Former Vice President Dan Quayle said Tuesday he respects Democrat Barack Obama “because he beat the Clintons” and fears Republican John McCain has an “uphill battle” to defeat Obama in November’s presidential election.

Federal officials are considering euthanizing wild horses to deal with the growing population on the range and in holding facilities, authorities said Monday.

A San Francisco performance artist was sentenced Friday to as many as four years in prison and ordered to pay restitution for the early torching last summer of the signature effigy of the counterculture Burning Man festival.

A judge awarded more than $4.2 million to a late Nevada rancher’s estate after finding that the U.S. Forest Service engaged in an unconstitutional “taking” of water rights out of hostility to the rancher, a property rights activist.

A months-long swarm of earthquakes picked up again Sunday as a string of minor temblors rattled Reno, causing downtown high-rises to sway and knocking items off walls and shelves.

At one point this year, Patricia Vincent faced up to 20 years in prison for hiring a company to chop down trees on national forest land next to her home to improve her view of Lake Tahoe.

A judge has spared a Nevada woman prison time but ordered her to pay a $100,000 fine for hiring a company to chop down three large trees on national forest land to improve her home’s view of Lake Tahoe.

Call it the political version of how to win the West. Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are tripping over each other this week in New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado, a prelude to a likely general election matchup and inevitable fight for three booming battleground states. President Bush narrowly won the three states four years ago and Democrats now see them as ripe for opportunity.

Call it the political version of how to win the West.