From the Basin Radio Network Newscenter…
For November 14, 2007
Audio Version
LOCAL NEWS
The U. S. Marshal's Service says deputies had to subdue a federal inmate at the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center on Sunday. The Marshal's Service issued a statement alleging that Kelvin Jerome Fuller pulled a homemade knife and tried to take a nurse hostage. The statement says deputy marshals subdued him with a Taser. The nurse was treated at the medical center's emergency room and released. Authorities are investigating how Fuller got the piece of metal that they say he fashioned into a knife. Fuller is charged with robbing a bank in Moorcroft this summer. He was arrested the next day in Montana. Fuller had been on the run since escaping from an Indiana prison on Aug. 1. Daniel G. Blythe is an assistant federal defender and represents Fuller in the bank robbery case. Blythe said Tuesday he had no comment on the allegations that Fuller tried to take a nurse hostage.
It's cleanup time after strong winds brought down trees around Casper. One tree fell on a man's house Tuesday. But winds remained strong enough throughout the day that the trees couldn't be removed. The wind was strong even for Wyoming. It came on a cold front that pushed over the state starting Monday evening. The strongest gust in the state was 127 mph, recorded in northern Wyoming late Monday night. Gusts reached 74 mph in Casper and 91 mph west of Buffalo. Along Interstate 80, gusts reached 84 mph, strong enough to tip over trucks. The Wyoming Highway Patrol says the wind tipped over three tractor-trailers and two pickups with trailers between Laramie and Rawlins.
Fall 2007 turkey seasons in Hunt Areas 3 and 7 (Sheridan and Johnson Counties) are open October 1 – December 31. The fall turkey season for Hunt Area 5 in Campbell County is October 1 – November 30. Hunt Area 1 in Crook County and northern Weston County is open November 1 - 30. Most turkeys in Areas 3, 5 and 7 are found on private land, so hunters are reminded to obtain access permission from landowners. Area 1 includes the Black Hills area near Sundance, where more public land is available to hunters. A general turkey license valid for hunting areas 1, 3, 5 and 7 is being offered for the 2007 fall season. General licenses are unlimited in number and can be used anywhere a general turkey license is valid. These licenses may be purchased at license agents. Turkey hunting presents a special opportunity to introduce first-time hunters to the sport. Turkeys can often be found near creek and river drainages. Young people must possess a hunter safety card, a conservation stamp and a turkey license while turkey hunting. Anyone born after Jan. 1, 1966 must have a hunter safety card while hunting.
STATE NEWS
A judge has ruled that state courts lack the authority to order Gov. Dave Freudenthal to approve regulations to limit water discharged by coal-bed methane wells. Freudenthal in April rejected rules developed by the state Environmental Quality Council. The Powder River Basin Resource Council filed suit in response. The Wyoming Attorney Generals office asked District Judge Edward Grant of Cheyenne to dismiss the case. In a ruling last week, Grant agreed. He said the Governor's Office is not a state agency in the rule-making context. The judge ruled that there's no statutory right to petition the courts for review of the governor's actions.
A fire that began in a hayfield near Clark in far northern Wyoming destroyed at least two outbuildings. The fire started around 6 p. m. Monday and continued to burn Tuesday. Fire departments responded from Clark, Red Lodge, Mont., Belfry, Mont., Powell and Cody. Also, three engines were on the scene from the Bureau of Land Management, and a hand crew arrived from Newcastle. Strong winds fanned the blaze. Fire marshal Sam Wilde said it's been difficult obtaining people and equipment to fight a wildfire this late in the year. Typically the fire season would have ended two months ago, but several large wildfires have been burning around Montana this week.
Senator John Barrasso has introduced a bill that would withhold 10 percent of federal highway funds from states that issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Barrasso said concern about national security ought to prohibit people who are in the United States illegally from getting driver's licenses. Under Barrasso's bill, states would have to verify that each driver's license applicant is in the country legally. The bill would redistribute withheld funding to states that follow the law. Wyoming doesn't issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. But many Latinos in Jackson say that ought to change. They say allowing immigrants to have driver's licenses would help guarantee that those drivers have car insurance.
Residents in Cheyenne say they're disturbed by white supremacist leaflets that were left on cars around town. Police Chief Bob Fecht says half a dozen people complained about the leaflets advertising a group called the Nationalist Coalition. One leaflet read: "Immigration? or INVASION." Another leaflet showed a picture of a white, blond-haired woman with the words, "LOVE YOUR RACE." Gretchen McCarthy said three fliers were rolled up with a rubber band and placed on her car antenna. She said she was worried because she has six adopted children of different races. Leaflets were left on cars parked on several blocks in her neighborhood. Leaflets also were left on nearly every car at a Kohl's department store.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal wrapped up his attendance at the 20th World Energy Congress and Exhibition in Rome today. In a telephone interview, Freudenthal says he's been impressed at the conference that companies around the world are striving to manage carbon emissions associated with global warming. The conference drew about 3,000 representatives from power companies and gas producers worldwide. Freudenthal has been openly critical of the federal government here, saying it has failed to give the domestic energy industry clear direction how it intends to address the climate change issue. Wyoming is the nation's largest coal-producing state. About 3,000 representatives from power companies and gas producers from around the world attended the conference. Freudenthal says he was struck by talk at the conference about the expected doubling of the world's energy requirements in the next 30 to 35 years. Freudenthal says the future of coal as part of the world's larger energy market will depend on a greater effort to develop some of these clean coal technologies that capture carbon emissions.