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WYOMING-EDWARDS

Edwards out at Wyoming after dismal back-to-back seasons

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming has fired head basketball coach Allen Edwards after back-to-back losing seasons. University officials announced Monday a search for a replacement will begin immediately. Wyoming made a surprise run in the recent Mountain West Conference tournament, beating Colorado State and Nevada before losing to Utah State 89-82 in the semifinals. It wasn't enough to salvage the Edwards era at Wyoming. Edwards' tenure as head coach got off to a promising start. The Cowboys finished 24-15 and won the College Basketball Invitational championship in 2017. Wyoming finished 20-13 in 2018 but limped to an 8-24 finish the following season and a 9-24 record this year.

WYOMING TRIBE-MARIJUANA

Wyoming tribe to vote; medical marijuana backers press case

FORT WASHAKIE, Wyo. (AP) — Advocates for legalizing medical marijuana are pressing their case ahead of a possible vote on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation. The Eastern Shoshone could vote on the issue Saturday during a meeting of the tribe's General Council. The Northern Arapaho share the reservation with the Eastern Shoshone and also are looking into legalization. Advocates say legal medical marijuana and industrial hemp could diversify the reservation's economy. The Casper Star-Tribune reports marijuana remains illegal under Wyoming and federal law but federal prosecutors since 2014 haven't interfered with states or tribes that have legalized marijuana.

GAS PLANT

Company expands natural gas capacity with new Wyoming plant

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — An energy company has completed a new Wyoming natural gas processing plant that doubles its processing capacity in the Powder River Basin. The Casper Star-Tribune reports the Meritage Midstream ULC plant is capable of processing 200 million cubic feet of gas daily. Colorado-based Meritage says the Steamboat I processing plant west of Douglas adds about a dozen full-time positions, while related systems feeding gas into the facility will add 15 to 20 new jobs. The company plans to rotate equipment to minimize fuel usage and enhance run times at the facility producing both natural gas and natural gas liquids.

GRIZZLY BEAR CONFLICTS

US to hire two grizzly specialists in Montana amid conflicts

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. Department of the Interior is providing money to hire two specialists to help it manage grizzly bears in Montana. The move follows complaints over conflicts between grizzlies and livestock or landowners that often end in bears being killed by wildlife workers. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt says in a letter to members of Montana’s congressional delegation that the agency would play a “more conclusive role” in dealing with problem bears. The state is home to the largest grizzly populations in the U.S. outside Alaska, with more than 1,000 bears in northwestern Montana. An additional estimated 700 bears live in the Yellowstone region of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

WYOMING BUDGET

Wyoming lawmakers agree to budget, send it to governor

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming lawmakers have agreed to a state budget that Gov. Mark Gordon will consider starting Monday. A deal Friday between the House and Senate ends a budgeting process that lawmakers began in December and have continued through a legislative session that began Feb. 10. Gordon will have until the end of Thursday, the last day of the legislative session, to veto any parts of the budget bill. The Casper Star-Tribune reports that despite reaching agreement, lawmakers expressed disappointment the budget bill lacks cuts amid declining revenue from the coal, oil and natural gas industries.

AP-US-TRUMP-PUBLIC-LANDS

Watchdog faults US land agency sending jobs out West

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A U.S. government watchdog agency said Friday that 81 Bureau of Land Management employees have declined to relocate to Western states or left their positions as the Trump administration reorganizes the bureau's workforce. The Government Accountability Office in a Friday report faulted administration officials for failing to involve bureau employees and stakeholders in its plans. The land bureau has about 10,000 employees, and most are already in field offices in the West. About 400 are in Washington, D.C., and the Interior Department said last year it planned to move about 300 of those positions to the West.

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