Wyoming News Briefs

Wyoming legislators support daylight saving bill

GILLETTE (WNE) – After years of debates in the Legislature, a bill to make daylight saving time permanent is on Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk awaiting his signature. 

A year ago, a bill requiring at least four neighboring state legislatures to make the change, died in the Senate on a 15-15 vote. House Bill 44 passed this year’s session, which ended a week ago.

The attitude changed in Wyoming because of Utah, he said about legislators passing House Bill 44. 

The Utah Legislature recently passed a bill that supports making daylight saving time permanent. But for the measure to take effect in Wyoming and Utah, they would need Montana, Idaho and Colorado to pass the same law. The states would then have to petition the U.S. Secretary of Transportation’s office to officially make the change.

A federal proposal, the Daylight Act, was introduced in March 2019. It would permit states to make any changes they wish pertaining to how they observe daylight saving time, which they are now prohibited from doing without federal permission.

That measure is sitting in the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce.

Sen. Michael Von Flatern, R-Gillette, said while he was pleasantly surprised about this year’s outcome, it will need a lot of help before it would be implemented in the state.

Even if all the states agree “we still can’t do it until the feds change the law,” Von Flatern said.

Spring storm snaps some Jackson records

JACKSON (WNE) — Going into the weekend, the Jackson Hole valley floor had been melting out for weeks, and sunny days with above-average temperatures had zapped a once 17-inch-deep March snowpack down to just 6 inches.

A two-day snowstorm that set a few records along the way brought the snow depth in town right back to 17 inches.

“The average snowfall in the month of March in town is only 11 inches, and we got more than that in one day,” Jackson Hole meteorologist Jim Woodmencey said.

Volunteers monitoring the National Weather Service’s Jackson Climate Station located on the National Elk Refuge logged 12 inches of new snow that fell Saturday and another 7 inches Sunday. The snowpack had compressed by Monday, which explains why the total snow depth was measuring 17 inches.

It was an exceptionally wet snowstorm, too, with just over 2 inches of water coming down in town. For perspective, the average in-town precipitation during the entire month of March is just 1.23 inches. The Jackson Climate Station received nearly all of that amount — 1.15 inches of water — during the 24-hour period between Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Woodmencey wrote on his MountainWeather.com blog that the one-day blast of precipitation is the second most ever recorded in town during the month of March in 24 hours, behind only March 3, 1995, when 1.80 inches of water fell into the station’s gauge.

The behemoth storm system, which coincided with the coronavirus-driven closure of Teton County’s three ski areas, stretched from the Pacific Ocean all the way to the Continental Divide. Resorts in the Lake Tahoe area got over 30 inches of snow — as did Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s Rendezvous Bowl.

Evanston Regional Hospital named top-100 rural hospital

EVANSTON (WNE) — Evanston Regional Hospital (ERH) has the honor of being named one of the 2020 Top 100 Rural and Community hospitals in the U.S. by the Chartis Center for Rural Health. 

This annual award honoring rural hospital performance is determined by the results of iVantage Health Analytics’ Hospital Strength Index. 

“Two years ago we made the top 250, so we’ve worked hard to make improvements,” Evanston Regional Hospital CEO Cheri Willard told the Herald, “and this year we have been rewarded by being in the top 100. I think the excellent caliber of our physicians and the great staff we have has been some of our greatest improvements.” 

The index is the industry’s most comprehensive and objective assessment of rural hospital performance, Willard said. 

Utilizing 50 independent indicators, the index assesses performance across eight pillars of performance that span market, value and finance-based categories. Hospitals recognized as a top-100 facility had one of the 100 highest overall scores among all rural and community hospitals nationally. 

ERH is the only hospital recognized by the Chartis Center for Rural Health in southwest Wyoming. Other Wyoming hospitals recognized include Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie, Sagewest Health Care in Riverton, Sheridan Memorial Hospital in Sheridan, and St. Johns Medical Center in Jackson.

Man arrested for allegedly trafficking methamphetamine

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A man was arrested by law enforcement for allegedly trafficking ten packages of methamphetamine, about 11 pounds, through Laramie and Albany counties March 4.

Federal charges were filed against Jorge Alberto Lara on Monday, March 9. He is being charged federally for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $10 million fine.

The prosecution is asking that Lara remain in custody during his court proceedings because he is facing a ten-plus year drug sentence if convicted.

Law enforcement first noticed Lara when he was staying at the Days Inn hotel in Laramie County, according to court documents. Officers discovered the phone number that Lara booked the room under was connected to drug dealing on the East Coast.

An officer filed a look out on the rental vehicle Lara was driving, so law enforcement could stop the vehicle if they got probable cause to do so, according to court documents.

Lara was later pulled over in Albany County on Interstate 80 near mile marker 316 for speeding, according to court documents.

During the traffic stop, officers asked Lara where he was going, and he responded that he was visiting family in Idaho, according to court documents. However, officers became suspicious because Lara couldn’t name where he was going to in Idaho.

