Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 1

"rfa-l fl F0R TOURNAMENT V- ynVk- coverage AHV SEE SPORTS AND E5Gototrib.com tC A Rf 1 raririDune Saturday, March 1, 2008 WYOMING'S STATKWIDH NHWSPAPER trib.com The last place this should be' Dem camps rally inWyo By DAVID MIRHADI Star-Tribune staff writer 1 1 mm Chris Merrill, Star-Tribune Sunlight shimmers on the snow late Thursday afternoon in the Jonah natural gas field in Sublette County. When sunlight hits gas field emissions, the reaction can create ozone, a noxious air pollutant. The Department of Environmental Quality issued the state's first-ever ozone advisory Wednesday. Sublette residents worry about air quality degradation News Tracker Last we knew: An air pollution advisory was issued for elevated levels of ozone in the Pinedale area. The latest: Several Sublette County residents are expressing concern about the air contamination and about potential health impacts from booming energy activity in the area.

What's next: The state is lifting the ozone air pollution advisory today. By CHRIS MERRILL Star-Tribune environment reporter P1NEDALE Some people here were alarmed following an air pollution advisory that warned people in the region about elevated, and potentially harmful, concentrations of ozone in the air. After a boom in gas development in recent years and in the context of ongoing proposals for large-scale expansion of gas extraction many norm, and was the result of an unusual confluence of weather conditions arising at the same time. And clearer skies are on the horizon, regardless of the weather, because they are phasing in new, less-polluting technologies and strategies. Wyoming's Department of Environmental Quality issued the pollution alert after recording relatively high levels of ozone in Boulder, Daniel and at the Jonah natural gas field this past week and weather forecasts called for conditions con ducive to the creation and trapping of more ozone in the valley.

DEQis lifting its ozone advisory effective today because snow showers and wind were expected to move into western Wyoming Friday evening, which will likely clean the air for the next several days, according to a department spokesman. The brilliant sunshine glimmered in pickup truck Please see SUBLETTE, A5 locals were wondering this week what the air is going to be like when thousands of more wells are drilled in the Upper Mike Sullivan spent 2 12 years as ambassador to Ireland during Bill Clinton's second prSdent35 Fr m'e: And the Flier fuss A5 man who is supporting Clinton's wife to be the Democratic nominee in November knows that Wyoming could play a pivotal role when the party caucuses next weekend. Please see DEMOCRATS, A5 SourceGas: 'Confident' problems are over Commission sets March 31 deadlines By MEGAN LEE Star-Tribune staff writer Representatives from SourceGas said during Friday's Wyoming Public Service Commission hearing that all billing problems will be solved by March 31. Helen ewS Wells, cus- tomer service Tr3CKGr manager for SourceGas, "Last we knew: testified that The Wyoming she is "confi- Public Service dent" that the Commission began company has a public hearing in solved most Casper to address of its prob- SourceGas billing lems and that problems, four weeks is adequate "Thelatest: time for the The Commission company to heard testimony address each fro SourceGas of the re- representatives at maining 1,250 the continued affected cus- hearing on Friday tomers. in Cheyenne.

"We have a team of 10 in- "What's next: i i a 1 Tw0 additional working on meetings are set this," Wells for March 14 and said. "I am ab- March 28. solutely confi- SourceGas dent that we'll representatives absolutely will report on their meet that progress to the schedule." Commission. Approxi-mately 12,200 Wyoming customers have been affected since September, when the gas company changed its billing system and began experiencing problems. "I am confident that it is behind the company," Wells said.

"I'm absolutely positive that' things will start getting better after the March 31 deadline." Please see GAS, A5 Weather Index Advisers Casper Hfc57 "7 Low 25 Classified Tooth expert puts wrong bite on cases Confessions free men convicted in murders Land reg bill survives House, Senate versions differ Green River Basin. Gas industry representatives said that Wednesday's advisory was the exception to the File. AP killings after DNA connected him to one of the rapes, investigators say. As for West, his analysis of bite marks in the two murders and in hundreds of other Mississippi criminal cases over the years is under attack. Fabricated novel The By SHELIA BYRD Associated Press writer MACON, Miss.

At a small-town courthouse in one of rural Mississippi's poorest counties, Dr. Michael West swore under oath that a dead girl had bite marks all over her body and that they were made by the two front teeth of the man charged with murdering her. Such testimony had become commonplace for West. The dentist considered himself an authority on forensic odontology and had taken the stand at numerous trials as a paid expert for the prosecution. On the strength of West's testimony and little else, a jury in 1995 convicted Kennedy Brewer of raping and murdering the 3-year-old girl and sentenced him to death.

Three years earlier, West gave similar testimony in a nearly identical rape-and-mur-der case involving another 3-year-old girl from the same town. West testified there were bite marks on the victim's wrist and they were made by By JARED MILLER Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE Rejecting last-minute opposition, the House Friday passed a bill on final reading that would allow counties to regulate large-acre land developments. The controversial legislation endured an unusual number of changes during the lawmaking process, and supporters hailed it Friday as a major victory. "This bill is one of the great compromises," said Rep. Ker-mit Brown, R-Laramie, who helped develop the bill.

Senate File 11 would give counties the option of regulating developments up to 140 acres in size, closing a loophole that supporters of the legislation say allows developers to shift costs to the county and state. House members critical of the legislation mounted a late-hour effort to kill the bill on the floor. They blasted the bill as an unnecessary infringement on private property rights that will accomplish little. "This bill is not going to people's voice Much to Bill Trucker Senate File 11 What the bill would do: Allow counties to regulate large-acre land developments. The latest: The House passed the bill on third and final reading.

Whafs next The measure goes to a House-Senate conference committee to resolve differences. stop sprawl. It's not going to preserve open spaces. It's more like organized development," said Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, R-Ther-mopolis.

Rep. David Miller, R-River-ton, said property owners pay taxes and deserve services including roads. "This bill has kind of taken on a life of its own," Miller said. "It's trying to do a lot of Please see SUBDIVISIONS, A5 JU MM The Grouch Annie Brewer, right, hugs her son, Kennedy Brewer, moments after a circuit court judge exonerated him last month in the kidnapping and murder of a 3-year-old Mississippi girt. Levon Brooks.

Brooks, too, was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Today, more than a decade later, both Brewer and Brooks are out of prison, and prosecutors have all but pronounced them innocent. The reason: A third man confessed to both How old is this Sheridan voters reject a D3 A3 E1-14 D4-5 A7 D2 D3 B3 A6 E3 B6 Coming Sunday The story of a man who has been in the state's custody for the majority of his three decades of life. see, much to do There's plenty to do in Casper this weekend. Just check it out.

See A3 Comics Letters Markets Movies Obituaries Opinion Puzzles Weather 4 fc-, i a it i measure to create a city administrator. SeeBl A woman who said she survived the Holocaust and was taken care of by wolves now says the story is a hoax. SeeA9 Depending on how you look at it. she turned 96 on Friday. Then again, she may only he 24.

SeeD3 Jumpin' Jack Flash it's a gas, gas, gas..