By Bob Beck

Cheyenne, WY – Wyoming could be among the states that allow inmates to take DNA tests to prove their innocence.

The state senate gave preliminary approval to the bill and it will be heard two more times. Senator Tony Ross presented the bill and sees it as a benefit to inmates as well as police.

Senators eliminated a part of the bill that would have allowed law enforcement to take the DNA who are not yet named suspects in the crime. Law enforcement wanted that part of the law, so they could narrow a list of suspects.

By AP

Cheyenne, WY – The House gave preliminary approval to the
bill that would tax oil and gas companies for helium extraction on Thursday.
The taxes would bring in more than $2 million in annual tax revenue.
Ed Schmidt is director of the Wyoming Department of Revenue. He says extraction of the helium should be taxed by the state. He says it is the only mineral commodity Wyoming does not currently tax.
The bill would allow the state to tax helium extracted from the ground the same rate as other Wyoming minerals.

By CJ Baker

Laramie, WY – While several conservation groups have voiced opposition to yesterday's wolf delisting, at least one group is supporting the change.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a conservation group based in Bozeman, Montana, says the removal of the wolf from the endangered species list is a step forward. Coalition chairman Todd Graham says it was time to switch from federal protection to local management.

Gillette, Wyoming – At least three workers were hurt when a roof collapsed at a construction site east of Gillette.

Police say none of the injuries were life-threatening.

The accident occurred Thursday evening when a crane was attempting to set a truss. For unknown reasons, all of the
50-foot-span trusses collapsed and fell into the partially built warehouse.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate the accident.

By Bob Beck

Cheyenne, WY – It could become easier to get a felony for multiple drinking and driving offenses.

The house passed the measure that would make it a felony for a third DUI conviction in a seven-year span.
Not everyone likes the idea.

Laramie Democrat Jane Warren does not agree with the argument that enhanced penalties will convince a person to stop drinking and driving.

Cheyenne, WY – A bill that would make dogfighting a felony has cleared the Wyoming House and is on the way to the Senate.

Wyoming is one of just two states where dogfighting is not a felony.

Lawmakers in the other state, Idaho, passed a felony dogfighting bill earlier this month. The measure now needs only the signature of Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter to become Idaho law.

By Bob Beck

Cheyenne, WY – Look for city and county funding to be a big part of discussions when a compromise budget is discussed next week.

Senators and Representatives on the budget conference committee will pick up where they left off on debate this week.

Speaker of the House Roy Cohee says that he thinks that the state may have gone too far in trying to provide extra funding for local government. Cohee says this is especially true for areas that may not be benefiting from the energy boom.

Cheyenne, WY – The Senate Judiciary Committee today took up a bill that would give Wyoming landowners rights to space in the ground below their property.

The idea of the bill is to allow landowners to profit if a company wishes to lease the ground below their property to store carbon dioxide or water.

Lawmakers discussed changing the bill so that property owners couldn't separate out the subsurface rights from the surface rights and sell those rights individually.

The committee plans to continue discussing the bill on Monday.

By Bob Beck

Cheyenne, WY – A bill attempting to manage the controversial issue of coal-bed methane water run-off survived its first hurdle in the state senate.

Some landowners complain that CBM water that gets pumped out when gas is recovered floods or contaminates their land.

The goal of the bill is to have the state engineer manage water overflow and provide more property rights. During debate, Senator Tony Ross asked why coal-bed methane developers don't either re-insert water into ground or put it into pipelines.

By Bob Beck

Cheyenne, WY – Wyoming House members gave initial approval to a bill that would allow people to shoot to kill intruders to their home.

But lawmakers fought off attempts to restore a controversial part of the measure. During debate of the bill called the Castle Doctrine, sponsor Lorraine Quarberg urged lawmakers to allow people to choose not to retreat when confronted with crime.

Quarberg wants people to be allowed to take defensive action, outside of a home.