From wire reports

Earthquake swarm strikes Yellowstone

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK - Sixteen small earthquakes with magnitudes up to 2.7 shook the park's Pitchstone Plateau last week.

The quakes were detected by seismographs operated by the University of Utah and partners.

They began Monday, just before midnight. The largest occurred at 3:09 a.m. Tuesday and the quakes continued until Wednesday, according to Bob Smith, a University of Utah professor.

"I was up working and watching these, saying 'Whoa, what does this all mean?"' he said. "It kept my interest quite high."

The quakes occurred on the southern edge of a volcano caldera at the center of Yellowstone. The volcano last erupted 70,000 years ago.

Smith said earthquake swarms are common in Yellowstone. As many as 70 swarms of small earthquakes have occurred in the region between 1983 and 2006.

Probably no one felt the most recent quakes, Smith said.

Trial in Gillette DUI crash could begin Monday

GILLETTE - The trial of a woman accused of killing a 10-year-old girl in a drunken driving crash is scheduled to begin Monday.

LaDonna Carothers is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide for allegedly causing the Oct. 17 crash that killed Madison Scalzo.

Jury selection was slated to begin at 9 a.m. Monday.

On Oct. 17, Carothers was driving a car that crashed into the side of a van. Two days later, Scalzo, a passenger in the van, died from her injuries.

According to court documents, emergency workers said they could smell alcohol on Carothers' breath when they spoke with her shortly after the crash. Carothers allegedly said she drank four beers over about four hours before the crash and had taken two prescription medications that were not supposed to be used with alcohol.

The trial is scheduled to last a week.

Park Service plans higher fees

WASHINGTON - Entrance fees are due to rise at national parks over the next three summers, though a public outcry over specific increases could cause the government to reconsider.

Through 2009, the National Park Service plans to phase in higher rates for annual park passes and fees paid per vehicle or person at about 130 of the 390 parks, monuments and other areas the agency manages.

The government does not collect any fees at the other two-thirds of sites in the park system.

The Park Service, which has planned the increases for some time, did not publicize the higher fees through its headquarters in Washington, leaving that job to site managers, agency spokesman David Barna said Sunday.

The intention was to let affected communities absorb the news and see if they would go along with the increases. Park superintendents can recommend that the agency director, Mary Bomar, rescind the increases if enough people protest. One such place where there has been an outcry is at Yosemite in California, which is in line for an increase in 2008.

This summer, higher entrance fees are due at several regional parks including Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Mesa Verde, both in Colorado; and Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks and Zion, all in Utah.