Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 1

4rck WYOMING CAVALRY $10 Horse Shoe Single Gcme Ticket to the June 1 game vs. SCAN WITH SMARTPHOie fC TODAY'S DtAl Tuesday, May 22, 2012 nC A lip Loll loiiie Wyoming's News Source I Founded in 1891 $-75 ULI. TVT1 11 ft) aces 1 nines for ByJEXEMYPOZER Star-Tribune capital bureau Cloud Peak Energy Inc. is facing state and federal violations after blasters at its Cordero Rojo coal mine in the Powder River Basin set off a massive explosion earlier this month that was more three times its intended size. Hie May cast blast at the mine, located 18 miles south of Gillette, shook the ground for miles and activated seismographs as far away as Europe.

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality has issued two notices of violation for the blast, which could bring a fine of up to $5,000. Additional penalties could be levied if Cloud Peak doesn't submit by plans by next month on how to prevent such an accident from occurring again. The federal Mine Safety and Health Ad-rninistration has also issued a citation, an administration spokesman said, but no penalty has yet been assessed. The DEQ violations state that the mine intended to set off 26,852 pounds of explosives during a routine cast blast, a procedure designed to knock out large amounts of rock and soil above a coal seam. However, the department said that upon detonation shortly after 11 a.m., explosives adjacent to the blast area were also accidentally set off, creating a blast in excess of the legal limit of 85,308 pounds of explosives.

The explosion was so large that some Gillette residents felt the ground shake from 16 miles away, according to the Associated Press. Several European earthquake detection stations registered the vibrations from the blast, and seismographs at the University of Utah, 400 miles away from the Cordero Rojo mine, initially recorded the shock as a magnitude 4.3 earthquake with an epicenter north of Green River, 50 percent closer than where the actual explosion took place. Please see MINE, A13 1 NCSD drops school funding lawsuit I I I Cr BvELYSIA CONNER '( if DAN CtPEM I STJUMTOUK U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummls waves to a supporter while campaigning for her first term of office on Oct.

20, 2008 in Cheyenne. nmmis seeks 3rd term Will hammer on federal spending Star-Tribune staff writer Natrona County School District trustees voted Monday to end its legal battle over school enhancement funding with the state. "The legal slate is clean," NCSD Superintendent Joel Dvorak said after the meeting. "We have cleared the deck so we can accelerate the design and construction of the high schools in Natrona County." The school board voted to withdraw a lawsuit that refuted the SFD's decision to deny the district's request for state major maintenance funds to fix the Kelly Walsh High School pool and replace artificial turf at Natrona County High School. The board discussed the legal issue in an executive session prior to Monday's unanimous vote in a public meeting.

The SFD identified the pool and turf projects as enhancements, meaning beyond what's needed to deliver curriculum and therefore not an appropriate use of the state funds. School districts can use up to 10 percent of their annual allocation for projects considered to be enhancements. So far, NCSD has paid for the two projects out of its board priority funds to complete the projects which were finished in 2011, according to Dvorak. The district had a different interpretation of enhancements but chose to drop the lawsuit and accept the School Facilities Commission's interpretation. The lawsuit was a barrier to progress on school construction projects because it left questions unanswered about the definition of enhancements that impact the school design process, according to Dvorak.

Three projects are planned to renovate NCHS and KWHS and build a new, shared high school that will also house Roosevelt. Please see SCHOOLS, A13 political science at Casper College; Charlie Hardy, a former Catholic priest from Cheyenne who is running as an independent; and Richard Brubaker, a Libertarian candidate fromRiverton. Lummis said she expects the election to focus on the difference in philosophies between those who believe the U.S. Constitution is only a rough concept and those who adhere to the constitution as envisioned by Please see LUMMIS, A13 have to change directions," Lummis said in an interview. Lummis, a Republican, was first elected as the state's only U.S.

representative in 2008. She succeeded Barbara Cubin who retired after seven terms. Lummis easily won re-election in 2010 polling 70 percent of the vote during Democratic challenger David Wendt. This year, she faces opposition from Chris Henrichsen, a Democrat who teaches By JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital reporter CHEYENNE Wyoming Congress-woman Cynthia Lummis announced Monday she will seek a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Her campaign theme will be the need to cut federal spending, she said. "I am of the opinion that we are getting closer to the fiscal precipice than we thought we would be, and we absolutely Man faces charges in stabbing bled and officers handcuffed Goff afterhefell. The man who was stabbed was treated at the scene and taken to Wyoming Medical Center, where he signed a medical release form. He told police Goff was refused service at the bar and escorted out after arriving intoxicated. After seeing Goff pull the escort's shirt over his head, the other man tried to assist.

Goff then crossed the street and taunted the man with a racial slur, according to the affidavit. While Please see STABBING, A13 found Goff slumped in the middle of the lot attempting to get up while two men were walking north on Lowell Street away from the lot. Officers talked to the men walking away and were told that Goff, who was wearing a white T-shirt, had stabbed one of the men. As officers approached Goff, he stumbled toward a nearby alley and climbed over a chain link fence, according to the affidavit. Goff reportedly kicked at officers while trying to scale the fence, then fell to the ground and started running north down the alley.

He stum ByKELLYBYER Star-Tribune staff writer A fight outside a north Casper bar resulted in a stabbing and subsequent arrest Sunday evening, according to police. The Casper Police Department arrested 33-year-old Ira Goff on charges of aggravated assault related to stabbing another man and interfering with a police officer. Officers responded to a report of a fight about 6:30 p.m., Sunday in an open lot east of Alibi Bar and Lounge on Yellowstone Highway. Officers Name: Ira Charles Goff Age: 33 Charges: Aggravated assault Date of incident May 20 Status: Jailed What's next Goff is awaiting trialpretrial. Index Weather The Grouch I'm three times my intended size.

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