BNSF coal train derails

BILLINGS, Mont. - Twelve cars of a BNSF coal train derailed early Friday near Anita, Mont., about 35 miles northeast of Billings.

BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas, in Seattle, said there were no injuries.

He said the train was carrying coal from the North Antelope Mine in Wyoming's Power River Basin to Columbia, Wis.

Melonas said coal was spilled as five cars tipped on their sides. Six others were in accordion position.

Crews from Billings and from Gillette were on the scene and Melonas said there was no environmental threat.

He said BNSF traffic was being rerouted on alternate lines.

Melonas said the train was traveling at 17 mph when the cars derailed. He said the derailment is under investigation.

3 Democrats but no Republicans

LARAMIE - It was Democrats three, Republicans zero at the League of Women Voters Forum in Laramie.

All three Democratic candidates running for Congress attended Thursday night's forum at the Albany Public Library. But all three Republican candidates sent other people to speak in their place.

Democratic House candidate Gary Trauner drove from Teton County to attend. Republican Cynthia Lummis sent her daughter to talk for her.

Democratic Senate candidate Chris Rothfuss lives in Laramie, so he didn't have far to travel. His opponent, Republican Sen. Mike Enzi, sent a campaign representative in his place.

Republican Sen. John Barrasso also sent a campaign staffer, while Democratic challenger Nick Carter showed up in person.

Plague source eludes state

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Department of Health said it can't pinpoint the source of bubonic plague that infected a Boy Scout from Connecticut who visited Yellowstone National Park and other sites this summer.

Kim Deti, spokeswoman for the health department, said the Boy Scout was diagnosed after he returned home. She said he was hospitalized and fully recovered.

The scout was with a group that traveled to Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park and other places in Wyoming in late July and early August.

Montana man faces charges

CHEYENNE - A Montana man faces a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide in a motorcycle crash that killed a woman in Cheyenne last month.

The Cheyenne District Attorney's Office on Thursday charged 27-year-old Adam B. Williams of Superior, Mont., with aggravated vehicular homicide, eluding police, driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving.

Court records state that 25-year-old Stacey Thyarks of Cheyenne was a passenger on Williams' 2006 Honda motorcycle when it crashed Sept. 20. Police said Williams was trying to flee from them at the time.

Williams has not yet answered the charges in court and an attempt to reach his lawyer was unsuccessful. He was treated at the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center after the crash and has been released from the hospital.