Wyoming News Briefs

BLM Wyoming Rawlins office announces two wildlife habitat enhancement projects

RAWLINS (WNE) —The Bureau of Land Management Rawlins Field Office is preparing for two collaborative project installations in Carbon County. 

Rawlins Field Office wildlife biologists and rangeland management specialists have been collaborating with members of local schools and local businesses on a variety of projects throughout 2022. 

Two of the projects are now at the implementation stage and will be constructed over the next two to three weeks pending weather conditions. 

The first project involves constructing and installing fencing panels for wildlife guzzlers near Saratoga. Wildlife guzzlers provide alternative water sources to wildlife and are crucial during drought conditions. 

Following a donation of funds from the HF Sinclair Corporation, the BLM purchased pipes and worked in conjunction with a class of welding students from the Carbon County Higher Education Center to build fencing panels to place around wildlife guzzlers. 

The class designed and constructed 20 panels and will join members of the field office on Nov. 1, 2022, to place the panels in the field. 

The second project is a sagebrush plug installation effort just outside of Hanna. 

The BLM is responsible for 68 million acres of sagebrush habitat that provides the necessary living conditions for the Greater Sage-Grouse, a keystone species with dwindling populations. 

The installation of sagebrush plugs is a unique form of habitat restoration.

More than $6M slated for Teton, Lincoln counties for high speed internet

JACKSON (WNE) — With a $2.4 million match from Silver Star Communications, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development announced that it will provide another $6.3 million grant to bring high-speed internet access to people living and working in Lincoln and Teton counties.

“Access to gigabit Broadband Fiber connectivity is critical in the communities we service,” Elizabeth Acosta-McCune, vice president of sales and marketing for Silver Star, said in a news release on Oct. 6. “This is allowing our families and small businesses the tools to access work, education and telehealth in today’s digital world.”

A $6.3 million ReConnect grant was awarded to Silver Star to provide high-speed internet services to underserved areas in western Wyoming. 

The investment includes funding from the $1 trillion infrastructure law passed by Congress and signed by President Biden last year, which provides $65 billion to expand reliable, affordable, high-speed internet to all communities across the U.S.

“Access to reliable high-speed internet is more important than ever,” Glenn Pauley, USDA Wyoming state director, said in a Wednesday news release. “Our rural communities cannot sustain without it; having a connection to the outside world helps our students learn and keeps our small businesses open.”

Silver Star is a regional leader in fiber optics, which has been the company’s primary technology for new broadband infrastructure since 2005. Silver Star in recent years has announced an aggressive five-year plan to build out fiber in Star Valley; Swan Valley, Idaho; and Teton Valley, Idaho, while also pursuing grant opportunities, such as this RUS-RD grant, to connect additional underserved rural areas.

Wyoming adds jobs, but still not at full recovery

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Wyoming continues to add jobs, just not enough to completely recover from losses incurred during a much-earlier period of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, newly released state figures show. 

From the second quarter of last year to 2022’s same quarter, Wyoming added 5,118 jobs, a gain of 1.9% to a total of more than 272,000, one of the newly posted online charts shows. 

Payrolls rose by a much greater portion, up 8.3% to some $3.7 billion. 

“Despite the recent job growth, employment has not fully returned to pre pandemic levels,” noted an email Friday from the Department of Workforce Services’ Research and Planning office. “Total employment in second quarter 2022 was down approximately 6300 jobs from second quarter 2019.” 

What Wyoming employers paid their staff grew by a much larger portion than total employment, amid high inflation. 

From April through June, the mining, oil and gas sector added some 1594 positions, an 11% gain to a total of just over 16,000, per the newly issued data contained in another online chart. That’s down from close to 20,000 mining workers in the first quarter of 2020, mostly before the pandemic started drastically impacting the U.S.; the last quarter of 2019 had more than 20,000. 

Other big gainers of employees year-over-year in the second quarter were leisure and hospitality, a 4.1% increase; retail trade, up 2.8%, and “professional & business services,” with a 3.8% rise. 

Retail trade employed some 30,000-plus people in the state, a gain of about 7% from the first quarter of 2020. 

