Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 3

CasperArea WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2003 Qty edtor Dwdre Stoette Graves can be reached at (307) 2660582, 1 30O79 1 5002 a stoetetetnb com A3 TEN COMMANDMENTS I Local Fox news starts Monday Channel 16 adds second newscast to Gasper since September sit? 4 dm JIFB rBS JljlllljllJIIjlJ DAN CEFfDAStaf-Tnbune Pastor Milo Miller leads a prayer during a prayer rally in front of the Ten Commandments monument in City Park on Tuesday. The rally was organized by the Wyoming National Day of Prayer. The Casper Gty Council voted Tuesday night to move the monument to a historic plaza to be located on the corner of Beech and Second streets. Crowd prays for monument mmWm mWW By BRENDAN BURKE Star-Tribune staff writer Some 75 people, young and old, gathered in prayer before the Ten Commandments monument Tuesday in City Park to ask for God's guidance in settling the controversy surrounding the Decalogue. The date of the "Ten Minutes for the Ten Commandments" prayer service coincided with a special meeting Tuesday night of the Casper City Council designed to settle the controversy that has divided the community (see related story, Al).

The event was organized by the Wyoming National Day of Prayer organization. Rev. Thomas Cross of the Christ United Methodist Church said before the ceremony that he went to the park to pray for God's guidance to end the controversy and unite the community. Cross expressed hope that the City Council would decide to keep the monument in the park, but if that proved to be legally impossible, he said the he would pray for God's wisdom to guide the council in whatever action it needed to take. Cross, along with Rev.

Milo Miller of the Highland Park Community Church and businessman Will White, led the gathering in its 10 minutes of prayer. All three men asked for God to guide the city of Casper so that its residents can be brought together and be known for their love for one another. At the conclusion of the ceremony, White led the gathering in a rendition of "God Bless America." Many attending the event By MATTHEW VAN DUSEN Star-Tribune staff writer Casper's new local Fox newscast will not be "fair and balanced" so much as it will be "objective and straightforward," according to the new KWYF news director Greg Fladager. Local Fox affiliate KWYF, broadcast on cable channel 16, is tentatively scheduled to have its first newscast at 9 p.m. Monday.

It will be the second new news broadcast in Casper since late September, when NBC-affiliate KCWY Channel 13 began its newscasts to compete with KTWO-TV news. The station will carry locally produced news stories and ones from the Fox News Edge a newswire for stories from regional affiliates and Fox News Channel. Fox News Channel's tagline "fair and balanced" is often seen as a smokescreen for conservative bias, but the Casper-produced content will come without ideological leanings, Fladager said. "Fox is our news service, but they don't own the station," he said. WyoMedia Corporation owns the station.

Fladager later added, "I don't want to give the news a slant other than the fact that it might be interesting. If we do editorial opinion, I would imagine it would be conservative, but we haven't gotten that far yet." The news staff consists of Fladager, who was the news director at the WyoMedia-owned KFNB, more than a decade ago when last they had news; sports reporter Josh Earl; and producer and editor Kris Kiggins, who is married to Star-Tribune sports writer Steve Kiggins. Fladager said there are no current plans to add more staff. "It's not an attempt to go head-to-head with KTWO or Channel 13," Fladager said of his small staff. Fladager will anchor the program standing at a podium in front of a set.

The news will likely be taped, but could be live at times. "The concept is basically to give people news of the day, sports of the day, weather of the day in something of a headline fashion," he said. Following the model of The Newshour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, the crew will expand on the headline stories later in the broadcast. The station's managers have been considering having local news on the station for a while, and hope to build on the popularity of Fox pro'grams, Fladager said. The newscasts will run from Monday to Friday, and there are ho current plans to add more news programming.

There was no indication Tuesday of how KWYF or the other news stations would compete for advertising dollars in America's 200th-biggest television market. Station general manager Mark Nalbone was out of town and unavailable for comment. KTWO-TV general manager Tom Shannon was also out of town, according to a station staffer. KCWY general manager Bill Sullivan said he has not followed KWYF's news aspirations. "Our goal is to be the best newscast in the area," Sullivan said.

