Wyoming News Briefs

Wyoming’s flu season begins

JACKSON (WNE) — It’s flu season in Wyoming, but public health officials aren’t ready to make a determination about its severity.

“This is probably too early for us to put a real characterization on this season,” Wyoming Department of Health spokeswoman Kim Deti said.

However, people are still coming down with the mostly seasonal virus that causes fever, coughing, fatigue and other undesirable symptoms.

“We are seeing activity across the state,” Deti said. “I don’t know if it’s at widespread levels yet.”

The state Health Department sends out reports on the flu season throughout the winter, giving county and other local public health agencies a general view of the virus’s severity. The latest one from state epidemiologist Reginald McClinton gave a mixed review of the season so far.

McClinton said overall flu activity has been slow, but some areas of the state have seen significant activity. The report doesn’t specify which areas are seeing higher levels of the virus.

Though overall activity is still low, one peculiarity of the season is a high number of B viruses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza A and B viruses cause seasonal outbreaks, though A strains are the only ones known to cause pandemics, and they are more common in the early part of flu season.

The CDC’s weekly flu report says the nation is seeing the same trend as Wyoming, with more B viruses being reported.

“That is not typical for this part of the season,” Deti said.

Fatal house fire caused by overheated dryer

RIVERTON (WNE) — The fatal fire that took the lives of father and daughter Todd and Cambrie Pepper north of Riverton last Thursday has been determined to have been accidental. 

The father, Todd Pepper, was 49, and Cambrie was 11. She was a student at Riverton Middle School.

Riverton Volunteer Fire Department Chief Henri DeClercq, who was on scene Dec. 19 after the early-morning fire was reported from 36 Darnall Road, announced Monday that the cause of the fire was insufficient venting of the dryer. 

“The insufficient venting caused a buildup of lint inside the dryer where the friction and heat of the dryer eventually ignited the lint.” 

The fire grew and engulfed the home, so that responders who arrived soon after 5 a.m. Thursday encountered what DeClercq called “heavy involvement” of the flames with the residence. 

By 10 a.m. that day, the flames had been extinguished. The house had collapsed in the middle and was still pluming smoke visibly toward Burma Road and Highway 789. 

DeClercq emphasized the tragedy of the incident and urged caution in the community. 

“I would highly encourage everyone to take some time to inspect and clean their dryers and the associated venting” on a regular basis, and also “take a few minutes and check your smoke alarms,” DeClercq’s statement reads. 

Smoke alarms have a roughly 10-year lifespan and should be replaced at least every decade, or replaced regardless if they don’t have a date on them, the chief said.

Cheyenne man charged with vehicular homicide

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A Cheyenne man has been charged with vehicular homicide after he allegedly entered an intersection without yielding, which caused the death of a person in the vehicle.

Leslie P. Flath, 77, of Cheyenne is charged with vehicular homicide, careless driving and failure to yield when entering a road. He was arrested on warrants Monday in connection with the 2018 crash.

Flath had his initial appearance in Laramie County Circuit Court on Dec. 23, and a $2,000 signature bond was set. 

On Oct. 20, 2018, Flath was driving a 2015 Buick Enclave northbound on Whitney Road with three passengers. Flath was approaching the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and Whitney Road, where stop signs are posted.

Flath either didn’t stop or failed to yield the right of way to the car traveling through the intersection. Flath drove into the intersection in front of the oncoming car, which struck the back left portion of Flath’s car because they weren’t able to stop in time.

A passenger in Flath’s car, Yvonne Couture, was injured in the crash and taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. She suffered broken bones, contusions and a ruptured spleen from the crash, and died Oct. 23, 2018. The cause of her death was determined to be blunt force trauma and blood loss because due to her religious beliefs, she refused blood transfusions.

ACA enrollment similar to 2018

CASPER (WNE) — More than 24,600 Wyomingites signed up on the federal health exchanges during open enrollment, officials say, as Obamacare continues to bounce around federal courtrooms. 

