Wyoming News Briefs

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A California stevedoring company has until the end of the month to decide if it still wants to ship coal from Montana and Wyoming to Asia through Coos Bay, Ore., now that two of its partners have dropped out. A document posted on the International Port of Coos Bay website Monday says that Mitsui & Co., the US subsidiary of a Japanese trading company, and Korean Electric Power Corp., the potential buyer of the coal, are no longer part of the project.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The cast of characters is growing in a legal fight in which environmental groups are challenging the federal government's recent decision to end protections for wolves in Wyoming. U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson of Cheyenne has allowed a coalition including Wyoming county governments and sportsmen groups to intervene in the lawsuit. He hasn't acted yet on a request from the National Rifle Association and Safari Club International, a hunting group, to intervene.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Gov. Matt Mead says he's open to having the Wyoming Department of Transportation plow roads inside Yellowstone National Park this spring. Mead spokesman Renny MacKay says today the governor's office is conferring with city officials in Jackson and Cody to see how that could be arranged. The governor says using state money for a spring plowing operation in Yellowstone is not an option, but local funding could be used.

RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) — A 24-year-old man has pleaded guilty to shooting a 27-year-old man to death at an apartment complex in Riverton. The Associated Press reports Dustin Dean Nickelson struck a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter stemming from the Sept. 13, 2012, death of Lucas Myhre. Officers called to the apartment complex found Myhre unresponsive at the scene. They also recovered a handgun thought to have been used in the shooting.