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MISSING HUNTER
Weeklong search continues for missing Wyoming hunter
RAWLINS, Wyo. (AP) — A weeklong search for a missing Wyoming hunter continued Saturday in the Medicine Bow National Forest.
Carbon County officials say 44-year-old Mark Strittmater of Rawlins was reported missing on Oct. 20, after failing to return from a solo elk hunting trip a day earlier.
Crews, including airplanes and search dogs, were searching near where his truck was located late on Oct. 20.
Strittmater is white; 5 feet, 8 inches tall (173 centimeters) and weighs 130 pounds (59 kilograms). He has brown hair and blue eyes.
He was last seen on Oct. 19 wearing a light-colored camouflage long-sleeved shirt with gray or green pants, boots and an orange hunting cap. Officials say he sent his girlfriend a text at about 11 a.m.
WILDLIFE-VEHICLE DEATHS
28 moose killed on Teton County roads in a year
(Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com)
JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation reports 28 moose were killed on roads in Wyoming's Teton County from May 2018 through April 2019.
It's the highest moose toll since 33 were killed from May 2010 through April 2011. Eight were killed along Moose-Wilson Road.
The foundation's executive director, Jon Mobeck, tells the Jackson Hole News & Guide on Friday the overall wildlife toll of 267 animals reported hit was the fifth highest since the foundation started keeping tabs in 1990.
Elk collisions totaled 34 in the most recent report, down from the 40s in the previous two years.
The foundation's report does not include animals found dead and reported hit in Grand Teton National Park, where elk and moose collisions increased from 2017 to 2018.
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COMMUNITY COLLEGE TUITION
Wyoming college commission holds off on another tuition hike
(Information from: The Gillette (Wyo.) News Record, http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com)
GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Community College Commission isn't raising tuition again, for now.
Commissioners decided Thursday in Gillette to see how a tuition increase from $94 to $95 per credit hour will work out during the current school year.
The commission approved the increase in 2018 and set a goal for tuition to equal 23% to 28% of college revenue each year.
The Gillette News-Record reports the increase puts tuition at about 21% of revenue.
Commission staff recommended waiting on any new increase and waiting to see how tuition might be charged for new four-year degrees authorized by the Legislature.
Wyoming's community college system consists of seven college districts.
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LEGISLATOR CHARGED
Wyoming legislator accused of not yielding during wildfire
(Information from: KTWO-AM, http://www.k2radio.com/)
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming state lawmaker faces a charge for allegedly refusing to move a tractor he was driving out of the way of federal officials during a wildfire.
Republican Rep. Thomas Walters, of Casper, has pleaded not guilty to interfering with emergency vehicles, a misdemeanor
Sheriff's officials say Walters drove a tractor around a road closure and refused to yield for U.S. Bureau of Land Management rangers in an area near a wildfire east of Pathfinder Reservoir in August.
Walters told KTWO Radio on Friday he wasn't interfering with the officers and he's confident he will be found not guilty.
Federal officials say they are turning the case over for state prosecution because the offense is a misdemeanor.
Walters is a rancher who has served in the Wyoming Legislature since 2013.
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NAVAJO COAL-THE LATEST
The Latest: Deal allows Montana coal mine to reopen for now
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana officials say they have reached a deal that will allow one of the largest coal mines in the U.S. to reopen — for now — amid a legal dispute with its new owners from the Navajo Nation.
The Navajo Transitional Energy Company took over the 275-worker Spring Creek mine this week after buying it from bankrupt Cloud Peak Energy.
The company shut down operations on Thursday, after Montana regulators insisted the company waive its immunity from future lawsuits as a tribal entity.
Company representatives objected and said they didn't want to give up their treaty rights.
A spokeswoman for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality says the two sides resolved the dispute late Friday after agreeing to a 75-day, limited waiver of immunity.
Spring Creek is Montana's largest coal mine. It produced almost 14 million tons of the fuel last year.
FIRE ENGINE ACCIDENT
Fire engine hit by car on I-80 in southwest Wyoming
(Information from: Rock Springs (Wyo.) Rocket-Miner, http://www.rocketminer.com)
WAMSUTTER, Wyo. (AP) — A crew of volunteer firefighters survived after a car struck their fire engine while they were working on another accident in southwest Wyoming.
The Rock Springs Rocket Miner reports that four firefighters were treated and released for injuries they sustained in the incident about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on Interstate 80 near Wamsutter.
A Wamsutter Volunteer Fire Department press release says firefighters were finishing up after responding to a single-vehicle rollover in which the driver had escaped with minor injuries.
A westbound Ford Mustang slid off the road at highway speeds and rear-ended the unoccupied fire engine, trapping the car's driver.
The firefighters, including the four who were injured, worked to extricate and provide medical aid to the driver, who was flown to Salt Lake City for treatment for unspecified injuries.
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