Airport confiscates chief's gun

GILLETTE -- Security workers confiscated a pistol from Gillette Police Chief Rich Adriaens' briefcase as he went through screening at Gillette-Campbell County Airport.

Adriaens said he accidentally left his service firearm in his luggage when he went to the airport Thursday morning. He called it an embarrassing oversight.

Airport security turned the gun over to the Campbell County Sheriff's Office, which will hold the weapon until Adriaens returns to town.

It's not the first time a Wyoming police chief has misplaced his gun.

In 2005, former Laramie police chief Bob Deutsch left his loaded service pistol in a restaurant bathroom. A customer found the gun and returned it to police.

Gov appeals document suit

CHEYENNE -- Gov. Dave Freudenthal has appealed a court ruling over whether he can keep budget recommendations from state agency heads secret from the public.

Freudenthal and state Department of Health Director Dr. Brent Sherard filed the appeal with the state Supreme Court on Sept. 2.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle sued the governor and two state agencies in May for withholding budget cuts proposed by state agencies.

On Aug. 4, Laramie County District Judge Edward L. Grant ruled the governor should not have kept state agency budget recommendations secret.

The governor contends that the state shouldn't have to make such documents public.

Rest stop open Saturday

University of Wyoming football fans and other travelers on Highway 487 between Casper and Laramie for the game against the Texas Longhorns on Saturday should be able to rest at the rim -- the Shirley Rim Rest Area that is -- according to Jeff Goetz, public involvement specialist for WYDOT District 2.

The rest area at mile marker 45 is to be open on "home football Saturdays," according to the contract, Goetz said. It has been closed since Sept. 2 to address two separate issues.

"This is a contract job, not a WYDOT job," Goetz said. "It's supposed to be open on home football Saturdays according to the contract."

Workers are replacing the evaporation pond liners located across the highway from the rest area, and crews are trenching the driveway to prepare for utility installation for a caretaker's pad.

Travelers over the Labor Day weekend were surprised to find the rest area closed with road barricades across each driveway.

Man pleads not guilty

GILLETTE -- A 36-year-old Gillette man has pleaded not guilty to sex abuse charges.

Lawrence James Knutson was arraigned in District Court on a charge of second-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual abuse on Tuesday. Prosecutors say the charges are in connection with the molestation of two young girls in 2004 and 2008.

If convicted, he faces up to 70 years in prison on both counts.