News Briefs

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A wildfire scarring the Medicine Bow National Forest in southeast Wyoming has jumped the Laramie River, a disappointing turn for crews hoping the waterway would prove a natural barrier. The U.S. Forest Service has called on more experienced fire managers and crews to handle the 3,500-acre blaze because of its growing complexity...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Lighter winds and cooler temperatures in the forecast could help firefighters battling a 1,000-acre wildfire in the Medicine Bow National Forest in southeast Wyoming. Strong winds spread the flames yesterday, but so far, no structures are threatened...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming revenues are running a bit ahead of projections but state officials are still bracing for shortfalls. Budget analysts predicted natural gas would average $3.25 per thousand cubic feet this year but prices have dipped below $2...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Fremont County is balking at paying legal fees for a group of American Indians whose court challenge forced the county to abandon its system of at-large voting for commissioners because it diluted the Indian vote. Fremont County says a request to award more than $85,000 for work on an appeal of the decision is too high and should be reduced...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Gov. Matt Mead has put plans for a new state office building in Cheyenne on hold in response to falling state revenue projections. Mead's decision not to spend $4.4 million likely delays the eventual renovation of the State Capitol because a new building would be needed to accommodate state workers and the Legislature during the project...

RAWLINS, Wyo. (AP) — Two workers have been injured during a brief fire at the same refinery near Rawlins where four workers were injured in another blaze last month. Sinclair Oil Corp. tells the Casper Star Tribune one worker was immediately treated and released after Friday's blaze...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso have joined a dozen other U. S. Senators in a push to create a national day honoring cowboys. The Senators are introducing a resolution that will declare July 28 a day honoring the accomplishments and contributions of cowboys...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Liz Cheney and her husband have just closed on a two-story log home in Jackson Hole, a purchase likely to fuel speculation that the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney might have political aspirations in her family's home state of Wyoming...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming is hiring a veteran public health official to try to reduce the state's workplace fatality rate. New Mexico state epidemiologist Dr. C. Mack Sewell starts his new job in July in a state where the workplace death rate was more than three and a half times the national average in 2010 and has ranked worst in the nation five of the past 10 years...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The unemployment rate in Wyoming has held steady at 5.3 percent from March to April. The rate is down from 6 percent a year ago and remains well below the nationwide unemployment rate of 8.1 percent. Wyoming Department of Workforce Services reports unemployment declined in most Wyoming counties from March to April...