Cheyenne, Wy – Independent presidential candidate Ralph
Nader says he believes that, in the future, burning coal to produce electricity will be considered a crime against humanity because of carbon dioxide emissions.
Nader, a longtime consumer rights advocate and perennial political candidate, held a news conference Thursday at the Wyoming State Capitol. Wyoming is the nation's leading producer of coal.
The Wyoming Secretary of State's Office is still reviewing
Nader's nominating petitions to see if he has enough signatures to

Cheyenne, Wy – The Wyoming Department of Transportation
wants to rebuild and improve the I-80/I-25 interchange in Cheyenne.
Transportation department officials say improvements are necessary to address safety concerns and to accommodate increasing traffic.
The department released a project study on Wednesday that states
the project would cost an estimated $220 million. Officials say costs will rise the longer work is delayed and say the project
would be the most expensive single roadway project in Wyoming history.

Cheyenne, Wy – A plan is in the works to save three of
six old houses near the Historic Governor's Mansion in Cheyenne that were slated to be moved or demolished to make way for a
hospital parking lot. A co-owner of the homes, Rande Pouppirt says the three homes will stay where they are and be restored. The other three homes will be moved to new locations.
Several neighbors say they're not satisfied with the compromise.

Cheyenne, Wy –
For the first time, the Wyoming Department of Employment has documented the wage gap by county. A wage gap is the difference between what a man makes on the job versus what a woman makes. In Laramie County, the wage gap is the smallest in the state. The Wyoming Department of Employment's Sylvia Jones says women there make 70 cents for every dollar that men make.
"What you see is that the wages are closer together not because the wages for women are hugely higher than they are in other counties, it's just that the wages for men are lower."

Laramie, Wy – A federal appeals court has ruled against a Wyoming law that allows people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to regain their gun rights. The tenth circuit court of appeals ruled that the law failed to meet federal guidelines. Under the law, people could apply for reinstatement of their gun rights, and have their misdemeanor domestic violence offense expunged. Jennifer Zenor (zee-nor) is the director of the coalition against domestic violence and sexual assault. Her organization did not oppose the bill when it was passed by the legislature.

By Elsa Partan

Laramie, Wyo. – The owner of Elephant Head Lodge west of Cody says she's not sure it was the right thing to let the Gunbarrel fire burn so long before trying to contain it.

Debbie Millard says she's grateful to the fire crews that protected her guest lodge Tuesday, but the situation is frustrating.

"You know it's just one of those things when you don't really know if it's better to do what we just did, or whether it was something that they should have acted on from the beginning," she said.

By Yanmei Xie

Denver, Colo. – Denver is awash with free booze this week, with lobbyists throwing open parties in order to rub elbows with Democratic big shots.

A Wyoming delegate, however, won't be able to enjoy that perk. He just graduated from high school.

By Peter O'Dowd

Cheyenne, Wyo. – The governor says he continues to oppose the state acquisition of new pipelines to increase the price of natural gas exported from Wyoming.

Dave Freudenthal says he's skeptical that the constitution would allow such a deal. He says the government should not interfere with the private market.

By AP

Jackson, Wyo. – Fire managers in Grand Teton National Park and the adjacent Bridger-Teton National Forest have raised the fire danger rating to very high.

A combination of high temperatures, strong winds, low humidity and the potential for lightning prompted the managers to issue a so-called "red flag warning."

Ron Steffens, the fire use monitor for Grand Teton National Park near the Idaho border, says, "The very high fire danger rating reflects a seasonal drying of vegetation in the low- and mid-elevation areas.