Wyoming News Briefs

East HS student killed, three hurt in car crash

CHEYENNE (WNE) — One student from Cheyenne’s East High School was killed and three other teenagers from East were seriously hurt in a single vehicle accident Sunday night, according to local authorities.

The incident reportedly occurred at about 10:30 p.m. on East Lincolnway, just in front of the McDonald’s on East Lincolnway.

As the 16-year-old driver of a Ford Taurus was apparently speeding and also “switching lanes” on the street, “he spun out of control into the parking lot” of the McDonald’s, the Cheyenne Police Department’s spokesperson said by phone Monday.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, according to local officials, including the CPD’s spokesperson Alexandra Farkas.

The other three local teens who were in the car at the time of the crash were taken by ambulance to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, Farkas reported.

“All of their injuries were considered serious,” she said.

There was no immediate update from CRMC on those kids’ medical conditions.

It is not thought that alcohol or drugs were involved, Farkas said.

The names of all four teens involved in the car crash were not immediately released, in keeping with a heightened standard of privacy for those under the age of 18.

It appears the Ford Taurus “was traveling east on Lincolnway at a high rate of speed and attempted to cross lanes,” CPD noted in its announcement early Monday afternoon. “The driver then lost control of the vehicle and entered the McDonald’s parking lot, striking a curb and rolling the vehicle. The crash ended as the Taurus landed on a handicap parking pillar. The driver was ejected during the incident.”

The case remains under investigation.

CCH nears deal to expand EMS service in Sheridan

GILLETTE (WNE) — The short-term help to Sheridan’s ambulance services shortage is shaping into a longer term partnership with Campbell County.

Campbell County Health began providing inter-hospital ambulance services to Sheridan Memorial Hospital in late April and is close to securing a five-year agreement for full emergency management services to Sheridan, including response to 911 calls.

CCH and Sheridan Memorial Hospital, under the proposed joint company Northeast Wyoming Ambulance Service, entered a bid to provide full EMS services to Sheridan County and the city of Sheridan.

“We’re waiting until we get an official direction,” said CCH CEO Matt Shahan. “Everything is ready if the contract is awarded.”

In August, a joint Sheridan city and county committee recommended the bid for approval.

If approved, the joint venture would go in place and take over EMS services when the current contract, held by Rocky Mountain Ambulance, expires in November, according to the Sheridan Press.

“We felt it was a good thing for us to help a neighbor,” Shahan said. “Sheridan Memorial has been very gracious. They are very excited about the potential if we are awarded the contract.”

The $276,00 cost of first-year services would be shared by the Sheridan city and county.

After the first year of services, Northeast Wyoming Ambulance Service will share data for call volumes, revenues and expenses with its funding entities, with the option of renegotiating if necessary, said Chris Beltz, CCH director of urgent and emergent services.

“Our goal is to make it financially sustainable for the funding entities then, obviously, financially sustainable for us,” Beltz said. ““Whatever we can negotiate with them to make it sustainable for all the parties involved, that’s our goal.”

Sheridan man found guilty of three counts of voyeurism

SHERIDAN (WNE) — After nearly six hours of deliberation Wednesday, a jury of five women and eight men found Shaun Kobielusz guilty of three counts of voyeurism.

Voyeurism is the clandestine and nonconsensual viewing of an individual in a location in which the person being viewed has a reasonable expectation of privacy, including restrooms, baths, bedrooms and other locations.

Evidence presented throughout the trial indicated the defendant installed three camera-enabled alarm clocks — including two in restrooms — to record private behaviors, without the consent of others.

To convict the defendant of voyeurism, 6th Judicial District Court Judge Matthew Castano explained, the jury must unanimously determine that, in early November 2020 in Sheridan County, Kobielusz looked into an enclosed area — or an area in which an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as restrooms, baths and showers — knowingly and without the consent of the person being viewed and captured images of a victim. Each count of voyeurism against the defendant corresponds with one of the defendant’s alleged victims.

During her closing argument, Deputy Sheridan County and Prosecuting Attorney Christina Cherni argued the prosecution had proven these elements through the testimony of the state’s five witnesses: the three alleged victims and two law enforcement investigators assigned to the case.

Defense attorney Ron Wirthwein had reminded jurors they should not indulge in conjecture or speculation, and the state, he argued, asked them to engage in conjecture by assuming Kobielusz purchased the surveillance equipment because it was ordered through his Amazon account. Someone else could have accessed the account, the defense posited, and the account had been used to purchase other items — such as women’s clothing — that were clearly not for Kobielusz.

Ultimately, the jury adhered to Cherni’s argument and delivered its verdict: guilty on all three counts.

Alleged stalker sent more than 100 text messages

GILLETTE (WNE) — A 43-year-old man was arrested for stalking, driving while under the influence and not having insurance after a string of stalking-related reports Tuesday.

A 32-year-old woman waved down officers at Energy Capital Sports Complex after she had made a stalking report earlier in the day. She said the 43-year-old man had violated his bond by contacting her.

He had called her 33 times and sent her 111 messages, said Police Deputy Chief Brent Wasson.

She had already told him to stop contacting her. The man had also allegedly threatened her and claimed to be following her. He drove by the park while officers talked to the woman but drove off when he saw law enforcement, Wasson said.

