Wyoming News Briefs

Grants awarded to support social and emotional learning in Wyoming

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming Caring Foundation announced this week it awarded nearly $25,000 in grants to schools across Wyoming to support social and emotional learning programs.

Social and emotional learning helps individuals develop traits such as problem solving, teamwork, character and grit.

It also allows schools to create a learning environment that offers social and emotional support to kids, building a culture of responsive, restorative practices that help students learn to thrive – in life and at school.

Youth mental health is a critical issue in Wyoming, and BCBSWY Caring Foundation aims to help Wyoming youth develop positive coping strategies and resilience, knowing early intervention is key, according to a news release.

“Mental health is just as imperative as physical health and a predictor for overall quality of life,” said Diane Gore, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming. “We are pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to classrooms, schools and school districts across Wyoming.”

Recipients include Arp, Davis and Prairie Wind elementary schools in Cheyenne; Laramie Montessori Charter School; Big Horn Elementary; Child Development Services of Fremont County; and Fremont County School District 21.

Jeffree Star plans Casper store

CASPER (WNE) — Youtuber and Casper resident Jeffree Star is opening a store in the former Hall on Ash building in downtown. The controversial celebrity and makeup magnate — who announced his plans Nov. 13 over social media — pitched the yet-to-be-named project as both a shop and “interactive space.”

The approximately 7,000-square-foot building will include products from Jeffree Star Cosmetics, meat from Star Yak Ranch and other merchandise, according to a Facebook post on his yak ranch page.

It’ll also include a Jeffree Star museum of sorts, displaying some of Star’s personal luxury goods, props from his cosmetics advertisements and so on.

The store, located at 355 S. Ash Street, is set to open in spring, the post said.

The store’s predecessor, an event venue called The Hall on Ash, opened in 2019 and shuttered in 2022.

Star relocated to Casper from LA in December 2020. He started his yak ranch in 2021 and has since opened a distribution center in Evansville. His yak meat is featured at a handful of local stores and restaurants. Star rose to fame in the mid-2000s as a beauty blogger and musician on MySpace and Youtube.

His business, Jeffree Star Cosmetics, has a massive following, and his YouTube page has nearly 16 million subscribers. He also sells marijuana-themed clothing and accessories.

Since his move to Casper, Star has received broad support from the community.

Before moving here, he was accused of sexual and physical assault by multiple people, a 2020 investigation by Insider found. Several older videos have also shown the Youtuber yelling slurs at Black women and making other racist comments. He has publicly apologized for the videos over social media. He called the assault allegations false and defamatory.

$10M grant completes funding needed for new hospital

RIVERTON (WNE) – The Riverton Medical District announced it has secured $54 million in funding needed to build a new hospital.

On Nov. 16, the Wyoming Loan and Investment Board approved a $10-million grant from the state of Wyoming for the project. In securing the grant, low-interest loan and other funding to cover the projected cost of the new hospital, the citizen-led effort will continue to move forward.

It allows the Riverton Medical District team to take the next steps toward creating a new locally owned and governed health care facility.

Riverton Medical District will now continue to finalize the design process, followed by beginning the construction phase of the new hospital. It expects to break ground for the new hospital in 2023.

Sampson Construction in Cheyenne, Wyo., has been selected as the project’s general contractor.

The $10-million grant comes from funds provided to the state through the American Rescue Plan Act. The Wyoming Loan and Investment Board — made up of Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, Secretary of State Karl Allred, Auditor Kristi Racines and Treasurer Curt Meier (Superintendent of Public Instruction Brian Schroeder also sits on the board but was not present) – approved the grant unanimously.

This follows the April 2022 announcement that the medical district was awarded a low interest USDA Rural Development Community Facilities loan of $37 million dollars for the project, the largest award it has ever provided in Wyoming.

Riverton Medical District is working to build the hospital to serve patients and enhance health care services throughout the Riverton region. This includes plans for high-quality primary, acute, emergency and specialty health care services, with a focus on being responsible community partners and providing local jobs in central Wyoming.

Legislative committee advances corporal punishment bill

SHERIDAN (WNE) — The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Education Committee earlier this week voted to move forward a bill that could result in school staff members who physically discipline children to face criminal charges, such as battery, or civil lawsuits.

The bill, if passed by the full Legislature next year, would repeal a statutory provision that provides civil and criminal immunity for teachers, principals and superintendents who exercise “reasonable corporal discipline of a student.”

The effort began with Tongue River Middle School Principal Jeff Jones, who began advocating for the change after his doctoral dissertation research led him to overwhelming evidence the practice harms students.

Jones found that while corporal punishment is legal in Wyoming public schools, individual school districts have decided whether it was permitted. Of the 48 school districts in the state, Jones said, 28 strictly prohibited it in policy, 18 didn’t mention it at all and one district allowed the practice.

Jones surveyed school administrators across the state and found 90% of Wyoming public school administrators responded that they either “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed” with the use of corporal punishment in schools.

During Tuesday’s Joint Education Committee meeting, Ken Decaria, director of government relations for the Wyoming School Boards Association, voiced support for the legislation.

“This practice is not appropriate, it’s not necessary and it’s not used,” Decaria said.

In the past, bills aimed at banning the practice of corporal punishment failed in the Legislature. When Jones researched why, he was told the practice isn’t used in Wyoming public schools and therefore a bill was unnecessary.

“I believe that is a faulty justification for a lack of action,” Jones said.

Members of the committee opted to leave the bill as is and move it forward to the full Legislature in the 2023 session.

