Wyoming News Briefs

Bill would OK $50M for lawsuits

CASPER (WNE) — The Wyoming Legislature is considering a bill that would allocate $50 million for the purpose of litigating federal land-use policy. 

The Senate Agriculture, State & Public Lands & Water Resources Committee last week moved the bill forward. Citing constitutional principles of co-equal government, Senate File 13 would authorize the Legislature to sue feds for acts and administrative rules, with specific reference to the Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Endangered Species Act, amongst other federal laws. 

The bill would allow the Legislature to tap the funds with a simple majority vote in both houses or a two-thirds majority vote from the Management Council. 

The efforts are the latest in the state’s growing frustration with federal policy, inflamed in recent years by stalled mineral leases and a contentious resource management plan in the state’s southwest. And they serve as an indication that federal land-use squabbles are not likely to subside. 

“We find that the playing field is often very unequal, and I think it would be very helpful if the state had an opportunity to weigh in on some of these important issues for our members and other industry uses on federal lands,” said Wyoming Farm Bureau Association Vice President Ken Hamilton, who spoke in support of the bill. 

The bill parallels another effort — HB 36 — that aims to increase state discretion over compliance with federal policy, and deny the use of state monies in federal policies deemed unconstitutional by state representatives. 

The moves fit with a growing atmosphere of litigiousness around the U.S, where state coalitions have brought suits against feds on policies from wetland protection and Medicaid expansion to concerns over so-called environmental and social governance.

Gasoline, diesel prices continue to rise in Wyoming and nationwide

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Average gasoline prices in Wyoming have risen 13.4 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.80 per gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy.com’s survey of 494 stations in Wyoming.

Prices in Wyoming are 17 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, and stand 59.8 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the lowest price in the state on Sunday was $2.42, while the highest was $3.49, a difference of $1.07 per gallon.

The national average price of gasoline has risen 8.7 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.26 on Monday. The national average is up 16.7 cents per gallon from a month ago, and stands 11.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

The national average price of diesel has risen 10 cents in the last week and stands at $4.09 per gallon.

Man with Russian accent impersonates Domino’s employees, asks customers for card information

GILLETTE (WNE) — Police are investigating a fraud report where suspects hacked into Domino’s phone system and pretended to be Domino’s employees in order to get customers’ personal information Saturday evening.

A 39-year-old woman called police to report she was being harassed by Domino’s staff who called her claiming she needed to pay for an accident their driver was in.

When police arrived at the Domino’s store on Lakeway Drive, two employees were on the phone, listening in on a call. They were unable to speak to either party on the call. They could hear a man with a Russian accent asking customers to verify their credit card information due to a failed transaction, said Police Deputy Chief Brent Wasson.

Customers could be heard giving their card information to the man, Wasson said. Eventually, officers were able to join in on the call, and the man made multiple statements about needing to use the officers’ handcuffs. He told them that he would return the handcuffs when he was done with them.

Another man joined the call and spoke with the Russian-sounding man before disconnecting the line, Wasson said.

Police told the store manager to shut off the store’s phone system and contact its provider’s support services. The investigation continues.

Funeral service scheduled for fallen police officer

SHERIDAN (WNE) — A funeral service for Sgt. Nevada Krinkee will be held 1 p.m. March 1, Kane Funeral Home announced Thursday. 

The funeral will include military honors and will be held at the Bruce Hoffman Golden Dome on the Sheridan College campus, located at 1 Whitney Way in Sheridan. 

Following the service, a processional will start traveling north on Coffeen Avenue to Brundage Lane and will enter Interstate 90 at exit 25, then drive north to exit 20, then proceed down Main Street to the Juniper Heights section of the Sheridan Municipal Cemetery for interment followed by the last call.

Krinkee died in the line of duty Tuesday while attempting to serve a trespass warning on a male near Fifth and Val Vista streets. 

Krinkee was hired as a Sheridan Police Department officer in October 2017 and quickly promoted to the ranks of corporal in December 2018 and sergeant in April 2022, where he was currently serving as a team lead at the time of his death. 

Before joining the Sheridan Police force, Krinkee spent eight years in the U.S. Army as airborne infantry. 

Rozet man killed in Highway 50 crash 

GILLETTE (WNE) — A Rozet man was killed in a crash on Highway 50 Thursday morning, and the Wyoming Highway Patrol is still investigating the collision. 

Shortly after 10 a.m., Wyoming state troopers were notified of a multiple-vehicle crash on Highway 50 near mile marker 19, which is more than 15 miles south of Gillette. 

