Latest Wyoming news, sports, business and entertainment at 9:20 p.m. MDT

GRANT MONEY RETURN

Wyoming city to pay back more than half of $100,000 grant

(Information from: Wyoming Tribune Eagle, http://www.wyomingnews.com)

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming mayor was required to pay back more than half of a grant given to a city to help develop inventive ideas tackling issues in the community.

Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported Friday that Bloomberg Philanthropies' Mayors Challenge awarded the city of Cheyenne $100,000 in 2018, but only $44,000 was used.

Officials say the grant was meant to be spent by October 2018 for the project's testing phase and now more than $56,000 must be returned to the organization for lack of use or improper use.

Mayor Marian Orr says she was confused and believed the funds to be discretionary.

Bloomberg Philanthropies did not respond to requests seeking comment.

Officials say about $23,000 was used to pay for office holiday decorations, catering for public events and the mayor's travel expenses.

___

SCHOOL-FALSE THREAT

Juvenile accused of falsely reporting school threat

(Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com)

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Authorities say a juvenile was arrested for allegedly falsely reporting a threat that led to extra security measures at three Wyoming schools.

The Casper Star-Tribune reports that authorities said the juvenile admitted to telling the Safe2Tell program Friday that there was an armed suspicious person on the campus of Natrona County High School in Casper.

Students at the high school sheltered in their locked classrooms as police swept the building with long guns drawn because of the tip. The doors were also locked and all students brought inside at two other nearby schools.

The doors were also locked at a fourth school because of another unrelated tip provided later in the day about a potential threat there. That lockout was lifted after about a half hour.

___

FEDERAL MINERAL ROYALTIES

US officials propose less paperwork for mineral royalty cuts

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming officials say they support reducing paperwork for miners seeking lower U.S. government royalty rates.

A U.S. Bureau of Land Management proposal published Friday would make it easier for companies to request lower rates charged for the right to extract certain government-owned minerals including trona and phosphate.

Trona royalties range from 3% to 8%. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon says a 2% rate would help the U.S. industry compete globally.

Nearly all trona mined in the U.S. comes from Wyoming. Plants near the mines process trona into soda ash, a critical ingredient in manufacturing products including glass and detergents.

The U.S. trona industry has suffered amid competition from synthetic Chinese soda ash. Soda ash is Wyoming's top international export but the U.S. global market share has shrunk by one-third since 1998.

WYOMING RECORD PUMPKIN

Wyoming man grows 1,491-pound pumpkin, breaks state record

(Information from: Wyoming Tribune Eagle, http://www.wyomingnews.com)

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming officials say a Cheyenne man has grown a pumpkin that weighs in at 1,491 pounds (676 kilograms), a new state record.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported Thursday that Andy Corbin grew the gourd in his backyard.

For perspective, scientists say newborn elephants weigh about 200 pounds (91 kilograms) on average.

Corbin says the pumpkins he grows at his east Cheyenne home require a handmade tripod to move them.

He says his pumpkins require yearlong maintenance and can gain dozens of pounds a day during growing season.

Corbin says he hopes to grow three pumpkins weighing more than 4,000 pounds (1,800 kilograms) combined.

___

LIVESTOCK TRACKING LAWSUIT

Wyoming ranchers sue federal agency over new tracking rules

(Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com)

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming ranchers have sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture over new livestock tracking regulations.

The Casper Star-Tribune reported Thursday that ranchers filed the Oct. 10 lawsuit claiming an April guidance document from the agency puts unnecessary and burdensome regulations on independent cattle producers statewide.

The department directive says ranchers moving their livestock across state lines would be required to implant their animals with an electric tracking chip.

Department officials have said the tracking program would make it easier to understand where diseases and defects originate from.

Ranchers say the mandatory use of remote frequency identification tags come at a high cost that competitors in other states would be exempt from.

The Department of Agriculture did not respond to a request for comment.

___

NATIONAL PARKS-CAMPGROUNDS

Proposal seeks to modernize campgrounds at national parks

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Food trucks. Wi-Fi. Hot showers.

Those campground upgrades could be coming to a national park near you.

The Interior Department is considering recommendations to modernize campgrounds within the National Park Service.

The recommendations posted this week come from an advisory committee created under former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. It has been looking at ways for private businesses to operate on public lands.

Derrick Crandall is the vice chairman of the Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee. He says many campgrounds fail to meet visitors' expectations and allowing the private sector to run them would free up money for maintenance elsewhere in the parks.

National parks have more than 1,400 campgrounds combined. About 6% are operated by concessionaires.

Environmentalists say the proposal would price out some visitors and benefit special interest groups.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.