Powell man attacks cousin with meat shredder

CODY (WNE) — A Powell man was charged with aggravated assault and battery with a deadly weapon on Nov. 11 after he allegedly attacked his cousin with a meat shredder, causing multiple face and head lacerations.

In addition to the felony charge, Elias H. Antelope, 32, was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor.

On Nov. 11, a little after midnight, Antelope’s father requested a welfare check on his son who, according to the affidavit, already had a warrant out for his arrest from Park County.

Officers from the Powell Police Department located Antelope at his mother’s house.

Antelope’s cousin answered the door, covered in scratches on his face, the affidavit said.

The police arrested Antelope because of the warrant.

“While cuffing Antelope I observed that he had copious amounts of dried blood all over the black long sleeve shirt he was wearing, “Sgt. Phillip Alquist of the PPD wrote in the affidavit. While searching Antelope, officers found a barbecue meat shredder and a marijuana pipe, the affidavit said.

“There was an excessive amount of dried blood on the shredder,” Alquist wrote in the affidavit.

Antelope told the police he had gotten into a fight with his cousin, stating it was a disagreement and that it was “nothing really. We were just drunk,” the affidavit said.

When officers showed Antelope’s cousin the meat shredder, he said, “that’s what he hit me with,” but added that he didn’t want to press charges.

Alquist observed cuts in the cousin’s scalp and staples in some areas to close up the lacerations, the affidavit said. The cousin said he went to the hospital roughly 30 minutes after the altercation because “he thought he was going to bleed out.”

As of Nov. 21, Antelope had not posted the $10,000 cash bond and remained an inmate in the Park County Detention Center.

Yellowstone's chief wolf scientist retiring this week

JACKSON (WNE) — Doug Smith, the human face of Yellowstone National Park's wolf research and management program, is retiring.

Smith’s name is inseparably tied to the recent history of wolves in Yellowstone, a frequently lauded and often criticized saga that began with the reintroduction of wolves in 1995. Smith started his career in Yellowstone in 1994 and became the director of the Yellowstone Wolf Project soon after wolves were reintroduced.

Starting in 2008, he also oversaw the park's bird and elk program.

In Smith's tenure, the wolf population stabilized in the last decade at between 80 and 125 wolves in seven to 10 packs.

Smith and his team captured and collared over 600 wolves, hiked and skied more than 20,000 miles, tracked down wolf packs over 52,000 times and recorded more than 35,000 hours of wolf behavior. He’s balanced work in education with hard science, trying to understand how wolves work in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Smith has also spent years teasing out the relationship between wolves and elk, one of the more contentious issues in Yellowstone area wildlife management.

"The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone was one of the most extraordinary American wildlife conservation efforts of the 20th century," Superintendent Cam Sholly said in the release. "Doug's leadership and expertise in the decades following the reintroduction have helped ensure this keystone species continues to thrive across the Yellowstone landscape."

Cody man pleads not guilty of indecent exposure

CODY (WNE) – The Cody man who was charged with five counts of public indecency pleaded not guilty to all five counts during his arraignment in Park County Circuit Court on Nov. 4.

Andrew C. Crawford, 34, will now face a jury trial, which is currently scheduled for March 30 of next year.

Crawford was arrested Nov. 3 after allegedly exposing his genitalia to four different female baristas working at two different drive-thru coffee kiosks in Cody between Sept. 14 and Nov. 1.

Crawford was given a $50,000 cash only bond with one of his bond conditions being to not have any contact with any witnesses or anyone listed in the affidavit.

Crawford also faces a subsequent preliminary hearing on a sex-offender-related charge.

Park County Deputy Sheriff Al Cooper wrote in his report that Crawford is a registered sex offender in Park County due to a 2012 conviction of accessing child pornography. As such, he is required by law to report any changes, such as current address or change in vehicle registration, to the sheriff’s office within three days of that change.

Cooper said Crawford had registered vehicles in his name in Park County but had not reported that information to the sheriff’s office.

Crawford allegedly failed to register a blue 2003 Chevrolet Impala and a gray 2001 GMC pickup, both of which were reported as being used by Crawford when exposing himself in drive-thrus at the coffee kiosks.

He is being charged with one count of failure by a sex offender to report the license plate number and description of the vehicle he owned.

Two people arrested after high-speed chase Sunday morning

GILLETTE (WNE) — Two people were arrested after leading deputies on a high-speed chase that started south of Gillette and ended within city limits Sunday morning.

A deputy was patrolling Highway 50 near Clarkelen Road at about 7 a.m. Sunday when he stopped a 2021 Ford Escape because the plates did not match the registration. The driver, a 29-year-old man, and the passenger, a 44-year-old woman, were asked to exit the car.

Instead of getting out of the car, they headed north on Highway 50, reaching speeds of 120 miles an hour, said Undersheriff Quentin Reynolds.

During the pursuit, the 29-year-old drove into oncoming traffic several times, and at one point almost crashed head-on into another vehicle on Highway 50 near Moon Dancer Street, Reynolds said.

As they were pursuing, deputies could see bags of suspected drugs being thrown out of the driver’s side and passenger side windows. Reynolds declined to comment on which drugs or quantities were found, citing an ongoing investigation by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.

The pursuit continued in town, including on Garner Lake Road, Shoshone Avenue, 4J Road and Burma Avenue. The 29-year-old was driving between 60 and 80 mph in town, Reynolds said.

He finally stopped on Pathfinder Circle and fled on foot toward Cherry Lane. He was caught and arrested for eluding, interference, reckless driving, no registration, speeding and littering. His passenger was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver.

Additional charges are pending, Reynolds said.