Later Tuesday night, the woman reported seeing the man driving a blue Chevy truck outside her residence in the 200 block of Primrose Drive. The 43-year-old was spotted by Tepee Street and Sioux Avenue where he was stopped. He was found to have been drinking and was arrested, Wasson said.

Raccoon causes power outage

CODY (WNE) —A raccoon, not a storm, is to blame for Cody’s Aug. 24 power outage, the second time in two years that a raccoon has turned off the lights. The outage lasted for approximately two hours, from roughly midnight to 2 a.m.

According to Cody Public Works Director Phillip Bowman, a raccoon entered into the Glendale substation, causing equipment to short out and knocking out all of the circuits.

The substation serves three separate circuits in the vicinity of Cody and Markham reservoirs, Bowman said.

The raccoon died during the incident, and the circuit it damaged had to be rerouted to one of the city’s existing circuits.

“The city circuits are now feeding that [area] on a temporary basis and [the] Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) is starting to test and confirm the status of the equipment where the actual short was caused by the raccoon,” Bowman said. “So whether or not it’s still operable and meets all of the testing requirements, we don’t know yet.”

This is not the first time a raccoon has gotten into the Glendale substation and caused damage.

In April of 2021, a raccoon entered and caused damage to a separate circuit at the substation.

“All the substations are fenced around the perimeter, but it’s definitely a human fence,” Bowman said. “It’s there to prevent humans from entering it, but snakes, raccoons and birds can typically dig under and get through those fences.”

During the power outage, the city worked with WAPA, which owns the Glendale substation, to get the equipment fixed and the power back on.

“We assisted them with the necessary control checks to ensure the substation was safe to power up again,” Bowman said.

Park County deputy shoots, kills armed suspect

POWELL (WNE) — A Park County Sheriff’s Office deputy shot and killed a suspect who had charged the deputy with a gun Tuesday afternoon after fleeing down a canal road, according to a sheriff’s office release.

The incident occurred at 2:56 p.m. and involved a suspect with an active warrant, the release said.

The deputy attempted a traffic stop on the suspect, at which time a pursuit ensued. The suspect attempted to flee down a canal road. He eventually stopped his vehicle,

exited with a firearm pointed at the deputy, and charged at the deputy, the release said.

The deputy was forced to engage the male with lethal force and shots were fired.

The suspect is deceased, and the deputy is uninjured.

The Division of Criminal Investigation was directly notified and is currently investigating the incident with the full cooperation of the Park County Sheriff’s Office.

No more information was immediately released.

TW fire contained

BUFFALO (WNE) —The TW fire, an almost 3000-acre fire southeast of Buffalo, was contained the morning of Aug. 25, allowing firefighters to head home after five days battling the flames.

The blaze charred a large expanse of land off of Tipperary Road about 15 miles outside of Buffalo. No structures were harmed, but a significant amount of grazing land and fencing was destroyed, according to Marilyn Connolly, Johnson County’s emergency management coordinator.

“I think the big loss out there is people’s grazing," Connolly said.

A precise cost estimate won't be available until later this week as officials tally up the damage and cost of the work. Payment will be split between the responding agencies, as the fire stretched across 1,747 acres of private land, 609 acres of state land and 290 acres of federal land.

Connolly said it will take some time before a payment agreement can be worked out.

At the fire’s peak, three crews and six engines were on scene. Two helicopters and a plane dropped water and performed reconnaissance. More than 100 firefighters were on hand, from the Buffalo Volunteer Fire Department, Johnson County Fire District No. 1, Campbell County Fire, the Bureau of Land Management and Wyoming State Forestry.

The fire — a Type 3 incident later downgraded to Type 4 — was first reported in the afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 21. By Aug. 23, the fire was 50% contained, and by Aug. 24, the fire was 76% contained. That morning, crews began to demobilize, helped by rain showers. Those remaining mopped up the fire until Thursday at about 11 a.m.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, though Connolly said she was doubtful investigators would ever know for sure what started it.

Hot Springs County Travel and Tourism dollars reaching record levels

THERMOPOLIS (WNE) — Tourism in Hot Springs County reached a record high this year.

“We did pretty excellent for the tourism dollars coming in,” Treasurer Audra Dominguez said at the Hot Springs County Travel and Tourism’s August meeting. “We surpassed our last year’s income by 121% on the month… We’re at $36,680.49 that came in for tourism — and that is a record.”

Tourism Chairman Carl Leyba noted that the lodging tax dollars reported can come from up to three months behind due to the collecting methods involved.

The tourism board plans on making its own version of the What’s New handout. Based on the Wyoming Office of Tourism version, it is a single-page document that will highlight various tourism features to people who have never encountered Hot Springs County.

The board discussed a variety of the county’s attractions — including hot springs pools, restaurants, campgrounds, hiking trails and fishing — to feature in the handout.

Additionally, board member Sherman Skelton wanted to see if a QR code could be included in the document that could direct the user to the Chamber’s event calendar.

Tourism board members said it’s time for a new campaign for Hot Springs County billboards, and they went over some new designs and made their suggestions.

Currently, the board has eight billboards throughout the state, each with a cost of $800 and a three-year lifespan. They plan to continue brainstorming and finalize plans for the billboards later.