Daily news roundup, March 12, 2008
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Mar 12, 2008 Posted by Bill Luckett
As exciting as our county caucuses were last Saturday, unfortunately some people did not get to participate because they were either not registered as Democrats by the Feb. 22 deadline or they arrived at their caucus sites late. We did our best to inform people of these rules, and our friends in the media did an honorable job of helping spread the word. The Casper Star-Tribune chimes in:
Voters have a duty to understand rules
The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly three decades at 2.7 percent, according to figures released Tuesday by the Wyoming Department of Employment, Research and Planning Section. It was the second lowest rate in the nation, trailing only South Dakota at 2.6 percent, and at its lowest point since June 1979 when Wyoming's unemployment rate stood at 2.6 percent:
Wyo jobless rate hits lowest point since ‘79
Wyoming's water is not currently tested for the presence of pharmaceuticals, but health and city officials say they are not too concerned about drugs being found in Wyoming water:
Officials assure state’s water is safe
WyoFile.com’s Geoff O’Gara offers this look at the just-completed budget session from the perspective of a devil’s advocate. A sample: “There’s another way of looking at the achievements of the 59th Legislature. This contrary view holds that the lack of a budget surplus was an accountant’s gimmick: in fact there was as much as $600 million that would have been called a surplus in any other year:”
Analysis: A contrarian view of the Wyoming budget
The government relies largely on an "honor system" for oil and gas companies to pay billions of dollars for drilling on federal lands each year and doesn't adequately check whether royalty payments are accurate or even filed, federal officials said Tuesday:
Accountability Office: Interior mineral tax collection flawed
The Buffalo Bulletin reports that, within the next 12 years, about one quarter of all the new coal-bed methane wells in the state – some 10,000 wells – will be drilled in the Crazy Woman and Clear Creek drainages:
The federal government is dragging its feet on regulations that would promote advanced coal technologies and carbon dioxide storage, Gov. Dave Freudenthal wrote in a recent legal publication:
Freudenthal says feds stalling on carbon capture
Wyoming Public Radio reports that Gov. Dave Freudenthal has signed into law a bill that extends a property tax refund program for needy residents:
Gov signs property tax refund bill
Also from Public Radio: Gov. Dave Freudenthal has signed a bill telling Wyoming's wealthiest school districts the date when they needed to stop reaping windfalls from local property tax revenue:
Law sets important date for school districts
The death toll of elk that have contracted paralysis and died in the Red Rim area southwest of Rawlins continues to climb, and biologists are now trying to bait the herd away from the lichen that appears to be poisoning them:
Biologists try to save herd from lichen poisoning
More Yellowstone bison have been captured or killed in this winter than in any previous year – more than 1,100:
More bison near Yellowstone killed
The Gillette News-Record reports that Gillette soon could find itself on the cutting edge of an ambitious, state-of-the-art, citywide mobile wireless technology program, but it will come with an equally ambitious price tag. The $1.96 million “mobile technology” project would put computers in many city vehicles, and link the 37 square miles of Gillette by a high-speed wireless network:
The attorney for a group of citizens trying to recall Pine Haven Mayor Robert Sieveke has filed a motion in District Court to deny the town’s request to dismiss the group’s lawsuit:
Lawsuit seeks to dismiss Pine Haven mayor’s recall
After resolving transportation and legal issues Monday, county planning commissioner Paul Duncker was comfortable enough to support Teton Meadows Ranch rather than do what he’d been planning all night – deny it:
Board backs South Park project
The battle by the owner of the Buffalo Bulletin to overturn a decision that removed a conservation easement for Meadowood Ranch in 2002 has received national media attention. Robb Hicks was interviewed by National Public Radio’s David Baron for the “Shifting Ground” series segment entitled, “Conservation Easements: Who decides when ‘forever’ ends?”:
Easement fight featured on NPR
From the Green River Star: During a special meeting recently, the Green River City Council met with the Sweetwater County Board of Commissioners to discuss the possibility of the old Lincoln School property becoming the site for a new courthouse. Commissioner Joe Oldfield said the county would like to build a new courthouse on the old Lincoln School site. The city would then take over ownership of the courthouse:
Land swap could benefit city, county
The Laramie Boomerang looks at how school shootings have changed law enforcement’s approach to incidents at schools:
The Cody Enterprise tells us that Outdoor Life magazine has named Sheridan and Cody two of the top five U.S. towns for sportsmen to live. Sheridan is No. 3 and Cody is No. 4 out of 200 communities ranked by the magazine, one of the largest hunting and fishing publications in the U.S. with more than 5 million readers:
Sheridan, Cody among top five U.S. towns for outdoors enthusiasts