Chase in west Casper leads to arrest

Following a brief car chase, Casper police officers arrested two men early Thursday morning.

Officers clocked an SUV going about 50 miles an hour past the Peerless Tire parking lot on CY Avenue, according to the report.

The driver of the SUV, Levi Michael Rosales, 23, didn't immediately stop the vehicle after police lights began flashing, according to the report. The SUV came to a stop at CY and Wyoming Boulevard for about five seconds according to the report, but took off as an officer attempted to speak to him by way of the police cruiser's speaker system.

The SUV traveled west on CY Avenue at speeds of 25 to 40 miles an hour, according to the report, and then it pulled a U-turn near the Robertson Road intersection. More officers joined the pursuit, and "channeled" the SUV to a complete stop.

Rosales got out of the vehicle, and a passenger, David Roland Gonzales, 28, had to be forcibly pulled from the car, according to the report. Inside the vehicle, police found a couple of cases of beer and what was believed to be marijuana.

Rosales was charged with eluding officers, driving with a suspended license, driving under the influence, possession of a controlled substance and speeding.

Police arrested Gonzales on charges of having an open container and possession of a controlled substance.

Police cars get makeover

They're still Ford Crown Victorias. They're still serving and protecting. But any new Casper Police Department squad cars that roll off the assembly line and make their way here will have something the current cruisers don't - a new and different paint job.

Officer Bob Wegner described the new color as "ice blue." It's the first design update for Casper's squad cars since about 1993, he said.

The first of the new-look cars got a positive review from the masses at Parade Day, Wegner said. He said the public offered a lot of positive comments.

The style for the new vehicles was determined democratically among officers, Wegner said. He said he threw several potential design patterns up on a board at the police station, and let everyone make their picks. The style that finished second, he said, was an old black and white model.

Ice blue, however, prevailed.

"We didn't want to go backwards," he said. "We wanted to go forward."

Expect to see more of the new models on the streets soon, he said. Six older squad cars are being traded in for new models, and four more squad cars are being ordered to expand the fleet.

Dean Morgan educator named new teacher of year

Dean Morgan Junior High School teacher Lucas Dow has been named 2007 New Teacher of the Year by the Wyoming Association of Career and Technical Education. He received the award at the WACTE annual conference in Powell in June. Dow now will advance to the Region IX conference in San Diego, where he will represent Wyoming, the Natrona County School District reported in a release.

In order to receive this award, a teacher must have taught fewer than five years and must show outstanding leadership in his or her field. Dow is a seventh- through ninth-grade vocational teacher at DMJH. He teaches woods, small gas engines and exploring technology. This fall, he will take a new position as the instructor of the Youth Build Program, where he will teach at-risk high school students trade skills such as construction and home-building.

No parking on Wyoming Boulevard, even during fair

Temporary signs will be in place to remind Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo attendees that Wyoming Boulevard is a highway, and not a parking lot, according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation.

Because Wyoming Boulevard now has a center left turn lane, it is considered a five-lane highway, according to WYDOT spokesman Jim Nations. It's illegal to park along the curb in the travel lane on a five-lane highway, which several fairgoers have done in recent days, Nations said in a release.

WYDOT is coordinating with the Natrona County Fair Board and the City of Casper to ensure that fair attendees are aware that parking along Wyoming Boulevard is illegal and also dangerous. Temporary signs will be in place to remind drivers that no parking is allowed. Violators risk being ticketed or having their vehicles towed.