Laramie, Wy – Federal fire forecasters say the potential
for wildfires is rising on the rangelands across the West due to an unusually thick blanket of grasses that are drying out quickly.
Their new fire forecast released today says 18 months of wetter-than-normal weather across much of the region has spurred growth of vegetation on the desert plains.
That means there's more to burn than usual.
Wildland fire forecaster Tom Wordell with the Forest Service says the entire West will be warmer than normal this summer.

Laramie, Wy – The Wyoming Mining Association says there was an 11 percent increase in mining jobs between 2003 and 2005. And a spokesperson for the company Arch Coal, Greg Schaeffer, says his company has just expanded, even reopening a mine. Schaeffer says for the most part they have been able to find enough workers. Though they've struggled finding electricians, mechanics and welders, but he notes that's something all companies in Wyoming face.

Laramie, Wy – Despite a booming economy and a low
unemployment rate, people still go hungry in Wyoming.
That's why a coalition of government officials, hunger-relief agencies and faith-based organizations gathered Wednesday on the steps of the Capitol in Cheyenne.
Diane DeLozier is director of the Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies. She says some 53-thousand people in Wyoming live at or near the poverty level in Wyoming -- that's about ten percent of the state's population.

Laramie, Wy – Cheyenne should have plenty of water this summer. For the second year in a row the reservoirs that supply the city with water are full. That's after five years of drought and lower water levels. The director of the Board of Utilities, Tim Wilson, says the two reasons the reservoirs are full are, more moisture and a water conservation program.

Laramie, Wy – Summer is coming, and the Wyoming Health Department is now on the lookout for West Nile virus.
Last year, only 12 people in Wyoming were infected by the mosquito-borne virus. Two of those people died.
That's down from 393 cases and nine fatalities in 2003. It's also well below the infection rates of Wyoming's neighbors: South Dakota had 229 cases last year, Nebraska had 188, Colorado, 106, Utah 52, Montana 25 and Idaho 13.

Laramie, Wy – Wyoming's state spelling bee champion is out of the national competition. Fourteen-year-old Kelly Sullivan of Riverton made it through the written round by getting 20 out of 25 words right.
The word that tripped her up "cahier" (kaw-YAY'). It's a word for a parliamentary document used in France before the French Revolution. The correct spelling is C-A-H-I-E-R.
It was Kelly's first trip to the nation's capital -- and she even got another spelling opportunity while she was there.

Laramie, Wy – Wyoming needs to train more workers for the occupations that are in high demand here. That's one finding of the 2006 Workforce Report. It says there are thousands of vacant positions in the state now.

Laramie, Wy – The Sweetwater County coroner has released the name of the 70-year-old New Mexico man that rammed other vehicles and then shot at them last week.
The shooting occurred on Interstate 80 near Green River. The man's name is Gary Loyd. Highway Patrol troopers shot and killed him. Loyd was from Albuquerque. The coroner says he died of a gunshot wound to the chest.
Tuesday, the patrol released the names of the two troopers involved in the shootout.

Laramie, Wy – A new Park Service study shows air quality is worsening at Yellowstone National Park.
The study compiled air-quality trends dating back to 1995 at national parks across the country.
One pollutant on the rise in Yellowstone is ground-level ozone. It can cause respiratory problems and threaten plant health.
But the Park Service says the levels in Yellowstone don't exceed any national standards and are NOT high enough to pose a risk.

By AP