Daily news roundup, Feb. 18, 2008
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Feb 19, 2008 Posted by Bill Luckett
The Los Angeles Times leads us off today with a story on superdelegates that features, among others, the Wyoming Democratic Party chairman. The item sent in by alert reader John from Cheyenne:
Who are these Democratic superdelegates?
The state party has been able to piggy-back on some of the coverage of the presidential race to broadcast our very important Feb. 22 deadline for people to register as Democrats to participate in the March 8 county caucuses. Here is a piece from the Laramie Boomerang:
Democrats open local Obama office
From what I understand, the Clinton campaign will be bringing some people to Wyoming as well. I’ll send you anything I find on that.
And one more purely political story, from the Cody Enterprise, which reports that Mike Enzi still isn’t ready to tell us if he’s running for re-election:
FROM THE LEGISLATURE:
Lawmakers consider Gov. Freudenthal’s request to boost the Wildlife Trust Fund corpus to $100 million, up from $57 million today:
This companion story looks at some of the projects the Wildlife Trust fund has helped to accomplish:
Protecting a ‘rare piece of the world’
Here’s a quick summary of top legislative stories – with self-explanatory headlines – from Saturday, Sunday and today:
Legislature to begin work this week on 2009-10 budget (Casper Star-Tribune)
Sponsor says intruder bill is needed (Casper Star-Tribune)
House passes bill to limit campaign contributions from PACs, increase limits from individuals (Wyoming Tribune-Eagle)
Bill would allow inmate furloughs (Casper Star-Tribune)
Proposal to hike state park fees clears hurdle (Casper Star-Tribune)
Park fee increases would raise $650,000 (Gillette News-Record)
Lawmakers rush to beat Friday bill intro deadline (Casper Star-Tribune; issues include shooting intruders, incentives for doctors and dentists, the federal “Real ID” Act, and seat belts)
IN OTHER NEWS:
U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer has ruled that the Wyoming Public Defender’s Office did not allocate sufficient resources to defend a man accused of killing Wyoming State Penitentiary Cpl. Wayne Martinez in 1997. As a result, the defendant, who was convicted and sentenced to death, now gets a new trial. Yes, this is technically a “cops and courts” story, but more than most it shows the impact of public policy:
Judge orders new trial for death row inmate
The Gillette News-Record reports that WyGen III workers will have a place to live on the southeast corner of Cam-plex after the Campbell County Public Land Board agreed that a mobile home park for them can be built. With only a few minor changes, a final agreement with Black Hills Corp. was reached Thursday that would create 50 lots for temporary homes on Cam-plex property and leave a year-round campground when the power plant project is finished:
WyGen III gets permission to build camper spots at Cam-plex
Wyoming Public Radio reports that the state is considering ways to keep the sage grouse off the Endangered Species List:
Game and Fish consider grouse-hunting limits
Riverton attorney John Vincent is asking legislators to launch an interim study to consider whether lawmakers should re-instate the "joint and several liability" statutes, which were repealed in 1986. "Joint and several liability" refers to legal tools used to assign degrees of liability in workplace deaths and injuries:
Casper is among the towns across the state feeling the impacts of the energy boom:
Here’s a related piece:
Tenants worry over rent increase
My hometown prepares for a special election on whether to shift to a “city manager” form of government: