Wyoming News Briefs

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming lawmakers have shot down a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to create domestic partnerships carrying most of the legal rights of conventional marriage. The House voted 35-to-24 against the bill. It was the first time at least in recent decades that pro-gay legislation reached a full floor debate.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The state House has given preliminary approval to a bill seeking to block the federal government from restricting assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in the state. Republican Rep. Kendell Kroeker of Evansville says his bill would get Wyoming's position on record in case the federal government imposes a new ban on assault rifles. It faces two more House votes before going to the Senate.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Supreme Court has disbarred a Cody lawyer who was accused of misappropriating nearly $700,000 in assets from a client's trust. A beneficiary of the trust had filed a civil complaint against attorney Jody Montgomery Vannoy, resulting in Vannoy being ordered to pay nearly $700,000 for misappropriating funds for her personal use.

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — An effort to encourage Laramie preschoolers to eat new types of fruits and vegetables backfired this week. About a dozen preschoolers at Linford Elementary were taken to the hospital Tuesday after eating sample-sized portions of either yucca, the cactus, or yuca, the root vegetable. Superintendent Brian Recht says the district's food supplier couldn't confirm which of the two was served.