G&F steps up disease search

JACKSON -- The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is stepping up its surveillance program for chronic wasting disease in wildlife taken by hunters in the Jackson region.

The game department is asking hunters to turn over the heads of big-game animals they kill for testing.

Chronic wasting disease is a neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose by attacking their brains. It can cause weight loss, abnormal behavior and death.

A cow moose near Bedford tested positive for the disease last year. The department wants to get more samples from animals in the Star Valley and Greys River areas.

The game department reminds hunters that they are required to stop at all department check stations that they encounter on their way to and from hunting.

3 in race for court bench

CHEYENNE -- Gov. Dave Freudenthal will interview three attorneys nominated to replace former Laramie County Circuit Judge Thomas Campbell, and officials say an appointment will likely be made by Sept. 25.

Campbell was appointed to a district court judgeship in June. A judicial selection committee has nominated Tori R.A. Kricken of Laramie and Catherine R. Rogers and Robert R. Rose III, both of Cheyenne, as possible replacements.

Kricken, the staff attorney for the Second Judicial District Court in Albany and Carbon counties, has been a Wyoming State Bar member since 2000. Rose, director of the Western Trial Advocacy Institute, has been a state bar member since 1983. Rogers has been a state bar member since 1998.

Rawlins-Carbon chamber broke

RAWLINS -- The Rawlins-Carbon County Chamber of Commerce is broke and looking for ways to balance its budget.

Chamber Executive Director Dennis Schuster said dues are not covering expenses. Dues bring in about $42,000, while the chamber budget is $110,000 this year.

He noted that the Rawlins chamber dues are the lowest in the state.

Schuster said other chambers around the state charge at least twice what the Rawlins chamber charges for its lowest membership price for nonprofits.

However, raising membership fees wouldn't produce any results until January when such fees are due.

Gateway West meeting set

RAWLINS -- Officials with Rocky Mountain Power have set a meeting for Tuesday in Medicine Bow to discuss two possible routes for the proposed Gateway West transmission line.

Company spokeswoman Margaret Oler said the meeting is part of an effort by Rocky Mountain Power to be as open and clear as possible.

The event will start with an open house at 4 p.m. at the Medicine Bow Senior Center, followed by time for questions.

One proposed route for the first section of line would go from Windstar to Aeolus. Another would go from Windstar to Carbon County northeast of Medicine Bow.

Rocky Mountain Power and Idaho Power are hoping to build the line to carry green power from wind farms across Wyoming to a substation west of Boise, Idaho.