By AP

Cheyenne, Wyo. – Rep. Cynthia Lummis says she's been assigned to two House committees that will affect federal policies and programs in Wyoming.

Lummis will be serving on the House Committee on Natural Resources and on the House Budget Committee.

Lummis said earlier in the week that she was interested in the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Ethics Committee. She didn't get any of those spots.

Cheyenne, Wy – A new federal study says Wyoming's teen birth rate increased in 2006 after declining the previous 14 years.
According to new state statistics released by the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, the state's rate of teen births
in 2006 also exceeded the national average.
For every group of 1,000 women ages 15-19 in the United States,
nearly 42 became young mothers. In Wyoming, the rate was more than
47 births per 1,000 teenage girls.

Cheyenne, Wy – Some Wyoming lawmakers want to make certain that people accused of misdemeanor domestic violence realize that pleading guilty will cost them their federal gun
rights.
A bill drafted for the legislative session that starts Tuesday
would require judges to inform defendants that a misdemeanor
domestic violence conviction would cost them their gun rights. The
bill would also classify domestic violence as a serious offense
requiring defendants to have legal representation.

Sundance, Wy – Residents of part of Sundance are still restricted from drinking city water after diesel fuel seeped into one of the city's water wells early this week.
Crook County Emergency Management Coordinator Gari Gill said
updated testing on the city's water will hopefully be completed at
some point Friday.
Residents of the northern side of Sundance have been limited to
drinking bottled water since the problem was detected Sunday. Gill
says bottled water is available for residents at city hall.

By Peter O'Dowd

By Bob Beck

By Bob Beck

By Bob Beck

Cheyenne, Wy – A semiretired banker and businessman has been selected to fill a state Senate seat in Laramie County. Republican Rick Hunnicutt, of Cheyenne, was selected Tuesday by
Laramie County commissioners for the Senate District 5 seat. Bob
Fecht resigned from his seat on Dec. 19. Hunnicutt says economic development will be his top priority. Hunnicutt was selected from three people nominated by the
Laramie County Republican Party. He will serve the remaining term, which runs through 2010.

By Peter O'Dowd