Latest Wyoming News Briefs

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Troopers have identified the two women killed in a head-on collision on U.S. 30 near Kemmerer. The Wyoming Highway Patrol said yesterday that 60-year-old Verna Prater of Kemmerer was driving west when her car hit a mile marker post Friday afternoon. The vehicle crossed over and struck an oncoming vehicle driven by 60-year-old Kathleen Collings of Afton.

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming authorities are investigating the death of a 32-year-old inmate at the Natrona County jail. Larry Turner Jr. was found dead Saturday, a day after being jailed for allegedly violating his bond. He was set to stand trial in May for a car crash that killed one man in October. A conviction could have brought a life sentence because Turner had three prior felony convictions. The Star-Tribune reports that sheriff's deputies declined to comment on the circumstances of his death.

CODY, Wyo. (AP) — The North Fork of the Shoshone River will be closed to fishing starting April 1. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department reminds anglers that the seasonal spring closure covers a portion of the North Fork arm of Buffalo Bill Reservoir and the lower 28 miles of the North Fork Shoshone River and its tributaries. The closure reduces fishing pressure on fish migrating upstream to spawn.

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — An official with the Northern Rockies Coordination Center says forecasters for now are expecting a normal wildfire season. Meteorologist Bryan Henry tells the Great Falls Tribune that there's still uncertainty in predicting the 2012 fire season. But as of now, officials are leaning toward a normal fire season of between 200,000 and 250,000 acres burned in northern Idaho, Montana, Yellowstone National Park and North Dakota.