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This Hour: Latest Wyoming news, sports, business and entertainment

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GLENROCK ABDUCTION

Casper man pleads in girl's kidnapping, abuse

(Information in the following story is from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com)

DOUGLAS, Wyo. (AP) - A Casper man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexual abuse of a minor in the abduction of a 2-year-old Glenrock girl from her bedroom last year.

The Casper Star-Tribune reports that 22-year-old Robert J. Parks entered the pleas Wednesday in Converse County District Court. Parks had been scheduled for trial starting Tuesday in Douglas.

Parks entered "Alford pleas," which carry the same legal weight as regular guilty pleas but don't require a defendant to admit wrongdoing. Parks faces sentences of up to 20 years for kidnapping and 50 years for sexual abuse of a minor.

Parks' lawyer, Scott Powers, says prosecutors agreed to drop a felony larceny charge against Parks in exchange for his pleas. Powers says prosecutors agreed to allow Parks' sentences to run concurrently.

HUDSON SLAYINGS

Couple get prison terms in double slayings

RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) - A husband and wife have been sentenced to long prison terms after pleading guilty to abetting the slayings of 2 people in Hudson in 2011.

The Riverton Ranger reports Joseph Jude Jenkins was sentenced to 70 years and Samantha June Hanway received a 25 to 50-year term. The sentences came in hearings Thursday.

They were among five people charged in the deaths of Eric Clinton Likes and his girlfriend, Elva Charlotte Quiver, in November 2011.

A third defendant received a life term and a fourth was sentenced to eight to 16 years. The fifth is awaiting a decision on whether his case will be handled in juvenile court.

Authorities say Clinton and Quiver were killed during a robbery.

EAGLE FEATHERS-YELLOWBEAR

Wyoming inmate sues again over eagle feathers

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A Wyoming prison inmate is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, claiming agency officials improperly delayed sending him eagle feathers he needed for religious purposes.

Andrew John Yellowbear, Jr., a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, is serving a life sentence for the beating death of his 22-month-old daughter in 2004.

Yellowbear filed a federal lawsuit this month charging that the agency refused to send him feathers for several years before it turned some over in December.

Attempts to reach Fish and Wildlife Service officials weren't immediately successful on Friday.

The American Civil Liberties Union represented Yellowbear in a 2008 federal lawsuit against the Wyoming Department of Corrections.

The department entered a settlement agreement saying American Indian inmates could have up to four eagle feathers in their cells.

BOY SCOUTS-WYOMING

Mixed reaction in Wyo. to Boy Scouts gay vote

(Information in the following story is from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com)

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - Officials with Boy Scouts of America in Wyoming aren't commenting on the organization's vote to end a ban on gay youths while still excluding gay adults.

Parents of Wyoming Boy Scouts have mixed reactions.

Bern Haggerty, of Laramie, says he gave up Scouting in 1991 after the Boy Scouts banned gay boys and adults. His son is working toward becoming an Eagle Scout.

Haggerty tells the Casper Star-Tribune he's disappointed gay adults remain barred after Thursday's decision.

Heather Garner, the mother of 2 Scouts in Casper, says she is proud to be involved in the organization after the vote.

The executive director of the Central Wyoming Council, Matt Myers, declined to comment on the decision or to identify the Wyoming Boy Scout representatives who took part in the vote.

ALPHA NATURAL-PROTESTERS ARRESTED

Protesters arrested at coal firm Alpha's HQ in Va

BRISTOL, Va. (AP) - Several environmental protesters are facing charges after blocking the road leading to the headquarters for coal producer Alpha Natural Resources in Bristol, Va.

Capt. Maynard Ratcliff with the Bristol Police Department says about five people were arrested on Friday morning after they had chained themselves and large industrial equipment to a bridge railing.

The road to the company's offices was reopened shortly before 10 a.m. Ratcliff says specific charges are pending.

The members of Radical Action for Mountain Peoples' Survival were protesting Alpha's mining practices. Their demonstration included a 250-gallon tanker with black water and a 55-gallon drum filled with concrete.

Alpha has more than 160 mines and processing plants in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. The company called the demonstration a waste of emergency responders' time.

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