By AP

Casper, Wyo – Two companies are planning to build
Wyoming's second helium plant.

Matheson Tri-Gas and Air Products announced recently they intend to build and operate a liquid helium plant near Big Piney.

An existing helium plant is operated by ExxonMobil in Sublette County and produces an estimated 25 percent of the world's supply.

Last year, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled helium produced under a 1920 law is not subject to the state severance tax and the ad valorem tax levied by Sublette County.

By Addie Goss

Laramie, WYo – Denver-based Rancher Energy Corporation has announced it will use carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery in the Powder River Basin.

The CO2 will come from ExxonMobil.

Lon Whitman with the University of Wyoming's Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute says using CO2 in oil fields is still rare in this state, because there isn't very much of it.

But Whitman says coal-to-liquid fuel plants planned here could make more CO2 available for oil recovery.

By Bob Beck

Cheyenne, Wyo – The Wyoming House of Representatives gave final approval to a bill that would reform campaign finance in the state.

The bill sets limits for campaign contributions.

During final discussions representatives agreed to an amendment offered by Gillette Republican Tim Hallinan that reduced the amount political action committees can contribute to a candidate to 23-hundred dollars.

Hallinan says he is trying to preserve the way campaigns are run in the state.

Wyoming – Bryan Kolb, a professor in neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada tells Elsa Partan that our brains are a lot more malleable than we once thought.

Jackson, WY – It's been a snowy winter, but thanks to some new equipment, planes are landing on time in Jackson. Peter O'Dowd takes a ride on one of Jackson's new quarter-million dollar brooms.

Wyoming – Wyoming Public Radio's Peter O'Dowd and Bob Beck talked with Jared Miller about the week lawmakers spent jockeying over bills during this 20-day budget session.

Wyoming – For the first time this season, Yellowstone National Park captured bison and sent them to slaughter as they migrated out of the park. An activist group is rallying again to oppose the program, which is meant to keep cattle safe from a disease that bison carry. Elsa Partan reports.

Wyoming – Bob Beck asks Wyoming Education Association president Katherine Valido if she thinks NCLB has been a success in this state.

Wyoming – The No Child Left Behind legislation was meant to be reauthorized in 2007, but that never happened. Senator Enzi says he's optimistic about success for the law in 2008. Jodi Breisler reports from Capitol Hill.

Wyoming – Some residents have seen a one hundred-percent increase in their property taxes in a year, and that's prompting lawmakers to push for property tax cuts. But others wonder what will happen to state coffers when less money is flowing in from mineral sources. Bob Beck reports.