By Hayley Douglass

Laramie, WY – One Wyoming organization says employers trying ot fill workforce gaps should look to a group they do not normally consider: single mothers.

CLIMB Wyoming's Jessica Barrett Speer says 60% of Wyoming families living in poverty are headed by single mothers...and that's something the organization wants to change through training programs in mining and healthcare.

By Peter O'Dowd

Laramie, WY – The US Attorney's office in Cheyenne says it's business as usual despite six months without an appointed leader.

Matt Mead stepped down as Wyoming's top federal prosecutor in June to make an unsuccessful bid for the state's vacant US Senate seat. John Green took over as acting US Attorney and now the office is still waiting to see who the White House will appoint as a permanent replacement. A spokesman for Wyoming's US Attorney, John Powell, says he doesn't know when the appointment will be made.

By Elsa Partan

Laramie, WY – Some Laramie residents say parking around the University of Wyoming has become frustrating, and they want it fixed. This year UW lost a sizable chunk of its parking because of construction, and university neighbors are noticing.

By AP

Cheyenne, WY – Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal says he's looking for a way to avoid going to the Democratic National Convention next summer in Denver.

Freudenthal is one of about 800 superdelegates from around the country heading to the Democratic Convention next August. Being a superdelegate means he's free to back any candidate for his party's
nomination, unlike the thousands of delegates who must vote in accord with the results of state caucuses and elections.

By AP

Casper, WY – Draft legislation would encourage the digging of drainage ditches to lessen flooding in pastures downstream from coal-bed methane wells.

The Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee has signed off on the bill for consideration during this winter's legislative session. The bill would enable the state engineer to order the digging of ditches to reduce flooding from coal-bed methane water.

By Bob Beck

Laramie, WY – A heavy winter storm is expected to hit southern, central, and eastern Wyoming over the next couple of days. The National Weather Service says there could be from five inches to nearly a foot of new snow.

University of Wyoming Atmospheric Science Professor Bart Gertz says the snowfall should las through Saturday. He says it will be an unusual weather event for this time of year.

By Elsa Partan

Laramie, WY – Wyoming's political leaders were hoping that the federal government would simply pay the nearly $580 million in Abandoned Mine Land funds that it owes the state, but it appears that's not going to happen.

By AP

San Francisco, CA – A federal appeals court has ruled the U.S. Forest Service violated federal law when it allowed logging projects without analyzing their effects on the environment.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with environmentalists who challenged a Bush administration rule that exempted certain timber sales and prescribed forest burns from environmental analysis.

The Wednesday decision by the San Francisco-based court overturns a lower court ruling that favored the administration.

By AP

Rawlins, WY – A federal judge has denied a request by
conservation groups to stop coal-bed methane drilling in the Atlantic Rim area in south-central Wyoming.

The judge in Washington, D.C., denied a preliminary injunction against the Bureau of Land Management because the conservation groups failed to show that they were likely to succeed or that they
face irreparable harm.

By AP

Washington, DC – Payments to rural counties that once depended on federal timber money to fund schools and libraries would continue for four years under an energy bill that Congress is considering.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden said it would mean hundreds of millions more dollars for Oregon for schools, public safety, roads and other services and get counties back to stable funding so they can plan
for the future.