Plane slides off runway

ROCK SPRINGS - Gusty winds apparently caused a Federal Express delivery airplane to slide off the runway at the Rock Springs/Sweetwater County Airport Saturday afternoon, according to airport officials.

The single-engine plane sustained substantial damage, but there were no injuries, airport public information officer Paula Wonnacott said in a Monday press release. The pilot was transported to the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County as a precautionary measure.

Airport Manager Gary Valentine said the plane - which belongs to FedEx, but was operated by Corporate Air - was preparing to depart from the airport when the incident occurred.

Valentine said the plane went off the runway while attempting to take off and eventually came to rest "precariously" at the end of the runway. Airport personnel responded to the scene, along with county and city emergency workers.

A local truck service was called in and moved the plane. Valentine said the airport remained open and fully operational during the incident.

He said Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board officials are investigating.

GOP will meet on vacancy

CHEYENNE - Republicans in Laramie County plan to meet today to nominate three people to replace state Sen. Bob Fecht.

Fecht resigned Dec. 19, saying that serving in the Legislature took more time than he had imagined.

Fecht also is Cheyenne's police chief. He was elected to the state Senate in 2006.

State law requires the political party of a state legislator who dies or leaves office to nominate three people to replace that lawmaker. The replacement is then chosen by the local county commission.

Laramie County Republicans plan to meet in the Cheyenne City Council chambers at 5:15 p.m. to choose their three nominees for the state Senate seat.

Report: Children live in poverty

CHEYENNE - A new report by the Children's Defense Fund says nearly one out of nine children in Wyoming live in poverty.

Catherine Crato, an economist with the fund, says that's better than the national average of one in six children living in poverty.

The report says more than 13 million children in the United States are living in poverty, including nearly 6 million who live in extreme poverty.

Nearly 9 million children nationwide lack health insurance coverage, according to the report.

The report says about 12 percent of Wyoming children live in poverty, compared with 18 percent of children nationwide. About 5 percent of Wyoming children are living in extreme poverty, compared with about 8 percent of children across the nation.

College receives wind turbine

CHEYENNE - Laramie County Community College has acquired an 18,000-pound wind turbine to help students prepare for work in the wind-power industry.

Duke Energy and Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power donated a turbine damaged during a June storm that struck the Happy Jack Wind Farm. The turbine has a 143-foot blade.