America news

The trial of accused kidnapper Robert Paul Lepage resumed Tuesday in Vernon, B.C., where he took the stand in his own defence.

The British Columbia government is reassuring critics that new high-tech driver’s licenses that can be used in place of passports at U.S. border crossings won’t contain deeply personal information about drivers.

The former mayor of Vernon, B.C., was sentenced Tuesday to nine months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of fraud and one of forgery.

A pilot’s failure to control his single-engine plane amid high winds and turbulence during a search for a missing hiker led to the Aug. 20 crash that killed three members of the Wyoming Civil Air Patrol in the Big Horn Mountains, the National Transportation Safety Board has concluded.

For the second time in three days, a crash between a semitrailer and a passenger vehicle on an icy Wyoming highway has resulted in fatalities.

GILLETTE (AP) — Wyoming political leaders and California’s top electrical utilities regulator expressed hope that the two states could work together on using Wyoming coal to help meet California’s growing power demands.

ETHETE — Previous efforts to revitalize the Arapaho language have largely failed, but the Northern Arapaho Council of Elders believes it has developed a plan that will finally succeed, taking cues from recent, successful language revival programs in Hawaii and New Zealand.

ETHETE — Seven preschoolers huddle around a small table.

WASHINGTON — A federal plan to keep a bigger share of federal mineral royalties is designed to recoup costs for paperwork and manpower required for collection and distribution of the money, a federal Minerals Management Service spokesman says.

Grand Targhee plan gets approval JACKSON — Teton County commissioners have approved an expansion of Grand Targhee Resort on the west side of the Teton Range.

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has proposed extending a new law that transfers millions of dollars in mineral royalties from Wyoming and other states to the federal government — money that states say could go for roads, education and other projects.

LANDER — A diverse and ostensibly powerful alliance of organizations and elected officials has been opposing new oil and gas drilling projects in the Wyoming Range for about three years.

LANDER — When it comes to energy development in the Wyoming Range, do residents of the Equality State have a say in the matter?

WASHINGTON — Although U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi has not told anyone yet whether he plans to run for re-election this year, he said over the weekend that he is ready and looking forward to “the challenges to come.”

Crash kills one, injures two others A 55-year-old Star Valley woman was killed Saturday night when the car in which she was riding was struck head-on by a semitrailer on Togwotee Pass.

BILLINGS, Mont. — A wild horse herd along the Montana-Wyoming border that traces its ancestry to the mounts ridden by Spanish conquistadors could be reduced through adoption by more than 35 percent, under recommendations released Monday by federal officials.

WASHINGTON — A disease that can sicken cattle and cause them to abort their calves is nearly eradicated in all 50 states, according to the Department of Agriculture.

CHEYENNE — Wyoming could crack down on some law-breaking drivers this year if the Legislature passes a series of traffic safety bills, including one that might force people to buckle up.

CHEYENNE — Wyoming voters favor broad-based property tax relief for all homeowners, according to a Casper Star-Tribune poll.

WASHINGTON — President Bush’s proposed 2009 budget would shrink the funding for every land management agency except the National Park Service.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — University of Wyoming health sciences Dean Robert Kelley has been offered the job of president of the University of North Dakota in a unanimous vote by the state Board of Higher Education.

CHEYENNE — You won’t hear John Pelock complaining about property taxes.

GREEN RIVER — After 40 years of effort, the Chamber of Commerce has finally found a permanent home. And it comes with a new visitors center.

CHEYENNE — Despite complaints about rising property values, various studies place Wyoming at or near the bottom in property taxes paid by homeowners.

CHEYENNE –Visitors to Wyoming’s state parks and historical sites could see fees double next year under a bill proposed by a legislative committee.

DOUGLAS — The organizer of a renewable energy coalition hopes the group will serve as a clearinghouse of information, resources and education in the state.

CODY — Building the Buffalo Bill Historical Center’s endowment, leveraging technology and using its rural location as an advantage are ways new director Bruce Eldredge hopes the museum can increase its national stature.

2006 state property taxes paid on a home valued at $150,000

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — Researchers at the University of Wyoming intend to study the effect of immigrants on the economy in Teton County.

University of Wisconsin System officials are mulling a potentially huge pay raise for the next UW-Madison…