Wyoming News Briefs

State’s unemployment rate holds steady at 2.9%

CASPER (WNE) — Wyoming’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 2.9% from June to July, the Research & Planning section of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services reported Monday.

While Wyoming’s unemployment rate has remained low, the U.S. unemployment rate has increased in each of the past three months, rising from 3.8% in March to 4.3% in July.

Over the year, unemployment rates were higher than year-ago levels in every county, with most counties ticking up two-tenths of a percentage point or less.

The largest increases were in Big Horn (from 2.7% to 3.3%), Uinta (from 2.8% to 3.4%), and Campbell (from 2.4% to 2.9%) counties. Natrona County’s unemployment rate was down slightly from 3.2% in June to 3.1% in July, but remained higher than its rate of 2.8% from July 2023, R&P reported.

The highest unemployment rates in July were reported in Uinta (3.4%) and Big Horn (3.3%) counties. The lowest unemployment rates were in Teton (1.5%) and Niobrara (1.8%) counties.

Current Employment Statistics estimates show that total nonfarm employment in Wyoming increased by 1200 jobs (0.4%) over the year.

Voting machines tested again in Park County

CODY (WNE) — Park County officials successfully retested their voting machines at 7 a.m. Sunday after a formal request to do so by the Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray.

The county had to do a retest because under state statute, each candidate in the test must receive a unique number of votes – and that had not been done in the public test conducted in July.

Park County Deputy Clerk Hans Odde said he had confidence in the system, recalling a recount requested by a candidate in the 2022 election. He said the candidate for state legislator was voted for or against on six machines at different locations and that the recount yielded the same vote totals as the original count.

“The testing was successful,” said Elections Deputy Katie Johnson, citing her “full confidence in our equipment and hopes voters come out for election day.”

Johnson said she expects 10-11,000 votes this season and that all of them will be run through one of 12 DS-200 voting machines or one DS450 used for absentee ballots.

Fish Creek Fire grows to 2,520 acres

JACKSON (WNE) — The Fish Creek Fire discovered Friday about 7 miles southeast of Togwotee Pass has grown to 2520 acres, according to a Bridger-Teton National Forest press release issued Monday morning. Starting today, a Wyoming Type 3 Incident Management Team will be in command of the lightning-caused blaze.

Elsewhere, the Cottonwood Creek Fire that was discovered Saturday in the Sohare Creek area is 7 acres in size. Tankers have dropped fire retardant lines around the blaze. Smokejumpers have responded, and hotshot crews have been ordered, the Bridger-Teton release said.

The 780-acre Leeds Creek Fire on the Pinedale Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton is 75% contained, and crews continue their effort to suppress it.

The Merna Butte Fire, 153 acres, is 50% contained. Firefighters are working the perimeter to contain hot spots, the release said.

Suspect in Gowdy murder changes plea to guilty

CHEYENNE (WNE) — The local man accused of killing another man in Curt Gowdy State Park last year pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter on July 18.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.

Russell Perry’s plea agreement was accepted by Judge Catherine R. Rogers, with sentencing tentatively scheduled for mid-October.

Perry has been placed in custody pending sentencing. He was scheduled to go to trial on Monday, but the guilty plea wiped out the need for a trial.

Stacey “Jason” Mullen was found unresponsive at Curt Gowdy State Park, west of Cheyenne, on Aug. 20, 2023. Wyoming State Parks involved the Cheyenne Police Department in the investigation due to the nature of Mullen’s injuries and the potential causes of death.

Mullen suffered what Dr. Jason Greer at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center called “one of the worst brain bleeds” he had ever seen, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Mullen was airlifted to the Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado and died on Aug. 28, 2023, after being removed from life support. His death was classified as a homicide due to blunt force trauma.

Perry and his wife, Gizelle Kellum, often drank with Mullen. Kellum was Mullen’s emergency contact and had previously taken him to CRMC for his alcoholism.

During the investigation, Kellum and Perry claimed they had last seen Mullen around 7 p.m. on Aug. 19, 2023, after dropping him off near the Ames Avenue underpass in Cheyenne.

Later, Kellum confessed that they had driven Mullen out to the park after a night of drinking, during which Perry and Mullen fought.

Kellum’s shift in narrative and Perry admitting to police that he “roughed him up” helped to support charges of accessory after the fact for Kellum and manslaughter for Perry.

Kellum pleaded no contest to her charges on July 1, and she was sentenced to 180 days in jail.

Campbell County Clerk 'very confident' in voting machines

GILLETTE (WNE) — With election machines coming under fire in certain Wyoming counties ahead of the primary election, the Campbell County Clerk’s Office feels good about the integrity of its machines.

Campbell County Clerk Cindy Lovelace said she reviewed the testing process that her office went through and believes that the machines are counting ballots correctly.

“I’m very confident in the accuracy of our testing results and our voting machines, so we have chosen not to re-test,” she said Thursday, adding that her office’s tests exceed what is required by state law.

