Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 734
Wyoming National Guard activates C-130s to fight LA wildfires GILLETTE (WNE) — Three Wyoming Air National Guard C-130s equipped with the U.S. Forest Service’s Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems, or MAFFS, and associated personnel were ac-tivated by U.S. Northern Command to support firefighting efforts in the Los Angeles area. Three C-130 aircraft from the 153rd Airlift Wing will travel to Channel Islands Air National Guard Base in California, where they will provide critical assistance to the state’s firefighting appa-ratus, accor...
POWELL — The fight for control of grizzly bear management has once again become a battle between politicians, federal authorities and wildlife conservation organizations in the new year. It may seem like more of the same old story for the species, but there are important new twists and legislative bills that came out in the past week that may extend the debate and future litigation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service denied petitions last week from Wyoming, Montana and Idaho to remove Endangered Species Act protections from grizzly bears, f...
GILLETTE — A new bill coming through this year’s legislative session would amend the state’s animal cruelty statute to specify that predatory animals must be killed immediately if they’re intentionally hit using an automotive vehicle. In addition to tweaking who’s authorized to impose misdemeanor animal cruelty charges and their fines, House Bill 3 would ban keeping an animal alive after it’s been intentionally injured with an “automotive vehicle, motorpropelled wheeled vehicle or vehicle designed for travel over snow.” “Whacking” refe...
CHEYENNE — A citizen-led initiative to slash property taxes for qualified Wyoming homeowners by 50% was certified Friday by Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray to appear on the 2026 general election ballot. The “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Tax in Wyoming through a Homeowner’s Property Exemption,” spearheaded by former gubernatorial candidate Brent Bien, would exempt half of the assessed value of an owner’s primary property from property taxation, as long as the property owner has lived in Wyoming for at least a year. Bien campai...
JACKSON — The gunman who opened fire in Yellowstone National Park on July 4 had plans for “Pro White Nationalist Violence” and “a history of expressing white supremacist and antisemitic views.” That’s according to court documents filed in federal court Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming, which revealed new details about the incident and the shooter, Samson Lucas Bariah Fussner, a 28-year-old Floridian and employee of Xanterra Parks and Resorts. Fussner was shot and killed by park rangers after opening fire...
CHEYENNE — Wyoming is expected to quickly become the leading state in the nation for carbon capture sequestration projects, and private companies are eyeing the Cowboy State for its “immense opportunity” to deploy carbon capture technology and enhanced oil recovery. Carbon capture projects such as Project Bison in Sweetwater County, and Tallgrass Energy, L.P., and Meriden Carbon in Laramie County are still in the early stages of planning. However, Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, is worried about how these large carbon capture stations might be exemp...
Hageman introduces First Amendment Accountability Act CHEYENNE (WNE) — On the opening day of the 119th Congress, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman introduced her first bill of the new session, the First Amendment Accountability Act, described in a news release as “the next step in her fight against the weaponization of the federal government against the American people.” This bill would empower Americans to sue federal employees who violate their First Amendment rights, the release said. Hageman, R-Wyo., said in the release, “As a member of the Sel...
Three men face felony charges for Halloween stabbing in hotel parking lot GILLETTE (WNE) — Three men have been charged with felonies for allegedly beating up a 42-year-old man on Halloween night. Justus Pearson, 27, and Rye Sorenson, 27, are being charged with aggravated assault and battery, while Preston Relkin, 24, is being charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and accessory before the fact, as well as battery. On October 31, police responded to a reported aggravated assault at the Best Western Tower West ho-tel. When they a...
NEWCASTLE — Gov. Mark Gordon has acknowledged receipt of a citizens’ complaint regarding Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock and issues with the 2024 General Election and is investigating the matter, according to a Dec. 27 press release. Hadlock used three different ballots for the House District 1 race, and the result was that most of the votes for Rep. Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, were not counted. According to Hadlock’s initial reports, Neiman received 166 votes in his uncontested race, with 1,289 undervotes counted. After a recount, it was repor...
CASPER — How does one call center handle the poison control needs of three states and two additional regions? Well, 20 employees at the Nebraska Regional Poison Center manage to make it work — 24/7, every day of the year. The Omaha-based center takes in poison-related calls from Wyoming, Idaho, Nebraska, American Samoa and the Federated States of Micronesia. The switch from handling landlocked states to tropical islands was a big one, Director Kathy Jacobitz told the Star-Tribune, but the center has answered the call. Many calls, actually. Abo...
Treasurer accused of stealing thousands from VFW and DAV CHEYENNE (WNE) — A Cheyenne woman accused of stealing roughly $30,000 from Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1881 Auxiliary was arrested on a second felony theft charge following a court appearance Thursday. Cheryl K. Shannon was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Thursday in Laramie County Circuit Court on charges of felony theft and forgery. According to the affidavit regarding her original charge, she stole $30,000 from the Post’s Auxiliary by making unauthorized bank withdrawals usi...
Gasoline prices drop again, average now at $2.87 per gallon in Wyoming CHEYENNE (WNE) — Average gasoline prices in Wyoming have fallen 2.8 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.87 per gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy.com’s survey of 494 stations in Wyoming. Prices in Wyoming are 14.9 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, and stand 4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. According to GasBuddy price reports, the lowest price in the state Sunday was $2.29 per gallon, while the highest was $3.49, a difference of $1.20 per gal...
