major attraction to visitors. The museum will celebrate the 2007 National Day of the Cowboy July 28. A committee of local business people, ranchers, horse people, cowboys and museum staff are working to develop activities to create a big event....
Custer's mark on mountain predated mark on history But Inyan Kara Mountain just north of this tiny town really catches your eye. It caught someone else's eye, too. For at its top, on a flat granite shelf , a man chiseled his name. The first letter, a C, is cut deep into the stone. There's a T and an R, too. It was Custer. That Custer. As in Gen. George Armstrong "Oh, relax, how many of them could there be?" Custer. The general chiseled his name - as did many of the men who were traveling with him - into the mountain in 1874. Two years later, he was killed in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. In hindsight, of course, he and his troops should've lingered in Four Corners. Ruth is 92. She was born in Missouri in 1914 and has lived here since 1924. OK, she missed Custer by 50 years. Her daughter, Hazel Johnson, 71, was a teenager when her father bought the land. "My dad bought 320 acres of land out here, and then bought another 320 acres a year later," she said. "He paid 25 cents an acre. The guy who sold it laughed. He said the only thing this land was good for was rattlesnakes." Hazel's dad and Ruth's husband, Charlie Borgialli, had come from Italy. He settled first in South America, where he worked for several years. He'd been was a baker in Italy. In America he became a miner and a rancher....
1888: Pig in theft case tries to steal away Dec. 12, 1888: Rancher A.C. Dominguez accused fellow rancher P. Sepulveda of kidnapping a "nasty, malodorous little black pig, with four white legs and a white snout," The Times reported, noting that both sides "showed up a fine assortment of the best brand of A1 perjury." The prosecution introduced half a dozen witnesses on Dominguez's behalf and the defense produced its own witnesses who claimed the animal belonged to the son-in-law of the defendant. The judge ordered that all witnesses and counsel for both sides take a good look at the porker. But when let out of its cage, the pig dashed between the legs of the "dignified prosecuting attorney, nearly upsetting that gentleman." With court personnel and spectators chasing the pig with cries of "Stop him! Stop him!" the pig ran out the door and down the stairs but was caught by a constable, who "threw him upstairs." The court adjourned until the next day, when the judge dismissed the case.