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  Click Here onJanuary 5, 2008 for LIVE results from each County Convention

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The executive director of the Wyoming Republican Party says she's disappointed that presidential candidates focused on the Iowa caucuses and jetted off to New Hampshire without swinging out to Wyoming in between. Amy Larimer says Wyoming has been a bit overlooked. Because the Iowa caucuses are a straw poll - no delegates actually are chosen until later - Wyoming's Republicans will choose the first 12 national convention delegates today. No candidate has been to Wyoming, however, since Duncan Hunter visited a month ago.

CHEYENNE - Wyoming's early county conventions haven't generated the profile of Iowa's caucuses, but they have resulted in the state's first-ever serious look by presidential candidates. "I've got to tell you, it's exciting," said Bill Cubin, Natrona County GOP chairman. "We really are making a difference here." Candidates have reached out in a variety of ways. Most candidates have targeted state party members with e-mails, phone calls, direct mailing, personal visits and calls to local radio talk shows. Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson spent $10,000 each to acquire a list of the names and contact information for party...

Did you know there’s another caucus before the New Hampshire primary? Yes, it’s Wyoming, and it’s Saturday, January 5. Though it’s raised the ire of the RNC, Wyoming is moving forward with its primary anyway in the hopes of playing an important, if less than decisive role, in selecting the GOP nominee. To add to the mystery, no major media operation is covering the race, nor have they bothered to poll Wyomingites, so we are left to wonder who, if anyone, will win, and whether it will matter. The buzz in Wyoming centers around two candidates - Fred Thompson and...

"We're proud to endorse Senator Thompson for president because he has a long track record of supporting pro-life principles," stated Steven Ertelt, President of Right to Life of Wyoming. "Senator Thompson had a 100% pro-life voting record during his tenure in Congress. Today, he supports overturning the Roe v Wade decision which allowed for unlimited abortions, he opposes euthanasia, and he opposes forcing taxpayers to fund scientific research that requires the destruction of human life." Right to Life of Wyoming (RTLW) is the state affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee which has endorsed Senator Thompson for President, along...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Don’t forget about Wyoming. It’s been overlooked in the hoopla surrounding Thursday’s Iowa caucuses and next week’s New Hampshire primary, but Wyoming Republicans will caucus Saturday and choose delegates to the national convention in September. Candidates have paid little attention to the state, though. Only Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter have passed through since September. “Yes, there have been some appearances by the candidates in this state that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred this early in the process,� said Jim King, who teaches political science at the University of Wyoming. “But candidates are where the media...

Dear Wyoming GOPers, First, let me congratulate you for living in one of the most beautiful states in the Union. My home state of Washington gives Wyoming a run for the money, but unlike you, we have several million liberals that tend to pollute the scenery. Iowa has spoken. And as usual, they have voted with their hearts, not their heads. They voted in Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney for the top two spots. Granted, both Mike and Mitt are currently unemployed and had much time to spend gladhanding the good folks in Iowa. However, what Iowegians did not do...

GRAND RAPIDS -- The Michigan City (Indiana) News Dispatch reports a man arrested for using a fake ID at the Blue Chip Casino may be a suspected terrorist who lived illegally in Wyoming, Michigan.Investigators believe he may be wanted in Colombia for "dangerous terrorism." Officials in Washington, D.C. ordered him held until federal agents could take him into custody.The man identified as Antonio Cruz, 31, was scheduled to be charged for using a false identification Wednesday afternoon. 24 Hour News 8 learned federal officials have taken the case over from local authorities and will take the suspect from the county jail.The man...

The Democratic Party chairman in Wyoming is predicting that Democratic candidates throughout the Rocky Mountain region will be damaged if his party selects Hillary Clinton for president. "Every Democratic candidate in Wyoming will be painted with that same liberal, big-government brush. We will also be the target of the locker room jokes that rightfully belong to Bill Clinton," John Millin wrote in a letter to The Denver Post. "While I don't agree with this view of Mrs. Clinton, I have to accept that this is the truth. It has become the dirty little secret in the Democratic Party," ... "Westerners...

Presidential hopeful Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., will speak Sunday in Gillette, the second presidential candidate to do so in as many weeks. The candidate will stop in Gillette as part of a campaign tour to different parts of Wyoming, said David Horning, chairman of the Campbell County Republican Party. Hunter, who represents parts of San Diego county, has been serving in the U.S. House since 1980 and is the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee. National polls have Hunter running in seventh or eighth place among Republican candidates. Hunter will speak from 4 to 5 p.m. Sunday at...

Wyoming tops the list of most “business-friendly” states, according to a report released this week by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. The nonprofit foundation’s annual rankings of the 50 state tax systems are designed to provide a roadmap for lawmakers working to keep their states competitive, the foundation said in a statement. “There’s no question that states are competing with one another for companies, jobs and people,” said report co-author Curtis Dubay. “Taxes matter to businesses and the states with better business tax climates will reap rewards.” The rankings are based on taxes that most concern businesses, the foundation explained: corporate...

I’m back! What a fun time. Where should I start? Well, only three of the Republican Candidates for President came to Wyoming today; Congressman Duncan Hunter, Senator Sam Brownback, and Fred Thompson. The latter only went to Casper this morning and did not travel on to Riverton for the second forum. Many candidates asked to send surrogates, but if you let one candidate do that, then they all will do it. Therefore the forum committee made it clear that only Presidential Candidates could speak at the forum. However, since Fred Thompson actually did come to Wyoming, his opening speech in...

Wyoming's Republican Party moved up its presidential primary hoping to attract more attention from candidates. So far, the returns look good. A Friday night fundraiser in Casper drew an appearance from one presidential candidate and a phone call from another. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback spoke to a crowd of more than 40 at a dinner put on by the Wyoming Family Coalition, a political action committee that supports socially conservative policies. California Rep. Duncan Hunter, who was scheduled to attend the dinner in person, instead delivered his speech via speaker phone from the Minneapolis airport. All this attention has made...

September 27, 2007 San Diego, CA… Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is anticipating bringing his campaign to Wyoming this weekend to participate in the GOP Presidential Forum’s “Charging to Victory 2008” state event. The forum is an opportunity for Hunter to share with Wyoming delegates the priorities of his candidacy and his goals as the presidential race continues. “This is going to be a great time to meet with Wyoming party members to hear from them what is on their minds and, at the same time, share my views on our nation and what I intend to achieve as President,” said...

FRENCHTOWN, Mont. - Residents who fled a fast-burning wildfire that threatened more than 200 homes are trying to determine whether theirs are still standing. In the early Friday darkness, Mike Rutter watched as the lights of fire engines intermingled with flames on a distant hillside near his home. "I'm definitely worried," he said, sitting in a church parking lot with his two children after midnight. "We're just hoping these guys are successful. I know they are trying." Officials did not have a firm count on the number of homes that burned, although the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported that at...

OUTSIDERS ARE GENERALLY FORBIDDEN to enter the walls of this cloistered monastery, but reporter Jessica Ravitz and photographer Paul Fraughton were invited inside. Though the monks spend most of their days, outside of Mass, in silence, this observance was lifted for the occasion. CLARK, Wyo. -- The goodbye was bid not just to people he adored, but to a life he'd be leaving forever. Nicholas Maroney embraced his weeping mother and grandmother, told them he loved them, then turned to his future. Three times he knocked on the wooden gate and listened as the small community assembled in the yard...

LARAMIE, Wyo. - A military sharpshooter accused of killing his estranged wife as she sang at a bar was found Tuesday night with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest and taken to a hospital, police said. Wyoming Army National Guardsman David Munis was found by a search team and flown to Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie, said Cheyenne police Capt. Jeff Schulz. Authorities had been searching for Munis, 36, in a canyon area north of Laramie near where his pickup was spotted late Monday. An empty handgun case had been found inside the truck. Munis' estranged wife, Robin Munis,...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - A woman singing with a band at a local restaurant was shot and killed early Saturday, and police were looking for her estranged husband _ a member of the state Army guard and who police believe has sniper skills. Police Capt. Jeff Schulz said Robin Munis, 40, of Cheyenne was shot in the head with one gunshot that came from outside the restaurant where she was performing. Schulz identified David Munis, 36, of Cheyenne, as a suspect. Police said they were looking for his 1999 black Dodge pickup with Wyoming registration NG-975. The couple had recently separated,...

Police Are Looking For Husban, A Trained Sniper (CBS News) CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- A woman was shot and killed early Saturday while she sang with a band at a restaurant and bar, police said. They were looking for her estranged husband, a National Guardsman who they said had sniper training. Robin Munis was shot in the head with one gunshot that came from outside the Old Chicago restaurant where she had been performing just after midnight, Cheyenne police Capt. Jeff Schulz said. "He fired from outside the bar, she was killed inside the bar," Schulz told CBS affiliate KGWN. No...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Dr. John Barrasso began his rounds on Capitol Hill on Monday, learning how to be a senator. At a photo session with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Wyoming's other senator, Republican Mike Enzi, Barrasso declined to answer any questions, walking out of the room with his new colleagues as a reporter asked how he would vote on an immigration measure. Barrasso has so far declined to say how he will vote on the issue, but he is not expected to stray far from his party's policies. Barrasso will serve until the beginning of 2009. A...

