Proudly Serving the Hulet and Devils Tower Community
Proudly Serving the Hulet and Devils Tower Community
Sorted by date Results 251 - 263 of 263
Rare Element Resources (RER) last week announced that it has developed a timeline for its rare earths demonstration plant that should see construction complete within around two years and the test itself done around a year later. Meanwhile, the company has appointed a new chief financial officer. RER scaled down its staff considerably after the Bearlodge Project was put on hold in 2016 due to financial woes. Aside from its boards of directors, management has been handled by President, CEO and Director Randall J. Scott. With the demonstration...
Appearing in court for an arraignment on Thursday, Ed Svoboda pled not guilty to the charges against him related to the death of his wife in September by reason of mental illness. His wife, Kathleen, was allegedly hit by a truck and trailer in her back yard on September 5, 2021. Svoboda was arrested and charged with murder in the first degree. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment at minimum, and could be given the death penalty, a $10,000 fine or both. He has also been charged with murder in the second degree, carrying a minimum penalty of...
Unless the long-term weather forecast undergoes a pretty dramatic change, 2022 is shaping up to be another potentially dangerous fire season. Fire Warden Doug Leis is warning Crook County citizens to take care when burning slash piles even now, and expects there will be fire restrictions in place as early as April. “The conditions right now are the same as what they would be in September, really. It’s not greened up and if we don’t get some moisture, we’re not going to get a lot of green-up,” he says. “These spring fire conditions are as bad...
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will once again be holding public open houses around the county this month to discuss the proposed hunting seasons for 2022. Meetings are scheduled in both Sundance and Hulett and comments will be accepted until April 1. The first of the two meetings will take place in Sundance on March 21 in the courthouse basement from 4 to 6 p.m. The next day, March 22, the Greater Hulett Community Center will host a meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The intent is to gather public input on general hunting regulations, as...
A public hearing is coming up next month for proposed rules that the county will use to guide distribution of the remaining $200,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding left in its coffers, as well as the second installment of just under a quarter million dollars that’s expected later this year. The county has been working to devise an application process for entities with projects they believe are eligible for pandemic-related funding. Now available for public viewing are the application form, certification form, checklist, eligible e...
Mary Kuhl was given a deferred sentence on Friday for crimes related to misconduct during her time as county treasurer. She will serve two years of supervised probation as part of a plea agreement, after which the charges will be expunged from her record. Kuhl originally pled “not guilty” to one felony charge of unauthorized use of monies, as well as to one misdemeanor count of official misconduct and two misdemeanor counts of issuing false certificate. The allegations against her included that she listed a customer’s license plate tabs as lost...
This article has been corrected for clarification. This year's county audit flagged a serious issue within the Crook County Weed & Pest District that led to a "near complete breakdown in the accounting process". The list of errors presented included failures to pay bills or file reports and "general disorder" within the administrator's office and accounting system. Paul Stille of Leo Riley & Associates presented his annual findings to the county commissioners last week, commenting that, "Weed &...
County resident Edward Svoboda has been bound over to District Court on charges related to the death of his wife of 53 years last September. Svoboda appeared in Circuit Court on February 7 for a review of the competency evaluation performed in January at the Wyoming State Hospital. Judge Matthew F.G. Castano found there to be probable cause to believe an offense – or several offenses – had been committed by Svoboda. He bound the case over to District Court for arraignment and further proceedings. Svoboda has been charged with murder in the fir...
Seasons change even when they never quite seemed to arrive, and so the next few weeks will undoubtedly bring the first hints of spring. Unless the Climate Prediction Center changes its current outlook, flooding is unlikely to play a major part in the season ahead of us. According to predictions released by the National Weather Service (NWS), drought conditions are expected to persist this spring and there is a below average potential for flooding in this region. The U.S. Drought Monitor is likewise expecting abnormally dry to extreme drought...
With approximately $200,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding left to spend and another installment of just under a quarter million dollars expected later this year, the county has been working to devise an application process for entities with projects they believe are eligible for pandemic-related funding. The Crook County Commissioners have scheduled a public hearing on April 5 at 4 p.m., at which time they will hear comments on the application form that has been devised, which details the requirements to both request and award the...
The Wyoming Public Service Commission (PSC) has granted permission for Powder River Energy (PRECorp) to increase its Cost of Power Adjustment (COPA) by $1,386,882 per annum to reflect a change in wholesale power costs. The effect of this will be a modest increase to residential monthly bills. In a second filing, the cooperative has also been given permission to increase the discount offered to members who have permanent electric resistance heat or electric heat pump space heating systems. COPA COPA is the mechanism by which the cooperative...
Honorable Matthew F.G. Castano, familiar to the community already as Circuit Court Judge for the Sixth Judicial District, has been appointed to serve as District Court Judge for Crook, Weston and Campbell counties. Castano will step into the role left by Judge Thomas W. Rumpke upon his retirement. As a Crook County resident – in fact, the first District Court judge in a while to reside in this county – he says he has no plans to relocate. "This is our home and this will remain our home," he says...
Monitoring the many special districts that are active within the county is becoming an increasing burden, according to County Clerk Linda Fritz. On Wednesday, she asked the county commission to become more forceful in requesting that every district meets its deadlines and submits all relevant documentation. “They need to follow the law,” explained Fritz as she told the commissioners that her office tries to monitor the districts and provide them with the information they need about the deadlines that apply to them. “But even though we send...