Upon searching the vehicle, officers found the ten packages of methamphetamine taped to the inside of a spare tire, according to court documents.

Colter Elementary teacher back at work after arrest

JACKSON (WNE) — A Colter Elementary teacher is back at work this week after being arrested for strangulation in January.

Matthew Elliott, 36, was arrested Jan. 21 after a woman called police wanting to report an assault from the night before.

The Teton County Sheriff’s Office interviewed the accuser, who said Elliott became angry at her and “lunged at her and grabbed her by the throat and choked her for approximately 15 seconds.”

The victim had red marks on both sides of her neck during the police interview the next day, deputies stated in documents. When interviewed, Elliott denied the allegations.

Based on the severity of the marks on the accuser’s neck, deputies arrested Elliott and charged him with strangulation of a household member, a felony.

According to the case file in Teton County Circuit Court, Elliott is set to appear for a change of plea hearing April 6. Since the hearing is on the circuit court docket, the case is being resolved with a lesser misdemeanor charge.

Teton County School District No. 1 Information Coordinator Charlotte Reynolds confirmed that Elliott is still employed by the district. A staff directory lists him as a third-grade teacher at Colter Elementary.

“He returned on Monday after a 30-day leave,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said the district can place employees on paid administrative leave for up to 30 days.

Buckskin mine says it will lay off workers

GILLETTE (WNE) — Coal workers at the Buckskin mine north of Gillette have been informed to expect layoffs in the near future as a response to lower production at the mine and a weak domestic market for Powder River Basin coal.

In a statement to the News Record, Jessica Jensen, a spokeswoman for the mine’s parent company of Omaha, Nebraska-based Kiewit Corp., said the workforce reduction “is not driven by the performance of our employees, but rather the realities of the market.”

Just how many jobs may be trimmed hasn’t been decided, she said.

The move apparently won’t be the first recent workforce reduction at the mine. According to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, Buckskin had an overall employment of 222 people at the end of 2019, 49 fewer than the 271 workers reported at the end of the third quarter last year.

The mine also cut back by 83 workers in two rounds of layoffs in the first half of 2016 when the coal market crashed and caused more than 600 coal layoffs around the PRB.

The mine produced 17.6 million tons of coal in 2019, a 30% increase over the 13.5 million tons in 2018.

Jensen also said Buckskin Mining Co. will do what it can to find other jobs for some of the affected workers.

Heli-tours in Jackson Hole could start in April

JACKSON (WNE) — As soon as this April, a scenic helicopter tour business could be authorized to pick clients up at Jackson Hole Airport and overfly places like the Gros Ventre and Jedediah Smith wilderness areas.

The business plan of Wind River Air, owned and operated by Hoback resident Tony Chambers, figures to take another step forward March 18, when the airport’s board of directors will review a license agreement. Chambers told the Jackson Hole Daily on Monday that he’s “indifferent” to securing the permit, which is a formality because the Federal Aviation Administration has already told the airport they “consider this matter closed” and they legally cannot deny the business.

“It’s just a step,” Chambers said. “[I’m] going to just take another step.”

Airport board member Jerry Blann said in a statement Monday that the board “shares the same thoughts and values” about the air tours as the Jackson Hole community, which has largely opposed the idea.

“We have received clear communication from the FAA that legally, we have to permit this type of aviation activity in order to comply with federal regulations,” Blann said.

A draft license agreement for Wind River Air that Jackson Hole Airport provided to the Daily shows that Chambers would be authorized to do business for three years, from April 1 to March 31, 2023. He’ll be on the hook to pay a monthly fee equivalent to 5% of his gross operating revenue.

Couple accused in lodge theft appears in court

PINEDALE (WNE) — A husband and wife charged with theft felonies after both were fired from Boulder Lake Lodge on Aug. 8, 2018, were arrested in Maryland, and brought to Pinedale to appear in Sublette County Circuit Court on Wednesday, March 11. 

Thomas W. Hickman and Katherine A. Entsminger Hickman, most recently employed at the Millhaven Horse Farm in Derwood, Maryland, were arrested there on Monday, Feb. 24, after Sublette County detectives tracked them there and asked Montgomery County law enforcement to pick them up. 

County Attorney Mike Crosson filed amended charges and took part in the hearing. 

Rather than both being charged for stealing the horses, only Entsminger is now charged with misusing Boulder Lake Lodge funds to purchase three horses at Billings, Montana, that she then registered in her name, according to court records.

Each of the felony charges they face carries maximum penalties of up to 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both. 

Hickman now faces two felony charges instead of four – one alleging felony theft on Aug. 8, 2018, of saddles, tack, riding equipment, household goods, electronics and other items with a total value of more than $1,000 from Boulder Lake Lodge, according to court records. 

The second felony charge alleges that he conspired to commit felony theft with another person, Entsminger, and took a significant step toward achieving it, records show. 

Judge Curt Haws explained that Entsminger, or Hickman, is also charged with the alleged Aug. 8, 2018, felony theft from Boulder Lake Lodge. She still faces four felony charges but the livestock-rustling allegations are removed.