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This Hour: Latest Wyoming news, sports, business and entertainment

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FAKE DEATH ARREST

Fla. man suspected of faking death found in Wyo.

CODY, Wyo. (AP) - A Florida man suspected of faking his own death has been arrested in Wyoming.

Fifty-year-old David Leon Lashley was arrested Monday in the Clark area near the Montana border by U.S. Marshals and U.S. Coast Guard investigators.

Park County Sheriff Scott A. Steward said that Lashley, who fled Florida in a motor home, had been living there under an assumed name, Wesley Byrd.

Steward said Lashley is wanted by the Coast Guard in connection with the disappearance of a houseboat in which he allegedly attempted to fake his death. He is also wanted for failing to appear in court in March.

The Powell Tribune reported that Lashley waived his right to fight extradition to Florida in court today.

It wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

SCHOOL LOCKDOWNS

Lockdown lifted at 4 Casper schools

(Information in the following story is from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com)

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - A lockdown at four Casper schools has been lifted.

Three elementary schools and a high school were locked down for several hours Tuesday morning because police said there was a domestic incident involving a gun near 1 of the schools. Casper police later said the incident involved a man who had barricaded himself inside a home.

The Casper Star-Tribune reported that the man was home alone and no injuries were reported.

WYOMING-RECESSION

Wyo. job numbers lag behind pre-recession levels

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming's unemployment rate has been dropping over the last two years, but the state still hasn't replaced all the jobs it lost during the recession.

David Bullard is a senior economist with the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services.

Bullard says the state remains about 9,000 jobs short of employment levels reached before 2009.

He says the industry that has lagged the most in replacing lost jobs has been construction, particularly workers involved with roads, pipelines and power plants.

The Legislature and Gov. Matt Mead this past winter approved a dime increase in the state fuels tax to pay for more road projects.

Bullard notes that the new jobs being created now indicate a general shift from southwest Wyoming to the central part of the state.

WESTERN LANDS-UTAH GOVERNOR

Utah Gov. Herbert rails against US Land management

WASHINGTON (AP) - Utah Gov. Gary Herbert says his state does a better job than federal managers and has a bigger stake than the bureaucrats in protecting the natural resources and rugged beauty that drives Utah's outdoor recreation and tourism industry.

Herbert, the chairman of the Western Governors' Association, was the lone witness to testify in Washington before a congressional subcommittee examining the role of state and federal governments in managing national parks, forests and public rangelands.

The Republican governor says no one understands state challenges and demographics better than the people who reside and govern there. He says federal managers are hamstrung by regulatory and statutory frameworks that keep them from effectively addressing pressing needs, including rapid declines in the health of national forests and rangelands.

COMMISSION-GRIZZLY DELISTING

Idaho panel backs delisting of grizzly bears

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Idaho wildlife officials are urging the federal government to remove grizzly bears from the endangered species list.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission voted in favor of delisting during its meeting last week, saying the state is in a better position to manage the species.

The commission approved a position statement that asserts the grizzly population have increased enough in core areas and warrant delisting.

Commissioners say prolonged protection for grizzly bears in Idaho is counterproductive to building and maintaining support for a healthy population.

Idaho has a couple of areas inhabited by grizzly bears, including eastern Idaho and the Yellowstone population and northern Idaho along the Montana border.

WYOMING UNEMPLOYMENT

Wyo. jobless rate falls to 4.8% in April

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming's unemployment rate fell slightly in April to 4.8%.

The jobless rate was 4.9% in March.

The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services says the state's unemployment rate remained significantly lower than the national rate of 7.5%.

Teton County's unemployment rate shot up from 5.8% in March to 8.9% in April. Workforce Services says it's normal for Teton County's unemployment rate to increase in April because the ski season has ended and the summer tourist season has not yet begun.

Lincoln County had the second highest jobless rate in the state at 6.8%, followed by Johnson at 6.1% and Fremont at 6%. The lowest unemployment rates were reported in Converse County at 3.5% and Niobrara and Albany at 3.6% each.

YELLOWSTONE BISON-HAZING

Court denies request to block bison hazing

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A federal appeals court has denied a conservation group's request to block the use of a helicopter to haze wild bison in southwestern Montana back into Yellowstone National Park.

A three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the injunction request Monday.

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies filed the request as part of its legal challenge that low-altitude helicopter hazing harasses and displaces federally protected grizzly bears in the area.

The group is appealing U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell's ruling in March against its lawsuit.

Montana Department of Livestock spokesman Steve Merritt said Tuesday the annual bison-hazing operation appears to be wrapping up for the season.

He says state officials moved about 350 bison Monday from the Hebgen Basin west of Yellowstone.

COUNCILOR-DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE

Ex-councilor charged in Laramie domestic dispute

(Information in the following story is from: Laramie (Wyo.) Daily Boomerang, http://www.laramieboomerang.com)

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - A former Laramie city council is accused of holding a gun to his wife's head during a fight at their home.

Alan J. Hageman (HAG'-ah-man) was charged Monday with aggravated assault and battery and felonious restraint in connection with the alleged dispute over the weekend.

The Laramie Boomerang reports police allege in court documents that the 58-year-old placed the muzzle of a handgun to his wife's head during a fight that began Saturday night and said "Maybe I should kill you..."

His wife told police that he grabbed and threw her as she tried to get away. She said she went to an upstairs bathroom and saw her husband walk toward her with a different gun. She eventually escaped.

A message left at Hageman's office wasn't immediately returned.

CASPER-SMOKING BAN

Study: Casper air quality improves since smoke ban

(Information in the following story is from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com)

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A study conducted by anti-smoking groups found that air quality improved in Casper businesses that ceased to allow smoking when a city-wide smoking ban took effect.

Air quality as gauged by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency improved from "very healthy" to "good."

The Casper Star-Tribune reports the study was conducted by SmokeFree Natrona County along with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

The organizations monitored air quality in October 2010 at four bars and restaurants that allowed smoking. The groups re-sampled the air in the same businesses in March, six months after Casper's smoking ban took effect in September.

Jason Mincer with the cancer network says the findings are significant because even small levels of second-hand smoke can trigger asthma or even heart attacks.

WOLF HUNTING

Game and Fish holds meetings on wolf hunt changes

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department continues to hear from the public on proposed changes for the state's second annual wolf hunting season later this year.

Under the changes, fewer wolves would be killed compared to last year.

Last year, the kill limit for a trophy-game zone outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks was 52 wolves. Hunters killed 42 wolves during the hunting season, which began Oct. 1 and ended Dec. 31.

The proposed rules for this year's season set a kill limit of 26 wolves. Upcoming public meetings on the changes will be in Sheridan on Tuesday, Cody on Wednesday, Jackson on May 28, Green River and Sundance on May 29, and Casper on May 30.

Shooting wolves on sight continues to be allowed outside the trophy-game zone.

YELLOWSTONE-TODAY

"Today" show won't broadcast from Old Faithful

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) - A "Today" show broadcast from Yellowstone National Park has been cancelled.

The NBC show's anchors had planned to host the show from Old Faithful this morning as part of a weeklong travel series. But the show is broadcasting from Oklahoma instead to cover the tornado.

WYOMING INDIAN ART

Wyoming Indian students to exhibit art in Casper

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - An upcoming exhibit at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper will feature art by students at Wyoming Indian High School.

The exhibit entitled "Resurgence of Native Spirit" will run from June 1 through Sept. 4.

The exhibit will include 20 prints and 30 ceramic sculptures by students at the school in Ethete on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

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