Wyoming News Briefs

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. Each dollar drop costs the state more than $200 million in lost tax revenue.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A program to bolster dental and psychiatric care could be in jeopardy under proposed budget cuts at the University of Wyoming. UW's plan for a possible 8 percent budget cut by Gov. Matt Mead would eliminate funding for a nurse practitioners programs that pays students' education expenses if they work in Wyoming for a certain time after they graduate.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Authorities say lightning is to blame for fires that have broken out in southeast Wyoming. A fire in the Medicine Bow National Forest in Albany County has burned at least 80 acres. Another wildfire about 30 miles northeast of Rawlins burned about 35 acres of steep, rugged terrain in the Bennett Wilderness Study Area.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The state of Wyoming is the new owner of an office building near the state Capitol in Cheyenne. A state official says the three-story office building cost $1.75 million. After renovations, the state plans to use the building to house government workers.