Willow Belden

The Cheyenne Police Department has wrapped up a program that was intended to help the homeless get access to shelter and other services, and keep them out of jail.

The Homeless Empowerment Action Team, or HEAT, consisted of police officers and Robin Zimmer, the director of the COMEA homeless shelter. They went around town, informed homeless people of laws about loitering and panhandling, and told them about available social services.

Increased coal exports overseas bring up questions of royalty payments
Coal producers in the U.S. are looking to markets abroad to make up for decreasing demand at home. But a recent investigation by Thomson Reuters news service suggests there might be royalty underpayments on those shipments. Wyoming Public Radio’s Irina Zhorov reports that royalty question is still unresolved.

The Governor’s Arts Awards will be presented this Friday. The awards honor some of the state’s best artists, but Arts Council Manager Rita Basom says when picking winners, they look at more than just the quality of someone’s work.

“You’re also looking at what they have brought to the state of Wyoming,” Basom said. “Not just the fact that they do very high-quality work, but that they are bringing attention to the state, serving the state in various ways.”

The Found Footage Festival, which is a collection of film clips acquired by donation or found at thrift stores around the country, is coming to Wyoming this week.

Curator Nick Prueher says many of the films are old instructional videos, like how to train your ferret, or how to learn Japanese.

“They’re all really silly, and I guess the litmus test for us is whether they’re unintentionally funny,” Prueher said. “Whatever the video was trying to do, it has to fail at in some entertaining way.”

New rules from Wyoming’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, require workers to wear flame-resistant clothing near wellbore holes, and require emergency shut-down devices on diesel engines used on drill rigs.

OSHA’s John Ysebaert says flame-resistant clothing has made a big difference for worker’s safety during two recent incidents. One was a fire at the Sinclair Oil refinery.

“There were injuries, but it absolutely saved lives and … reduced those injuries,”Ysebaert said.

Governor Matt Mead is considering requiring companies to test for groundwater contamination before drilling for oil or gas.

The new requirement would be part of the Mead’s energy strategy for the state. The goal is to make it easier to determine whether contaminated water was the result of energy production.

Jill Morrison with the Powder River Basin Resource Council says the proposed requirement is long overdue.

The Wyoming legislature wraps up its second week today.  Wyoming Public Radio's Bob Beck is covering the session and joins us now to talk about lawmakers' attempts to restructure how the state's schools are governed.

A new report by the Pew Center shows that Wyoming is not doing enough to keep children’s teeth from decaying.

The report gave Wyoming a failing grade. That’s because the state doesn’t administer tooth sealants in schools, and doesn’t submit information about children’s dental health to a national database, among other reasons.

But William Maas with the Pew Center says Wyoming’s situation isn’t as bleak as it sounds.

“The good news is that overall in the state, almost half of the children have received sealants,” Maas said.

Rep. Lummis appointed to US House Subcommittee on Energy
Wyoming’s Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis has been appointed to chair the U.S. House of Representatives’ Science Subcommittee on Energy. The subcommittee will oversee energy research, development and demonstration projects. Lummis spoke with Rebecca Martinez from the Capitol press room in Cheyenne this week.

Wyoming’s chief game warden, Brian Nesvik, tells Willow Belden the smoothness of this year’s wolf hunt shows that the state’s wolf management plan is sound. But Sylvia Fallon, the director of the wildlife conservation project for the Natural Resources Defense Council, disagrees. Her group is one of several environmental organizations that’s suing the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service over its decision to remove Wyoming wolves from the Endangered Species List. She says state quotas for how many wolves can be killed are too generous.

  The storm that’s bringing snow to western Wyoming is also increasing the risk of avalanches. The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center says heavy snowfall and high winds mean that naturally occurring avalanches are likely at high elevations. The center’s Bob Comey says human activity could easily trigger avalanches at lower elevations, too. He says skiers and snowmobilers should bring avalanche safety equipment and take courses to learn how to recognize the dangers. “Avalanche terrain is somewhat fickle,” Comey said.

The Audubon Society’s annual Christmas bird counts are getting underway this weekend in towns across Wyoming. The bird counts are meant to keep track of population and migration trends.

Jacelyn Downey is a naturalist with Audubon Rockies  and she says drought in the Southern U.S. in recent years has forced birds further north than usual.

Researchers at the University of Wyoming conducting a study to figure out whether sage grouse core areas provide benefits to other species.

The group’s Matt Kauffman says it’s commonly assumed that the answer is yes.

“This is part of what ecologists call the umbrella species concept – that by protecting one species you can protect other species that use a similar habitat,” Kauffman said.

