Wyoming News Briefs

CODY, Wyo. (AP) — Authorities are asking the public for help in the search for a man wanted in the abduction and sexual assault of a Cody girl. The Cody Police Department reports the man lured the 11-year-old girl into his SUV yesterday by claiming he needed help finding a missing puppy then attacked her.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Roadwork and groundwork could begin next year on what Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says could be the largest wind energy project in the U.S., if not the world. Salazar yesterday authorized the Wyoming wind farm that would be large enough to provide electricity to some 1 million homes. Turbines for the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project could start going up in 2014.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A New Mexico man has pleaded not guilty to federal charges in a 2010 fire that destroyed a landmark Wyoming hotel. A federal indictment charges that 44-year-old Robert Rodriguez intentionally set a fire that destroyed the Hitching Post Inn to further mail and wire fraud. His trial is set for Dec. 3.

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — A final vote is set for today on a months-old proposal to allow Teton County school officials to test students at extra-curricular activities for alcohol use. Advocates of the policy to use alcohol testing wands say it will help counter teen drinking. Opponents say it is an invasion of privacy.