Wyoming News Briefs

Juvenile shot on Hamilton Way; Police located suspect

CASPER (WNE) — A minor was shot in the early hours of Saturday morning on the 3200 block of Hamilton Way, just north of its intersection with Sun Drive, in Casper. 

Officers were called to the incident due to a traumatic injury report and found “a chaotic scene with multiple juveniles and young adults,” according to a press release issued by Casper Police Department on Monday. 

The victim, who was not identified in the release, sustained “an apparent life-threatening gunshot wound.” 

First responders on the scene gave emergency medical attention to the minor, who was transported to Banner Wyoming Medical Center and is currently in “serious but stable condition,” according to the release. 

The shooting happened around 12:30 a.m. 

Officers located and interviewed the suspect, who is also under 18. 

The Casper Police Department was unable to comment further due to the victim’s age. 

Elk Fire containment remains steady

SHERIDAN (WNE) — The Elk Fire continues to sit at 96,244 acres and 48% containment, with 549 personnel continuing to fight the lightning-caused fire.

As the weather warms back up, pockets of smoke will become visible inside the fire area. Fire managers are aware of these hotspots and will take action as needed.

Most of the heat will likely come from the heavy down and dead fuels on the ground, which should not be a cause for alarm.

Remnants of snow remain in some of the shaded areas and northern facing slopes; however, a gradual drying pattern continues. Fire personnel were busy Sunday doing prep work to make potential firelines more defensible and repairing previous suppression lines. 

Division A firefighters will continue to mop up and rehab firelines on the northern part of the fire. Division Z Crews are looking for opportunities to close any fireline gaps in the Red Canyon area. A road grader worked yesterday on suppression repair of dozer lines.

The ground dried out sufficiently to begin suppression repair work. While doing this work in the interior of the fire, a couple of logs flared up as they were turned over by the dozer. Crews promptly suppressed the hotspot. Suppression repair continued along the eastern edge of the fire. 

Division H crews are focusing on the 26, or Red Grade Road, prepping it to use as an indirect fireline to its junction with the 16 Road. They will prep that road to its junction with Highway 14. This work includes removing brush and other fuels by limbing trees and removing understory vegetation to eliminate small ladder fuels. This will assist with defending firelines in the event fire activity increases. 

Fire supervisors are assessing the road system for a potential indirect fireline north of Burgess Junction to protect the WYDOT compound and the Forest Service Visitor Center and Work Center. A structure protection plan is in place. 

Comet should be visible this week

JACKSON (WNE) — Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS should be more visible in area skies this week after smoke from wildfires has cleared and stormy weather has moved out.

The comet, named for the two observatories in China and South Africa that jointly received credit for discovering it last year, is visible in the western sky just after sunset. Although it is getting farther away, it should be visible through about Oct. 30.

Samuel Singer from Wyoming Stargazing gave the following tips on finding it: right after sunset, Venus will be on the western horizon. It’s the brightest point. Draw a 45-degree angle up and to the right. Then use your outstretched hand and measure the distance from your wrist to your pointer finger. That’s about the distance of the comet’s location. It will become brighter once Venus sets.

“These comets are the leftover bits from the formation of the solar system,” Singer said.

When planets were forming some four billion to five billion years ago, space rocks crashed into each other, and some stuck together and became planets. The ones that didn’t stick together are still roaming the atmosphere, like a “time capsule” of the solar system, Singer said.

He said comets are like “dirty snowballs,” made up of mostly ice, with dust and rock coating the ice.

“When they get close to the sun, it goes from a solid to a gas and you get those nice long tails,” Singer said.

This comet is notable for its long tail. It’s about 18 million miles long, Singer said. That’s 72 times farther than the distance to the moon from Earth.

Degenfelder releases 2024 School Performance Ratings

CHEYENNE (WNE) — The Wyoming Department of Education has released results for the 2023-24 School Performance Ratings.

School performance levels are derived from a variety of indicators and are calculated to help determine which schools are doing well and which schools are in need of support. 

The Wyoming Accountability in Education Act looks at student growth, readiness, achievement, equity and English language proficiency. Based on these indicators, schools receive one of four overall performance ratings: Exceeding Expectations, Meeting Expectations, Partially Meeting Expectations or Not Meeting Expectations.

