Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
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JACKSON — Numbers of wapiti drawn to the National Elk Refuge’s feed lines are up significantly this winter, with 8,095 animals counted during an assessment a week ago. The overall on-feed count is 11% greater than the 10-year average of 7314 elk, and it’s 23% higher than the 2019 tally of 6586 wapiti. Given that it has been an average winter at low elevations, the number and distribution of elk found eating alfalfa pellets on the Feb. 18 survey day are right about what Elk Refuge biologist Eric Cole would expect to see. Overall, this appea...
SHERIDAN — One state legislator from Gillette was a school principal for years, and was always astonished at the amount of food wasted every lunch period. In the years since, schools across Wyoming have tried to reduce waste. Some do lunch time head counts, tallying exactly how many children will eat hot lunch so the kitchen can prepare a reasonable amount; some schools have instituted a “share table” where kids can drop off unwanted, unopened food and drink items to share or donate; and other schools practice “offer versus serve” as a way to...
CHEYENNE - Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon wants education stakeholders to reevaluate what learning should look like across the state. “As resources begin to decline, it is critical that we work together to create one cohesive system that is integrated, aligned and provides pathways and easy transitions from one level of education to the next,” Gordon told the appointed members of the State Board of Education on Friday morning. Gordon said those conversations should start this year, which is when the state will recalibrate its K-12 funding model. “I...
Wondering what those historic markers along the highway are all about? Never have time to stop as you drive by at highway speeds? Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources announces a new and searchable Monuments and Markers Interactive Map at https://wyoparks.wyo.gov/index.php/home-mm The GIS-based database contains a profile for each of the 1,000+ monuments and markers, including the name, longitude/latitude and a description of the significance to Wyoming’s history or prehistory. In addition, approximately half of the markers also c...
JACKSON — The U.S. Secretary of the Interior directly intervened in an aerial goat cull underway in the Tetons last Friday, ordering Grand Teton National Park Acting Superintendent Gopaul Noojibail to “stand down.” David Bernhardt, who presides over the National Park Service’s governmental parent, became involved in Teton Park’s affairs after his office received a sharply worded letter that Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon sent to Noojibail the same day. The governor said he was “profoundly disappointed” that the park was “unilaterally aerially executi...
Man dies after jumping from car SHERIDAN (WNE) — A Texas resident led Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers on a pursuit before jumping from a moving vehicle Feb. 21. The pursuit started near Sheridan on Interstate 90. WHP troopers were notified of a suspected drunk driver near Sheridan. Troopers were able to locate a vehicle matching the description of the alleged drunk driver speeding 97 mph in a 75 mph-posted speed zone. The WHP trooper turned on his emergency lights and sirens to attempt to stop the vehicle. The driver failed to stop for the t...
UW provost a finalist for Texas job LARAMIE (WNE) — The University of Texas at El Paso announced this month that the University of Wyoming’s provost, Kate Miller, is a finalist for its Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs position. Miller declined to comment on her candidacy Monday. Miller is one of five finalists and is scheduled to visit UTEP March 5-6 and engage in a forum with faculty and staff. A graduate of Princeton and Stanford universities, Miller previously worked at UTEP from 1991 to 2008. She began her work at UTEP as a res...
CHEYENNE — With the state Legislature’s budget session set to begin this week, lawmakers will likely spend hours debating how to address the state’s projected revenue shortfall. Yet some state officials and lawmakers hope part of that shortfall can be addressed through work that’s already been done. For the last three years, the Wyoming Government Efficiency Commission has worked to find ways to make the state run more smoothly. Their work essentially wrapped up last July, when the commission sent 19 recommendations to Gov. Mark Gordon and the...
Injured ice climber rescued after fall CODY (WNE) — Search and rescue volunteers from Park and Big Horn counties rescued a fallen ice climber Saturday from an ice waterfall up the South Fork. The 42-year-old Billings ice climber was on the Broken Heart ice waterfall when he fell some 30 feet from the top of the third pitch. Richard James Dvorak was climbing with a party of ten when the accident happened, according to an SAR release. The Broken Heart ice waterfall is 38 miles up the South Fork, less than a mile north of the South Fork H...
CASPER — Hours into the start of the 2020 legislative session, the Wyoming House killed a bill Monday that would’ve set the stage for Medicaid expansion. The bill fell at the earliest hurdle in the House, with nearly two thirds of the body voting against it as part of the chamber’s consent list. It’s a swift end for the measure, which would’ve given Gov. Mark Gordon the ability to study expansion and move it forward, albeit under the eye of the Legislature. Jen Simon of the Wyoming Women’s Action Network said the consent agenda passed 59-0...
LARAMIE — At least 14 legislators are backing a bill that would prevent the University of Wyoming from regulating firearms on campus. As with other previous failed legislation, Senate File 88 would require UW to allow the carrying of concealed weapons on in campus buildings and at athletic events. The Legislature’s staunchest supporters of gun rights have again introduced a bill, Senate File 88, that would prevent the University of Wyoming from regulating the possession of firearms on campus. The 2020 version of the “repeal gun-free zones” bill...
GILLETTE — A Campbell County state legislator has withdrawn a controversial bill he’d proposed on firearms reporting for national background checks. Rep. Bill Pownall, a Republican who serves on the Judiciary Committee, has withdrawn House Bill 59 from consideration in the state Legislature’s 24-day budget session that started Monday. The bill and its sponsor have been the target of much criticism on social media since it came up for introduction. It would have had to receive a two-thirds majority vote in the House just to be considered, which...
CHEYENNE — A Republican state lawmaker has introduced a resolution that would encourage the Wyoming Department of Education to offer voluntary gun and hunting safety classes in the state’s high schools. If passed during the legislative session that begins next week, Senate Joint Resolution 1 would urge the Game and Fish Commission to collaborate with the Department of Education to create the safety classes as a physical education elective. Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, the main sponsor of the legislation, said the classes would help mit...
U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., received the National Head Start Association’s (NHSA) highest congressional award today for his career-long dedication to supporting children and families. NHSA programs provide comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition and parent involvement services to low-income families. “I want to ensure that all children are better prepared – not only for success in school, but also for success later in life,” Enzi said. “I’m deeply touched to receive this r...
RIVERTON — A structural deficit in Wyoming’s K-12 school system will require a $222 million transfer from savings in the coming biennium, forecasters have informed the Joint Appropriations Committee. “That is what is supporting the school foundation program going forward,” said Don Richards, cochairman of Wyoming’s Consensus Revenue Estimating Group, “a transfer from the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account.” The solution is not permanent: Richards said the LSRA is losing money, with its balance falling from more than $1.5 billion in th...
SHERIDAN — The case against Gregg Lambdin, who was convicted of 11 counts of wanton destruction of a big game animal in October, concluded in 4th Judicial Court Jan. 30 when Lambdin’s firearms were forfeited to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Lambdin has approximately five-and-a-half months left on a nine-month sentence. Upon his release, he will be required to complete one year of supervised probation. Game warden Dustin Shorma appeared in court on behalf of the WGFD with a petition filed Dec. 2, to confiscate the firearms per a Wyo...
LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming announced Friday that its board of trustees will not appeal a court decision that requires the university to publicly release numerous documents regarding former UW President Laurie Nichols’s departure from the university. A statement from the board of trustees confirmed that Nichols was investigated shortly before the board opted not to renew her contract. “In early 2019, the Board of Trustees was made aware of two instances when reports were made to human resources by university staff members regar...
Man in fatal crash identified as Casper resident GILLETTE (WNE) — The man who was killed on icy roads Friday morning was 46-year-old Peter P. Godwin of Casper. He died instantly after his 2017 Dodge Ram pickup collided with a semi-trailer Friday morning, Campbell County Coroner Paul Wallem said Monday. The man was driving southbound by Cosner Road south of Wright about 9 a.m. when he lost control on the ice and drifted into the northbound lane in front of a northbound 2018 Kenworth commercial truck. The driver of the Rev Energy semi-truck w...
No coronavirus cases reported in Wyoming CHEYENNE (WNE) — As the coronavirus spreads in China and the United States, there have been no reported cases of the virus in Wyoming as of Monday morning. But officials with the state Department of Health say they are closely monitoring the situation as it develops. “We have communicated the latest information regarding patient care, infection control and testing procedures with health care providers across Wyoming and will continue to share updates as needed,” state epidemiologist Alexia Harrist said...
GILLETTE — A former Sage Valley Junior High School student who took two handguns to school and expressed an intent to shoot other students and a teacher won’t spend the rest of his life in an adult prison. Dale Warner, 15, pleaded guilty to a pair of lesser felony charges Friday in exchange for dismissal of nine counts of attempted first-degree murder. He could serve up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of a deadly weapon with unlawful intent. He also pleaded no contest to one charge of aggravated ass...
Wyoming’s driver licenses and identification cards will now be more secure and harder to counterfeit. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) recently started issuing new state driver licenses and ID cards that have extra security features. Those whose cards are expiring will receive a new driver license or identification card, which look different from the current licenses and ID cards. WYDOT started issuing the new licenses and ID cards in December. “The new cards are made up of a p...
Veterans and Military Day at the Legislature is Feb. 26. All military personnel, veterans and their families are invited to participate. The group will meet at the State Capitol and visit the Senate and House galleries at 10 a.m. The Wyoming Veterans Commission will hold its quarterly meeting Feb. 27, at 9 a.m., at the Wyoming Veterans Commission Conference Room, located at the Joint Forces Readiness Center, 5800 Central Ave, Cheyenne. Veterans from around the state, especially Southeast Wyoming, are invited to attend. Please plan to bring a...
Yellowstone visitation down in 2019 CODY (WNE) — While visitation to Yellowstone National Park still exceeded 4 million in 2019 that was the lowest number of attendees since 2014. The final total for last year was 4,020,287 compared to 2018’s 4,114,999. That was a 2.3 percent decline. In 2014, attendance was 3,513,486, then there was a huge jump in 2015 when the total surpassed four million for the first time. That year’s record was 4,097,710 and visitation has not dipped below four million since. The one-year record of 4,257,177 was estab...
DA plans charges against woman who had 61 animals CASPER (WNE) — The Natrona County District Attorney’s office is planning to file charges against a Casper woman who had 61 animals removed from her home last week. “We’re looking into the appropriate charges,” county District Attorney Dan Itzen said Monday. He declined to comment on the specific charges the office would be pursuing, citing the pending investigation, but said the charges would be in the realm of animal cruelty. Animal protection officers, also referred to as animal control o...
Cody standoff ends with one dead CODY (WNE) — A standoff involving Cody police and Park County deputies ended around 5:30 p.m. Monday when authorities in tactical gear entered a camper where a 76-year-old man had shot and killed himself after shooting a woman in the head, according to a Cody Police Department news release. The woman, his 44-year-old girlfriend, suffered non life-threatening injuries and was taken to the Cody Regional Health Emergency Department. For roughly two hours authorities, some with the Tactical Response Team carrying r...
