By Addie Goss

Laramie, Wyo. – Police are investigating the apparent suicide of a University of Wyoming student early Monday morning.

The student's body was found at the U-W Office Annex in Laramie. The student was a part-time employee in the Annex.

UW Police Chief Troy Lane says no foul play is suspected.

The UW Police Department and the Albany County Coroner's Office are investigating.

By AP

Casper, Wyo. – A district judge on Monday sentenced a man to serve time in prison for dragging a pedestrian under his car for more than a mile last winter while driving under the influence.

Judge Scott Skavdahl sentenced Doug Downs to serve between one to four and a half years in prison.

Authorities say Downs hit Jeffrey Irene, 40, of Casper in the parking lot of a Casper bar last December. They say Downs dragged Irene underneath his SUV for more than a mile. Irene suffered massive injuries but survived.

By Addie Goss and AP

Washington, DC – Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi today criticized the Bush administration's 700-billion dollar plan to bail out the financial industry. Enzi is a Republican member of the Senate Banking panel that grilled the Federal Reserve Chairman and Treasury Secretary today.

By Addie Goss

Laramie, WY – Recent job growth and unemployment figures confirm Wyoming is in a slowdown.

Job growth dropped between July and August. Meanwhile unemployment continues to rise.

Tom Gallagher from the Department of Employment says the industries that lost the most jobs last month were hospitality, government, and construction: "We've seen the construction industry drop in August by about 700 jobs. There's still about 30,000 jobs, but that's kind of unusual to see a decline in the construction industry at this time of year."

By Peter O'Dowd

Cheyenne, WY – Mountain pine beetles are chewing through more trees in Southeast Wyoming.

Dennis Hemmer is a tree specialist in Cheyenne. He says reports of the insects within city limits were common last year, and the infestations are now getting worse: "This year we have seen it pretty much throughout Laramie County. I believe what's happening is that people don't notice it, or don't have the wherewithal to deal with it. And consequently the beetles are flying from those trees and infesting other trees."

By Elsa Partan, Addie Goss and AP

Laramie, WY – Seven Western states and four Canadian provinces released plans Tuesday for the nation's most comprehensive plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The Western Climate Initiative would set up a "cap and trade" program that requires polluters to have permits for emitting carbon dioxide. The Initiative's goal is that by the year 2020, emissions levels in the West will be below what they were in 2005.

By Elsa Partan

Laramie, WY – One topic Trauner addressed was social security. He says Republican Cynthia Lummis' support of a market-based approach is wrong: "Privatizing social security is very good for Wall Street CEOs and money managers. But why don't we go out on the street today and ask anyone with a 401K retirement plan how their retirement security is doing right now. They'd look at me and say, you know what, you've got to be kidding me!"

By Bob Beck

Laramie, Wyo. – Thirteen Wyoming school districts have a graduation rate of less then 80 percent.

State Superintendent Jim McBride calls it a huge problem. It is a great concern in some of the state's larger school districts, such as Rock Springs, where less then 70 percent of students graduate.

But McBride blames some of that problem on the energy boom because young people can get jobs in the energy industry easily, sometimes without a high school diploma.

By AP

Jackson, Wyo. – Teton County is closing the wage gap
between men and women, but still remains below the national average.

A recent study by the Wyoming Department of Employment says that women in Teton County earned 72 cents for every dollar earned by
men. That's better than Wyoming's statewide average of women earning just 66 cents for every dollar that men earn.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the national average is that women earn 81 cents for every dollar earned by men.

By Bob Beck

Laramie, Wyo. – Under a proposed rule, different federal agencies will be allowed to determine whether or not a road building or logging project would harm wildlife.

The rule endorsed by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne would allow agencies outside of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine if an endangered species could be harmed by a particular project.

University of Wyoming Law Professor Debra Donahue has been following the rule and has some concerns.