Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
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The hunt area on the western border of Crook County is among this year’s focus points for chronic wasting disease (CWD) monitoring. Wyoming Game & Fish has been working to understand the distribution and prevalence of the always-fatal disease since 1997, using focused sampling due to the limited testing capacity of the Game & Fish Wildlife Health Laboratory. Submitting a sample of a deer harvested in hunt area 18 will not be mandatory this year. However, as a focus area, Game & Fish is requesting that hunters assist through a voluntary s...
A portion of Crook County has descended into extreme drought for the first time in more than two years. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the southwest corner of the county is part of a patch of extreme drought that covers half of Campbell and the majority of Weston counties. Just under 10% of Crook County is now listed as in extreme drought, with 61% in severe drought and just under 30%, to the southeast, in moderate drought. Through August, Crook County had received 1.74 fewer inches of precipitation than an average year. Streamflows...
A Powell man faces a charge of possession after his history of failing to appear in court led to his arrest during a traffic stop. At around 7:05 p.m. on June 22, a Crook County Sheriff’s Office deputy was stopped on Juniper Hills Road when a vehicle passed with a badly broken windshield. After conducting a traffic stop, the deputy identified the driver as Benito Juarez. The deputy reports that he recognized Juarez from prior contacts. Juarez allegedly stated that he had just purchased the vehicle, did not know the name of the previous owner a...
Josh Kammerer now has all the signatures he needs from the Sundance City Council to proceed with his starter home subdivision on the southern end of town. Under the name Mountain View Adventures, the subdivision is planned for the intersection of Black Buttes Road and 21st Street and will host nine lots in two different sizes, each one bearing a "starter home". The first approval Kammerer needed at Tuesday's meeting was on an agreement for a cost-share deal to install the necessary...
With the clock ticking on the deadline to spend American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, the City of Sundance is moving ahead with its project to fix a water leak on 3rd Street despite not having all the necessary funding. Clerk-Treasurer Theresa Curren informed the council that the city received $1.5 million in ARPA funds for the project, which is intended to repair a major water leak through which the city estimates it is losing 50,000 gallons of water per day, and to relocate service taps...
Over the next six years, Crook County can expect to see three bridges replaced or repaired and plenty of maintenance on the highways and interstate. At around this time each year, representatives from WYDOT’s northeast district visit the towns and counties to lay out their plans for the next period. The “STIP”, which stands for State Transportation Improvement Program, is developed to meet federal expectations, but is also intended to ensure transparency and encourage public engagement. According to District Engineer Scott Taylor, plann...
Crook County now hosts two new improvement districts, one for the Beulah area and one for a subdivision located north of Hulett. Votes for both districts during the recent primary election were the final steps in forming the districts. Yellowstone I&S Late last year, developer Yellowstone L&R Ranch, a South Carolina limited liability company, filed a petition to form a district for the 46 parcels that make up one of the county’s newer large-acre subdivisions. The purpose of the district is to repair and maintain the roads within the subdivision...
The City of Sundance is preparing to commission a new rate study – a document that not only guides the council in determining whether rates need to be raised each year, but can also be a component in the process of securing grant funding. A rate study analyses the operating costs of a city’s water and sewer systems and makes recommendations on the rates that are necessary to ensure these enterprise accounts meet their mandate of being self-sufficient, both now and over the next few years. The last time that Sundance completed a rate study was 1...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has officially withdrawn from the ballot in Wyoming. Kennedy will no longer appear as an independent candidate for President of the United States at the general election in November. Kennedy announced the suspension of his campaign on August 23 in an address from Phoenix, Arizona. He said that he would remain on the ballot in most states for which he qualified, “But in about 10 battleground states where my presence would be a spoiler, I will remove my name and urge voters not to vote for me.” Kennedy blamed “ce...
The Sundance Volunteer Fire Department is looking to replace an old engine with a rescue truck. Fire Chief Gari Gill told the Sundance City Council last week that the engine is old and barely usable and would not be worth the cost of repairing back up to standard. The engine, Gill said, did not pass a flow test a couple of years ago. In order for it to do so, the department would be looking at a cost of around $18,000. The engine also has no heaters, he continued. Consequently, the department did not dare even remove it from the garage during...
Facing “unprecedented wildfire losses”, Wyoming has requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) declare a statewide disaster designation. “The total number of fires so far in Wyoming this year is 632, and they have burned 629,682 acres across Wyoming,” wrote Governor Mark Gordon in a letter to Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. “…A disproportionate amount of the area burned so far has occurred on private lands, with almost all of those lands being used for some type of agricultural production.” The total damage of this yea...
Two of the county’s improvement districts are expanding their range after receiving the blessing of the county commissioners. The districts for Kara Circle and Windy Way and for Tower Ridge made similar requests; both wished to add a couple more properties to their roster. At last week’s meeting of the commission, Nancy Brown attended on behalf of the first district, explaining that the properties had recently changed hands and the new owners would, “Like to be part of the group”. The district, in return, would like to add them, she said. C...
The county is now looking for a planning consultant to update its comprehensive land use plan, with the goal of encouraging growth in the places that are most fit to handle it. According to the request for proposals, the plan will identify appropriate land uses and locations best suited for new growth and development, especially where it can be served by the public infrastructure that already exists. It will also identify strategies to reduce the impacts of remote development in areas where few...