Monday, Secretary of State Chuck Gray sent a letter to all county clerks in Wyoming, saying that any county whose election machine testing did not comply with state law should re-test its machines.

The Laramie County Republican Party had filed a complaint earlier this month with the Secretary of State’s Office, claiming the county’s voting machine test was not in compliance with state statute, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported.

According to the complaint, ballots fed into the machine on Aug. 5 had the same number of votes for each candidate. Under Wyoming statute, the machines must be fed ballots with a varied number of votes for candidates.

Lovelace said her pre-marked ballots were compliant with state statute, with varying vote totals for candidates. But even if those ballots had candidates with the same number of votes, her office has other checks and balances in place to make sure that state law is being followed.

“I don’t have any concerns about our machines tabulating correctly,” she said.

The election machines will be tested a few more times this year, Lovelace added. They’ll be tested once the primary is over. Then a few months later, the machines will be tested for the general election, then post-general election testing will be done after that.

Clerk: Albany County passes electronic voting tests

LARAMIE (WNE) — After an initial official test in June, a retest on Sunday, a third retest was completed on Thursday by the Albany County Clerk’s Office, finding that there were no errors with the electronic voting system, according to a news release sent Thursday evening by Albany County Clerk Kayla White.

On June 27, the Albany County Clerk’s Office conducted an official test of Albany County’s electronic voting system.

The test was in compliance with all statutory and regulatory requirements.

There were no errors in the official test and the voting machines were locked and sealed.

In light of a recent lawsuit filed against the Laramie County Clerk by the Wyoming Republican Party, White reexamined the results from the June 27 test. That reexamination found that within it there were some offices with candidates having the same number of valid votes. This issue did not invalidate that test, but rather indicated that more ballots were necessary to ensure a different number of valid votes per candidate per office.

The secondary official test was conducted on Sunday, Aug. 11, with members of the Republican Party present. There were no errors in that official test and the voting machines used were locked and sealed.

On Tuesday, Albany County received notice that the Wyoming Republican Party intended to file legal action challenging its testing and certification of its electronic voting system and that some individuals were contemplating filing a complaint seeking criminal charges against White if she did not retest every individual voting machine.

As a result, on Thursday, Albany County conducted another official test of all its individual voting machines and its electronic voting system. Again, there were no changes to the June 27 programming of the electronic voting system, and there were no errors within the test.

FBI investigates shooting on reservation

RIVERTON (WNE) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has confirmed it is investigating a shooting that occurred on the Wind River Reservation Wednesday.

The shooting, which is listed to have occurred at or near the Ethete Store on Ethete Road at just after noon, also reportedly prompted a lockdown at Wyoming Indian School.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office call log lists deputies provided an agency assist at 12:26 p.m. at the Ethete Store, and ambulance workers were called to a report of a stab/gunshot incident at the same time.

“I can confirm the FBI is investigating a shooting today in Ethete, on the Wind River Indian Reservation,” FBI Public Affairs Officer Vikki Migoya said in a statement. “The FBI is coordinating with the Wind River Police Department/Bureau of Indian Affairs and other law enforcement agencies. This is an ongoing investigation and additional information is not available at this time.”

Wyoming state parks see second highest visitation ever in 2023

CHEYENNE (WNE) — With Wyoming boasting the fourth fastest growing outdoor economy in the nation, 2023 visitation numbers at State Parks and Historic Sites reflect that upward trend.

Last year’s total visitation of nearly 5.3 million was the second largest in history and reflected an increase of approximately 54,000 over 2022.

Those numbers are only surpassed by visitation registered during 2021, when outdoor recreation exploded due to the COVID19 pandemic.

Overall, visitation to both state parks and historic sites saw an increase of 1% over 2022 numbers and a 2% increase over the five-year average. The continued growth of state park visitation during the past several years is an indicator that the efforts of staff to implement infrastructure improvements and new programming are working.

The Cowboy State’s park system continues to provide innovative recreational and educational programming during recent years that have proven to be extremely popular. These programs, ranging from hikes to bird and wildlife presentations to stargazing events, and many others, continue to draw both local and out-of-state visitors to the parks.

“Wyoming’s outdoor recreation and tourism economies continue to play a critical role in the state’s economic vitality and quality of life of our residents and visitors,” said Patrick Harrington, manager of the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation, in a news release. “We are fortunate to live in a state that recognizes these benefits and that continues to inspire folks from around the world to experience and enjoy Wyoming’s great outdoors.”

During 2023, nine out of 15 state parks registered an increase in visitation compared to 2022, while 13 of 16 historic sites saw an increase.

Hot Springs State Park once again led the way in overall visitation with more than 1.5 million.

To learn more about Wyoming State Parks and Historic Sites and/or to view visitation statistics, visit wyoparks.org.

Teton County retests election equipment nearly a week out from primary

JACKSON (WNE) — Teton County Clerk Maureen Murphy and her election staff spent Tuesday retesting electronic election equipment after a dispute in Laramie County caused statewide concern.