During the selection process to replace Senator Thomas, Dr. Barrasso said he takes the same position as Enzi on the immigration bill and opposes amnesty. He will likely follow Enzi's lead on this issue.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Casper surgeon and state Senator John Barrasso is going to Washington. Governor Freudenthal (FREE'-den-thawl) today (Friday) named Barrasso to replace the late Senator Craig Thomas, who died two weeks ago while fighting leukemia. Barrasso was 1 of 3 candidates nominated by the Wyoming Republican Central Committee after a marathon meeting Tuesday. He and his fellow candidates all embraced what they called "bedrock" conservative values, including low taxes, limited government regulation and private property rights. The final GOP vote had Barrasso in second place, one vote behind former state party chairman Tom Sansonetti and several votes ahead...

John Barrasso, the well-known surgeon and state senator from Casper, will serve as Wyoming's next U.S. Senator.

Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, is being floated in Senate GOP leadership circles as a possible replacement for the last Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.), who died Monday night. Susan Thomas, the late senator's wife, has also been mentioned by Senate Republicans as a potential choice to take over for her husband, as well as former Justice Department official Tom Sansonetti. One GOP insider said Lynne Cheney had been in Washington "too long" to be acceptable to the Wyoming GOP, despite her long resume, and Susan Thomas would not be interested in serving out her husband's term. Sen....

Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.), who has battled leukemia in recent months, is in “serious condition� and is with his family at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., according to a statement released by his family. “At this difficult time, all we can do is give him as much love and support as possible,� his wife, Susan Thomas, said. “The support and prayers of Wyoming folks have made a tremendous difference to us. It has meant everything to Craig, and I know it helps him today.� Thomas is undergoing a second round of chemotherapy, but his blood cancer has resisted...

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in a case that raises significant issues about the ability of private citizens to sue government employees. In the case, Wilkie v. Robbins, a Wyoming rancher charged that officers at the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management retaliated against him after he refused to give the agency access to his land. The rancher, Harvey Frank Robbins, alleged the BLM officers violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and his Fifth Amendment rights by revoking his grazing permits and extorting him to gain access. Robbins originally filed suit against the six BLM employees...

Wilkie v Frank Robbins Case: Right to exclude arguedWyoming Rancher refuses to grant BLM a right-of-way across his private land by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online! February 28, 2007 In late January 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court has received its first briefs in federal appeal filed by Bureau of Land Management officials after an appeals court sided with Worland-area rancher Frank Robbins case. It’s been just over a year since the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that BLM employees cannot retaliate against a ranch owner for refusing to grant the BLM a right-of-way across his private land. The court’s ruling...

Residents in Bingham County have started a local chapter of the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition, which is collecting signatures to once again try to get an initiative to ban gray wolves from Idaho on the ballot. The group failed to gather enough signatures to get a similar initiative on the ballot last year. Coalition Chairman Ron Gillett of Stanley said the group's new goal is to gather 100,000 signatures. He also has instructed petition carriers to make certain that everyone who signs is a registered voter. In 2006, the group collected more than 40,000 signatures in six weeks before running out...

Minutemen Go Inside Latino Immigration Meeting - Racism Espoused, Calls for Violence Against "Whites"by Linda Muller - Minuteman Project - ForTheCause.us There are many radical Latino groups calling for the violent overthrow of their "white" oppressors and the return of the American west to the mythical Aztlan from which they believe their land was stolen. Many Americans do not believe these fringe groups have any power and influence, so they dismiss them as harmless. Yet these groups continually draw U.S. Congressmen and staff members to their meetings. Corporate benefactors and foundations contribute funds and other means of support that enable...

Imagine a pristine mountain stream that turns on and off every few minutes, all by itself. Believe it or not, there is such a Mystery River not far from here, one of only two in the entire world. Now, University of Utah scientists have new evidence that may explain how the phenomenon works. It's not a big river. It's an icy mountain stream. But a few minutes later, it's gone. And a few minutes after that, it's back. Gerald Vanbrunt, Arkansas Tourist: "This is just as good as Old Faithful." But it's not a geyser; it's fed by a cold-water...