Some government and related employers had fewer workers in this year’s second quarter than they had a year earlier. State government shed 2.7% of its positions, for just over 12,000 people total, for instance.

Man sentenced for attempting to escape detention

SHERIDAN (WNE) — Michael Tabor, 38, pleaded guilty to escape from official detention in Fourth Judicial District Court Thursday. 

During his arraignment for a separate crime March 28, Tabor attempted to flee Sheridan County Circuit Court, prompting a Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office deputy to use force to regain control of Tabor. This use of force included the deployment of a Taser.

Sheridan County and Prosecuting Attorney Dianna Bennett said the state chose to withdraw from the plea agreement for modification. 

Citing Tabor’s criminal history, including two convictions since being jailed, the state recommended Tabor finish his remaining 60-day jail time before being turned over to the Wyoming Department of Corrections.

Defense attorney Jonathan W. Foreman requested the court allow Tabor to serve his sentence concurrently, as opposed to a split sentence from his previous charges.

Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Darci Phillips sentenced Tabor to 18 to 36 months at Wyoming State Penitentiary, suspended in favor of a 280-day split sentence at Sheridan County Jail. 

This is to be followed by two years of supervised probation, after which Tabor must enroll in and complete inpatient treatment as defined in the terms of his probation.

Rock Springs City Council denies resident’s request to repeal wildlife ordinance

ROCK SPRINGS (WNE) — The Rock Springs City Council denied a request from a resident to repeal an ordinance against feeding wildlife within city limits.

“You are elected to approve ordinances that benefit our community. I am asking you to repeal Ordinance 2021-13 Section 3-545 ‘Feeding of wildlife,’” Rock Springs resident Bill Wonnacott said during the council meeting on Nov. 1. “This ordinance has no value. It does nothing to solve the issue. It only harms our wildlife, causes negative financial impact to our businesses and heartache for our wildlife managers.” 

Wonnacott said he was unaware that Rock Springs had this type of ordinance until he was given a citation for feeding deer illegally.

“Wildlife is a part of our heritage and should be appreciated and cared for. Why doesn’t Rock Springs become a community known to appreciate and care for its wildlife? We have the resources to minimize wildlife impact while enjoying a valuable asset from our heritage,” he said. 

He also said that he is tired of having to call the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to put down sick deer. 

Rock Springs Mayor Tim Kaumo said the ordinance prohibits Rock Springs residents from feeding deer things like pellets, grain and human food; however, the ordinance doesn’t include planted or naturally grown materials. 

“That being said, if you want to plant a garden and a deer goes in your backyard and eats an apple, I don’t think that’s where it applies,” Kaumo said. 

Wonnacott argued that natural resources die and don’t last the whole year for the deer and said he has been buying feed for several years. 

Council members agreed they did not see any interest in repealing the ordinance.

Chalk-full of thanks: Campbell County students kick off gratitude month Tuesday morning

GILLETTE (WNE) — Anyone walking into Campbell County High School the last two days may have noticed the myriad of words written in chalk outside the front doors of the building.

Those words, although random, separated and lacking the structure of a complete sentence, are important. The words describe exactly what the students inside the building are thankful for.

In a kick start to the national month of gratitude, student council sponsors Vanessa Bridges and Tandy Dowdy, along with Alice King, instructional facilitator, manned the front Tuesday along with some of the student council executive members with welcoming smiles, chalk and a small candy incentive. 

To receive the candy, students coming into school were asked to write what they were grateful for.

“It wasn’t a hard sell,” Bridges said. “They grabbed the chalk and we looked around and there were these amazingly appropriate, happy, joyful things that were written down.”

Dowdy said that some of the things students highlighted were the hospital, family, parents and even some siblings who made the cut, along with teachers.

“It was nice that people are recognizing that we are there for them,” she said. “To encourage a kid with a piece of chalk at 7:15 in the morning when they’re half asleep and tell them to come up with something they’re grateful for — I thought they did pretty good.”

The two said that starting the month with the “attitude of gratitude” is infectious. By starting the day with optimism and enthusiasm, the positivity rolls into the next hour and the next day and hopefully will continue through the rest of the year.

