JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) – A judge in Washington, D.C., has ruled against five environmental groups and upheld supplemental feeding of elk and bison on the National Elk Refuge.      U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled Friday that the groups failed to show why a short timeline for eliminating feeding on the refuge was necessary.      The Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife, the National Wildlife Refuge Association and Wyoming Outdoor Council argued that elk feeding needed to end for a variety of reasons, including that feeding encouraged disease.      Leon pointed out that federal and state agencies have not ruled out phasing out supplemental feeding on the refuge. He questioned the environmentalists’ claim that a plan for managing the refuge would allow feeding to continue indefinitely.      —      Information from: The Gillette News Record – Gillette, http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com … Read entire article »

POWELL, Wyo. (AP) – The Park County Sheriff’s Department plans to start using county jail inmate work crews to clean up roadside trash.      Sheriff Scott Steward says the program will include low-risk inmates who volunteer for the duty. Crews will be made up of three or four inmates under officer supervision.      Steward says only inmates who have exhibited good behavior will be eligible for the work crews. The inmates won’t be shackled like in the movies.      Steward says he visited with sheriffs in Teton and Uinta counties, where similar programs are in place, to develop the plan.      Park County also uses inmate workers to do janitorial work at the jail. Steward says he sees the work crews and the opportunity for fresh air as an incentive for good inmate behavior.      —      Information from: Powell Tribune – Powell, http://www.powelltribune.com … Read entire article »

WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. (AP) – Officials say it’s not yet clear what impact a new nuclear weapons agreement between the U.S. and Russia will have on Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne.      Warren’s 90th Missile Wing maintains 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.      The agreement, reached Friday, calls for both countries to reduce the number of their nuclear warheads to 1,550 from 2,200 and to cut the number of their missiles and bombers capable of carrying the warheads.      Ellen Tauscher, the undersecretary of state for arms control, says details of the agreement are still being worked out but should be completed in April.      —      Information from: Wyoming Tribune Eagle – Cheyenne, http://www.wyomingnews.com      (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.) … Read entire article »

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) – The body of a Wyoming Marine who was killed in Afghanistan will be flown to Gillette on Wednesday, and his funeral is scheduled for Thursday.      The Defense Department says 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Jacob A. Ross died March 24 in combat operations in Helmand Province.      The plane bearing Ross’ body is scheduled to arrive at the Gillette-Campbell County Airport at noon Wednesday. His casket will be removed from the plane in a private ceremony and taken to Family Life Church with an honor procession.      Visitation will be Wednesday at the church, and the funeral will be at the church at 10 a.m. Thursday. Burial will be in Mount Pisgah Cemetery.      Ross was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.      —      Information from: The Gillette News … Read entire article »

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) – A Tetonia, Idaho, man has been placed on three to five years of probation over vandalism at a camp outside Alta, Wyo., and an attempted burglary at a home in Alta.      Nineteen-year-old Colby Matkin was sentenced Thursday. He pleaded no contest Dec. 7 to felony property destruction at the Darby Girls Camp and felony attempted burglary.      He must pay $600 to the owners of the home in Alta. He and co-defendants must jointly pay up to $6,612 in restitution to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns the girls’ camp.      Co-defendant Kenneth Byington of Polaris, Mont., was sentenced in December to five years of supervised probation and to chip in with restitution.      Another co-defendant Lucas Johnson is in custody in Idaho.      —      Information from: Jackson Hole News And Guide, … Read entire article »

RAWLINS, Wyo. (AP) – Firefighters are investigating three blazes in downtown Rawlins that Fire Chief Scott Hannum says appear suspicious.      It wasn’t immediately known how the fires started Tuesday afternoon. All were about two blocks apart.      One was under an overpass, one was in a garbage can and the third was on the outside wall of a garage.      Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames quickly despite gusts of up to 53 mph Tuesday.      —      Information from: Rawlins Daily Times, http://www.rawlinstimes.com … Read entire article »

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) – An Evansville woman charged in an alleged identity-theft scheme is facing four new charges.      Thirty-five-year-old Theresa Kay Fullerton appeared in court Tuesday on new charges including aiding and abetting burglary, receiving stolen property and unauthorized use of personal identification.      She already faced four charges in a case in which police say a stolen laptop was used to buy $5,000 worth of items online that were delivered to a local home. Police say Fullerton and her boyfriend, William Goodwine, tried to pick up the packages.      Police say the investigation into that case turned up allegations that the pair stole mail and used them in schemes involving fake IDs, leading to the new charges.      —      Information from: Casper Star-Tribune – Casper, http://www.trib.com … Read entire article »

POWELL, Wyo. (AP) – An award-winning filmmaker with a personal connection to Heart Mountain in northern Wyoming is creating a short film about the internment camp.      The film by Steven Okazaki will be shown at a new museum that will open next year at Heart Mountain near Powell.      Okazaki won an Academy Award for his 1990 documentary, “Days of Waiting.”      His father was among the 11,000 internees at Heart Mountain.      The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation has raised $3.5 million toward a goal of $5.3 million for an interpretive learning center under construction at the site of the former camp.      Heart Mountain was one of 10 camps across the country where Japanese-Americans were held during World War II.      —      Information from: Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com      (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.) … Read entire article »