CHEYENNE -- Democratic newcomer Gary Trauner decided Thursday not to seek a recount in his narrow loss to Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin in Wyoming's closest U.S. House race in 36 years. "It is time to put this election to rest and look to the future," Trauner said in a statement released through his campaign. "Wyoming is counting on Mrs. Cubin to provide first-rate representation for all the people of the state, and I trust she will do so." In a telephone interview, Trauner said he had not talked to Cubin and wasn't sure if he would. "That's something I will...

CHEYENNE, Wyoming (AP) -- Sen. Craig Thomas, hospitalized since Monday with pneumonia, has been diagnosed with a form of leukemia, his spokesman said Thursday. The Wyoming Republican, who was easily elected to a third term while in the hospital, issued a statement saying he will undergo treatment and plans to return to Congress in January.

With Election Day less than a month away, Dixie Bradley of Green River still isn't sure which candidate she'll choose in the race for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat. She sided with Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin in the past, but now she's torn by GOP handling of the war in Iraq and what she sees as problems with the health care system and Social Security. “I think we need a voice in there from a woman's side, but I haven't really made up my mind,” said Bradley, a 68-year-old retiree who took part in a recent political poll commissioned by...

Wyoming has been among the winners in America's inability to create a sustainable energy policy. Soaring natural-gas prices brought on by surging demand while the government has capped domestic exploration and production have helped the state produce huge budget surpluses, $2.7 billion in the last two years alone. As one might expect, the politicians are spending it as if they had money to burn. Statewide per-pupil spending rose 24 percent this year to more than $12,400, within $600 of top-spender New Jersey. A $400 million endowment has been established to give home-grown high school graduates college scholarships. Teachers' salaries have...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Reacting to a California court ruling on roadless areas in national forests, Wyoming will seek to resurrect a lawsuit in which a federal judge struck down the Clinton-era ban on logging and other development in roadless areas. "We had a case that threw out the Clinton rule," Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Tuesday in announcing the state will file a motion over the next week to revive its lawsuit. A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday reinstated the Clinton administration ban on road construction in nearly a third of national forests, including 3.2 million acres in Wyoming....

U.S. expands warning to cover all fresh spinach Sep 16, 2006 — By Joel Rothstein WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumers should avoid all fresh spinach, regardless of whether it is pre-packaged, a chief U.S. food safety official warned on Saturday, saying the number of E. coli illnesses had passed 100. "We need to get a clear message to consumers," said Dr. David Acheson, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's director of food safety and security. "Some consumers may not be aware that spinach that may be available to them may have been pre-packaged," he said referring to loose spinach sold in...

The richest undisturbed cache of dinosaur fossils in North America may change the way we see the distant past... IT WAS THE PROSPECTOR WHO FOUND IT FIRST. Maybe 30 years ago, back when uranium was worth a lot, when people thought nuclear power was your friend. He was working a ridge up at Spring Creek, Wyo., looking for ore with a scintillometer, a modern-day Geiger counter. He was getting a lot of hits. But there was something else. Big, off-color rocks in strange shapes were lying loose on the ground where the wind had blown the dirt off them. The...

This caught my eye several months ago and its a good way of enforcing immigration law.This may give you the added tool to enforce immigration law. From the Backrounder In 1996, Congress expanded the Racketeer influenced and Corrupt Organization(RICO) to include violations of federal immigration law. While this expansion may not recieved publicity, it could potentially change the face of U.S. immigration law eforcement. Under the new RICO provisions, a violation of certain provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act(INA) meets the definition of racketeering activity, also know an "predicate offenses" and an entity that engages in a pattern of...

I think there's also a lot of truth to the old wisdom that you should choose your friends carefully. They have a big influence on the kind of person you become. So when you see good qualities in people -- things you admire, habits you'd like to pick up, principles you respect -- keep those people close at hand in your life. In many ways, when you choose your friends you choose your future. Remember, too, that the best friends you'll ever have are also the first people you ever knew. Nobody understands you better; nobody will ever have your...

Wyoming sues feds over gun rights By TOM MORTON Star-Tribune staff writer Wednesday, May 10, 2006 Wyoming is suing the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, centers on whether its the federal government or the state that has the final authority to restore gun rights to those guilty of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses. Under federal law, people convicted of any misdemeanor crime of domestic violence used to be prohibited from possessing a firearm. In 1986, that changed: Those convicted could own a gun if their records were expunged. A new...

