By Renny MacKay

By Bob Beck

By Bob Beck

Casper, Wy –
A major decrease in sales tax revenue has pushed the city of Casper to implement a hiring freeze. City Manager Tom Forslund says the downturn in the local economy has made a huge dent in what they normally get from sales taxes.
"Anywhere from 23 to 25% below last year's numbers at this time. So as a result we are taking steps to stem the use of our reserves. "
Forslund says they will hire some essential workers, but they will put off any additional hiring until the revenue picture turns around.

By Bob Beck

Cheyenne, Wy – A petition calling for a citywide vote on Cheyenne's new ban on hand-held cell phones while driving has failed to gather enough signatures.
The Cheyenne City Clerk determined that the petition fell about
700 signatures short of the 2,800 needed.
Petition organizers turned in more than 3,500 signatures but
more than 1,000 of those were disqualified because the people who
signed did not live in the city or were not registered voters.
The ban on talking on hand-held cell phones or texting took

Cheyenne, Wy – The Wyoming Supreme Court says that suspected drunken drivers who intentionally fail to give an adequate breath test sample should be treated like they refused the
test altogether.
In the unanimous ruling handed down this week, the court
rejected the appeal of Daniel Faber, who was arrested for drunken
driving in Sublette County in 2007. Faber's license was suspended
for six months after an officer said Faber refused the test when he
was unable to provide an adequate breath sample.

By Renny Mackay

Worland, Wy – A Worland man has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and fined $10,200 for various hunting violations.In addition, Keith Searle lost his hunting privileges, must
forfeit all deer antlers in his possession and must pay $8,000 in
restitution.
He also was placed on four years of supervised probation and may
not possess any hunting gear.
The charges against Searle included taking an animal without a
license, accessory to taking a deer without a license and
purchasing a license while under suspension.

By Molly Messick

By MEAD GRUVER, AP

Cheyenne, Wyo. – The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has begun collecting a higher processing fee each time that oil and gas companies apply for permits to drill.

The $6,500 fee is part of the Interior Department appropriations bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on Oct. 30. The new fee is a 62 percent increase from the previous fee of $4,000.