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Proudly Serving the Hulet and Devils Tower Community
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Deputies rescue drunk party goers CODY (WNE) — An evening gathering in Badger Basin resulted in a possible life-saving rescue by Park County deputies who’d spent almost five hours on the scene to ensure the many partygoers were OK. According to a sheriff’s office release, on the night of May 7, deputies became suspicious that a party involving alcohol was being held in the hills of Badger Basin off of WYO 294. When the deputies arrived, they noticed a large bonfire with numerous people standing around it. When everyone saw the patrol vehicles,...
SHERIDAN — Laramie County lost the bulk of its representation at the Wyoming Republican Party state convention Saturday morning. After nearly two hours of procedural maneuvering and debate, the body voted not to seat all 37 delegates from the state’s most populous county. The lack of delegates from the county meant Republicans from that area had a diminished voice in the remaining business of the convention, including consideration of state bylaws, resolutions and platforms. Following the vote, the Laramie County delegation filed out of the...
Girl taken from Alaska found in Gillette CHEYENNE (WNE) — U.S. marshals and Gillette Police Department officers on Friday afternoon found a child kidnapped from Alaska earlier this spring. The recovery followed the arrest of the noncustodial mother in Gillette, according to a U.S. Marshals Service announcement Friday. While the child was not found with the mother at the time of the arrest, it was located later. Autumn Wilson had been arrested April 19 on charges of custodial interference and kidnapping. Wilson then was turned over to the Campbe...
GILLETTE (WNE) — The coal production from Peabody Energy Corp. and Arch Resources Inc. through the first three months of 2022 aligned with the strong projections each company had for their Powder River Basin mines headed into the year, despite rail issues and other logistical challenges. Their steady coal production comes amid an increased demand for thermal coal sold at higher prices that has carried over from last year. But both companies have kept an eye on the short-term gains with the other fixed on the looming long-term downfall of the c...
CASPER — A complaint filed Friday with the Wyoming GOP claims four county-level Republican parties violated bylaws, raising further questions about whether state party leaders have been selectively enforcing rules at the expense of traditional conservatives. Gail Symons, a Sheridan Republican and the woman behind the nonpartisan blog Civics307, claimed GOP organizations in Sheridan, Sublette, Albany and Crook counties committed minor violations of party rules. Her complaint comes as Laramie County Republicans face the prospect of losing most o...
Man sentenced to 70 days in vehicular homicide SHERIDAN (WNE) — Sheridan County Circuit Court Judge Shelley Cundiff sentenced Todd A. Kohler to 70 days in jail, one year of supervised probation and 230 hours of community service education on distracted driving in relation to the 2020 homicide by vehicle of Shariah Harper. “[This] is the absolute toughest thing I’ve ever done as a circuit court judge,” Cundiff said to the circuit courtroom, nearly filled with supporters of the victim’s family and defendant alike. According to court documents...
GILLETTE — Just about every day at about 5 p.m., Kennedy Wainaina waits on a phone call. Ever since his sister, Irene Wairimu Gakwa, went missing from Gillette in February or March, he has stayed in close contact with the Gillette police detectives working to solve his sister’s disappearance. After Wainaina talks with detectives each night, he calls his mother and father in Kenya, who also have grown accustomed to waiting by the phone. “They’re in rough shape, especially my mom,” he said. “My dad maybe hides it well but my mom, I can tell sh...
Man sentenced to 74-100 years on 58 child porn charges GREEN RIVER (WNE) — A 49-year-old Wamsutter resident will be spending the rest of his life in prison following a sentencing hearing where he pled guilty to 58 criminal charges. Russell Jay Byrne was sentenced Monday to a prison sentence of 74-100 years by Third Judicial District Court Judge Suzannah Robinson for charges including the possession, manufacture and distribution of child pornography, as well as the sexual abuse of three children. According to the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Off...
CHEYENNE — Parents who say their daughters were victims in a blackmail case involving a Burns High School student say the school district has been slow to respond to the incident, keeping the student in classes and in extracurricular activities with some of the alleged victims for months. Two parents of two underage students spoke to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and asked that their names not be used. These parents and an attorney connected to the case said an investigation by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation revealed the student h...
CASPER — In Jackson, workers camp out in cars and tents. In Cheyenne, hundreds commute from neighboring towns. Meanwhile, Laramie is struggling to attract new businesses, Wyoming Public Media reported last year. All because of an affordable housing shortage. Lawmakers will look for solutions during this year’s interim legislative session. The interim session is the Legislature’s brainstorming period. Lawmakers meet to research dozens of issues affecting the state, and blueprint bills to address them. Earlier this month, the Joint Corporations,...
GILLETTE — The officers involved in the shooting that killed a Gillette man this January have been named and cleared of criminal charges. Park County Attorney Bryan A. Skoric found Gillette Police Department officer Patrick Totzke and Lt. Jason Marcus’ use of force justified in the death of 22-year-old Ismael Trinidad Montes earlier this year. The incident began when Totzke and Marcus responded to the 500 block of Church Avenue around 7 a.m. Jan. 16 when homeowners reported a man was in their home who had made violent threats and refused to...
Tom Proulx pushes his bicycle north on Bent Street in Powell Tuesday morning after finding the wind too much to handle and the roads too slick on his way home from work at the Lamplighter Inn and Restaurant. Proulx was heading to his second job: shoveling snow. Temperatures are expected to warm up next week....
