Daily news roundup, March 17, 2008
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Mar 17, 2008 Posted by Bill Luckett
The Gillette News-Record leads off the news roundup today with this excellent piece on a wounded Marine’s struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder as he tries to return to a “normal” life in Gillette:
The Casper Star-Tribune is examining our state’s workers’ compensation system in a series of stories this week. Here are a few:
Do injured workers get enough? What’s a leg worth?
‘They turn their backs on us’ (a worker’s story)
Nowhere to turn A smack in the head with a pair of tongs compressed rig worker Richard Johnson's spine.
‘I’m blackballed’ (a worker’s story)
‘They starve you out’ (a worker’s story)
Workers’ comp fraud difficult to measure
Evolution of workers’ compensation in Wyoming (timeline)
In other news, Wyoming Conservation Voters Director Jason Marsden writes on WyoFile.com that the Legislature's passage last week of the large-acre subdivision reform bill was “very good indeed, and historic, one hopes, a start down a path that leads to a Wyoming where rural residential development reflects and sustains our values and conserves our resources”:
Subdivided we stand … together
With gasoline prices already climbing past their summer highs of last year, filling the tank for this year's vacation looks likely to cost more than ever. But area tourism industry representatives say they aren't worried:
Experts: High gas costs won’t hurt tourism
From Wyoming Public Radio: Trucking companies in Wyoming and across country are struggling to absorb the rising cost of diesel fuel:
Antelope Coal Mine is asking the Bureau of Land Management to put out to bid a lease to mine about 465 million tons of federal coal:
Converse asks BLM for expanded coal lease
The state of Wyoming this week will ask a federal appeals court in Denver to uphold a state law that allows people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to regain their firearms rights:
State argues against feds in gun case
New “recovery homes” are aimed to help transition recovering substance abusers from residential or intensive out-patient care back into normal life. The recovery homes will fill the void between the drug treatment center and returning home:
New transitional facilities provide bridge to home for recovering addicts
There have been few squawks about the money allocated for local governments this session. All told, the cities, towns and counties got $383 million for the coming biennium that begins July 1:
Few complain about biennial budget
A $190 million infusion from the Legislature for highways will spur a flurry of construction this year and next, with a focus on areas hard-hit by energy development:
Although he doesn't support spending a lot of money to redo the state Capitol Building, Gov. Dave Freudenthal vetoed only parts of a bill designed to overhaul the old structure:
Gov. Freudenthal rejects parts of Capitol remodel bill
State Rep. Alan Jones is retiring from the Legislature. The Republican from Powell has represented House District 25 over five terms since 2000. He was appointed to the position in July of 1999 after the death of Rep. Denny Smith:
State Rep. Alan Jones to retire
From the Gillette paper: “We feel that a lot of people are not being represented in the state of Wyoming by any trade organization, including the Wyoming Stock Growers Association,” said Independent Cattlemen of Wyoming (ICOW) President June McCullough. “We kept saying maybe we should start our own organization that would be more responsive to the members. … So we formed our own group.”:
New cattlemen’s group tackles issues on its own terms
Wyoming Public Radio reports that the state Department of Family Services says a $2 million appropriation to help communities around Wyoming set up local programs for troubled youth will save the state money in the long run:
DFS: Juvenile services bill saves money in long run
Some first-time engineers tried their luck Thursday managing the Yellowtail Dam, controlling for an entire year the water levels of Bighorn Lake and the flow into the Big Horn River downstream:
Amateurs get a shot at managing Yellowtail Dam
A small herd of elk is beginning to move south from the Red Rim area where 35 elk have died of apparent lichen poisoning since March 5:
Elk heading south from Red Rim area
A national park advocacy group is calling on the National Park Service to do a better job of keeping snowmobiles from trespassing in Yellowstone National Park:
Advocacy group: Monitor trespassing Yellowstone snowmobiles
The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reports that, this spring, the city of Cheyenne is asking voters to approve building a $55 million community and recreation center:
Voters to decide fate of recreation center
Finally, the British Broadcasting Company gets to the bottom of today’s zaniness: