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SUPREME COURT-WYOMING MURDER
Wyoming Supreme Court upholds murder resentencing
(Information from: Wyoming Tribune Eagle, http://www.wyomingnews.com)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Supreme Court has upheld a county ruling Thursday that resentenced a teenager convicted of first-degree murder and other charges.
Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports that Phillip Sam was 16 when he fatally shot 19-year-old Tyler Burns in a Cheyenne park in 2014.
A Laramie county judge originally sentenced Sam to a prison term that left him eligible for parole after 52 years.
The state Supreme Court overturned the sentence in 2017 saying it essentially amounted to a life sentence that violated the Eighth Amendment prohibiting excessive punishment.
The same judge resentenced Sam making him eligible for parole after 35 years behind bars or when he is 51 years old.
The district court also says Sam should be treated as a juvenile in the case.
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WYOMING-ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION
Wyoming city to get federal grant for economic planning help
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming city will get economic planning help with a nearly $140,000 federal grant.
Gov. Mark Gordon announced the U.S. Economic Development Administration grant Thursday. The grant will cover half the cost of an economic diversification strategy for Kemmerer, a city of about 2,700 people in western Wyoming.
Kemmerer is struggling with uncertainty surrounding a nearby coal mine. Mine owner Westmoreland Coal recently sold the Kemmerer Mine after declaring bankruptcy.
Electric utility PacifiCorp meanwhile says it may close two remaining coal-fired generators at a nearby power plant in 2025. The mine supplies coal to the power plant.
Kemmerer officials say they will also use the funding to hire a person to carry out the plan.
YELLOWSTONE PASS CLOSES
Snow closes Yellowstone road earlier than expected
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — Snowfall has closed a road in Yellowstone National Park for the season.
Snow, wind and ice prompted park officials to close the road over Dunraven Pass on Tuesday. The route from Tower Fall to Canyon Junction has remained closed ever since.
Park officials hadn't planned to close the road until this coming Tuesday but announced Friday they will keep the road closed until next spring.
Other roads in the park will remain open until Nov. 4, weather permitting. The route from the North Entrance to the Northeast Entrance remains open year-round.
Yellowstone opens to snowmobiles each year in mid-December.
COAL MINE SHUTDOWNS
Cleanup requirements hold up sale of Blackjewel coal mines
(Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com)
GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — Cleanup requirements are holding up the sale of a bankrupt coal company's mines in Wyoming and Appalachia.
West Virginia-based Blackjewel proposes to sell mines including the Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr operations in Wyoming to an affiliate of Alabama-based FM Coal with help from Tennessee-based Contura Energy.
A surety company for FM Coal announced Wednesday that Blackjewel must transfer permits and cleanup bonding for its 135 permits in Appalachia before doing so in Wyoming. The bonds would help ensure cleanup of mines that close permanently.
The Casper Star-Tribune reports the request took FM Coal by surprise.
Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr production has all but ceased and over 500 Wyoming workers are furloughed since Blackjewel filed for bankruptcy July 1.
Blackjewel attorneys say the companies will seek replacement bonds.
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CAPITOL RENOVATION
Wyoming Capitol renovation set for completion by February
(Information from: Wyoming Tribune Eagle, http://www.wyomingnews.com)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The final pieces of the Wyoming State Capitol renovation project are expected to be completed before the start of the next legislative session.
The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports the $317 million renovation is projected to be finished by February.
The remaining renovations include an auditorium, student learning center and visitor center.
Republican Gov. Mark Gordon and members of the Capitol Building Restoration Oversight Group received an update Wednesday from MOCA Systems, the firm managing the project.
The committee in June approved spending more than $2 million of a contingency fund set aside by the Legislature earlier this year to complete the three areas of the project.
Officials say work on landscaping is expected to be finished this month.
The Capitol building officially reopened to the public in July.
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BUFFALO TREATY
3 more tribes sign International Buffalo Treaty
(Information from: Laramie Boomerang, http://www.laramieboomerang.com)
LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Leaders of three more tribes have signed a treaty guiding restoration of buffalo populations in the U.S. and Canada.
The International Buffalo Treaty was the first cross-border tribal treaty in more than 150 years when it was established in 2014.
The treaty now has over 30 signatories. This week, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe of Wyoming, Oglala Lakota Tribe of South Dakota and Frog Lake First Nation of Alberta, Canada, joined during a meeting in Chico Hot Springs, Montana.
Jason Baldes with the Eastern Shoshone tells Wyoming Public Radio the treaty reconnects buffalo to indigenous people and helps ensure buffalo are treated with "utmost respect."
An Eastern Shoshone herd established on Wyoming's Wind River Indian Reservation in 2016 has grown from 10 to 33 buffalo.
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