Wyoming News Briefs

Interior secretary says electric bikes in parks OK

JACKSON (WNE) — The U.S. Secretary of the Interior has made a top-down decision about the use of electric bikes on National Park Service lands, bucking policies that today are set individually by parks.

Going forward, electric bikes, aka e-bikes, will be on an even playing field with human-powered bicycles, according to a policy memorandum that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed Thursday and gave to the media Friday.

“E-bikes are allowed where traditional bicycles are allowed,” the four-page policy reads. “E-bikes are not allowed where traditional bicycles are prohibited, including wilderness areas.”

Northwest Wyoming’s two national parks were caught off guard by the directive from their federal government parent department. When reached by phone Friday, public affairs officials said they had no idea when the policies would officially change.

“We don’t have any details at this time about how this affects Yellowstone,” spokeswoman Rebecca Roland said. “We’re awaiting guidance from the national office.”

Previously, there was no National Park Service-wide policy on e-bikes. Electric and pedal-assist bicycles are prohibited in all parts of Yellowstone except roads that are open to public motor vehicles, according to the superintendent’s compendium.

In Grand Teton National Park, e-bikes have been banned on the celebrated pathway network but allowed on the parallel roads alongside traffic. Like in Yellowstone, e-bikes were also prohibited from Teton Park Road during the stretch of spring when the road is plowed and off-limits to cars, but popular with walkers and bikers.

Campbell Co. makes pitch for business court

GILLETTE (WNE) — The state is currently looking for locations for a business court, and Campbell County Commissioners hope it will select Gillette.

Campbell County Deputy County Attorney Carol Seeger told commissioners Thursday that she has written letters that will be sent to a committee tasked with picking three Wyoming cities to host a chancery court.

“The letter is just really brief, saying, ‘Look at us, we’re an excellent option,’” she said.

The state is currently looking for locations for a business court, and Campbell County Commissioners hope it will select Gillette.

Campbell County Deputy County Attorney Carol Seeger told commissioners Thursday that she has written letters that will be sent to a committee tasked with picking three Wyoming cities to host a chancery court.

“The letter is just really brief, saying, ‘Look at us, we’re an excellent option,’” she said.

This past legislative session, state lawmakers passed Senate File 104, which created a chancery court, or a court that will deal specifically with complex business contracts and business disputes.

Commission Chairman Rusty Bell said Gillette is a good candidate because there are a lot of contract disputes in Campbell County, thanks to mineral rights and split estate issues.

Commissioner Mark Christensen said he thinks the chancery court is good from an economic diversification standpoint.

He also said he hopes a business court will ease the workload of the local district judges.

Longtime firefighter arrested on child porn charges

RAWLINS (WNE) — Michael Eugene Pipher, a firefighter with the Carbon County Fire Department for the past 20 years, has been arrested for possessing child pornography. 

According to court records, a months-long investigation conducted by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigations led to the execution of a search warrant on Pipher’s property in Hanna. 

There, investigators obtained three electronic devices, some of which contained “hundreds of files” depicting child pornography. 

During a subsequent interview with investigators that day, Pipher said he had not been viewing the material for very long; however, he later admitted to “struggling with this for months.” 

Pipher, 63, first came under suspicion following undercover operations related to the file sharing program BitTorrent P2P network in April, which later linked Pipher’s IP address to several child pornography downloads. 

After investigators explained the reason for the search warrant, Pipher admitted that he knew why he was under investigation. 

“Stuff has been showing up on my Android,” he said. “It’s child porn.”

Pipher also told investigators that he was using “torrents to get the files.” “[The] defendant admitted to ‘stripping’ or factory resetting the tablet computer on numerous occasions and hard reset the device because he was ‘scared it was on there,’” according to court records. “[The] defendant had continued to reinstall the file sharing program and continued downloading child pornography, stating, ‘It’s like an addiction sometimes.’” 

According to court records, Pipher said he has never touched minors inappropriately.

Pipher has been charged with six felony counts of sexual exploitation of children, which pose up to 64 years in prison and $60,000 in fines. 

Man accused of trying to kill wife held on $900,000 bond

GREEN RIVER (WNE) — The bond for a Green River man accused of trying to kill his wife in August was reset at $900,000 cash or surety last week during a hearing in Circuit Court Judge John Prokos’ court.

Bradley Setzer was charged with first-degree attempted murder, a felony, and a misdemeanor interference with a peace officer. 

The charges stem from an incident where he allegedly tried to shoot his wife, Jessica Setzer, while she was at the front door of the couple’s residence on South Carolina Drive. 

The felony charge can result in a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, as well as a fine of not more than $10,000. The interference charge is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $1000.

The bond was originally set at $250,000 using a probable cause affidavit, an amount Deputy Sweetwater County Attorney Teresa Thybo called “grossly inadequate” at the Aug. 28 hearing. While Bradley does not have prior felony or misdemeanor convictions, a separate domestic violence case, related to an early May altercation where Thybo claims he broke his wife’s nose. That incident was argued down to a misdemeanor unlawful contact charge. Part of the stipulations of that case were that Bradley not have possession of firearms or consume alcohol. However, when officers searched the home, they discovered 11 firearms.

Prokos said the court’s concerns were that previous orders to not own firearms or consume alcohol were not listened to, saying bond conditions were not followed as part of his earlier case. He then set the bond at $900,000.