(Snip) The one interesting statewide race is the battle for Wyoming's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Wyoming is one of seven sparsely-populated states which send only a single congressman to that chamber. Since 1942, with one exception, the state's Member-at-Large has been a Republican. But Representative Barbara Cubin, first elected in 1994, now leads Democratic challenger Gary Trauner by only four percentage points, 47% to 43% and the GOP can hardly take her reelection for granted. This becomes one more contest to which the GOP may have to devote resources during an election year in which the party...

Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin is a known commodity in Wyoming, which has fewer people than any other state and an electorate in which Republican registrants outnumber Democrats by a 2-to-1 ratio. Yet Cubin — who first won for Congress in 1994 — is not the most popular Republican to have held Wyoming’s only House seat, which previously was held by current two-term Sen. Craig Thomas and incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney. While the GOP ticket of President Bush and Cheney was sopping up 69 percent of the Wyoming vote in 2004, Cubin was elected to a seventh term with 55...

JACKSON, Wyo. -- In an era when the rich are the only income group getting richer, ever-larger waves of wealth are spilling in from the coasts and swamping the resort valleys of the Rocky Mountain West. The rich are coming not just to ski, mountain-bike or build imposing second homes. They are coming to stay -- or, at the very least, secure permanent resident status for tax purposes. The moneyed invasion is driving population growth rates that are among the highest in the nation. From Aspen to Jackson to Squaw Valley, high-net-worth individuals fill sleek restaurants night after night...

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) -- A local law enforcement official in eastern Idaho says an FBI sting that netted a Pennsylvania man -- being investigated in a plot to blow up oil and gas pipelines -- could have gone awry because he and other agencies weren't notified of the operation. "I think if we have these type of incidents, local law enforcement, at least local law enforcement department heads, need to be notified for the protection of our citizens and our officers," Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen told the Idaho State Journal. "Especially where this guy already had warrants out for...

Transcript: Former Sen. Simpson Discusses His Friend, Dick Cheney The following is a partial transcript of the FOX News Sunday edition that aired on Feb. 19, 2006: "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" HOST CHRIS WALLACE: To get an idea of how Mr. Cheney has been getting through what he described as a very long week, we turn now to one of his closest friends in politics, former Senator Alan Simpson, who joins us from Cody, Wyoming. And, Senator, welcome to "FOX News Sunday". .... excerpted.... Simpson: Dick Cheney has become the hate symbol from the beginning. He was the hate symbol when...

Breaking on Fox.

Products based on NASA Earth observations and a new Internet-based decision tool are providing information to help land and water managers combat tamarisk (saltcedar), an invasive plant species damaging precious water supplies in the western United States. This decision tool, called the Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS), is being used at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Institute of Invasive Species Science in Fort Collins, Colo. It is the result of combining USGS science and NASA Earth observations, software engineering and high- performance computing expertise. "The ISFS combines NASA satellite data with tens of thousands of field sampling measurements, which...

(2006-02-12) — Vice President Dick Cheney today accidentally peppered a 78-year-old hunting buddy with shotgun pellets during a quail hunt in Texas, injuring attorney Harry Whittington. Filled with remorse over the incident, the vice president immediately repealed the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees “the right to bear arms.”(...) The vice president said he has “directed President Bush to declare martial law and to repeal the Second Amendment temporarily, until we can get a federal court to declare the right to bear arms unconstitutional.” (...)

Federal agents contend that a Pennsylvania man tried to work with al Qaeda in a plot to blow up the Alaska pipeline, another pipeline in Pennsylvania and a refinery in New Jersey, according to a published report. Michael Curtis Reynolds, 47, has not officially been charged with terrorism, but a prosecutor at a hearing said that Reynolds tried to "provide material aid to al Qaeda" and that the case "involves a federal offense of terrorism," The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in its Sunday editions. CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston reports that a tip from Shannen Rossmiller - a judge from Conrad,...

Is There A Real Brokeback Mountain? Much of Brokeback Mountain is set in Riverton, Wyoming, gateway to the Wind River Range and Gannett Peak. However according to the IMDB, the “gay cowboy flick� was made in the Canadian Rockies near Calgary, Albert; Fort Macleod in Alberta and La Mesilla, New Mexico.The USGS Global Names Information System shows no Brokeback Mountain although there is a Brokenback Creek/Narrows/Reservoir about 100 miles northeast of Riverton. Google MapAnnie Proulx was quoted in Planet Jackson Hole: Brokeback is not a real place. There is, on a map I once saw, a Break Back Mountain in...