"There's no other strategy than that." Sullivan said he had not seen a recent Nielsen survey about ratings, but said, "I think we're doing well." Sullivan said KCWY has rapidly expanded its news broadcasts in the last month and a half. The station now has news programming Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 7 a.m., at 12 p.m., and at 5 p.m., at 6 p.m. and at 10 p.m. On the weekends news is broadcast at 5 p.m.

and at 10 p.m. DAN CEPf DAStar-Tribune God Church, examines the Ten Commandments monument that has been the Ron Whitlatch, pastor of the Family of subject of a controversy in Casper. voiced opposition to removing the monument from the park. "I hate to see America's values stripped from our land," event participant Louise Devalt said. "You see the decay in our country and this would be added to it." Will removal of the monument "make a big difference in a lot of people's lives?" Devalt asked.

"Probably not. It is just one thing that I can do in my com- dent should guide governments like the Casper City Council to keep the monuments dedicated to the Christian faith, like the Ten Commandments, on city property. Before and after the prayer service, Wilson helped to circulate a petition to the City Council asking that they honor the precedent set by the Founding Fathers and keep religion in the public arena. munity to preserve my country as it was founded." The Rev. Carl Wilson of the Central Wyoming Rescue Mission agreed, saying he, too, wished to maintain the traditional Christian values America was founded upon and keep the monument in the park.

The history of America as a Christian nation has set a clear precedent, Wilson said. This prece Casper offers 'perfect combination' to tourists Tourism is the state's second-largest industry after mining, but it hasn't realized its full political potential like agriculture has, said Sen. Keith Goodenough, D-Casper. to use public lands, and that affects a significant amount of businesses, he said. Despite the opposition to wolf reintroduction by some in the agriculture industry, many people travel to Yellowstone National Park to view wolves, Goodenough said.

Phil Noble, director of the Department of Parks and Cultural Resources, said that his office is drafting a master plan for parks and historic sites that can be brought into the state park system. Al Conder, regional fisheries supervisor for the Game and Fish Department, said his office is a major player in tourism, but often hasn't thought of itself that way. For example, the reservoirs in Natrona County are great assets and used by thousands of people, but they need better development, Conder said. "All access to Pathfinder is by gravel roads," he said. "We have a phenomenal resource, but we haven't tapped it." organizations can use "the perfect combination" theme to attract people for longer stays, including living and doing business here, Black said.

The Bureau and Council, Black said, will print thousands of brochures and visitors guides for direct mail, hotel rooms, racks in other businesses, and prospective tourists individuals and those on tours who call for information. Past efforts have reaped great rewards for the local and state economies, she said. Visitors to Natrona County in 2002 spent $159.9 million, the 2,400 people employed in tourism-related businesses earned a payroll of $40.1 million, the tourism business genei nearly $2.3 million in local taxes, and more than $4 million in state taxes, Black said. Several speakers from state agencies lauded the local efforts and offered some suggestions. Tourism is the state's second-largest industry after mining, but it hasn't realized its full political By TOM MORTON Star-Tribune staff writer Casper's hotels, restaurants, clubs, stores, individuals and associations will offer "the perfect combination" of activities and events to lure thousands of Americans and international travelers to central Wyoming next year, local tourism officials said Tuesday.

The Casper Area Convention Visitors Bureau and the Natrona County Travel Tourism Council unveiled their advertising and marketing campaign, and its "the perfect combination" theme, for 2004. Representatives of nearly 50 businesses and nonprofit agencies met at the Parkway Plaza to plan for the coming year. "Each ad tries to push different kinds of events and activities," said Marlyn Black, executive director of the Casper Area Convention Visitors Bureau. The Bureau and Council also hope area merchants and potential like agriculture has, said Sen. Keith Goodenough, D-Casper.

"I believe that your time will come in that sense," he told those at the convention. Those in tourism businesses, and organizations that attract tourists, need to pay attention to issues beyond the lodging tax, which raises $530,000 for local promotions, said Goodenough, a member of the Senate Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee. For example, access issues can affect whether hunters will be able.