Family members sentenced for theft from contractor CHEYENNE (WNE) — Four members of a family were sentenced Wednesday afternoon in Laramie County District Court after they were accused of working together to steal from a local contractor. David Dean Brown, David Kyle Brown and Joni Gayle Brown each pleaded guilty in January to one felony count of conspiracy to commit theft. Rhena Brown pleaded no contest in February to the same charge. Joni and David Dean Brown admitted to helping their son, David Kyle Brown, receive paychecks from Reiman C...
Man pleads not guilty to exposure allegations GILLETTE (WNE) — A 40-year-old Gillette man has pleaded not guilty to five criminal counts against him alleging that he exposed himself to several people in Walmart and performed a sex act near a 5-year-old boy. Chad M. Hoskey faces a felony charge of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor and four misdemeanor counts of public indecency. His next court appearance is scheduled in June. The investigation began Feb. 27 when police were called to Walmart around 7 p.m. about a man exposing and touching h...
Deputy shot, suspect killed after robbery at LCCC CHEYENNE (WNE) — A sheriff’s deputy is in the hospital and a suspect has been killed following a call to the authorities about an alleged robbery of a student at Laramie County Community College, local officials said Saturday night. Earlier in the day, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office was investigating an alleged robbery and assault of a person at LCCC, according to LCSO Capt. Don Hollingshead. Then, at about 2:25 p.m., deputies “contacted a suspect in the area of Cahill Park” regarding...
CASPER — Rep. Landon Brown had two press releases on his computer: one that announced he was bowing out of the Wyoming Legislature and one that said he was running for reelection. He sent the latter one Friday, but only after weeks of mulling over the pros and cons of what being a state lawmaker in Wyoming entails these days. Increasing incivility in the statehouse gave Brown second thoughts about running again. In Brown’s view, that incivility steadily increased after former President Donald Trump took office, but really accelerated with the o...
CHEYENNE —In perhaps Gov. Mark Gordon’s final action regarding bills that passed the state Legislature during its recently completed budget session, he vetoed some legislation Friday and allowed others to become law without his signature. One such bill that can proceed, although without the governor’s explicit approval, is the Legislature’s redistricting plan. State lawmakers voted to add three colleagues after the next election, and the bill therefore has gone by the moniker of the 62-31 plan. In his message explaining why he was not OK’ing...
CASPER — Nearly two decades after being sentenced to death, Dale Wayne Eaton was ordered Friday to spend the rest of his life in prison without the chance of parole or commutation. Eaton was convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of Lisa Marie Kimmell, which took place in Casper in 1988. Friday was the 34-year anniversary of Kimmell’s disappearance. Eaton’s trial and conviction took place in 2004, and he was originally sentenced to death. But court appeals kept that punishment from being carried out, and prosecutors decided not to seek...
David Mulberry, of the Three Old Guys and a Sasquatch team, curls a chicken during the 8th annual Chicken Curling Tournament on Saturday, March 26, 2022, at the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center. Over forty teams participated in the double-elimination style tournament with over four dozen frozen chickens out on the ice used for curling instead of the traditional curling stone....
WYDOT announces strategy for National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funding LYMAN (WNE) — Wyoming will soon receive National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) formula funds to use to facilitate electric vehicle infrastructure development, especially charging stations, around the state. The funding is part of the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), signed by President Biden in November 2021. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) is allocated $3.9 m...
CASPER — Wyoming’s population is growing faster than the country’s. The state’s population grew by 1,536 people between July of 2020 and 2021, according to data from the census bureau. That’s an increase of 0.3%, above the nationwide average of 0.1% in the same time period. Data also shows more people moving into Wyoming since July 2020. Over a year, 1,368 more people moved to the state than left it, an announcement from state economist Dr. Wenlin Liu said. Between 2014 and 2019, Liu said, Wyoming saw more people leave than arrive in the state...
BUFFALO — Agricultural land values are rising in Johnson County and across the country, handing local landowners both opportunities and challenges. “Some of this stuff, we would not have guessed it would have sold at as high a price as it has,” said Byron Geis, a sales associate with Chase Brothers and rancher in Johnson County. Farm real estate in the United States, a measure of the value of all land and buildings on farms, increased $220 to an average of $3,380 per acre from 2020 to 2021, up 7%, according to the Land Values 2021 Summa...
South Dakota man killed in avalanche SARATOGA (WNE) — A 58-year-old South Dakota man is dead following an avalanche in the Encampment River Wilderness on March 12. At approximately 1:02 p.m., the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) received a call from Roy Simonson of Rapid City, South Dakota. Simonson reported himself and Jon P. LaFramboise, also of Rapid City, had been caught in an avalanche while snowmobiling near Hog Park in the Sierra Madre mountain range. He also reported he had performed CPR on LaFramboise, but couldn’t find a pulse...
Rawlins boil advisory extended into this week LARAMIE (WNE) — A city of Rawlins advisory to boil water has been extended and is likely to continue through Wednesday. Residents in Rawlins and Sinclair started to conserve and boil their water as the city works to repair its water lines, which failed Thursday to the point of cutting off many customers. In what city officials have dubbed an emergency situation, the disruption of service happened as work continues to repair leaks in the water supply pipeline. While workers had reduced water p...
Bus driver arrested for DUI while driving kids CHEYENNE (WNE) — A bus driver for Laramie County School District 1 was arrested Wednesday evening – with high school kids aboard – for allegedly driving under the influence during a field trip, according to local and state officials. The incident took place on a highway in Goshen County as the driver transported East and South high schools’ students on a trip out of state, according to the authorities. After receiving a call that the bus driver wasn’t staying in his lane of travel, a Wyoming H...
