Power plant two-thirds done

GILLETTE -- Construction on the 385-megawatt Dry Fork Power plant north of Gillette is about 62 percent complete.

Construction on the plant began two years ago.

Most of the building is now enclosed and standing about 400 feet high next to an even taller smokestack.

Basin Electric officials they still have more than a year of around-the-clock work ahead of them. The number of workers at the site peaked in August at 1,339.

The plant is scheduled to begin producing power in June 2011.

New program helps find people

CHEYENNE -- The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation is implementing a new program to help find missing and endangered people.

The agency says the new Endangered Person Advisory system will be used to find missing people who are believed to be in danger of death or serious injury.

Under the program, law enforcement agencies may request that DCI initiate an Endangered Person Advisory. The information will then be distributed to law enforcement agencies and broadcast media.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation will also post endangered person advisories on its electronic road signs.

DCI says it will only issue an advisory if police are investigating the case, there's concern the missing person could be in serious danger and there's enough information to enable the public to help.

Man may face life in prison

LARAMIE -- A Laramie man has been convicted of 12 felony counts including kidnapping and raping a woman at gunpoint.

Donald Ray Daves, who is 46, could spend the rest of his life in prison following his conviction last week.

Prosecutors contended that Daves kidnapped the woman at gunpoint in early April, forced her to perform a sexual act on him at the Monolith Ranch public access area and then raped her three times at a Laramie hotel.

Public defender Vaughn Neubauer had argued the prosecution's case was based largely on testimony from the woman and wasn't reliable.

Albany County Attorney Richard Bohling told jurors the woman was a credible witness and "this should not be too difficult to decide if you believe her testimony."

Heating bill help available

CHEYENNE -- Wyoming is getting $9.5 million from the Department of Health and Human Services to help low-income people cover their heating bills over the rest of this year.

The money will be awarded through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The program helps low-income people pay their cooling costs during the summer as well as their heating costs during the winter.

Nationwide, the program helps more than 5 million low-income households cover their energy costs every year.