The exact number of Wyoming enrollees — 24,665 — is down 227 from last year, a drop of about 1 percent. Nationwide, some 8.3 million people enrolled this year, compared to 8.5 million last year. The enrollment period started sluggishly in Wyoming, officials have said, but picked up and finished at roughly the same figure from 2018. 

The total number of people who pay their premiums in January — the number of people who “effectuate” their policy — is typically less than the raw enrollment figure. Last year, for instance, more than 22,000 people had actually paid for and used their plans, compared to the nearly 25,000 who enrolled. 

The majority of Wyomingites on the plans use tax credits to offset the price, while roughly a quarter get further subsidies. 

The premium costs for the exchange plans were expected to rise slightly this year; a spokeswoman for Blue Cross Blue Shield, which provides the exchange plans, said the average increase of the plans is 1.16 percent. 

The figures show the exchanges, both here and nationally, are holding steady, even as the law that created them — the Affordable Care Act — continues to hang in limbo. The figures are perhaps more surprising given that Congress removed the tax penalty for not having insurance, meaning people who don’t otherwise have coverage can eschew the plans without having to deal with the IRS. 

Lander woman killed by ‘flash fire’

RIVERTON (WNE) — Officials have released the name of the Lander woman who died last week in a flash fire caused by smoking while using home oxygen. 

Kathlyn Werth, 77, died Dec. 19 in Salt Lake City. 

The fire was reported at about 10:40 a.m. Dec. 18 on Northside Drive in Lander. 

Officials said Werth’s son also was injured in the blaze. Both victims were flown to the University of Utah Burn Center, where the mother passed. 

Wyoming State Fire Marshal’s Office investigator Dalton Sanders said the flash fire originated in the bathroom of a single-wide mobile home. 

He identified the cause of the blaze as “smoking on home oxygen.” 

Sanders explained that oxygen acts like a “fuse” when it contacts flame, allowing a fire to travel along the path of the flammable substance. 

The flame also causes an explosion if it reaches the oxygen tank, as it did Dec. 18. Sanders said the trailer was destroyed in the resulting blaze. 

Lander Volunteer Fire Department chief Bobby Johnston said neighbors who reported the fire the morning of Dec. 18 indicated the home occupants “needed help getting out.” But when he arrived at the scene, Johnston said both victims were outside of the structure. 

Both were “severely burned,” he said, but Werth was “a lot worse off” because she had been “wearing” the oxygen.

Man sentenced to up to 100 years on sexual assault conviction

WORLAND – Former Worland man Jason Miller received a sentence of 50 to 100 years imprisonment following a sentencing hearing in the Fifth Judicial District Court in Worland on Wednesday, Dec. 18. 

Miller, 43, was found guilty of three felonies by a jury of six men and six women on Aug. 27, which included two charges of first-degree sexual assault and sexual intrusion of a child under the age of 13 and one count of sexual assault and sexual intrusion of a minor under the age of 18. 

A trial originally began in April but ended in a mistrial after Miller’s mother submitted evidence that had been ruled inadmissible. This led to a new trial occurring on Aug. 26-27, where Miller was found guilty of the three felonies. 

All three counts carry a penalty of a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of 50 years in prison, which is the sentence handed down by Judge Bobbi Overfield Wednesday. 

The first two sentences are to be served consecutively, which will add up to a minimum of 50 years and maximum of 100. The third count will be served concurrently in the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins.

Miller does receive credit for time already served. The specific amount was not noted at the hearing. 

Miller’s sentence for these acts will begin after Miller serves a 10-year sentence in federal prison for possession of child pornography that he was found guilty of in 2018.

Donors pay off school lunch debt

CODY — Cody School District nutrition director Gen Sheets was in shock – in a week, multiple anonymous donors wiped clean all of the student meal debt across the district just before the start of Christmas break.

Just like that $1,355 was wiped clean.

Sheets said in her five years at the district, it’s the third substantial donation to pay off food debt, although more anonymous donors will swoop in during the school year to pay off all debt at a certain school.

“It blows me away because most of the time people giving these donations have no skin in the game, no kids at school, no grandkids,” she said. “They genuinely just want to build a stronger community, which is neat.”

