By AP

Washington, DC – Wyoming Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso didn't like the financial bailout the first time around last fall. Now they're opposed to the second half of the bailout program.

Enzi and Barrasso are among nine senators co-sponsoring a resolution that would block the federal government from awarding the second half of $700 billion in financial bailout money.

By Bob Beck

Cheyenne, Wyo. – Wyoming Speaker of the House Colin Simpson urged lawmakers to set strong priorities as the legislative session gets under way.

Simpson kicked off the session by asking House members to focus on bedrock principles: "Investments in infrastructure that promote education, business development, job and wage growth, health and safety issues, protection of our valuable industries and economies and protection of our revenue streams."

By AP

Laramie, Wyo. – An environmental group has filed a lawsuit to stop new well pads and roads from being constructed in an oil and gas field in southwest Wyoming.

Biodiversity Conservation Alliance filed the lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday in federal court.

The 30,000-acre Jonah field is packed with an estimated 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In 2006, the BLM approved expanded drilling in the field.

By AP

Cheyenne, Wyo. – The Wyoming Supreme Court has upheld a sentence of life in prison for a man convicted in the 1986 murder of a Casper woman.

Jeffrey Lynn Smith was convicted in 2007 in the death of Tammy Dively, a 25-year-old single mother from Casper whose body was found along a Natrona County roadside.

Prosecutors say Smith hit Dively in the head and ran her over with his truck. They say DNA evidence from her body tied Smith to the crime.

By AP

Cody, Wyo. – A nonprofit seeking to revitalize the Sleeping Giant ski area west of Cody is planning a fundraising event.

The executive director of the Yellowstone Recreation Foundation says the event will be held either in Cody or at the ski area in early February.

The State Loan and Investment Board last week approved a $500,000 grant for renovation of the ski area. One stipulation: The Yellowstone Recreation Foundation must raise an additional $800,000 by April 30.

By Peter O'Dowd

Laramie, Wyo. – At last count, 124 wolves were found in Yellowstone. The number of breeding pairs in the park has dropped from 10 to 6. And Park Biologist Glen Plumb says the overall population has fallen 27 percent since 2007.

It's the first drop in wolf populations in the park in three years. Plumb says there is no need for alarm. Population swings are normal. But he does want to learn why it's happening. He says the culprits could be wolves attacking other wolves, and the canine disease distemper.

By AP

Washington, DC – The Senate has voted to move forward with a bill setting aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as wilderness.

The 66-12 vote during a rare Sunday session marks an early partisan showdown that has threatened to derail pledges by Senate leaders to work cooperatively as a new administration takes office.

By Addie Goss

By AP

Cheyenne, WY – Some Wyoming lawmakers want to increase the penalty for anyone who intentionally kills a pregnant woman.

The new bill is slightly different from a bill that passed both houses of the Wyoming Legislature two years ago that was vetoed by Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

The 2007 bill would have allowed two counts of homicide to be filed against someone who killed a pregnant woman and her fetus. Freudenthal vetoed the bill saying that it would needlessly get the state embroiled in the national debate over abortion.

Sundance, Wy – Test results from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality show that Sundance residents can safely drink city water.
Crook County Emergency Management Coordinator Gari Gill said
Monday that tests completed over the weekend prompted the city to
lift a ban on drinking water that began when diesel fuel was
detected in the water.
Residents of the northern half of Sundance had been restricted
from drinking city water for a week.
Gill has said a contract driller accidentally polluted the city