Sluicing for gold; Oregon man’s invention hits paydirt

<p>In this Friday April 13, 2018 photo, John Richmond adjusts his water jets while demonstrating his invention called the "Sluice Goose" at his machine shop near Albany, Ore. Richmond poured a pan of black sand mixed with about a half ounce of gold into his machine. Within five minutes the gold was separated from the sand. (Mark Ylen/Albany Democrat-Herald via AP) </p>

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) — G-O-L-D!

It’s the water: Artesian well draws fans from miles around

<p>Paul Jung fills one of two water bottles at the artesian well on 164th Street on Monday, April 2, 2018 in Lynnwood, Wa. Jung who lives in Oak Harbor, says he always stops by if he is in the area. (Andy Bronson/The Herald via AP) </p>

LYNNWOOD, Wash. (AP) — Tires crunch gravel as Dallas Watson pulls into a small parking lot and backs his white cargo van toward the artesian well.

Apple controversy: Who can sell Cosmic Crisp trees?

<p>ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS, APRIL 28-29 - In this May 18, 2016 photo, Jeff Sample, an agronomy consultant with Bleyhl Farm Service, scouts for damage and signs of disease and pests on the branches of Cosmic Crisp apple trees at a trellis training orchard at the Washington State University Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser, Wash. Washington State University and a Seattle-based company are in litigation about an agreement between the two. (Shawn Gust/Yakima Herald-Republic via AP) </p>

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — It’s an apple that could upset the cart. Or at least disrupt it a bit.

Mobile museum brings art to far-flung Wyo. communities

<p>In a April 11, 2018 photo, Teddi Freedman, outreach coordinator for the the University of Wyoming College of Engineering, pushes a box of art pieces into the the Ann Simpson Artmobile after a visit to Wright Elementary School in Wright, Wyo. (Josh Galemore, Casper Star-Tribune via AP) </p>

WRIGHT, Wyo. (AP) — It takes about 90 minutes to drive from Cottonwood Elementary School to the closest art museum.

Tons of legal marijuana leave regulators awash in data

<p>In this Feb. 27, 2018, photo, Anthony Uribes processes a marijuana plant with an attached tracking label at Avitas marijuana production facility in Salem, Ore. The cannabis tracking system used by Avitas, a marijuana company with a production facility in Salem, is the backbone of Oregon's regulatory system to ensure businesses with marijuana licenses obey the rules and don’t divert their product into the black market. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky) </p>

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — To the beat of electronic dance music, men and women inside a slate-gray building harvested marijuana plants festooned with radio-frequency identification tags. In another room, an employee entered the tag numbers into a government database.

Interior Department proposes bighorn sheep protections

<p>** FILE ** A pair of Bighorn sheep feed just outside of Yellowstone National Park near Gardiner, Mont., in this Jan. 24, 2004, file photo. Federal mineral leasing has drastically increased under Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, but the former Montana congressman has set aside one swath of Wyoming for the good of bighorn sheep. Zinke’s office recently announced plans to renew a mineral withdrawal of 1,431 acres of winter range used by the struggling Whiskey Mountain Bighorn Sheep Herd. (AP Photo/The Bozeman Chronicle, Erik Petersen, file) </p>

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — Federal mineral leasing has drastically increased under Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, but the former Montana congressman has set aside one swath of Wyoming for the good of bighorn sheep.

Ski industry tallies fewer visits in Rockies this winter

FRISCO, Colo. (AP) — Skier visits to U.S. resorts in the Rocky Mountains were down about 5 percent this past winter, which equates to about 1 million fewer visits than the prior winter season.

Las Vegas has fallen in love with Golden Knights

<p>In this May 2, 2018, photo, Mike McMahon clamors for a free shirt as he watches a second-round playoff series hockey game at a Vegas Golden Knights watch party outside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The expansion Golden Knights, Las Vegas' first major sports franchise, have taken the league and their hometown by storm in their first season. (AP Photo/John Locher) </p>

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Golden Knights’ gold-and-grey-on-black helmets are everywhere.

Fatal attack on interracial couple heads to trial

<p>This undated photo provided by the Arizona Department of Corrections shows Travis Ricci. Ricci, who authorities said was a member of a white supremacist group, is being tried in Phoenix on a murder charge in a woman's 2009 shooting death. Prosecutors say the woman, who was white, was killed because Ricci was upset that she was dating a black man. Ricci is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence in an unrelated case for aggravated assault and misconduct involving weapons. (Arizona Department of Corrections via AP) </p>

PHOENIX (AP) — An interracial couple was walking near a Phoenix park when authorities say a shirtless neo-Nazi began angrily yelling a racial slur and harassing the black man in the couple over dating a white woman.

Dinosaur tracks at Utah park dislodged, thrown into lake

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Officials say visitors at a Utah state park have been dislodging dinosaur tracks imprinted in sandstone and throwing the pieces into a nearby lake.

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