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Proudly Serving the Hulet and Devils Tower Community
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The state of Wyoming is going to court again over grizzly bears, this time because federal wildlife officials missed a deadline to decide whether they would pursue removing Endangered Species Act protections. State officials announced their petition in a cheeky press release this week, accusing the U.S. Department of Interior of "hibernating" on deadline. "The petition seeks to remedy the DOI's inaction," the statement from Gov. Mark Gordon's office said. Under federal policy, the U.S. Fish and...
BUFFALO - For more than 50 years, Dave Harness called his mother. He called her on December 7, when they last saw Tony, smiling for the camera and wearing his U.S. Army dress greens as he left Kalispell, Montana. He called her on February 22, Tony's birthday, when he might have gone out into the woods to hunt or fish. And, finally, he always called on March 29, the day Tony died in Vietnam. "My mother was really never the same," said Harness, sitting in Buffalo over five decades later, a...
Gillette woman’s prison sentence commuted GILLETTE (WNE) — The prison sentence of a Gillette woman convicted of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a homeowners association in the early 2000s has been reduced to time served, making her eligible for release. Julie A. Jacobsen, 70, had her sentence commuted April 5 and was transferred to the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center in Nebraska after serving just more than 12 years in the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk. In 2011, Jacobsen was sentenced in Campbell County District Court...
GILLETTE - Dozens of athletes were at the Thunder Basin High School track Friday afternoon, running, walking, throwing and rolling. Jordi Stewart, 9, ran to grab a Powerade for Lander Special Olympian Nick Eisnnicher, who just completed the 30-meter slalom on the track, swerving his wheelchair in and out of cones as eighth-graders from Sage Valley Junior High timed him. Jordi, a Buffalo Ridge student, also helped over the weekend with the basketball skills competitions, which included...
Cornelius Oosthuizes shears a sheep on May 5 in Johnson County. A crew of hired shearers, along with friends and family, helped Darci and Victor Goni shear their flock. The Gonis leased Bruce Pheasant's facility to shear about 1,200 sheep....
Man arrested after allegedly kidnapping woman from Walmart GILLETTE (WNE) — A 26-year-old man was arrested for felony counts of kidnapping and probation violation, as well as misdemeanor counts of theft, use of drugs and interference with a peace officer after a 24-year-old woman reported that he tried to kidnap her at Walmart on Friday morning. The woman told officers at the police department the man came up to her at Walmart and told her that she was going to go home with him and that his friends were outside with automatic weapons, Police D...
Meeteetse annexation approved CODY (WNE) — A proposed annexation that will increase the size of Meeteetse by more than 70% moved forward last week following a 3-2 vote by the Town Council on May 4. The question of whether to annex 390.7 acres into the town limits proved divisive among council members. Mayor J.W. “Bill” Yetter and council members Eric Scott and Josh Blake voted for the measure, while Corey Guthrie and Dustin Taylor voted against it. Yetter said the annexation would have significant benefits for the town. “The benefit to the tow...
On behalf of Governor Mark Gordon, the Wyoming Arts Council is now accepting nominations for Wyoming’s Poet Laureate. Poets may self-nominate, or be nominated by someone else. The deadline to submit a nomination is Wednesday, May 31. Nominations must be submitted using this online form: https://forms.gle/4sTeDDq3SFUkH4S1A. Support materials can be uploaded through the online form or mailed to the Arts Council. If mailed, materials must be received by the Wyoming Arts Council by Friday, June 2. Nominated poets must be Wyoming residents. R...
Black Hills Energy to use Wyodak coal to research hydrogen generation GILLETTE (WNE) — Black Hills Energy will be using Powder River Basin coal to research hydrogen generation. Black Hills Energy was recently awarded a grant from the Wyoming Energy Authority to conduct a feasibility analysis on hydrogen generation using coal from Wyodak Mine. The ongoing research project partners engineers from Black Hills Energy with clean power production experts from Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, or B&W, as well as members of the Chemical and Biomolecular E...
GILLETTE — The Campbell County Joint Powers Lodging Tax Board is continuing with its contract with Zartico, a company that compiles anonymized geolocation and credit card data. A group of county residents has raised concerns about invasion of privacy and constitutionality since early April, when the Campbell County Convention and Visitors Bureau told commissioners it would be using a geofencing technology to track spending and activity habits during the National High School Finals Rodeo. The board held a special meeting Wednesday to discuss t...
CHEYENNE — Fire chiefs across the state are struggling to recruit and retain firefighters, and they’ve turned to the Wyoming Legislature for help. Members of the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee heard from fire leadership Thursday afternoon, and their top priority for the interim session revolves around emergency medical services and firefighters. Members of the committee are responsible for studying the system and will consider drafting legislation to address EMS infrastructure, funding and workforce development. Dev...
Situations involving guns result in teen’s death, felony charge CHEYENNE (WNE) — Two apparently unrelated shooting incidents took place in Laramie County over the weekend, with one resulting in the death of a teenage girl. The Cheyenne Police Department is continuing its investigation of a shooting at Lincoln Park in south Cheyenne as a homicide after the 15-year-old female victim was declared deceased Monday morning. The unidentified girl was injured in an incident police officers responded to at about 12:23 Sunday morning. At the scene, res...
Man dies after rollover crash on I-90 near Rozet GILLETTE (WNE) — A 37-year-old man died after rolling his car on Interstate 90 near Rozet Wednesday afternoon. Jachob Irish was driving a Honda Civic eastbound on Interstate 90 when he failed to negotiate a left-hand curve in the road near mile marker 145, according to Wyoming Highway Patrol. He drove onto the shoulder, then overcorrected, causing the Civic to go into a ditch and turn over several times. Campbell County Coroner Paul Wallem said Irish died from blunt force trauma, specifically t...