The district has multiple ways of almost always preventing a situation where a student compiles the max $25 in debt. There are federal free and reduced lunch programs and the schools will intervene to identify the problem, but for many reasons debt can pile up, at which point schools will use extra money set aside to step in and help pay for lunches.

That money is often compiled through small donations made throughout the year.

“Our community is so wonderful,” Sheets said. “Thank you again for everyone who helps us year-round to grow a stronger community by providing love and compassion for our children.”

Marbleton moves toward vape ban

PINEDALE (WNE) — The agenda listed discussion of a proposed ordinance to ban vaping and flavored tobacco products but the Marbleton Town Council voted to amend the agenda and pass its first reading at its Dec. 16 meeting.

Mayor Pro Tem Mack Bradley sat in for Mayor Jim Robinson, who was absent. Councilmembers Jeff McCormick, Roger McMannis and BJ Meador were also present. 

The only place in Marbleton that sells flavored tobaccos and vaping products is the Loaf N Jug, which is a large corporation with managers outside of Sublette County. 

The council at Robinson’s suggestion supported writing a letter to ask the corporate bosses to reconsider sales in Marbleton. 

Attorney Thayne Peterson said he tried several times to reach a regional manager “who said he sent it up the ladder.” He presented the draft Ordinance 2019-05 for discussion, adding he was recently in Boston where a year’s ban just ended and some restrictions remain in place. He said the Marbleton ordinance could read that the ban stays in place until it is revoked, modified or withdrawn. 

“I’m all for pushing this through,” Bradley said. 

McMannis made a motion to amend the agenda and to pass the first reading, seconded by Meador. It was approved unanimously. The ordinance will be read again for a vote during the next council meeting on Jan. 6.

Man charged in series of fires sent to treatment program

LARAMIE (WNE) — Laramie resident Samuel Pennington, 23, is scheduled to go to a high-intensity drug treatment program after being released from jail in January.

Pennington was sentenced earlier this month after pleading guilty to causing numerous fires around Laramie between September 2018 and January 2019.

Prosecutor Becky Farley had recommended at sentencing that Pennington be sentenced to 3-5 years imprisonment.

Farley said the case merited prison time because, in part, of the risk that Pennington could have injured someone.

Pennington has been in jail since Jan. 15, and Albany County district court Judge Tori Kricken ruled to suspend an 8-10 year prison sentence and have Pennington released from jail in January to attend a 12-month-minimum in-patient drug treatment program or in Laramie County’s drug court program.

The prison sentence could be reinstated if Pennington were to violate the terms of his probation or not complete his drug treatment.

After an extensive Laramie Police Department investigation, Pennington was charged in January with seven counts of third-degree arson and three counts of burglary.

The first fire in a dumpster at The Verge Apartments, since renamed to Alight Laramie, was reported by Pennington himself.

Three other fires allegedly started by Pennington — vehicle fires on Oct. 18 and Jan. 8 and a trash compacter fire Jan. 14 — were also located at The Verge near his apartment.

Man charged with felonies for attack on girlfriend

LARAMIE (WNE) — A 22-year-old Laramie man is being held on a $15,000 cash bond after being arrested Dec. 13 for numerous violent charges, including strangulation of a household member, a felony that carrying a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment.

Since his arrest, Levi Mann’s case has already been bound over to Albany County’s district court, which handles felony cases once probable cause has been established.

A Laramie Police Department officer responded to an apartment on West Jefferson Street around 2 a.m. on Dec. 13 after a domestic dispute was reported.

As police arrived, they heard a woman screaming and running doing the stairs. The woman had “blood all over her face and she was holding her face with her hands and blood was on her shirt,” according to a police affidavit.

When the victim spoke with police at Ivinson Memorial Hospital, she said that when she and Mann got home from the Christmas party, “she remembers being pinned up against the wall by the front door and the defendant yelling at her saying that he was going to kill her and her kids and then began to choke her.”

Along with strangulation of a household member, Mann has also been charged with aggravated assault and battery, interference with a peace officer, property destruction and domestic battery.

In a letter to the judge, the victim has since asked a no contact order to be lifted, said she had “no safety concerns” regarding Mann.