UW provides new mobile app with campus information

University of Wyoming students, faculty and staff have a new way to stay up to date on campus news, events and other information. The university has published a new mobile app. UW IT information services project manager Jennifer Chavez says the WyoMobile App gives users of mobile devices a way to easily access many of the university's resources. The app is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. It features access to campus news and events, library resources, on-campus dining menus, the UW Bookstore, the Outreach School, athletics and a campus map. Students can access their class schedules on the app. UW developers anticipate continued improvements to the app and plan to add further functions.

Jackson told to be alert for minor flooding

Emergency management officials are warning Jackson residents to be alert for possible minor flooding amid forecasts calling for warmer temperatures that will melt winter snow. The National Weather Service office says afternoon temperatures are expected to approach 50 degrees in the next few days. Rich Ochs, Teton County Emergency Management coordinator, says minor flooding could occur along Flat Creek and Fish Creek. With the ground still frozen, melting snow has no place to go except into creeks and rivers.

Electronic Health Record Incentive Program Off to Good Start

Encouraging the use of electronic health records by Wyoming healthcare providers is the goal of the Wyoming Department of Health’s Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Program. Shawna Holtz says eligible providers can still participate in the program and receive incentive payments for the 2011 calendar year until March 30th.






Since launching in December 2011, Wyoming has had 69 providers and nine hospitals register for the program through the state-level registry.  Federal payments of approximately $4.5 million in incentive funding to nine hospitals and 29 other providers have been approved.






The federally funded EHR incentive program was authorized under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  For more information, go to wyomingincentive.com.

EPA, Wyo., tribes agree to more groundwater tests

The state of Wyoming, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and two American Indian tribes have agreed to additional testing of groundwater that the federal agency says may have become contaminated by gas development that includes hydraulic fracturing. They also agreed to postpone a scientific peer review of a draft EPA report on the contamination in the Pavillion area in central Wyoming until after the additional sampling and analysis. The peer review had been scheduled to begin this month. A report released in December was the first time the EPA said that hydraulic fracturing may have polluted groundwater. Gov. Matt Mead said that the U.S. Geological Survey will conduct two more rounds of testing before July. The first round of testing will occur within the next month.

Skiers killed in avalanche well-known in Jackson

The two backcountry skiers killed in an avalanche at Grand Teton National Park were well-known in Jackson for their love of the mountains. Rangers found the bodies of Chris Onufer and Steve Romeo on Thursday on Ranger Peak. The two were caught in the slide sometime Wednesday. Romeo was a ski gear technician and blogger who lived by the motto "Live to ski." Friends and co-workers mourned his death at the shop where he worked, Skinny Skis. Onufer worked at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for 19 years and was recently promoted to tram maintenance manager. He also volunteered as a firefighter and EMT for the Teton Village and Jackson Hole fire departments. The ski resort plans to honor the two in the coming weeks.

Wyo. sends bill restricting retiree raises to Mead

A decision on whether to restrict cost of living increases for Wyoming public retirees now rests with Gov. Matt Mead. Wyoming lawmakers on Thursday agreed on a bill to end retiree raises until retirement funds reach a funding ratio of 100. That's down from the 120% ratio recommended by the Joint Budget Committee.

Ohio: Gas-drilling injection well led to quakes

As our area faces more fracking wells in the next decade, Ohio energy regulators say injection of gas-drilling wastewater into the earth almost certainly caused a series of small earthquakes. They have announced a series of tough new regulations for drillers. Among the regulations to be imposed: Well operators must submit more comprehensive geological data when requesting a drill site. Also, the chemical makeup of all drilling wastewater must be tracked electronically. A dozen earthquakes shook northeast Ohio from March 2011 through New Year's Eve. The largest was magnitude 4.0. No word yet on what the impact of the decision in Ohio could mean for Wyoming.