By AP

Cheyenne, WY – The Wyoming Attorney General's Office says
it's working to settle a lawsuit filed by a former prison inmate who claims that he was beaten and sexually assaulted at the state penitentiary in Rawlins.

The inmate filed a federal lawsuit filed last December. He says he warned prison officials when he arrived at the Rawlins prison in August 2004 that he had provided information to Sweetwater County
prosecutors that had sent his cousin to the same prison.

By AP

CASPER, Wyo. – A key producer of coal in Wyoming is up for sale.

Rio Tinto Energy America operates three coal mines on the Wyoming side of the Powder River Basin, and directly employs about 1,562 workers in Wyoming. The company also operates mines in Colorado and Montana.

Its parent company, Rio Tinto P-L-C, announced today (Thursday) that it intends to explore the possible sale of Rio Tinto Energy America.

Casper, Wy – The Cowboy State Games are ending. The board of directors for the amateur sports contest announced
Wednesday that the event had run its course. The decision came
after longtime executive director Eileen Ford accepted a new job.
The Cowboy State Games have been held for the past 22 years,
bringing contestants together in track and field competitions,
wrestling and other events.
In 2002, the event moved from the summer to being held in
winter.
The games were in jeopardy last year because of lack of funds.

Yellowstone National Park – Yellowstone National Park, on the site of a giant volcano, has begun swelling up. Scientists say it could mean
that molten rock is accumulating beneath the surface.
But a professor of geophysics at the University of Utah --
Robert Smith -- says there is no evidence of an imminent volcanic
eruption. He says many giant volcanic craters around the world go
up and down over decades, without erupting.
Smith and colleagues report in Friday's issue of the journal

Laramie, WY – The city of Gillette is considering mixing
water pumped during coal-bed methane gas production with regular drinking water to stretch the city's supply in the face of a
projected water shortage.

Steve Peterson is Gillette's utility engineering manager. He says the city has spoken with some in the CBM industry about
providing water as a short-term solution. Companies pump water from the ground in coal-bed methane production.

By Elsa Heidorn

Laramie, WY – A Bureau of Land Management wild horse roundup will go ahead this month, after all.

The BLM previously said it did not have the money to gather wild horses and take care of them in Wyoming until 2008. Then Governor Dave Freudenthal and Wyoming's congressional delegation vigorously protested the delay. The Bureau of Land Management's Steven Hall says the BLM heard those protests loud and clear.

By Elsa Partan

Laramie, WY – The reason a proposed statewide smoking ban will not be taken up by a legislative committee is because it does not have enough support. State Senator Charles Scott of Casper says the reason a joint legislative committee bill did not have a chance of being heard in the short budget session that starts in February.

It will be quite controversial and take a lot of time, and that's trouble in a 20-day budget session. I think we have the votes to bring it to the general session, but not to the budget session.

By Addie Goss

Laramie, WY – Two more groups have spoken out against proposed oil and gas leasing by the Bureau of Land Management in the Upper Platte River Valley.

On Tuesday, both the Saratoga Town Council and the Carbon County Commissioners voted to protest the leases. At issue are 26,000 acres bordering the Medicine Bow National Forest. Governor Freudenthal came out against those leases on Saturday, in a letter to the Bureau of Land Management.

Jerry Paxton is a Carbon County Commissioner and owns land in the contested region.

By Elsa Partan

Laramie, WY – The state has seen two apparent domestic violence killings in the last three days.

In one case in Natrona County, the victim, Jennifer Randel, had dated the accused killer for about four years. In that time, authorities say they had been called ten times to respond to domestic violence.

Lovell, Wy – Two people are dead in Lovell following an
apparent murder-suicide yesterday (Monday).
Authorities identified the dead as 22-year-old Brenda Lee Davila
and 23-year-old Steven D. Lopez.
Lovell Police Chief Nick Lewis says Davila was the victim and
Lopez was the lone suspect in the shooting. Four shots were fired
from a handgun in the incident.
Lewis says he wants to see final autopsy results before formally
classifying the incident as a murder-suicide.