Study: Anti-tobacco program works

CHEYENNE - The University of Wyoming's Survey and Analysis Center says an anti-tobacco program in Wyoming is showing some success.

The center says that for every $1 million invested in the Tobacco-Free Wyoming Communities program, cigarette sales have decreased by 2.2 million packs.

The center also estimates that the program saves $650,000 a year in health care costs.

Nanette Nelson with the Survey and Analysis Center says cigarette sales are on the decline in most Wyoming counties. Sales in Albany County, for example, have dropped from an average of 70 packs per person in the 1990s to 50 packs now.

Cigarette sales are up in Campbell County. Nelson attributes that to an influx of workers in the energy industry over the past decade.

Three plead guilty to voting illegally

MANILA, Utah - Three people, including two Wyoming residents, have pleaded guilty in a case of illegal voter registration in eastern Utah's Daggett County.

Fifty-one people have been accused of illegally registering in Daggett, a misdemeanor, even though they don't live there.

The case involves the 2006 election, when then-Sheriff Alan Campbell complained that the voter rolls were growing in the small county near the Wyoming border.

Fourteen people listed the address of the parents of sheriff candidate Rick Ellsworth. He defeated Campbell by 20 votes.

The Salt Lake Tribune says three people pleaded guilty to a lesser charge Friday and were fined $500. They are Zachary B. Millett of Roosevelt, and Wyoming residents Brandon C. Ellsworth and Charles C. Rich.

Six other people also pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, but their records will be wiped clean in a year if they avoid trouble. They signed up but didn't vote in Daggett County.

Conservation camp gets new leader

NEWCASTLE - There's going to be a new warden at the Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp and Wyoming Boot Camp in Newcastle.

The Department of Corrections said Friday that Steven Hargett has 33 years of experience in corrections, including as a warden in Mississippi, Arizona and Oklahoma.

Hargett has worked in private corrections since 2000. Most recently he's been vice president for operations for GRW Corp., which oversees prisons and a jail in Colorado, Missouri and Kansas.

He begins his new job at the end of May and replaced Ken Keller, who's now warden at the Wyoming Honor Farm in Riverton.

Paper seeks veterans, families

The Casper Star-Tribune is seeking military men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan to share their stories about returning home.

We're also looking for military family members who can talk about how the return of their loved ones is affecting them and their families.

Please contact capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or jared.miller@trib.com.