A 2023 Freightliner, driven by a 52-year-old woman, was traveling north on Highway 50. The road conditions were snowy and icy, and the tractor-trailer lost traction. It jackknifed and blocked the southbound lane on the crest of a hill, according to a press release from the highway patrol. 

A 2016 Freightliner Conventional tanker with a pup tanker trailer was traveling south. It crested the hill and hit the drive axles on the jackknifed semi’s passenger side.

The cargo tank dislodged from the 2016 Freightliner and impacted the rear of the cab. Both vehicles were dislodged from their chassis and came to rest off of the roadway.

The driver of the 2016 Freightliner was identified as Jason D. Tisdale, a 39-year-old man from Rozet, said Campbell County Coroner Paul Wallem. Tisdale was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 2022 KIA KS that was traveling south struck the trailer of the 2023 Freightliner and came to rest approximately 100 yards south of the scene.

And a 2007 Lincoln Mark LT was traveling south and stopped before the crash, but the driver of another semi was unable to stop before the scene and swerved off the road to the left. The trailer from this commercial vehicle struck the rear of the Lincoln and pushed it into the 2023 Freightliner, according to the press release.

The highway was closed for approximately ten hours, opening back up Thursday evening. 

The crash is still under investigation.

Lander teens in custody 

LANDER (WNE) — Two Lander teens who allegedly stole a classic car and guns and generated national headlines have been located in Colorado. Lander Police Captain Kelly Waugh said the situation came to a “safe conclusion,” and that the teens are in custody. 

According to the League City, Texas, Police Department, the pair were taken into custody by the Logan County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado. 

The males, both 16, ran away after allegedly stealing a 1969 Chevelle and firearms February 7. A social media comment about school shootings one of the teens reportedly made months before sparked fears the pair posed a threat, according to League City police.

That city’s law enforcement, along with the Amarillo, Texas, police department, implemented heightened school security in response.

League City Police Chief Woitena also issued several statements alerting residents that there was little reason to believe the missing teens were headed to their area. 

“There is no documented threat made against schools in League City by the two juvenile males,” he said in a statement. “Too many people are taking small parts of this story and building a very intriguing storyline, but the tale has no credible source,” he added. 

Captain Waugh thanked several out-of-state law enforcement agencies in a press release, including the League City Police Department, the FBI, the Sterling, Colo., Police Department, and the Logan County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado. 

Sterling, Colo., is about 380 miles from Lander. Waugh said that other information in the case, including about the reportedly stolen vehicle and stolen guns, are still under investigation. 

Sublette County man killed in highway crash

JACKSON (WNE) — A Sublette County man died early Friday morning after colliding with a snowplow south of Jackson.

Shane Copeland, 31, drifted into the snowplow’s lane around 3:30 a.m. Friday at milepost 151 on Highway 89, a quarter of a mile south of town, Wyoming Highway Patrol said in a news release.

“The [Wyoming Department of Transportation] plow was traveling southbound around 25 mph on US 89 conducting plowing operations when the F-550 traveled northbound into the southbound lane,” the release said. “The plow operator made an evasive turn trying to avoid the pickup truck, but the two vehicles collided.”

Driver fatigue is being investigated as a contributing factor in the crash, the release said. WYDOT spokesperson Arron Healy said the driver of the pickup wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. Jackson Hole Fire/EMS crews responded to extricate Copeland, who died of his injuries at the scene, according to Highway Patrol.

The snowplow driver, who was wearing a seatbelt and suffered minor injuries, was treated at the scene and released.

Although there was snow falling at the time of the crash, Healy said visibility wasn’t poor or believed to be a factor.

Healy asked drivers to give plow drivers space to do their work and buckle up every time.

Rash of fraud calls reported in Jackson 

JACKSON (WNE) — Financial fraudsters are calling valley residents but finding them not so susceptible to their tactics.

Earlier this month, residents reported 15 fraud calls, the majority of which took similar approaches. Ten of those calls were reported within 24 hours.

Two common threads emerged: that fraudsters were impersonating law enforcement and that Jacksonites weren’t falling for it.

In eight of the 15 calls, the fraudsters were pretending to be law enforcement.

Teton County Dispatch was notified of the first of these fraud calls at 9:15 a.m. on Feb. 7. A resident stated that someone from the Sheridan Sheriff’s Office had called, asking them for money to smooth over “unresolved citations.”

That’s a common scam in which people call and represent themselves as law enforcement agencies, ultimately spiking their target’s heart rate before asking for money through various means, like gift cards, said Sgt. John Faicco of the Teton County Sheriff’s Office.