The primary election presented few issues for Wyoming – and none that needed the attention of the state canvasing board. Secretary of State Chuck Gray nevertheless took the opportunity last week to call for further election integrity reform. "I want to take this opportunity to say this was a great election and I want to thank the county clerks, election judges, poll watchers and other volunteers that made the 2024 primary election a success," Gray said as the board convened on Wednesday to c...
Judge Matthew F.G. Castano has dismissed a motion that would have prevented the jury from hearing the fair market value of the 189 cows and six bulls that Patrick Carroll allegedly marked with bleach with the help of his son, Tucker. Carroll is accused of using bleach to paint markings, including drawings of penises, to bring his neighbor’s attention to the problem of broken fences that weren’t being fixed quickly enough. He faces a felony count of property destruction/defacement and a felony count of conspiracy to commit property des...
Crook County has been lucky so far this summer in avoiding the large wildfires that have devastated much of the northeast of Wyoming. That’s not to say, however, that the county has been free from flames. After a season of constant smaller fires, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now offering assistance to farmers and livestock producers who have been impacted by wildfire. Programs aim to assist in recovery from losses and damages to crops, land, infrastructure and livestock. “Based on your reported losses or damages, our local Far...
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are currently tracking an unusually high number of measles outbreaks across the United States, with 29 states currently known to have been affected. So far this year, a total of 13 outbreaks have been reported, which is defined as three or more related cases. Of the total 227 cases, 155 are associated with outbreaks. Over a third of the cases have occurred in children under the age of five (39%), while 30% of cases have occurred in patients between the ages of five and 19 years. The CDC reports that 86% of...
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released a proposed roadmap that aims to increase the development of solar energy on public lands in Western states. The Western Solar Plan was first instituted in 2012 and is now set to be expanded to an additional five states, including Wyoming. The total area encompasses around 162 million acres of public land and would make 31 million of these acres available for solar applications. The proposal aims to identify “solar application areas”, which are broad areas of BLM lands where solar proposals wou...
Crook County Volunteer Fire Department has been gifted a piece of equipment that is expected to prove invaluable to wildland fires of all types and locations. The 2015 Type 6 Wildland Firefighting Engine previously belonged to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and was stationed in Buffalo. Now, says Fire Warden Charlie Harrison, it will be located at the fire cache as an addition to the fleet. Along with Harrison and Doug Leis, who got the ball rolling on the exchange while he was himself...
Devils Tower National Monument opened back up just a couple of days after a temporary closure caused by hail damage. The storm on the evening of August 19 brought down numerous trees, damaged buildings, campers and vehicles and made many of the trails impassable. Significant damage was also reported at the KOA campground next to the Tower and surrounding businesses. By August 21, all trails were back open and visitors were once again welcome to enjoy the nation's first national monument....
The primary election results are now official, with no changes necessary from the preliminary numbers that were released on election night itself. In contested seats, John D. Davis beat incumbent Kelly Dennis to the Republican nomination for county commissioner by 999 votes to 741. Harriet Hageman retained the nomination for U.S. Representative and John Barrasso was Crook County’s Republican choice to retain his U.S. Senate seat. “We didn’t have any automatic recounts,” says County Clerk Melissa Jones. “There’s a formula and it has to be a cer...
Filing has now closed for the general election and the roster of candidates for Crook County’s special district positions is official. Four seats are open for Crook County School District, all four-year terms, for a Hulett, Moorcroft and one of two Sundance district trustee positions. Candidates include William (Bill) Motley for the Hulett seat; Thayne Gray (incumbent) and Calvin McCrea for the Moorcroft seat; and Will Ellsbury, Dana Hawk, Peggy Howard and Colton Lenz (incumbent) for the Sundance seat. For Crook County Medical Services D...
A Gillette man has been charged with felony counts of child abuse and domestic battery after allegedly becoming violent with one adult and one juvenile victim at Sand Creek Campground. On June 15 at around 5:20 p.m., a Crook County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to Sand Creek Campground for a reported domestic dispute involving Michael Andrews threatening to “stab and slit someone’s throat”, according to court reports. The deputy spoke with two alleged victims, one of whom was under 12 years old. The deputy observed lumps and scratch...
As part of a plea deal, a Moorcroft woman has been sentenced on reduced charges following an incident earlier this year in which she allegedly falsely reported that someone was trying to kill her. According to court reports, a Crook County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a report of a domestic disturbance on May 16 at around 11:30 a.m. According to the deputy, the victim stated that Sheila Hansen had come out to his shop and accused him of having an affair. She allegedly began hitting him in the back of the head with her hands as he walked...
Kegan Vega of Gillette has been charged with sexual abuse of a minor after allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old during a camping trip. According to a special agent with the Division of Criminal Investigation, the assault took place at Keyhole State Park on July 8, 2023 at around 2 a.m. The agent was assigned to investigate the incident on February 1. An interview was conducted with the alleged victim, who was aged 15 at the time of the incident. The victim alleged that they went on a two-night camping trip that included family members and fr...