Findings emerging from an intensive, years-long Wyoming research project are beginning to substantiate suspicions that elk may be thriving on western landscapes at the expense of widely struggling mule deer. "More is not always better," University of Wyoming ecology professor Kevin Monteith told WyoFile. "In this situation, with deer and elk, we may not be able to have our cake and eat it too. We may not be able to have robust, large populations of elk and robust, large populations of deer."...
Degenfelder opposes proposed Title IX rule change CHEYENNE (WNE) — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder released a statement Thursday regarding the Biden administration’s proposed Title IX rule changes. Title IX is a 1972 law that bans sex discrimination in public schools, colleges and universities that receive federal funding. Among other changes, proposed new rules that are due to take effect in May would include protections for transgender and nonbinary students for the first time. Degenfelder said in the sta...
CASPER — The Wyoming Freedom Caucus announced the launch of its affiliated political action committee — WY Freedom PAC — at the caucus’ first town hall meeting in Casper on Saturday. The political action committee officially formed April 8, according to records from the Secretary of State’s Office. Karen Drost, chairman of the Weston County Republican Party, chairs the committee. Wyoming is Right radio show host Jeff Wallack stood at the back of the Hilton Garden Inn room with the microphone and asked the crowd of roughly 80 people to contri...
CASPER – It’s all coming up roses for the rare earths mining project in the works outside Laramie. A few weeks after announcing that its Halleck Creek find could be the largest known deposit of rare earth elements — a modern manufacturing staple — in North America, American Rare Earths released a formal resource estimate on March 31 that suggests a mine at the site could prosper for decades to come. Its findings confirm “a strategically significant rare earth asset … which should enable the largest economy in the world to reduce its dependence...
Probation recommended for man accused of pointing rifle from car GILLETTE (WNE) — The man accused of pointing an AR-15-style rifle at a car full of people after cutting them off reached a plea deal that recommends probation on reduced charges. Christen H. Best, 18, pleaded no contest March 15 to amended counts of possession of a deadly weapon with unlawful intent, a felony and misdemeanor reckless endangerment. District Judge James M. “Mike” Causey accepted and withheld judgment on the felony plea and found Best guilty of the misde...
JACKSON - Hannah Garland finds it oddly comforting that she knows which moose trampled her Friday morning. "Had it been a rogue moose, I would've been constantly living on edge, like 'Are you the one? Are you the one?'" said Garland, 27, who lives in Teton Village, where moose are constant features on the landscape. But knowing that it was Yellow 72, a collared, suburban moose known for her mangy look, hair loss and springtime tick infestation, allows Garland a bit more certainty in where she...
Trial for Cody couple delayed to August for possible plea agreement CODY (WNE) – The jury trials for the Cody couple charged with abusing their 15-year-old child by putting her in cruel confinement have been delayed until Aug. 7 due to possible plea agreements. Jacob Wayne Guyer, 38, and Christine Philbrook, 48, were charged separately in 2021, each with one count of child abuse after they allegedly locked the child in a room for several hours a day, under poor living conditions and with little food. Both Guyer, the child’s father, and Phi...
Mountain lion shot and killed in Slater GUERNSEY (WNE) – As local ranchers Jeb and Lalonda Baker were sipping an early morning cup of coffee and looking out toward the horizon, they wondered why their dog was out agitating the cattle. When the dog came walking in between them, they knew something else was out near the calf pen. As Baker grabbed a pair of binoculars and took a closer look, all he could say was, “it’s a lion,” before heading for the gun cabinet. This mountain lion was a 130-pound male that was on the prowl close to Normand...
Newcastle schools locked down after report of student with gun NEWCASTLE (WNE) — Newcastle High School was in an extended lockdown on March 15 after the school was informed that a student had brought a gun to school. There have been no injuries reported as a result of the incident, but after the school’s administration confirmed that a gun had been brought to school, both Newcastle Middle School and the high school remained locked down while law enforcement investigated the situation. “It is no secret; we actually recovered a gun on schoo...
The Bureau of Reclamation suspended extra “drought response” releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir Tuesday at the request of Wyoming and the other three Upper Colorado River Basin states. The reservoir, which straddles the Wyoming-Utah border, was tapped for an extra 500,000 acre-feet of water starting in May 2022 to help ensure that water levels downstream at Lake Powell don’t drop low enough to threaten hydroelectric power generation at Glen Canyon Dam this year. An estimated 463,000 acre-feet of extra water was delivered before offic...
CASPER — Private wind farm developers will retain the same right to eminent domain afforded to other energy projects, after Gov. Mark Gordon blocked an attempt by state lawmakers this winter to bring back a wind-specific land use restriction. Under current state law, companies building energy generation facilities have the right to cite some infrastructure — including power lines used to carry electricity away from wind turbines — on private property, even if landowners say no. The Wyoming Legislature barred wind developers, specifically, from...
Attempted murder charge reduced, man faces up to 10 years in prison GILLETTE (WNE) — The attempted second-degree murder charge against a man accused of stabbing and swinging a knife multiple times at his daughter’s boyfriend last summer has been reduced to aggravated assault and battery. He now faces up to ten years in prison and will argue for probation at his sentencing hearing. Umar Farooq, 48, pleaded guilty Feb. 13 to aggravated assault and battery. In a plea deal with prosecutors, the charge was reduced from an original attempted sec...
