Casper, Wy – Shifting winds today (Wednesday) continued to drive the Jackson
Canyon fire through heavy timber on Casper Mountain, south of
Casper. But firefighters have prevented the loss of homes there so
far.
The fire is burning about five miles south of Casper. It spread
from a reported eight-thousand acres this morning (Wednesday) up to
96-hundred acres by noon. That's about 15 square miles and hundreds
of residents have been evacuated from their homes.
A top-level federal fire management team took over control of

Laramie, WY – A wildfire is threatening several hundred homes near Casper Mountain at this hour. One hundred firefighters are battling the fire tonight and another hundred will likely join them by tomorrow morning. An official says the fire jumped containment lines today, pushing fire crews back to protect threatened homes in the Casper Mountain subdivision. Bill Crapser is the Wyoming state forester. He says the six-thousand-acre-fire is not the biggest he's seen this season, but it's a bad one.

By Elsa Heidorn

By AP

Cheyenne, Wy – Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal
declared a state of emergency this afternoon (Tuesday) as winds pushed a fast-moving wildfire toward hundreds of
evacuated homes south of Casper.
Officials said winds were driving flames and had forced
firefighters to pull back in places this afternoon.
The fire had burned about five-thousand acres by mid-afternoon
today. The fire has burned areas of Casper Mountain.
Freudenthal says his office is pushing to get more federal

Laramie, Wy – Despite proposals for such things as more state money for roads and other infrastructure needs, the speaker of the house says Wyoming leaders are going to have to more closely watch the budget. Randall Luthi says in the past couple of years the state had of surplus or more money then they thought they would get. But he says it is looking more and more like Wyoming's revenue picture is stabilizing.

By Bob Beck

Laramie, WY – Wyoming health officals warn that a surge in sexually transmitted diseases may be linked to methamphetamine use.

State STD and hepatitis coordinator Greg Welch says the state is on pace to see a 25 percent increase in Chlamydia cases alone. He blames part of the increase on methamphetamine use because the drug can lead to risky sexual behavior. Welch adds that many of these cases involve people who have had sex with multiple partners and may not know that they have a disease.

Laramie, WY – A recent study concludes that immigration does not appear to have affected employment rates of U-S-born workers in Wyoming and Montana over the last 15 years.

The report by the Pew Hispanic Center says that Wyoming in fact rose in the state rankings for its U-S-born employment rate from 2000 to 2004. That happened even as the state's immigration population grew sharply.

The study did find that in 23 states there was a correlation between immigration and declining job prospects for people who were born in the U-S.

Laramie, WY – The Wyoming state forester says aspen
stands are in decline here just as they are in other Western
states.

State Forester Bill Crapser says that as Wyoming's aspen stands
are aging, conifers are taking over.

Much of Wyoming's aspen stands are on federal land. Crapser said that places limits on what the state government can do.

Crapser said the extended drought also has had an impact on the health of aspens in Wyoming.

Laramie, Wy – Wyoming will easily meet the goal of having four billion dollars in the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund by the year two thousand ten. In fact, it will probably get there by two thousand nine, and legislators don't have to do another thing. That's according to the state treasurer's office. Michael Walden-Newman is the Chief Investment Officer for the treasurer. "As it turns out, the goal of having the state's Permanent Mineral Trust Fund reach four billion by 2010 I think was more easily achievable than people imagined at the time.