Posted: Sunday, February 17, 2008 12:00 am
Former firefighter gets probation for drug fraud
SHERIDAN - A former Sheridan Fire-Rescue firefighter has been sentenced to up to five years probation for attempting to acquire controlled substances by misrepresentation or fraud.
Marc Hartman entered a plea deal in District Court with County Attorney Matt Redle that will remove the charge from his record if he successfully completes the probation. Hartman also must undergo drug treatment.
Redle says he thinks the sentence is appropriate because Hartman cooperated with law enforcement, served in the military, and served the community as a firefighter.
Police accused Hartman of stealing pills while pretending to perform in-home services for the fire department.
Approval granted for workers' mobile home park
GILLETTE - Workers who are headed to the area to build a coal-fired power plant will have the option of living in mobile homes at the Cam-plex events center.
Booming gas drilling has made available housing scarce in the Gillette area.
Events center officials agreed with Black Hills Corp. on Thursday to set aside 50 lots for temporary housing at the Cam-plex. The utility agreed to pay for concrete slabs, water, power lines, sewer lines and a fence at the site, which will have room for as many as 100 recreational vehicles.
"We're committed to develop, occupy on a temporary basis and provide a long-term asset to the citizens," said Rick Kaysen, a company spokesman.
The mobile home sites are expected to be ready by Oct. 1. By then, most of 260 workers who will build the power plant will be at work.
Black Hills will have the option of reusing the sites if it needs to bring in workers for another project before 2020.
Laramie County mulls buffer zone around wind turbines
CHEYENNE - Laramie County is working on new rules to create a buffer zone between homes and large wind turbines.
Several ranchers say they'd like to lease their land to whoever wants to put up windmills to turn wind into electricity. The ranchers are in favor of a 1,000-foot buffer zone.
But some homeowners say the buffer zone between wind turbines and homes should be a lot larger - a mile would be fine with them.
Laramie County Commissioner Jeff Ketcham said deciding the size of the buffer zone is going to be a tough issue for the commission.
Cheyenne refinery cited for sewer violations
CHEYENNE - Frontier Refining Inc. has been cited by the city's Board of Public Utilities for pollutants flowing through one of its sanitary sewer lines
City water reclamation division manager Jim Hughes says that for nearly two years, oily hydrocarbons have been seeping into Frontier's domestic sanitary sewer line that ties into the city's system.
Hughes says the problem is relatively small but it does exceed the city's limits for contaminants.
Refinery manager Mike Milam says the company is replacing many of its sewer lines to bring the company into compliance.
Revenue growth strong at historic penetentiary
RAWLINS - Revenue from tours of the historic penitentiary in Rawlins increased by almost 16 percent in 2007 from the year before.
Old Pen Director Tina Hill told the Carbon County Commission that about 15,000 people took tours last year, paying a total of $51,835 in fees.
In January, the Old Pen joint powers board increased tour prices for the 2008 season to $7 for adults, $6 for children and senior citizens, and $30 for a family. Children 5 years old and younger are admitted for free.
Hill said the tour price increase was necessary because of an increase in the federal minimum wage.