After day number four of the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race, there is no change in order of the teams that moved into the top three positions yesterday.  Blayne Streeper still leads the field of 22 mushers, followed by Aaron Peck and John Stewart.  Further down in the field tied for 16th place is the IPSSSDR’s youngest musher, 14-year-old Bailey Cross of Brookfield Massachusetts.

Bailey says while he has raced numerous sled events before, this is by far the largest race he has ever attempted.

Later this year, Cross says he plans to race in the Junior Iditarod.  The IPSSSDR today moves on to Alpine where the teams will travel 54 miles along the Grey’s River Road in the Bridger Teton National Forest.

The race ends Saturday in Park City, Utah.

PHOTO: File

The National Park Service plans a series of open house meetings in February to get public comment on what issues to address in a long-term plan to guide winter use at Yellowstone National Park.

The issue of how many snowmobiles and snow coaches to allow into Yellowstone during the winter months has been contentious for years. The National Park Service released a plan in May 2011, but later decided that more study of the issue was necessary.

Yellowstone Park spokesman Dan Hottle tells our affiliate Jackson Hole Radio.

Meetings in Wyming will be held February 13th in Cody and February 14th in Jackson.  Other meetings will also be held in West Yellowstone and Bozeman, Montana the following two days.

Scammers may be preying on people’s desire for Thin Mints, Do-Si-Do’s, and Samoas.

Anna Paige is with the Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming.  She says there have been reports of people going door to door in the Cheyenne area taking money in advance for Girl Scout cookies; promising to deliver them later.  

Paige says girl scouts will never ask for money in advance.

Paige says the girl scouts will be going door to door between February 11th and the 26th.  Cookies will be sold from booths in town starting March 31st.

Cheyenneis seeing a significant drop in major crime over the last two years.  The capital city has seen a 16 percent drop in major crime, and for the first time in over ten years, the Cheyenne crime index has dropped below 400 crimes per 10 thousand residents to 361.  Police chief Brian Kozak says he is encouraged by the numbers.

He says there are numerous factors that contributed to the drop in crime, and one is the cooperation of Cheyenne’s residents.

The 16 percent decrease in crime comes at a time when the police department is about 20 percent understaffed, and Kozak says due to that they assign officers to areas where they are needed the most.

Kozak says in the next couple of years he wants his department to crack down on violent crimes, and reduce alcohol related offenses.

One of the two missing so-called kittens of a mountain lion that was lurking near eastside Jackson neighborhoods recently has been captured.  Mom was captured last week.

The latest from Tom Ninnemann in Jackson.

The owners of the landmark Hitching Post hotel in Cheyenne that was destroyed in a 2010 arson want a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by its insurance company.

In December, Delaware-based CJM Hospitality sued insurer National Surety Corp. in federal court in New Jersey for not paying for nearly $14 million in damages from the fire.

This month, National Surety filed a lawsuit in Wyoming arguing the fire was started by the hotel’s owners and that therefore, it owes CJM nothing.

A new report from the National Park Services shows how much folks are spending in and near Wyoming’s two national parks.

Tom Ninnemann in Jackson tells us visitors spent 12-point-13 billion dollars in 2010.

Photo: Yellowstone National Park