Man faces murder charge

ALPINE - Homicide charges have been issued against the friend of an Alpine man stabbed to death in May.

Charging documents say 51-year-old Clair Nichols had blood from the victim on his clothes and on a knife. Forty-one-year-old David Reneker went drinking with Nichols at the Flying Saddle Bar on May 16 and was found dead in this home the next day with stab wounds to his neck.

A Lincoln County judge decided Monday that there was enough evidence against Nichols to move the case to the 9th District Court. Nichols is being held on a $100,000 bond.

DEQ continues Sinclair probe

RAWLINS - Officials haven't yet determined what caused a recent gasoline spill and a series of gas releases at the Sinclair refinery in Rawlins.

A storage tank at the refinery spilled an estimated 65,000 barrels of gasoline early last month. A company official has said that tests have found traces of gasoline in subsurface water at the refinery.

Glenn Spangler is air quality engineer for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. He said investigations into the cause of the gasoline spill and other releases will continue through the summer.

Sinclair officials say the spilled gasoline didn't leak off site.

Pepsi robber will go to prison

CHEYENNE - A man connected to robberies through Pepsi Cola containers will go to prison.

Laramie County District Judge Michael Davis last week sentenced Rodney G. Christensen, 41, to six to eight years in prison.

Earlier this year, Christensen pleaded guilty to four counts of burglary. He was originally charged with 16 counts in connection with burglaries in late 2007 and early 2008.

Police were able to identify him as a person of interest in the burglaries using interviews and DNA evidence collected from the openings of Pepsi Cola containers.

Investigators collected a 2-liter plastic soda bottle and two soda cans from two different homes.

UW hikes parking fees

LARAMIE - It's going to cost substantially more to park at the University of Wyoming.

Beginning today, the cost for metered parking will rise to $1 an hour, an increase of 50 cents an hour.

Day parking permit fees also will increase from $4 to $5.

The university says the increases to parking fees and other fees will raise an additional $800,000 a year. The UW Board of Trustees approved the increases in May.

Health centers see increase

CHEYENNE - Wyoming will get nearly $2 million in federal stimulus funds to improve and expand community health centers in the state.

The $1.9 million in grants will be used for facilities and equipment to increase access to health care for Wyoming residents.

The Department of Health and Human Services oversees community health centers, which serve more than 17 million patients nationwide.