Converse County oil boom draws concerns from residents
In October, we reported that Chesapeake Energy had drilled a series of oil wells near Douglas, very close to people’s houses. Chesapeake says the area will likely continue to be a core drilling region. That has some area residents uneasy. Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow Belden reports.

Chesapeake Energy told a crowd of nearly 200 people that Converse County will continue to be a hot spot for oil production.  The discussion was part of a public meeting last night in Douglas.

Chesapeake did not say how much oil production will actually occur in the area, but company officials and state regulators tried to allay concerns about the risks associated with flaring and fracking.

Chesapeake’s Sandy Andrew said the ingredients in frack fluid are largely benign.

Gambling addiction in Fremont County could be on rise, but not on radar

There have been rumors that Fremont County is experiencing a rise in gambling addiction amongst its residents. Wyoming Public Radio’s Irina Zhorov reports that whether the rumors are true or not is still unclear, but some services are popping up to address it regardless.

A group of parents are trying to get dual-language immersion programs set up in Casper. They’d like two elementary schools to start these programs, and the focus would be on Spanish and Chinese.

Thea True-Wells is the parent who’s spearheading the effort. She joins me now to talk about it, along with Ann Tollefson, an outside consultant who has evaluated dual language programs in other states.    

To listen to the November 30, 2012 Wyoming Open Spaces program, please click here.

INTRO: Each year, the Game and Fish Department discovers dozens of wildlife crimes in Wyoming. They range from hunting without a license, to killing an animal from the road. The department takes these infractions very seriously, and runs a cutting-edge wildlife forensics lab to investigate them. Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow visited the lab and filed this report.

Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, and the Wyoming Department of Health is urging sexually active Wyomingites to get tested for STDs.

Epidemiologist Courtney Smith says it’s easier to contract HIV if you already have another STD.

“If people are already infected with an STD, it can cause things such as a chancre or a sore that can kind of cause a pathway for HIV to transmit through,” Smith said.

Smith says that anyone who is sexually active should get tested annually, and adds that they should also get tested any time they have a new partner.

Grand Teton National Park officials are warning hunters to be bear aware, after a group of elk hunters shot and killed a male grizzly bear on Thanksgiving. The hunters say the bear charged at them.

Park Spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles says hunters within the park are required to carry bear spray and have it immediately available.

The National Weather Service says Wyoming can expect a warmer-than-usual winter this year.

Temperatures have been above average for more than a year, and Meteorologist Chris Jones says the trend is likely to continue. He says it’s not yet clear how much snow the region will get this winter, but dry conditions would not be surprising.

Jones says that doesn’t bode well for Wyoming’s farmers and ranchers.

Gov. Matt Mead’s energy strategy is beginning to take shape. It is meant to provide a framework for balancing energy production and environmental protection, and should offer more certainty to industry and other stakeholders about energy development in the state.

Mead has devised a series of objectives, including expanding production, investing in more infrastructure, and attracting new industries.

Health Department director proposed new Medicaid Idea 
One of the costs that continues to grow in Wyoming’s budget is the cost of Medicaid.  Lawmakers were so distressed that they ordered the Department of Health to look for ways to control those costs. Department of Health Director Tom Forslund has proposed a plan to address the issue.  But first he explains why those costs have gone up.

State officials are expecting strong voter turnout tomorrow.

Riverton House and Senate Debate Recap
On Thursday night, candidates for U-S House and Senate gathered in Riverton for a set of debates. They answered questions ranging from how to address the Medicare shortfall … to their views on climate change and the energy industry. Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck was one of the moderators … and he joins Willow Belden from Riverton to talk about the debate.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation is trying to determine whether reflectors posted at the side of roads help reduce wildlife collisions.

WYDOT’s Cody Beers says the reflectors are meant to bounce light along the roadside when cars pass, so the animals know not to cross the roads.

“Over the last 20 years there’s been roughly seventy-five thousand documented wildlife-vehicle collisions in the state of Wyoming,” Beers said. “So it’s our hope that we can save lives and save animals’ lives.”

Gov. Mead reflects on GREG report, promises cuts
The Consensus Revenue estimating group came out with projections that lawmakers will have about 85 million more dollars to spend this session.  The CREG report is main tool government officials use to forecast how much money the state will have.  Governor Matt Mead joins Bob Beck to discuss the report and the impact it has on his budget as he prepares to present it in December.

An insurance company says that Wyoming drivers are less likely to hit a deer this year than last.

State Farm agent Jason Paris says last year, the chances of hitting a deer were one in 102, whereas this year, they were one in 113.

“It is encouraging to see the numbers decrease,” Paris said. “That’s a good thing for everybody, because it does cost millions of dollars. Just in the state of Wyoming it’s millions of dollars of damage every year.”