Drug arrest near Elk Mountain nets 221 pounds of marijuana

LYMAN (WNE) — A routine traffic stop on Interstate 80 recently resulted in the confiscation of 221 pounds of marijuana. 

On Oct. 30, a Wyoming Highway Patrolman assigned to the Elk Mountain area stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction near milepost 263 on I-80. 

The driver gave inconsistent statements, and the trooper observed additional suspicious factors that led him to detain the driver. 

Another patrolman arrived on the scene and deployed his K-9 partner, “Bailey,” who gave a positive alert indicating the odor of an illegal substance. 

The resulting search yielded approximately 221 pounds of marijuana. 

The driver, who was not identified in the release issued by the WHP, was arrested and booked into the Carbon County Detention Center on charges of felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and —failure to maintain a single lane of travel. 

Man who called 911 to report being stabbed in head ends up getting arrested

GILLETTE (WNE) — A 58-year-old man who reported he’d been stabbed in the head ended up being arrested for reckless endangerment early Thursday morning.

Shortly before 5 a.m., the man called the Sheriff’s Office to report that his sister, 56, had stabbed him in the head with a machete. 

He said he took the machete away from her and broke it, said Undersheriff Quentin Reynolds.

Deputies responded to the mobile home in the 6500 block of South Douglas Highway. The man had blood on his face, head and neck. He was treated for a cut on the left back part of his head, Reynolds said.

The sister told deputies that her brother was talking to his wife on the phone, and she told him to get off the phone. He started yelling at her and approached her aggressively in the kitchen, Reynolds said, and she became concerned for her safety.

She said she grabbed a machete from the wall to defend herself. She had a cut on her left palm and right ankle, and there was blood on her clothes.

Investigators determined the man was the aggressor and arrested him for reckless endangerment, Reynolds said.

Colorado man charged with murder pleads not guilty

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A Coloradan accused of shooting another man in the head in Pine Bluffs pleaded not guilty in court here on Thursday. 

Rodrigo Vigner Turcios Romero, also known as Yigner Rodrigo Turcios Romero, entered his plea in Laramie County District Court through a translator. 

Turcios Romero is accused of shooting and killing Olvin Yonairo Montoya Ramirez, 37, also of Colorado, over Labor Day weekend. 

As of Thursday afternoon, Turcios Romero remained in custody at the Laramie County jail. His bond was set at $500,000 cash. 

Laramie County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched the afternoon of Sept. 4 to the 300 block of County Road 161 for a reported assault with a gun. They found Montoya in a garage with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, according to a probable cause affidavit. He was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, where he died. 

A witness said Turcios Romero was visiting the witness’ home; they were drinking beer and talking about Turcios Romero’s relationship issues. Montoya arrived later. The three apparently had worked together.

The witness said Turcios Romero’s girlfriend arrived and “demanded” the keys to her vehicle from Turcios Romero, who gave them to her, and she “left at a high rate of speed.” 

Turcios Romero pulled a small handgun from his waistband and “said something like ‘This is what you get’ before shooting [Montoya] once,” the affidavit says. 

The witness went inside his house, where he told his family to lock the doors and call 911. Turcios Romero reportedly went to the front door and yelled for his keys, which the witness said he did not have, telling Turcios Romero to leave. Turcios Romero then got on the witness’ son’s bike and rode away, the witness said. 

Turcios Romero surrendered to law enforcement the following day. He admitted to detectives that he’d shot Montoya. He said he didn’t know why he did it. 

Judge Thomas Campbell scheduled a jury trial to start March 13.

Rooted in Wyoming testing growing systems in former Holly Seed greenhouses

SHERIDAN (WNE) — Rooted in Wyoming was recently awarded Sheridan County School District 2 funds that will go toward a pilot project for three growing systems in greenhouses. 

The systems will be tested in greenhouses on the former Holly Seed property on Fifth Street to determine which systems will yield the most greens for the district food service program while maintaining the efficiency of operation.

Methods to be piloted include EarthBox Garden system, Ebb & Flow hydroponic and vertical tower hydroponic.

This project will be led by Clay Christensen and students in his vocational/agricultural classes.