Department of Education seeks public comment on new standards SHERIDAN (WNE) — The Wyoming Department of Education is seeking public comment on the 2024 Proposed Wyoming Standards for world languages and cultures, math extended and science extended. Comments can be provided by attending a virtual meeting or submitting online at docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSey_KXqLlRLNHsD6LCaXxqKNBO3xaqVffQWF68eTRVXfvri0w/viewform by 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 17, 2025. Virtual meetings are also being held to collect comments on Dec. 16 from 4-5 p.m.; Dec. 18 f...
Former Smith’s employee pleads guilty to stealing thousands of dollars GILLETTE (WNE) — A woman accused of stealing money from Smith’s while she worked there will plead guilty. On Nov. 14, Katheryn Cranmer, 39, reached a plea deal in which she agreed to plead guilty to felony theft and, in return, the state will recommend a four-to-six-year prison sentence, suspended for three years of supervised probation. On July 11, Smith’s reported that Cranmer had stolen $43,000 over the past six months while she was a manager at the store. Another...
CASPER — The Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday passed final rules for the Powder River Basin stating that more than 413,000 acres of land are to be blocked off from new federal coal leasing. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon blasted the decision and stated that he will seek to have the decision reversed — even through litigation. The revision of the rules began following a court order that directed the BLM to conduct a new environmental analysis that included no new coal leasing and limited coal leasing as options. The decision to end new fed...
CHEYENNE — Two bills headed to the Wyoming Legislature’s 2025 general session, sponsored by a Republican legislator, aim to restrict transgender people’s access to female-only spaces and collegiate sports teams. Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland, said it’s time for the Wyoming Legislature to create “uniformity” across the Equality State when it comes to transgender policy. In an op ed sent out by email Monday announcing the bills, Lawley said Wyoming once led the nation in equal opportunity when it became the first state to grant women the right to...
POWELL — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the loss of more than four million chickens and Europe’s largest egg production facility in southern Ukraine, as well as up to 6.9 million acres of cropland, according to NASA Harvest. Now, in an effort to get agricultural production back up and running, a Park County company founded by a Cody entrepreneur, and backed by a prominent American politician and two Ukrainian entrepreneurs, wants to assist in bringing agricultural businesses back online. To do that they need energy. The disruption...
Pointing to new science suggesting the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem lacks quality lynx habitat, wildlife managers are proposing expansive reductions in the area designated as "critical habitat" for the rare, snowshoe hare-dependent felines. Despite the lynx's almost complete absence - apart from a 2022 one-off sighting - the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has classified 9146 square miles of the Yellowstone area as critical lynx habitat for the past decade. Last week, the federal agency...
Untold numbers of scientists have explored and analyzed the history of Yellowstone National Park's famous geology, flora and fauna. They've written books and papers, given talks and penned newspaper columns. Each account adds a bit more to the park's unique evolution above and below ground. Now one of the newest sequences of the park's history is unfolding not in an Imax movie of a steaming caldera but in five feet of sediment from the bottom of a lake. And this one is layered like a parfait -...
JACKSON — Wyoming’s sole representative in the U.S. House, Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman, singled out Teton County’s sheriff in a Sunday newsletter with allegations that his office is “foiling” Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr told the Jackson Hole Daily on Monday that Hageman’s newsletter to constituents incited a swarm of “real nasty” emails and phone calls over the weekend. But he said Hageman never reached out to his office about her concerns. “It’s just scary how this misinformation can be put out ther...
Average gas prices drop more than 7 cents in past week in Wyoming CHEYENNE (WNE) — Average gasoline prices in Wyoming have fallen 7.4 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.95 per gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy.com’s survey of 494 stations in Wyoming. Prices in Wyoming are 20.7 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, and stand 19.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. According to GasBuddy price reports, the lowest price in the state Sunday was $2.59, while the highest was $3.59, a difference of $1 per gallon. The nat...
Man arrested for sixth DUI one month into probation for fifth DUI could get up to 7 years GILLETTE (WNE) — A man who pleaded guilty to his sixth DUI offense could face six to seven years in prison. Jude Armijo, 32, reached a plea deal where he’ll plead guilty to felony DUI, and the state will recommend a six-to seven-year prison sentence to run concurrent to a five-year sentence for violating his probation. At the time of his sixth DUI, Armijo was just one month into a five-year probation that he’d been sentenced to following his fifth DUI. On...
JACKSON — Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens struck down the two most recent attempts by the Wyoming Legislature to outlaw abortion in Wyoming. Owens granted a permanent injunction Monday for the “Life is a Human Right Act” and a medical abortion ban passed by lawmakers in the 2023 session. Her 35-page summary judgment order on Johnson v. State of Wyoming was filed more than a year after the first legal challenge from women, health care professionals and nonprofits supporting access to and offering abortion services. Owens...
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee sponsored two draft bills and a potential efficiency study Friday, with hopes of diverting additional money and using it more efficiently on the state’s highways. The committee voted 13-1 to sponsor the draft bill titled “Severance tax distribution-highway fund,” with opposition from Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs, and unanimously in support of another titled “Vehicle sales tax distribution-highway fund.” The purpose of both bills is to divert...
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee voted Friday to sponsor a bill draft that would add citizenship/residency status to state-issued identification cards. If passed during the 2025 general session, the bill would require a complete redesign of ID cards issued by the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The additions would be a line reading, “Not a United States citizen” and colors that would indicate the citizenship status of a cardholder. The number of these types of cards n...
