Wyoming News Briefs

Game and Fish investigates poaching of bull elk

SHERIDAN (WNE) - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is seeking the public's assistance in the case of a bull elk poached in northern Sheridan County the evening of March 6.

The bull elk was shot on private property along Pass Creek Road.

The head of the elk was removed along with the back straps and both hindquarters. The front shoulders and tenderloins were left on the carcass to waste.

A flatbed pickup truck with a grill guard was observed in the area that evening, but no other identifying information is available. The truck was seen in Wyoming and traveling toward Montana.

The hunting season for bull elk in that hunt area closed on Nov. 5, 2018.

A cash reward is available for those who provide evidence that leads to the arrest and conviction of any person who takes a big game animal without a license or out of season.

Anyone with information about this poaching incident can contact Dayton Game Warden Dustin Shorma at 307-655-9495, the Sheridan Regional Office at 307-672-7418 or call the STOP POACHING hotline at 1-877-WGFD-TIP (1-877-943-3847). Tips can also be reported online by visiting the Game and Fish website at http://www.wgfd.wyo.gov/law-enforcement/stop-poaching or by texting keyword WGFD and the message to 847-411.

Phishing scam creates headache in Albany courthouse

LARAMIE (WNE) - Hope Quade, who oversees IT in the Albany County Courthouse, suggested to commissioners last week there needs to be mandatory training on internet safety for some county employees.

Quade is the county's account manager for Medicine Bow Technologies, which is currently contracted to handle the county's IT needs.

The suggestion came after an employee in the courthouse fell prey to a phishing scam Feb. 28 and certain "financial information was intercepted," Quade said.

Under that successful scam, Quade said a "bad guy" pretended to be Albany County Attorney Peggy Trent.

In a phishing scam, a fraudster, often pretending to be a legitimate business or official, sends emails to recipients who occasionally are hoodwinked into handing over confidential information, like their credit card number.

"I only open the ones from Nigeria," Commissioner Heber Richardson joked, alluding to one of the more notorious phishing scams.

In response to the incident, Quade said she "played helicopter parent" and temporarily shut down the county's email system.

That led to hundreds of emails being deleted. Amy Terrell, who runs the county's drug courts, said the incident concerns her, since she lost dozens of important emails.

Medicine Bow Technologies has now produced a list of all the emails that were deleted, and county departments now have to sort through those email lists, asking the authors of important emails to resend them.

Quade suggested her company should now run a phony phishing scam. Medicine Bow Technologies would send out test phishing emails to all employees. County employees who fall for the scam should be required to receive "mandatory training every quarter until the gap is filled," Quade said.

Gillette woman killed in accident

GILLETTE (WNE) - A Gillette woman is dead after a two-vehicle crash Friday night.

Campbell County Sheriff's Sgt. Paul Pownall said the crash happened shortly before 7 p.m. on Southern Drive near Highway 59.

Lindsey Konyn, 30, was killed in the crash, said Campbell County Coroner Paul Wallem. The cause of the crash is not yet known.

Firefighters provided medical care to Konyn while on scene and stabilized both vehicles. The Sheriff's Office secured the scene and conducted traffic control, Pownall said.

Wyoming Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash, Pownall said, and he and the Gillette Police Department directed questions to Highway Patrol.

Calls to Wyoming Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeremy Beck were not returned as of press time.

Riverton man arrested after driving truck into lake

RIVERTON (WNE) - A Riverton man was arrested Saturday after driving his truck into Ocean Lake.

Jeremy Hernandez, 47, of Riverton, was treated for exposure before being arrested for driving under the influence as a result of the incident, which he reported at about 11:35 p.m. Saturday.

Hernandez is a member of the Fremont County School District 25 school board in Riverton.

Officials said Hernandez made the call from the cab of his truck, which had broken through the ice on Ocean Lake and was partially submerged in about four feet of water.

"He told our dispatcher there was water coming into the cab," undersheriff Mike Hutchison said Wednesday.

They finally found Hernandez's vehicle on the north side of Ocean Lake near a wildlife habitat area the Wyoming Game and Fish Department manages.

Hutchison said members of the search and rescue crew began putting on their cold-water immersion suits so they could enter the water and help Hernandez get out of his truck. But before they got into the water, he said Hernandez managed to exit the vehicle on his own.

"[He] came across the ice to them," Hutchison said, adding, "He was only maybe 50-75 yards from the shore."

Hernandez was extremely cold and was wearing wet clothing, Hutchison said, and he received medical treatment for exposure before being arrested for DUI.

Hutchison said Hernandez later hired a tow company to pull the Ford F250 pickup truck out of the lake.

Hernandez was elected to the Riverton school board in November 2018.

Leaders consider options after Gordon vetoes military housing funds

CHEYENNE - A proposed military housing project near F.E. Warren Air Force Base is 98 percent funded, and officials are looking to state programs after Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon recently vetoed $1.5 million to complete it.

The $50 million, 50-acre development would include affordable housing for 500-700 military personnel who commute from Colorado daily due to inadequate housing near the base. Studies suggest there are as many as 1,200 military commuters in Cheyenne.

Funding for the housing portion of the project is mostly private, said Dale Steenbergen, CEO of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce. However, the State Loan and Investment Board approved $4.3 million in state grants and loans for the project last year.

But Gordon vetoed another $1.5 million when he removed more than two dozen line items from the state's supplemental budget recently.

In a letter explaining his decision, Gordon said the rejected items constituted legislative overreach, arguing each should be considered in separate legislation or through the proper existing channels.

He recommended supporters of new military housing return to the Wyoming Business Council with an updated proposal and SLIB review.

"I think it was a principal thing for him," Steenbergen said. "Gordon gave us direction about going back to the Business Council. We have re-engaged in that conversation, and we have some options to move forward. I don't think it's a reflection that the governor didn't like the project."