WORLAND, Wyo. (AP) – The Bureau of Reclamation expects above average runoff into Boysen Reservoir in central Wyoming this year.      Agency water specialist Brian Anderson says the snowpack in the Wind River Range is 102 percent of average. Last year at this time was only 72 percent of average.      The 30-year average inflow to Boysen from April to July is about 556,000 acre feet of water.      This year, Anderson says the forecast is for about 600,000 acre feet.      But Anderson tells the Northern Wyoming Daily News that the number is just an estimate and actual flows could be more or less.      —      Information from: Northern Wyoming Daily News, http://www.wyodaily.com … Read entire article »

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says it has nearly cleared a backlog of more than 1,500 unissued oil and gas leases in Wyoming dating back more than two years.      Since last summer, the BLM has issued 1,109 leases and decided to hold off on 222 others. It plans to decide on the final 170 within a couple weeks.      The BLM sold the leases to oil and gas companies as long ago as June, 2008, but didn’t issue them while it sought to address environmentalist concerns. Waiting for important decisions involving endangered species also contributed to the delay.      The backlog prompted the Western Energy Alliance, a petroleum industry association, to sue the BLM last fall. The group now says the BLM has done a good job of clearing the backlog. … Read entire article »

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) – An energy company is offering a $10,000 reward for information about the recent vandalism of a substation in Crook County.      The Gillette News-Record reports that Powder River Energy Corp. is offering the reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of whoever shot at a substation in Crook County on Sunday.      The company says damage to a transformer at the substation caused a power outage to more than 270 customers in Crook and Campbell counties. Power has been restored but more repair work is necessary.      Anyone with information on the vandalism may contact the Crook County Sheriff’s Office. … Read entire article »

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – Sen. Mike Enzi says President Barack Obama’s energy policy is like frosting on a cardboard cake: It looks good on the outside but tastes bad on the inside.      The Wyoming Republican says the Obama administration’s policy has been a mixture of blocking access by locking up land, slow permitting and increased energy taxes and regulation.      Enzi says that is a disconnect from Obama’s stated goal of reducing oil imports.      Enzi says the way to reduce oil imports is to develop more American energy by speeding up the permitting process, expanding clean coal technology and nuclear facilities and opening up more areas to drilling. … Read entire article »

DENVER (AP) – Denver will play host next week to a forum on the nation’s deficit and debt.      Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall will host Colorado’s Common Sense Forum on the Nation’s Debt and Deficit Crisis April 8.      Former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, co-chairman of the presidential fiscal commission, will join the discussion on possible solutions for the nation’s fiscal crisis.      Others expected to attend include former Sen. Gary Hart and former Rep. David Skaggs, both Colorado Democrats.      The fiscal commission proposed a plan last year to reduce the nation’s deficit. Congress hasn’t considered the proposal, and Bennet and Udall are calling for a debate and an up-or-down vote.      The forum will be held at 2 p.m. at the University of Colorado in Denver. … Read entire article »

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – The Wyoming Supreme Court has upheld the child molestation convictions of a former Campbell County fire chief.      The court on Wednesday upheld the convictions of Gary Scott.      Scott had argued that District Judge John Brooks of Campbell County should have rejected a report written by a probation officer. Brooks ultimately sentenced Scott to serve concurrent prison terms totaling up to 15 years.      Scott is serving a separate 24-year federal sentence on 10 felony convictions of taking children across state lines for sexual abuse.      Authorities say most of Scott’s victims were cadets in a junior firefighter program he started after he became fire chief in the early 1990s. The abuse continued until he was arrested in 2007. … Read entire article »

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – How people characterize Thursday night’s scheduled speech at the University of Wyoming by conservative commentator Ann Coulter depends on which side of the political spectrum they fall on.      Conservatives see Coulter as counterbalancing last year’s campus visit by 1960s radical Bill Ayers, while liberals dismiss her as a high-priced entertainer.      Coulter’s speech is titled “Why the liberals are wrong about everything!”      Her speech is sponsored by the university’s College Republicans and a foundation that promotes conservative ideas on college campuses.      An anonymous donor upset with the Ayers visit paid half of Coulter’s $20,000 speaking fee.      The visit by Ayers last April drew many objections from people around the state upset with his anti-war past even though he was invited to speak at UW about education issues. … Read entire article »