By Hayley Douglass

Laramie, WY – Domestic violence centers and shelters don't expect to see an increase in abuse cases during the holiday season.

Sheridan's Advocacy and Resource Center's Rhonda Webber says despite the holiday stress and constant family get-togethers, she expects to see the same number of new cases as any other time of the year. Webber thinks many families with domestic violence issues ignore the problem during the holidays.

Webber says the Center averages 60 to 80 cases every month.

By AP

Rock Springs, WY – The state Environmental Quality
Council on Wednesday approved designating the Adobe Town area in the southern Red Desert as "very rare and uncommon."

The designation sought by the Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and seven other conservation groups affects about 180,000 acres in and around the Adobe Town.

Conservationists say the area has significant historical, archaeological, wildlife and scenic values that should be protected from minerals development.

Laramie, WY – Governor Dave Freudenthal is recommending that the state use federal Abandoned Mine Lands money for the new School of Energy Resources at the University of Wyoming.
Wyoming is set to receive a total of 550-million dollars of federal money over a number of years, and it's up to the state to decide what to do with the money. The governor says more than $17 million of it should go to the School of Energy Resources.

Laramie, WY – The Bureau of Land Managed gathered about 850 wild horses in southwest Wyoming during a recently completed roundup.

The roundups on public rangelands in Sweetwater County aim to reduce horse numbers to the BLM's desired population levels.

The roundups were postponed in October when the BLM said it was diverting money to emergency roundups in Nevada where drought and fire posed health problems to wild horses in that state.

Cheyenne, WY – The Cheyenne City Council has agreed to pay more to a private juvenile detention and treatment facility.

As a result of the decision, Cheyenne will now be paying the Jeffrey J. Wardle Academy $10,200 a month.

Academy officials have said that the loss of a state contract put the financial stability of the center at risk and so it needed to charge Cheyenne more.

The Department of Family Services removed 24 youth from the academy, citing concerns for their safety.

Laramie, WY – Five agencies will hold a public meeting next week in Bozeman, to review how Yellowstone National Park bison are treated outside the park's boundaries.

The December 4th meeting will include a review of last winter's operations and an overview of plans for the coming season.

The five agencies that implemented the bison management plan in 2000 will have representatives speak about past and coming operations. There will also be discussions about brucellosis in Montana, and the status of the Interagency Bison Management Plan.

By Peter O'Dowd

Laramie, WY – State education officials say they have work to do in reducing the amount of risky behavior among school children. State Superintendent Jim McBride says data from the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows an improvement in the percentage of high school students who smoke.

But McBride says he is not satisfied with the prevalence of drinking among teens, and a trend that shows many students don't wear a seatbelt.

By Addie Goss

Laramie, WY – Wyoming stores may be packed with shoppers this holiday season, but many don't have enough workers. There's a higher demand for workers over the holidays, and Wyoming's already low unemployment rate makes hiring harder here than in other states.

The Director of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, Joan Evans, says holiday hiring in future years may get even harder.

Cheyenne, Wy – Gov. Dave Freudenthal has endorsed Illinois' bid for a project that aims to refine coal gasification and other
"clean" technologies for coal.
Freudenthal indicated his support for Illinois on the FutureGen
project because officials there have agreed to share research and
other information regarding clean coal technologies.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said it's important that
coal-producing states unite in support of FutureGen because it will
ultimately help preserve the domestic coal industry nationwide.

By AP

Laramie, WY – he University of Wyoming has opened a
center specializing in geriatric education.

The Geriatric Education Center opened last month on the campus in Laramie. It's goal is to make sure UW students and health care workers around the state have access to top geriatric education
programs.

The center operates under a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The grant is for about $200,000 a year for three years.