By Elsa Partan

Laramie, Wyo. – After five years of planning and discussion, a major electric transmission line will become a reality.

The Anschutz Corporation says it will develop electrical lines that can send wind power produced in Wyoming to markets in the southwest.

The project is called the TransWest Express. Today Governor Dave Freudenthal called it a milestone.

Developers hope to have the project operational by the year 2014.

Cheyenne, Wy – A Mental Health official in Laramie County has expressed concern over lack of services available for returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bill Quinn the Director for Peak Wellness Center in Cheyenne says his center is already struggling to provide mental health services for the community.
"If we were to see a big influx of veterans coming back and families needing assistance we would be asking the state for additional help in providing staff to offer those services."

Cheyenne, Wy – State employees who practice healthy behavior and get checkups will get some incentive rewards. The state announced a new health care program called Healthier Wy. It is designed to benefit those who practice healthy living. The Governor's Health Policy Advisor Wendy Curran says that the new program focuses on the positive aspects of good health.
Employees who opt into the program will need to fill out a form and get it signed by a health provider. Those who commit to healthy activities will get a reduction on their health insurance premium in the year 2010.

Buffalo, Wy – The Attorney General's Office has sued the
Johnson County Commission and others seeking to reverse a 2002 county action intended to extinguish a conservation easement on a private ranch east of Buffalo.
The state filed its lawsuit in Johnson County District Court
this month. It charges that the county commission violated its
fiduciary duty to county residents when it voted in 2002 to end the
conservation easement on the 1,000-acre Meadowood Ranch.
Johnson County hasn't filed a response to the state's lawsuit
yet.

Casper, Wy – A federal judge in Wyoming has dismissed a
lawsuit filed by the booking company for Cheyenne Frontier Days against an animal rights group.
U.S. District Judge William Downes ruled Tuesday that the
lawsuit by Omaha, Neb.-based Romeo Entertainment Group was not
filed in the correct state.
Romeo Entertainment filed the lawsuit after the rock band
Matchbox Twenty pulled out of a scheduled performance at this
year's Frontier Days.
The suit names Illinois-based SHARK, which stands for Showing

Jackson, Wy –
The Chief Executive of the Boy Scouts says that the best thing about a project in northwest Wyoming this week is what it does for the scouts.
Robert Mazzuca says the fact that over a thousand scouts are building trails and removing fences is certainly useful. But he says projects like this one, do much more.

By Elsa Partan

Laramie, Wyo. – An air quality expert says that the Pinedale area has already violated the federal Clean Air Act because of ozone.

Previous analysis said that no violation had happened yet. University of Colorado ozone expert Jana Milford says she took this year's data and coupled it with the federal government's tougher standard for ozone, which went into effect this year.

She says the Bureau of Land Management should use this information as it decides on its plan for the area.

Laramie, Wy – A wilderness supporter points to a new poll that shows Americans are very supportive of wilderness and roadless areas. The poll conducted by Zogby International finds that nine of ten likely voters surveyed, said that protecting wilderness and public lands is important. Mike Matz of the campaign for america's wilderness says that is why congress is considering so many bills that would protect public lands.
Matz notes that more then a dozen bills are being considered by congress this summer including one that would protect the Bridger Teton National Forest

By Bob Beck

Laramie, Wy – When it comes to energy development, two democratic candidates for U-S Senate say the country needs an energy policy. Keith Goodenough says part of that policy should include conservation. But he is not interested in moving ahead with more drilling especially in sensitive areas like the Artic National Wildlife refuge.
"I don't support drilling in anwar or offshore right now. We're going to need oil in 30 or 40 years more then we do right now. I think we should save that as part of a strategic reserve."