Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 3

1 Thursday, January 27, 2011 Managing Editor Ron Gullberg can be reached at (307) 266-0560, l-SOO-559-0583 or ron.gullbergtrib.com A3 w-ii a Tin hi 1 Legislation to repeal implied consent now heads to Senate 1 fuse any tests for alcohol can avoid any criminal penalty. But people face suspension of their driver's license for up to six months for their first refusal and up to 18 months for subsequent refusals. State Rep. Keith Gingery, the Jackson Republican who sponsored the bill, said the proposal is targeted at repeat offenders with high blood-alcohol levels who know how to use the law to avoid punishment. In Teton County, where Gingery works as an assistant county attor -ney, the testing refusal rate among people who are stopped for a second or subsequent DUI is about 75 percent, he said.

He said the refusal rate in Albany County is more than 60 percent. Although in previous years the Legislature voted downlbills to toughen the state's DUI law, Gingery said legislators this year weret swayed by calls from their local law enforcement officers, county attorneys and community members in support of the proposal. "As you continue to educate on the billpeople's concerns are aK leviated a little bit," Gingery said. But several House members who voted against the bill said their concerns about the bill's effect on civil liberties were as strong as ever. "What are you going to do? Are you going to strap people down to test them asked state Rep.

Bunky Please see DUI, A4 mn Brief FROM STAFF ft WIRE REPORTS Troopers arrest attack suspect 1 BUTTE, Mont. -A man suspected in an at -tack on a Montana Tech student on the Butte campus was arrested near Laramie on -Wednesday after a chase with speeds that reached 130 mph. The Wyoming Highway Patrol said Brandon Curry, 28, faces charges that included eluding, reckless driving, felony interference with a peace officer, felony property damage and drunken driving. It was not clear what charges he faces in Montana. Butte police identified Curry as aperson of interest after a 19 -year-old woman reported a man forced her into a Montana Tech library bathroom early Tuesday afternoon, helda knife at her throat and punched her in the face.

She was able to escape and Curry fled. Wyoming officials say they did not know Curry was wanted in Montana when a trooper who was westbound on Interstate 80 spotted his car traveling eastbound at 100 mph. That trooper called another trooper nearby, who was able to pull Curry over. However, after handing the of -ficer his driver's license and registration, the patrol says Curry put his vehicle in reverse and rammed the front of the trooper's car. The patrol says Curry then sped off and crossed the median.

The trooper pursued him in a chase that reached speeds of 130 mph. Cur-ry 's vehicle was disabled by spike strips about nine miles later. He lost By JEREMY PELZER Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE Legislation requiring suspected drunken drivers to submit to breath, blood or urine tests easily passed the Wyoming House of Representatives on Wednesday. 1 Patterned after South Dakota's tough law, House Bill 29 would repeal Wyoming's 50-year-old implied consent law, which allows suspected drunken drivers to refuse any tests for alcohol. The House passed the legislation 35-23 over objections that the proposal would violate civil lib -erties.

Under the implied consent law, suspected drunken drivers who re Wild stallions spar on Bureau of 7lL I I J-EfS II if Ml What the bill would do: Require suspected drunken drivers to submit to a breath, blood or urine test. The latest: The bill passed the House on Wednesday. What's next: The legislation now heads to the Senate for consideration. Forest blocks range leasing By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press writer CHEYENNE The Bridger -Teton National Forest will not allow oil and gas leases on 70 square miles of the Wyoming Range, a new twist in a long debate over drilling in the western Wyoming mountains. Tuesday's much-awaited decision drew praise from environmentalists and criticism from Rep.

Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. who said in a statement that it was based on "everything but jobs, the economy, energy independence and national security." Wyoming's new Republican governor, Matt Mead, also expressed concern. The presence of Canadahnx, athreatened species, was a key reason for the decision, and Mead said the elusive cat could affect other feder- al land management decisions. "There is so little documentation and understanding of that species. To make decisions without a complete picture of its habitat creates a lot of uncertainty not only for Please see DRILL, A4 4 Land Management land east of Cody recently.

(Mark GockeStar-Tribune correspondent) Panel targets federal education reform Enzi said in a conference call with reporters, committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. and Education Secre taryArne Duncan. The law has been credited for raising achievement in math and reading but criticized for emphasizing testing and lowering standards. The law requires all students to be tested in math and reading in grades three through eight and once in high school.

The law funds programs for poor, at-risk and disabled students. Enzi said it's not practical to start from scratch with a law schools have adapted to over a decade. Enzi and his colleagues identified nine areas of the law that need to be fixed, such as setting an unattainable goal of 100 By JACKIE BORCHARDT Star-Tribune staff writer Overhaul of federal education law will be a bipartisan, bicameral effort, federal lawmakers said Wednesday. Members of the Senate Education Committee heard testimony last year and hope to have draft legislation to the president by the end of the summer. Sen.

Mike Enzi, the ranking member of the committee, said he's committed to a bipartisan effort to fix problems in the No Child Left Behind Act, including burdens on rural schools. "Wehavekindofaone-size-fits-all mentality, and parents are feeling like they're left out of the equation," of his car and the trooper rammed the side of his car. Curry tried to-flee on foot and made it about 75 yards before the trooper chased him down and tackled him. Lummis gets vice chairman post CHEYENNE -Rep. Cynthia Lummis has been appointed vice chairman of the House on Appropriations.

The Wyoming Republican said the appointment is a great honor and she looks forward to working with other House members on confronting the nation's fiscal crisis. Republican Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia is chairman of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Appropriations. The vice chairman acts as chairman of the subcommittee in the absence of the chairman and assists inofficial committee duties. BLM proposes wild horse contraception POWELL -The Bureau of LandManage-ment wants to conduct another birth control program for McCul-lough Peaks wild horses in northern Wyoming.

The BLM proposal would provide birth control on the horses for at least the next five years to help manage the size of the herd. The birth control would be administered by darting the horses. Horses will not be rounded up. The goal is to inoculate around 6S mares this spring. McCullough'swild horses were previously treated with birth control in 2004 and 2009.

There are about 124 mustangs in the herd. percent proficiency and a complicated accountability formula that fails schools. "We're trying to make the law more simple and put in more state and local control," Enzi said. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill did not return phone calls from the Star -Tribune on Wednesday afternoon seek-ing comment. Wyoming educators and politicians have toyed with the idea of not accepting federal education funding and its requirements.

Legislation has been proposed in the state House to study the effects of refusing more than $100 million. Proponents say the money comes with too Please see EDUCATION, A4 why students aren't near the top in assessments that measure what students have learned. The bill before the House would repeal various prohibitions on charter school applications in current law. For instance, current state law allows local school boards to deny a charter application if it determines the charter is not "compatible with the Please see CHARTER, A4 'E iwmm House narrowly approves charter school bill schools and free of many regulations that govern traditional public schools in exchange for achieving promised results. Advocates for charter schools in Wyoming say they promote more innovative teaching and learning that regular public schools can't offer and are a good alternative to the current system.

Wyoming public schools are among the best financed in the nation, but many parents and lawmakers question argued that, worries about future costs to the state are unfounded because charters still face a rigorous process to get approval even with the proposed changes. The bill faces two more votes in the House before it can advance to the Senate for debate. Charter schools are public schools that typically receive a mixture of public and private money and operate separately from regular public By BOB MOEN Associated Press writer CHEYENNE The state House of Representatives narrowly gave its initial approval to a bill that would remove some restrictions on efforts to start a public charter school despite some lawmakers' concerns about the cost. House Bill 52 was endorsed 29 25 Wednesday on its first vote in the chamber after supporters W3W 3k itw.