Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Sorted by date Results 176 - 200 of 734
11-acre fire south of Wright sparked by mine blast GILLETTE (WNE) — The Campbell County Fire Department fought its biggest fire of the season Sunday caused by a blast at Black Thunder Mine. At 2:15 p.m., firefighters responded to the Hilight Road area, south of Highway 450, for a reported grass fire. The fire was contained at 1370 acres and was caused by a blast from Black Thunder mine, said Battalion Chief Bryan Borgialli. The fire department had 17 firefighters and two chiefs working the fire, which was contained by 6 p.m. Sunday. The U...
Streaming service airs episode on missing Gillette woman GILLETTE (WNE) — The story of missing Gillette woman Irene Gakwa recently aired on a nationwide streaming service. The 25-minute episode titled “American Dream, American Nightmare” follows Gakwa’s journey from Nairobi, Kenya, to Gillette where she disappeared in early 2022. The episode is part of Paramount Plus’ “Never Seen Again” series, which documents families sharing the stories of lost loved ones. Featured on the show are Gakwa’s brothers, Kennedy Wainaina and Chris Gakwa and Chris...
Driver kills mountain lion on Moose-Wilson Road JACKSON (WNE) — A vehicle hit and killed a mountain lion Thursday evening on the Moose-Wilson Road, a fatal strike that follows a series of other deadly encounters between cars and animals in Jackson Hole. A motorist struck the roughly two-year-old female cat at about 6:30 p.m., said Mark Gocke, a spokesman with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Mountain lions are intelligent, social carnivores that occasionally make public appearances in Jackson Hole. This spring, for example, a young cat w...
LANDER — Last weekend’s grizzly bear attack just outside Yellowstone Park near the Montana-Idaho border was a stark reminder of the dangers posed by bears in the region and the need to consider safety measures when venturing into the wilderness. The victim, 48-year old ultramarathon runner Amie Adamson, was attacked during a jog near Buttermilk Trail west of West Yellowstone, and officials say she was not found to be in possession of bear spray. To ensure you’re well prepared for a bear encounter, experts offer some advice about being safe...
Minnesota man placed on probation for high-speed chase outside Cody POWELL (WNE) – A Minnesota man who recently led police on a high-speed chase on the North Fork Highway has been released on probation after spending two-and-a-half weeks in jail. On July 24 in Park County District Court, Kirk D. Raymond, 53, pleaded guilty to a felony count of interference with a peace officer; it relates to Raymond trying to injure a pursuing Park County Sheriff’s deputy. Raymond’s guilty plea came as part of a deal with prosecutors that involved three other...
GILLETTE — Inflation and staffing shortages have hit the Wyoming Department of Transportation hard, and nowhere else is feeling the crunch harder than in northeast Wyoming. WYDOT has 1,734 employees around the state, and there are 313 vacancies. In District 4, which is northeast Wyoming, WYDOT employs 170 people, and it has about 40 vacancies, the highest of any district, said WYDOT District 4 Engineer Scott Taylor during a presentation to Campbell County Commissioners last week. It’s down mechanics, resident engineers, maintainers and str...
Nine school districts to participate in RIDE pilot CASPER (WNE) — Some Wyoming school districts will soon see the first fruits of a statewide effort to rethink the public K-12 education system. Gov. Mark Gordon’s office announced Wednesday that nine Wyoming school districts will participate in a pilot program beginning later this summer that aims to focus on more competency-based and student-centered learning. This initial pilot emerged from recommendations that came out of Gordon’s Reimagining and Innovating the Delivery of Education (RIDE) Ad...
Tiny the cat chomps down on Park County 4-H Educator Mary Louise Wood's thumb during the Park County Fair cat show on Wednesday of last week....
New Cheyenne park shooting defendants plead not guilty CHEYENNE (WNE) — Brothers Jalen and Santana Trujillo, who are facing charges of misdemeanor accessory after the fact to first-degree murder (not a relative), pleaded not guilty at a preliminary hearing Monday morning. Their case is set for a jury trial, with a scheduling conference scheduled to take place in November. The brothers, 19, are co-defendants with Johnny Munoz, 17, and Julian Espinoza, 16. The four of them, along with Jeremy Lackey, 18, were allegedly in a black SUV, driven by E...
Wendy Volk thought long and hard about filing an ethics complaint against a Laramie County senator after she said the lawmaker effectively sent a social media mob her way in August 2021. The incident began when the lawmaker posted to her professional social media page, questioning her status as a longtime Republican and asking why the Republican Party hadn’t done something sooner to take her out, Volk recounted. In the lawmaker’s online attack, Volk said, he referenced her many years of testifying at the Legislature. Soon, Volk said, the pos...
CASPER — The University of Wyoming continues to struggle with falling enrollment and retention rates as fewer students seek out and stay in Laramie for their college education. UW Provost Kevin Carman addressed ongoing enrollment concerns at Wyoming’s only four-year university in an email last week to university staff and announced a schoolwide effort to solve what he described as the school’s “enrollment challenges.” Forecasts suggest the school’s total enrollment at the start of the fall semester will be down 5% from 2022, while the school...
Colorado man dies, bus driver airlifted in Sunday morning crash GILLETTE (WNE) — A 25-year-old Colorado man died and a bus driver was airlifted for treatment after a head-on crash Sunday morning south of Wright. Campbell County Coroner Paul Wallem said Nicholas Finnian Mahoney, of Littleton, Colorado, died instantly at the scene. Sheriff Scott Matheny said the Sheriff’s Office began receiving “numerous” 911 calls at about 7:30 a.m. for a pickup versus passenger bus accident on Highway 59 south of Cosner Road. He said Mahoney was driving...
Strike-down of affirmative action will not impact admissions at UW or CSU CHEYENNE (WNE) — The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action in college admissions on Thursday will not impact the admissions processes at either the University of Wyoming or nearby Colorado State University. Though the court declared race can no longer be a factor in admission, neither university anticipates changes in their own admissions. “The university does not see any direct impact from this,” UW associate vice president of institutional comm...
North Antelope Rochelle Mine workers injured in tornado released from hospital GILLETTE (WNE) — All mine workers hospitalized after a tornado carrying up to 130 mph gusts struck North Antelope Rochelle Mine early Friday night have been released and the large open-pit coal mine is gradually resuming its operations. The tornado touched down at about 6 p.m. Friday while shift change was underway, knocking over at least 12 empty train cars, flipping multiple buses there to transport workers and sparking a search and rescue operation that drew n...
DAYTON - A headless mannequin greets visitors to the Dayton Mercantile Museum, a silent docent ushering people into one of Wyoming's most eclectic collections. Here, on the second floor of a building built 131 years ago, exotic mounted animals adorn the walls and scores of arrowheads line glass cases amid old stamps and bottles unearthed in the yard. A piano stands in a corner, a nod to the room's original purpose and reminder of the lively dances that once filled it. Henry Baker built the first...
The Wyoming Department of Transportation wants to remind residents about upcoming changes to license plates for light trailers. Starting July 1, owners of light trailers – defined as trailers weighing less than 1000 lbs. – can purchase a permanent plate for their trailer. Light trailers that are less than 6 years old would incur a $350 one-time permanent registration fee for the plate. To register older trailers, owners will need to pay a $50 one-time administration fee, a one-time fee equ...
GILLETTE — A man who led Sheriff’s deputies on a chase through Gillette that caused more than $10,000 in damage has pleaded guilty and had a sentencing enhancement dropped that could have put him in prison for life. Rusty D. Locke, 44, pleaded guilty May 30 to aggravated eluding and no contest to aggravated assault and battery. District Judge Stuart S. Healy III found Locke guilty of each count and withdrew a habitual criminal sentencing enhancement that carried a maximum penalty of life in prison. Counts of failure to register and mis...
CHEYENNE — Wyoming advocates pushing to preserve the Indian Child Welfare Act celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court decision issued Thursday. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered the majority opinion that rejected all constitutional challenges to the federal law. Some were based on the merits of the law, while others were for lack of standing, and the high court affirmed the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals “regarding Congress’s constitutional authority to enact ICWA.” Affirming the constitutionality of ICWA was conside...
Man who led deputies on chase with meth and fentanyl in car gets 8-10 years GILLETTE (WNE) — A man who led sheriff’s deputies on a car chase through Gillette while his passenger threw meth and fentanyl out the window was sentenced to up to ten years in prison. Zachary Thomas Stott, 29, was given two imposed eight- to 10-year sentences in May for possession with intent to deliver meth and fentanyl. The two sentences are to run concurrent with each other, according to court documents. Dawn M. Merdink, 44, was in the car with Stott and acc...
Temple Grandin to speak in Sheridan in support of new nonprofit SHERIDAN (WNE) — Temple Grandin, a prominent figure in both the agriculture and autism communities, is coming to Sheridan in July to help raise funds for a new local nonprofit. Grandin is an advocate for the humane treatment of livestock. According to her website, around half the cattle in the U.S. are handled in facilities she designed specifically to reduce stress on animals before slaughter. A professor of animal science at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, sh...
GILLETTE — Gary and Darva Rye looked out their window to a surprise Thursday morning. On days when the sky is clear, they have a full view of the Big Horn Mountains situated more than 70 miles from their home on Bell Road, just south of Gillette. But when they looked out toward Highway 50 last week, it wasn’t the mountains that grabbed their attention. That morning, construction began on a 5200 square-foot cryptocurrency mine, one of at least two crypto mines currently being built in Campbell County. The mine sits close to Highway 50 south of...
Bond revoked for Dell Range shooting defendant CHEYENNE (WNE) — Tirso Munguia, 19, one of the three defendants charged in connection with the shooting death of Angelina Harrison, 16, had his bond revoked last week after violating the terms of his bond by allegedly making contact with Harrison’s family. Judge Edward Buchanan ordered the District Court to revoke Munguia’s bond, saying that he “materially violated his bond.” Buchanan also said that his bond could be reinstated on the same terms, with the condition that Munguia be subject t...
The state of Wyoming is going to court again over grizzly bears, this time because federal wildlife officials missed a deadline to decide whether they would pursue removing Endangered Species Act protections. State officials announced their petition in a cheeky press release this week, accusing the U.S. Department of Interior of "hibernating" on deadline. "The petition seeks to remedy the DOI's inaction," the statement from Gov. Mark Gordon's office said. Under federal policy, the U.S. Fish and...
Gillette woman’s prison sentence commuted GILLETTE (WNE) — The prison sentence of a Gillette woman convicted of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a homeowners association in the early 2000s has been reduced to time served, making her eligible for release. Julie A. Jacobsen, 70, had her sentence commuted April 5 and was transferred to the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center in Nebraska after serving just more than 12 years in the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk. In 2011, Jacobsen was sentenced in Campbell County District Court...
Man arrested after allegedly kidnapping woman from Walmart GILLETTE (WNE) — A 26-year-old man was arrested for felony counts of kidnapping and probation violation, as well as misdemeanor counts of theft, use of drugs and interference with a peace officer after a 24-year-old woman reported that he tried to kidnap her at Walmart on Friday morning. The woman told officers at the police department the man came up to her at Walmart and told her that she was going to go home with him and that his friends were outside with automatic weapons, Police D...
