Wyoming News Briefs

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead is telling federal regulators that the state should take the lead in regulating regional haze. Mead recently wrote to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency commenting on the federal agency's disapproval of part of a state plan to address air pollution. The governor says the federal plan would cost more and not provide any benefits over the state plan.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming wind farm complex is among the seven renewable energy projects President Barack Obama has selected to fast track. The project, proposed by Power Company of Wyoming LLC on about 230,000 acres south of Rawlins, could produce up to 3,000 megawatts, or enough to power about 1 million homes. The White House says a land-use plan decision is targeted for October, and right-of-way applications for the project will be reviewed through 2014.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A quarterly federal auction of oil and gas leases in Wyoming has generated nearly $6.5 million. Almost half the total raised at the Bureau of Land Management auction yesterday will go to the state of Wyoming. The highest bid per acre was $2,200. Overall, the auction offered 116 parcels totaling almost 60,000 acres.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — An 80-year-old Manhattan diner rescued by a couple who put it on a trailer and hauled it 2,400 miles to their hometown in Wyoming might soon hit the road again. Cheryl Pierce says she's calling it quits after spending three years trying to make a go of the Moondance Diner in tiny LaBarge, population 400. The asking price is $290,000.