Fatal raft accident arguments begin

CHEYENNE -- A jury in Cheyenne must decide whether a 2006 rafting accident that killed three people on the Snake River was strictly a tragic accident or the result of a private company's negligence.

Lawyers gave opening statements Tuesday in a federal lawsuit that relatives of the three victims have filed against the Grand Teton Lodge Company. The private company offers lodging, rafting and other services in Grand Teton National Park.

Mel Orchard, lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the jury the company was responsible for underplaying the danger of river rafting.

But Maryjo Falcone, lawyer for the lodge company, told the jury the deaths were a tragic accident for which no one is to blame.

The three passengers died when the raft hit a log and dumped them into the river.

Man faces counterfeit charge

CHEYENNE -- A Wyoming man has been charged with counterfeiting money to pay an exotic dancer for a private performance.

Fifty-year-old Rickey A. Kempter faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors say Kempter hired the exotic dancer for a private dance at the Lariat Motel, and Kempter and the dancer shared a taxi to the location. The taxi driver called police after they arrived, saying Kempter asked him to hold a roll of $50 bills and he noticed that they looked odd and were not cut evenly.

Court documents say Kempter told investigators that he made the bills on a printer in his home, but that he planned to go home and get real money to pay the dancer.

Embezzlement leads to probation

JACKSON -- A woman who pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $11,000 from her employer nearly a decade ago has been sentenced to seven years of supervised probation.

Ninth District Judge Nancy Guthrie said she had planned to sentence 60-year-old Barbara McHughes to five years in prison, but changed her mind after reviewing how McHughes lived for the last 10 years.

Prosecutor Jim Radda said McHughes had two previous embezzlement convictions and lied to Sunrise Home Center, a lumberyard, on her job application.

Defense attorney Rob Stepans said McHughes didn't know there was a warrant for her arrest for several years and was never picked up because in the last decade she hasn't gotten so much as a parking or speeding ticket.

Stamp will feature wolverine

CHEYENNE -- Wyoming plans to feature the wolverine on its next conservation stamp.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department selects one species each year for its conservation stamp contest.

The artist who creates the winning stamp design wins a cash award of $3,500. The second place winner receives $1,500 and third place pays $750.

The competition is open to professional artists and entries for the contest will be accepted from Jan. 1- Feb. 26.

The winning artwork will appear on the 2011 Wyoming conservation stamp.