Philip Brimmer gets federal judgeship

CHEYENNE - A Rawlins native and graduate of Cheyenne Central High School has been appointed as a U.S. District Court judge in Colorado.

Philip Brimmer, 49, is the son of Wyoming U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer and his wife, Emily.

"I'll appreciate all his advice and counsel," Philip Brimmer said of his father.

He credited a bipartisan effort by the Colorado congressional delegation for his confirmation by the Senate.

The U.S. District Court in Denver has a back load of civil cases because there have been only four active judges on the bench with three vacancies, according to published reports.

A 1985 graduate of Yale Law School, Brimmer was hired as a deputy by then-Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, now Colorado's governor, and served seven years in that position.

In 2001 he moved to the U.S. Attorney Office for Colorado as a prosecutor.

Brimmer received a top rating of "highly qualified" from the American Bar Association for the lifetime appointment.

He is married to Dana Brimmer, a behavioral scientist with the Center for Disease Control in Denver.

His sister, Liz Brimmer, a consultant and former chief of staff to the late Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas, said her brother "will be an extraordinary judge."

Gillette man pleads not guilty

CHEYENNE - A Gillette man accused of writing a threatening letter to federal judges and prosecutors over the seizure of his home pleaded not guilty to six counts Monday.

Laurence Eustelle Wolff is charged in federal court with four counts of threatening to injure government agents and officials and two counts of interfering with the administration of internal revenue laws.

In a letter dated Aug. 10, Wolff allegedly warned two federal judges and two U.S. attorneys of a deadly standoff if they tried to seize his home.

Court records allege that Wolff didn't pay federal taxes between 1988 and 1995 and owes $613,494 in back taxes. No one was hurt when Wolff was arrested in August.

Group seeks to protect wild horses

POWELL - A group that seeks to protect wild horses in northern Wyoming is working to build a wild-horse interpretive center along U.S. 14-16-20.

Friends of a Legacy has purchased land for the center, which will be located about 25 miles east of Cody.

Exactly when the center will open has not been decided.

Legacy members said the group would like to house wild horses at the center and to train and adopt them out.

Details are still being ironed out.

Rawlins finds pieces of past

RAWLINS - Bits of history are being unearthed as excavations are done for the Spruce Street reconstruction project in Rawlins.

Artifacts being found include pieces of Rawlins' old waterline made of wooden slats held together with metal bands.

Most of the line had rotted or crumbled, so only two short sections of it could be recovered.

Rawlins historian Rans Baker said the wooden waterline may date to about 1910 to 1918, when water was first brought to the city from wells west of town.