Wyo lags in historic sites

CHEYENNE - A study ranks Wyoming seventh among the eight states in the Rocky Mountain region in the number of historic sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

But the state's chief preservation officer said Wyoming's record on historic preservation is better than what is reflected in the 2009 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card.

Mary Hopkins is interim state historic preservation office. She says the study was too narrow in focus.

Liz Kolbe of the State of the Rockies project says the idea behind the study was to look at the historic places to bring awareness of their significance to the region.

Vacant homes concern neighbors

CHEYENNE - A downtown Cheyenne grocery store has yet to do anything with numerous homes it purchased for a possible expansion more than five years ago.

Neighbors say they don't want to live next to a row of vacant homes that Safeway grocery store purchased as part of a plan to replace its existing store. The neighbors are concerned the vacant homes are hurting their property values.

However, Cheyenne building officials say the city's building code doesn't address aesthetics. They say vacated building's don't violate code unless they're structurally unsound and in danger of falling over.

Safeway says building a new store is a long process that's complicated by the economic recession.

The chain filed an updated site plan with the city in November. Its proposal calls for building a new store where the vacant homes now stand.

The company has two years to build or it must resubmit a new plan.

Scientists study elk migration

CRANDALL - Researchers studying elk in the Yellowstone National Park area want to expand knowledge about the influences of habitat, climate and predators on elk migration, reproduction and survival.

Even before its completion next spring, the Absaroka Elk Ecology Project is presenting a tale of two herds within the Clarks Fork area of Wyoming's northern Park County.

The $500,000 study includes researchers from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the University of Wyoming, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service. They have placed tracking collars on dozens of elk and several wolves from five packs.

Tribe starts radio program

ETHETE - The Northern Arapaho Tribe has started producing a new radio program dedicated to news and events on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

Tribal Public Relations Director Donovan Antelope said The Hei'towott (Hay-to-WAHT') News Hour serves as a radio broadcast version of the tribe's Hei'towott monthly newsletter.

The program began airing recently on KWRR, a tribally owned National Public Radio affiliate in Ethete.

Antelope said the hour-long program airs on Wednesdays and features local news and interviews with local or visiting officials. He says the program also includes health tips and trivia about the tribe.

Antelope said the Arapaho word Hei'towott translates in English as "to tell the people or telling the people."