Distracting someone with stress over warrants or citations and the false urgency needed to make it all go away, the scammer tries to take a victim’s banking information.

Law enforcement will never call anybody and request payment over the phone.

“If there’s a warrant for your arrest, you’ll need to go to the courthouse or to the Teton County jail to resolve that,” Faicco said.

Calls like this were received and reported nine more times on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8 by residents across the valley. In three instances, the fraudster left voicemails claiming to be a sheriff’s deputy, even name-dropping one specific employee of the Teton County Sheriff’s Office who, unbeknownst to the scammer, is now retired.

Rather than calling the scammer back, the residents called the real number for the Teton County Sheriff’s Office, where personnel confirmed it was fraud. The Jackson Police Department and Sheriff’s Office said that to their knowledge, no one sent any money.

‘What is a woman’ bill fails on House introduction

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A bill that would have defined the term “woman,” among other identifiers, died on the House floor Thursday.

HB 50, “What is a Woman Act,” sponsored by Rep. Jeanette Ward, R-Casper, failed on introduction in a 37-24 vote. Non-budget bills must get a two-thirds vote of support to be introduced for consideration during a budget session.

No one spoke against the bill after Ward urged her fellow representatives to vote for the draft legislation.

“This bill has become necessary because a biological male has pushed Wyoming women from their Wyoming sorority in our Wyoming university,” Ward said on the House floor. “Wyoming high school girls are forced to share their private spaces with boys, and many of us know this from firsthand accounts.”

The bill defined “female” as a person whose “biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova and/or who exhibits XX chromosomes and does not exhibit a Y chromosome” and “male” as a person whose “biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female and/or who exhibits XY chromosomes or exhibits a Y chromosome.”

It also included definitions for the terms “woman,” “girl,” “man,” “boy,” “mother” and “father.”

“Critics will claim the bill targets marginalized people. Not true,” Ward said. “It reinforces the norm that biological sex is a reality, protecting Wyoming women.”

Prosecutors seek to jail Lovell man who exposed himself

POWELL (WNE) — Prosecutors are seeking a year-long jail sentence for a Lovell man who exposed himself in two public places in 2023. 

At a Wednesday hearing in Park County Circuit Court, Dennis Thompson pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of public indecency, admitting that he exposed and sexually touched himself while inside his vehicle and view of other drivers. 

One incident took place on May 1, while he was stopped at a traffic light on Cody’s Sheridan Avenue, and the other occurred on May 29, while he was parked at the Powell Albertsons.

In both instances, Thompson was observed by women in nearby vehicles. 

The witness to the May 29 incident at Albertsons recorded Thompson’s license plate and Powell police intercepted Thompson as he was leaving the parking lot. Officer Trevor Carpenter said he told the suspect that “he couldn’t be doing these obscene activities in the public.” 

Thompson and his court-appointed attorney, Travis Smith, later sought to suppress the incriminating statements he’d made to Carpenter, arguing his constitutional rights had been violated and that his admissions weren’t voluntary. 

However, Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah rejected the request and Thompson decided to plead guilty this week. 

There is no plea deal in place, and at Wednesday’s hearing, Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Jack Hatfield argued for the maximum amount of jail time: back-to-back six-month sentences, for a total of a year in jail. 

In support of his request, the prosecutor said Thompson has three prior convictions for public indecency: one in Park County in 1998 and two in Big Horn County in 2006. 

Darrah did not hand down a sentence on Wednesday, as Smith requested more time to research Thompson’s past convictions and present his own recommendation. 

A sentencing hearing is now scheduled for March 20. In the meantime, Thompson remains free on a $3000 bond.

Influenza B making its way through Park County

POWELL (WNE) — As local sports programs, schools and parents have experienced in the last few weeks, there’s a lot of sickness occurring in Powell. Park County Public Health Officer Dr. Aaron Billin — and ER doctor at Powell Valley Healthcare — said Sunday that Influenza B is now the predominant respiratory virus in Powell, Park County and Wyoming. 

There have also been cases of rare influenza A, RSV and COVID-19. 

“We’ve diagnosed about 15 cases of influenza B in Powell over the last three days,” he said. 

Billin recommended the following steps to defend against the flu:

1. Get vaccinated. The flu vaccine was 54% effective against preventing the influenza during last year‘s flu season. This is the third most effective vaccine since the 2009 to 2010 season, Billin said. Numbers are not available yet on the effectiveness of this year‘s flu vaccine. 

2. Avoid contact with sick people and wash your hands frequently. 

3. When you are sick, stay home until your symptoms are largely resolved and you are fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medications.