Daily news roundup, Jan. 14, 2008
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Jan 14, 2008 Posted by Bill Luckett
Twenty stories from today and the weekend! Although at least half are from the Casper paper. Beginning with …
Gov. Freudenthal hosted the "Building the Wyoming We Want conference, but he wants the participants to take the lead in planning for the state's future:
Governor seeks bottom-up growth debate
Wyoming Public radio has these two reports on the conference:
Zoning gets attention at governor’s conference on growth
State geologist warns of greater energy demand
And these two come from the Gillette News-Record:
Think regionally of strategies on impacts
Gillette used as an example of how to do things right
Barbara Cubin apparently doesn’t see any reason to let five hundred thousand people know whether they get representation in Congress this year:
The Casper Star-Tribune has no problem with state political parties that violate the rules of their national organizations and cut this state’s already-small representation in half for, well, pretty much nothing in return:
Expecting little, we got little
State revenue projections are down just a tad as the Legislature prepares for its budget session that begins Feb. 11:
Revenue projections decline slightly
Meanwhile, some experts think the volatility in minerals revenue has settled down some:
State mineral revenues stabilize
Wyoming's 23 counties show a huge disparity in wealth between the mineral-rich, or "impact" counties, and the mineral-poor, or "hardship" counties. The challenge facing a select legislative committee on local government financing is to find a better balance, a more equitable way, to distribute state funds:
Counties’ coffers differ dramatically
Joan Barron’s column this week examines Wyoming’s next-to-impossible ballot initiative process:
The Jackson Hole News & Guide previews an upcoming legislative forum on the environment:
Legislators to discuss conservation issues
The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle looks at the death penalty in the Equality State:
Just what we need:
Minuteman group organizes in Wyo
In order to obtain a driver's license in Wyoming, you may soon be required to submit to more than the standard exam and unflattering photo:
Feds push driver’s license changes
Bridger-Teton National Forest officials have approved construction of a natural gas pipeline from Sublette to Teton counties. The new pipeline for Lower Valley Energy is expected to dramatically increase Jackson's supply of natural gas:
Hoback pipeline gets green light
State and industry officials want to avoid violations of the national ambient air quality standard because it could lead to a "non-attainment" designation. That could force a moratorium on all new mining, oil and gas, and virtually all industrial activity in Campbell County, which produces more than 430 million tons of coal annually and is the epicenter of the state's largest natural gas field:
When dust control doesn’t work
I was once a proud member of the Laramie service industry work force, most of whose members are not in it for the long haul, according to the Laramie Boomerang:
Service industry: The trick is to keep employees
The Boomerang also tells us that the town continues to shrink. At this rate, I wonder if Gillette will pass the Gem City as Wyoming’s third-largest by the 2010 census:
Laramie is losing its residents
To illustrate that contrast, here’s a story on population growth from the Gillette News-Record: