State Briefs

Man charged in assault that left woman with brain injury

POWELL (WNE) — Authorities allege a Cody man repeatedly hit his girlfriend’s head against a vehicle console and the floor, drug her around and strangled her in an assault that left her with a traumatic brain injury. 

Brian A. Foss, 42, is facing three charges in connection with the New Year’s Eve incident: felony counts of aggravated assault and strangulation of a household member, plus a misdemeanor count of domestic battery. In a separate case, he also faces a misdemeanor count of property destruction. 

Last week, Foss agreed to let his felony case proceed to Park County District Court. He remained in jail on Monday, with bail set at $30,000. 

Foss’ girlfriend had been spending the New Year’s Eve holiday at a friend’s house in Cody. However, around 9:30 p.m., Foss showed up and allegedly kicked in the door to the Sheridan Avenue residence, took his girlfriend and left. 

Charging documents allege he then assaulted the woman on the way to and at his residence on Stagecoach Trail; she reportedly suffered a life-threatening brain bleed. 

The Park County Sheriff’s Office was called to Foss’ trailer — just west of the Buffalo Bill Reservoir — shortly before 11 p.m. When deputies arrived, they heard Foss yelling and his girlfriend came out of the residence. 

Although her face was red and swollen in spots, she initially told the officers everything was fine and they could go, Deputy Tom Toohey wrote in a statement in support of the charges. 

However, out of earshot of Foss, the woman later acknowledged that Foss had hit her and dragged her around by her hair; the 36-year-old said her jaw and shoulders hurt.

Death penalty repeal clears House, heads for Senate

CHEYENNE (WNE) — State lawmakers ran through one last round of emotional reflections on the death penalty Friday before pushing a bill to repeal it through the House of Representatives.

House Bill 145 — the first of its kind to last so long in the Wyoming Legislature — is now on to the Senate, after the first chamber passed it by a healthy margin of 36-21. In 2018 a similar bill lost by a roughly reverse “no” vote, and the year before another died in committee.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jared Olsen, R-Laramie, has become perhaps the most morally charged legislation of the session.

“It will, for generations to come, be a testament of where we stand and what we want our laws to say,” Olsen said.

Many arguments for and against the bill grew out of the legislators’ spiritual beliefs or their connections to incidents of violence.

Some pleaded with their colleagues to “remember the victims.” Rep. Roy Edwards, R-Campbell, argued the death penalty should remain as a means of retribution for them and their families.

But others countered that “eye-for-eye” justice, satisfying as it may initially seem, does little to assuage the suffering of those who have lost loved ones.

Rep. Danny Eyre, R-Uinta, grew up with Mark Hopkinson, who in 1992 was the last man to be executed in Wyoming. He knew Hopkinson’s family and the families of his four victims.

He recalled thinking the execution — which he supported at the time — would bring relief to him and his community.

“I felt just the opposite,” he said. “It was a dark, sad day, and it didn’t do anything to help relieve the pain of those family members who had had loved ones killed.”

Cheyenne to get Wyoming’s largest convention center

CHEYENNE — A Cheyenne developer plans to break ground this fall on a new 70,000-square-foot hotel and convention center in south Cheyenne.

The $55 million project, built on the Sweetgrass development south of East College Drive, would be the state’s largest events facility, home to a 150-bed hotel, restaurant and convention space.

Set to open in the summer of 2021, plans include a 36-lane bowling alley and eatery featuring local cuisine. The convention and entertainment space will have the capacity to host concerts, basketball tournaments, weddings and trade shows. 

307 Land Development, a southeast Wyoming-based company led by real estate developer John “Tate” Bauman and his family, will oversee the venture, and Fort Collins, Colorado-based AU Workshop will provide architectural services. A general contractor has yet to be announced.

The Baumans leveraged a large cow-calf ranch in southeast Wyoming to establish a number of other companies, including Bauman Construction, Signature Designs and Tate’s Chuckwagon, a Cheyenne Frontier Days staple.

A private equity firm will fund the endeavor.

Bauman estimates the complex will add 170 jobs and $40 million to the local economy annually.

“It’s a great thing that others are looking at Cheyenne and willing to invest in Cheyenne,” said Randy Bruns, CEO of Cheyenne LEADS, the nonprofit economic development organization for Cheyenne and Laramie County. “It’s a strong indication that other folks see good things for us.”

Due to the facility’s proximity to Laramie County Community College, Bauman expects to work with college leadership to offer hospitality career training and employment to students. 

“This ties back to keeping our younger generation here,” Bauman said. 

Parents of New Year’s baby charged with felony child abuse

LARAMIE (WNE) — A Laramie couple, Kaycee and Kelvie Easton, was arrested last week for almost three years worth of child abuse.

The Eastons were featured in the Laramie Boomerang earlier this month after becoming the parents of the first baby born at Ivinson Memorial Hospital in 2019. Their new daughter is their fourth child.

However, staff at Albany County School District No. 1 approached the Laramie Police Department officer Elizabeth Smith after becoming concerned about some of bruising suffered by one of the Eastons’ children who said the bruising came after Kaycee Easton held her down on the floor.

The Eastons gave conflicting accounts of how the bruising occurred.

Smith already knew of another incident in which Kaycee Easton apparently restrained a child for two hours.

Numerous records indicate both parents “vilified, verbally attacked and scapegoated” one of the children.

Smith’s investigation found that the parents sometimes withheld medical or psychiatric treatment, and would remove their children from hospitals despite the advice of medical staff.

A police affidavit details six pages worth of extensive child abuse.

Louis Farley, a physician at IMH, said that the parents’ behavior is “outside of a healthy or normal realm,” according to the affidavit.

The Eastons have each been charged with two counts of felony child abuse. Both have been released on signature bonds.

Trial dates set in cover-up of superintendent’s accident

TORRINGTON (WNE) – Trial dates have been set for two Goshen County School District No. 1 employees as well as former district superintendent Jean Chrostoski after the defendants allegedly conspired to cover up a vehicle accident involving Chrostoski in late December. 

Loreen Fritzler and Kim Cawthra, who are both administrative assistants at the GCSD No. 1 central office, are facing single misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to interfere with a law enforcement officer. 

Fritzler’s trial has been scheduled for March 11 at 1:30 p.m. Cawthra will stand trial the same day at 2:30 p.m. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty. 

Chrostoski’s case will be heard by Eighth Circuit Judge Randal Arp on Feb. 13 at 10:30 a.m. She has been charged with a pair of misdemeanors; one count of failure to notify law enforcement of a vehicle accident, and one charge of conspiracy to commit interference with a police officer. 

Chrostoski announced her retirement from her superintendent post in January during a special meeting of the Goshen County Schools Board of Trustees. Her retirement is effective as of Feb. 1. 

In a letter read during the meeting, Chrostoski said she has been “struggling with this decision since I turned 60 in September, and have spent the last few months trying to determine when the right time would be to retire.” 

However, Chrostoski told the Casper Star-Tribune the crash and the ensuing investigation played a part in her decision to retire, though her decision wasn’t “entirely related” to the investigation.