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BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS-DRILLING
Federal officials OK drilling in Beartooth Mountains
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. Forest Service officials have given conditional approval to a Canadian company to conduct exploratory drilling at 35 sites in Montana's Beartooth Mountains. The Billings Gazette reports Vancouver-based Group Ten received authorization for the work over the next seven summers pending acquisition of a reclamation bond. The sites are outside Nye along the Beartooth Front , where the company acquired 282 mining claims. The company is working to determine the quantity and quality of precious metals in the area, including platinum, palladium, gold, nickel, copper and cobalt. Group Ten aims to assess the ore body and sell the development rights to another firm.
LARAMIE KILLING-SENTENCE
Man gets 12-18 years in prison for fatal shooting in Wyoming
LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — The gunman in a fatal shooting in southeast Wyoming in 2003 has been sentenced to 12 to 18 years in prison. The Laramie Boomerang reports 41-year-old Fidel Serrano was sentenced for the death of Ramon Galvan-Morales after previously pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Serrano had appeared on an FBI’s Most Wanted List while he was on the run for more than a decade. Authorities say he killed Galvan-Morales in Laramie on May 12, 2003, a couple of days after the two had gotten into a fight at a dance in Cheyenne.
MONTANA JAIL ESCAPE
3 inmates escape from jail in southern Montana
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Authorities are searching for three inmates who escaped from a jail in southern Montana. The Billings Gazette reports residents were being told Saturday to make sure their doors are locked and their keys are not in their cars after the men escaped from the Big Horn County jail on Friday night. Sheriff's officials say the men are not armed but are considered dangerous. No one was injured during the jail break. Sheriff Mike Linder declined to give details about the escape but said the inmates caused some property damage. The inmates were identified as 25-year-old Andrew Parham, 34-year-old Anthony Castro and 34-year-old Stephen Caplett.
HORSE MANAGEMENT-PUBLIC COMMENT
Public input expected on Wyoming wild horse management plan
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. (AP) — Federal land agency officials have asked for public comment on a draft resource management plan amendment and associated draft environmental impact statement for wild horse management in southern Wyoming. The Rocket-Miner reported Thursday that the Bureau of Land Management has made the draft amendment and related documents available for review and comment until April 30. Officials say the draft amendment would update wild horse management direction within the White Mountain, Great Divide Basin, Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek herd management areas. Agency officials say the analysis considers strategies for those herd management areas. Officials say the agency hopes to protect wild horses and burros on public land.
ANIMAL POISONING INVESTIGATION
$7,000 offered for help in 2018 Wyoming bird, dog poisonings
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — U.S. and Wyoming officials are offering cash rewards for useful information as they investigate the poisoning deaths of three dogs and dozens of birds including a bald eagle. The poisonings happened in January 2018, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publicized them Friday. The agencies are offering up to $7,000 for information leading to a conviction. The dogs were rushed to a veterinarian after eating poison-laced baits but died nonetheless. Poison also killed a golden eagle, a Swainson's hawk, 14 ravens, 17 magpies, one coyote and several small mammals.
WYOMING-GAMBLING LAWS
Gillette to consider 'skill game' gambling machine ordinance
GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming city is considering whether to require businesses to get permits for gambling machines. The Gillette City Council will give initial consideration to a proposed ordinance for “skill game” devices at a meeting Feb. 18. Such games allow players to use memory or judgment to affect the outcome. The Gillette News-Record reports the ordinance would require business owners to pay an annual $1,200 fee for a permit and $500 per machine. No business could have more than five gambling machines, which have become more common in Wyoming in recent years.
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