DOUGLAS, Wyo. (AP) -Wyomingauthorities are searching for a ConverseCountydeputy who disappeared after going into the North PlatteRiverinDouglasto try to help a girl struggling in the water.      Undersheriff Don Schoenleber says Deputy Bryan Gross went into the river at about 5 p.m. Thursday. He entered the river near the DouglasYellowstoneBridge, which joins both sides of the town 50 miles east ofCasper.      Schoenleber says searchers looked for Gross until nightfall. He says between 30 to 40 people, including some using boats and aircraft, resumed the search at 6 a.m. Friday.      Other emergency workers recovered the girl about a mile downstream on Thursday evening and took her to a hospital.      The North Platte River nearDouglasis higher than normal following heavy snows last winter. … Read entire article »

CHEYENNE,Wyo.(AP) – A Cheyenne police officer is becoming the first woman in the history to the Cheyenne Police Department to be promoted to the rank of sergeant.      The police department plans a ceremony on Aug. 1 to promote Det. Cathleen Trujillo to sergeant. Cheyenne Police Chief Brian Kozak saysTrujillowill supervise a squad of patrol officers.     Trujillostarted with the department in 1994. She has served as a crime scene technician, arson investigator, field training officer and as a detective specializing in person crimes. She also has served recently as a task force officer for the Internet Crimes Against Children unit at the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. … Read entire article »

CHEYENNE,Wyo.(AP) -Wyomingofficials say they aren’t taking up a last-minute effort byTetonCountyto prevent wolves from being shot on sight there.      They say they’ve all but reached a deal with the Interior Department in whichWyoming’s wolves would join those inIdahoand Montanain being removed from endangered species protection.      The plan would protect wolves in northwestWyoming, where hunting wolves would require a special permit. Elsewhere in Wyoming, wolves could be shot on sight.      The boundary between the two zones crossesTetonCounty. Teton County commissioners recently asked Gov. Matt Mead to move the proposed boundary further south, saying wolves benefit their local tourist economy.      Mead’s policy adviser on endangered species, Steve Ferrell, says the boundary is long established and neither side is discussing changing it now. … Read entire article »

BILLINGS,Mont.(AP) – Gun control advocates and law enforcement groups are asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a lower court ruling that said states cannot shrug off federal gun laws and replace them with their own.      TheBradyCenterto Prevent Gun Violence, International Brotherhood of Police Officers and other groups this week urged the appellate panel to reject a gun rights lawsuit launched inMontana as unconstitutional.      The lawsuit argues states should decide rules to control the sale and purchase of guns and paraphernalia made inside their borders. It involvesMontana,Utah,Alabama,Idaho,South Carolina, South Dakota,WyomingandWest Virginia.      Opponents say state “firearm freedom acts” would allow felons to obtain guns without background checks and make it harder to trace guns used in crimes. … Read entire article »