Man gets jail for hunt violations

WORLAND -- A Worland man has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and fined $10,200 for various hunting violations.

In addition, Keith Searle lost his hunting privileges, must forfeit all deer antlers in his possession and must pay $8,000 in restitution.

He also was placed on four years of supervised probation and may not possess any hunting gear.

The charges against Searle included taking an animal without a license, accessory to taking a deer without a license and purchasing a license while under suspension.

State game authorities say Searle committed the offenses while his hunting privileges were suspended from an earlier hunting violation.

Searle's attorney contended that he hunted the deer to provide meat for his family.

Geithner will pick quarter design

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will decide which quarter design will be used to commemorate Yellowstone National Park next year.

Three designs were submitted for the tails side of a new Yellowstone quarter, which will be a part of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. None received unanimous support from the judges.

The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, which reviewed the designs in September, chose one depicting a bison standing in front of Old Faithful geyser. But the Commission of Fine Arts didn't like any of the options, all of which include variations of the iconic geyser.

With no ringing endorsement, Geithner will make the final decision.

The Yellowstone quarter will be the second issued under the program. The first will honor Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas.

Diseases surfaces in new spots

BUFFALO -- The Wyoming Game and Fish Department says chronic wasting disease has turned up in two northern Wyoming hunt areas for the first time.

The department lab in Laramie confirmed this week that a bull elk killed Oct. 21 in hunt area 35, southwest of Buffalo, tested positive for the neurological disease.

Also, the department says a mule deer buck killed Oct. 15 in the Spring Creek drainage southeast of Ten Sleep also tested positive.

The disease has now been detected in nine hunting areas in the Big Horn Basin.

Chronic wasting disease can affect moose, deer and elk.

There's no evidence the disease is transferred to humans, but the department recommends against eating animals that look sick or test positive for the disease.

Former Rawlins cop arrested

RAWLINS -- Authorities say a former Rawlins police captain wanted on criminal charges has been arrested in Virginia.

Carbon County Sheriff Jerry Colson said Lee Meacham was taken into custody at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., on Monday morning. There will be a legal process to return him to Wyoming.

Meacham, who is also a former Carbon County commissioner, went missing after county prosecutors filed multiple felony and misdemeanor charges against him. The nature of the charges hasn't been released.

Meacham was found last week working for a Dubai-based contractor in Afghanistan.

In 2007, a former Rawlins resident sued Meacham and the city, saying Meacham sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager. She received a $250,000 cash settlement.

Board selects hospital manager

RAWLINS -- A company has been selected to manage the financially troubled hospital in Rawlins.

The Memorial Hospital of Carbon County Board members selected Quorum Health Resources during a special meeting Tuesday evening.

A management firm is being hired because the hospital has required $1.8 million in assistance from the county to pay bills and meet payroll in 2009.

Officials hope the firm will help identify operational and financial problem areas and help correct them.

Contract negotiations are to proceed immediately between Quorum and hospital officials.

McBride offers thoughts on law

CHEYENNE -- Superintendent of Public Instruction Jim McBride says incentives would be a better way to go than punishments in the federal No Child Left Behind Law.

That's one of McBride's draft recommendations for improving the law, which is coming up for reauthorization in Congress. Another suggestion: Give states more flexibility in implementing the law.

McBride says he's now seeking comments from Wyoming educators, business leaders and the general public to get their ideas about reforming No Child Left Behind.

He says he speaks often with U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi about No Child Left Behind. Enzi is a member of the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee and will be involved in the law's reauthorization.

The goal of the law is for all students to be proficient in all subjects by 2014.