Secretary of State Chuck Gray sent a letter to county clerks Monday requesting that each and every county that failed to comply with guidance on public testing of voting equipment retest each voting system they intended to use in the 2024 primary election. He also asked for a copy of the summary and detail reports for all races from both the original test and the retest.

Reports showed some counties did not assign a different number of valid votes to each candidate for an office during the public testing, as required by state statute. Having different vote totals for each candidate helps ensure the machines are accurately reading the marks on the ballot for each candidate, according to clerks.

Murphy said she decided to retest the machines before Gray sent his letter.

She found two candidates in her first test deck that had exactly the same number of votes, and she updated the new test deck with different ballots and write-ins so that there would not be equal amounts of votes.

She was not concerned at all with the results of the first test or that the equipment wasn’t reading the ballots properly.

“They tested correctly,” she said.

Platte County Clerk Malcolm Ervin told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle that several county clerks retested voting machines out of an abundance of caution.

“It certainly adds stress, even for those counties whose tests did go well, that did comport with statute,” Ervin said. “There’s a narrative that our equipment failed. And truth be told, the equipment did not fail. The equipment did what it was supposed to do.”

‘Marshal’ claims he took Yellowstone heavy wrecker to get to ‘headquarters’

CASPER (WNE) — Yellowstone National Park rangers arrested a Virginia man Saturday after he allegedly stole a heavy wrecker while intoxicated and told rangers he was a federal agent on a mission.

The incident began just before 5 p.m., Saturday, when Alan Bowling, born in 1967, attempted to buy a beer at the Old Faithful Upper General Store and had his credit card declined. He then “left the general store, got into the heavy wrecker without permission of [the park] and drove the wrecker away,” according to an affidavit.

Rangers received a report of the stolen red, heavy wrecker about five minutes after Bowling’s card was declined. But they didn’t have to chase him down. The wrecker was heading toward them. After driving through a large wooden fence, the wrecker cruised through a field, past Old Faithful, near a ranger station and a helipad.

Rangers detained Bowling following a short chase on foot.

Bowling initially identified himself as “Nathan Patterson, undisclosed United States Marshal,” and told rangers that he needed the wrecker to “get to the United States Marshal’s headquarters.”

A police report also stated that Bowling had an odor of alcohol about his person.

Bowling faces charges of operating a vehicle while under the influence; interfering with a government employee engaged in official duty; destroying government property; creating or maintaining a hazardous offensive condition; operating a vehicle in a prohibited area; disobeying a rule of a court of the United States; driving a vehicle with disregard for the safety of people or property, and unlawfully exercising possession over the property of another with the purpose to depriving the owner of the property.

Several ticketed after group shows up outside home to assault teen

GILLETTE (WNE) — Several people were ticketed early Thursday morning after a woman reported a large group of kids were outside her home, trying to fight her 17-year-old son.

She said there were 30 kids outside her home in the 1600 block of Buckskin Drive, knocking on her door. She said she heard one of the kids say they had a gun and saw another kid with a knife-shaped object, said Police Deputy Chief Brent Wasson.

When police arrived they saw multiple people with shovels. There were ten people total, including seven 18-year-old men, a 23-year-old woman, a 12-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl.

The suspects said they were at the home to assault the teen because they believed he’d made inappropriate comments toward the 12-year-old girl. Police were not able to determine whether these comments were actually made, Wasson said.

None of the suspects had guns with them. Six of the 18-year-olds and the 16-year-old girl all were ticketed for breach of peace.

A 16-year-old boy was in the home and had been drinking, and he was ticketed for being a minor in consumption of alcohol.

The 12-year-old girl told police she had used THC with the 17-year-old, who admitted to using THC and was ticketed for use and possession of a controlled substance, Wasson said.

All of the children’s parents were contacted.

New permit required for sage grouse hunting

SHERIDAN (WNE) — Starting this year, all licensed sage grouse hunters will be required to carry a free, annual sage grouse hunting permit. This new regulation aims to enhance the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s efforts to survey sage grouse hunters and gather valuable data on their hunting experiences.

All licensed sage grouse hunters must carry the permit alongside their game bird license. This requirement applies to daily, annual, lifetime and pioneer license holders.

Wyoming hunters under the age of 14 are exempt from needing the permit as they do not require a license to hunt game birds. However, nonresident hunters younger than 14 who purchase a game bird license and take their own limit will need a sage grouse permit.

Falconers hunting sage grouse must possess the sage grouse permit and their falconry and game bird licenses.

“Wyoming has about 60,000 game bird license holders each year, with only a few thousand estimated to hunt sage grouse,” said Nyssa Whitford, Game and Fish sage-grouse/sagebrush biologist. “The new annual permit system will allow Game and Fish to send targeted surveys to sage grouse hunters, ensuring more accurate and timely data to aid in the management of this iconic species.”

The sage grouse permit can be acquired at Game and Fish offices or online through the department’s website. It can be obtained as a paper copy or electronically via a mobile device. A screenshot or downloaded PDF of the permit on a mobile device is acceptable in the field. The permit will not be available at license selling agents.