The 2023-24 performance level accountability results show 53% of traditional schools were Meeting or Exceeding Expectations. This year, each school rating fluctuated a few percentage points across each level compared to last year.

Results show 79% of alternative schools were Meeting or Exceeding Expectations. Schools Exceeding Alternative School Expectations decreased by 5% compared to the previous year, while alternative schools Meeting Alternative School Expectations increased by 8% from the previous year. 

Schools in the Partially Meets Alternative School Expectations category increased by 4%, and schools in the Not Meeting Alternative School Expectations category decreased by 7%.

Overall performance on most indicators was flat or a few percentage points below last year. However, several significant increases in the postsecondary readiness indicator occurred.

• Total high school graduates College, Career, or Military Ready increased to 61%, an increase of 5 percentage points from the previous year.

• Career Ready graduates increased from 20.3% to 25.5%.

• The Hathaway Success Curriculum (Opportunity or higher) was met by 52% of the College Ready students.

• College Ready students that received a score of 19 or higher on the ACT test is 49.6%.

“Although there is work to be done in some areas, there are bright spots as well. Ensuring that all Wyoming graduates are college, career, or military ready has been a core focus for me from day one,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said in a news release. 

Man’s threats to kill neighbors spark investigation

ROCK SPRINGS (WNE) — A local man was arrested Oct. 14 after allegedly shooting at police.

On Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, at approximately 8:30 p.m., officers of the Rock Springs Police Department were dispatched to 122 L St., in Rock Springs for a disturbance between neighbors. This had been an ongoing complaint over the last 48 hours, with Kevin Lorentzen reporting his neighbors had been planning to kill him.

According to a press release from the RSPD, no laws had been broken during these encounters.

Upon arrival, RSPD officers met with neighbors who reported that Lorentzen had told them to go inside because someone was going to get shot.

The officers approached the residence at 122 L and attempted to contact Lorentzen. A single gunshot was fired from inside the home toward the officers.

Immediately following the gunshot, Lorentzen exited the house with a firearm in his hand. The officers were able to place him into custody without further incident.

Lorentzen was charged with aggravated assault and battery and reckless endangerment.

Gordon responds to Supreme Court order on power plant rule

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Gov. Mark Gordon has responded to an announcement that the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to issue an emergency stay of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 rule.

In May, Wyoming and 23 other states challenged the power plant regulations, which target Wyoming’s coal and natural-gas fired power plants.

In the court’s order, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Neil Gorsuch stated, “The applicants have shown a strong likelihood of success on the merits as to at least some of their challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule.” 

“While it’s disappointing the Supreme Court declined to immediately halt this overly expansive and unlawful rulemaking that directly attacks Wyoming’s core energy industries, be assured we will continue to pursue this critical litigation in the federal courts,” Gordon said in a news release.

“Regrettably, our utilities are still required to assume the regulations will be in effect until the lower courts rule, only increasing the uncertainty of their future,” he added. “We can hope the musings of the two justices who recognized the merits of our case will hold sway in a timely positive resolution of this challenge.” 

Jackson woman missing

JACKSON (WNE) — A 30-year-old Jackson woman was reported missing on Sept. 14.

Braigene Marcel Collins did not show up for her shift at the 49’er Inn & Suites in downtown Jackson. Her employer told the Jackson Police that she has always been responsive and responsible with her job.

Jackson police detective Heidi Schmidl said that many personal items were left behind in Collins’ employee housing including clothing, journals and a water bottle. Collins’ wallet and cell phone have not yet been found.

Schmidl is working to obtain a warrant to digitally find Collins’ cell phone. She’s also in touch with Collins’ family back east.

Any information can be directed to Schmidl and the Jackson Police at 307-733-1430.

Fire at Overlook Park being investigated as arson

GILLETTE(WNE) — Police are investigating a fire that was started at Overlook Park early Thursday morning.

Officers were in the area of Wagonwheel Elementary at 2:15 a.m. when they heard an explosion to the west. Shortly after, multiple calls about a fire in Overlook Park started coming in, said Police Deputy Chief Brent Wasson.

There were high winds fueling the fire, which prompted residents in nearby homes to evacuate. The Campbell County Fire Department responded and put out the fire, which had burned about 0.5 acres, Wasson said.

There are no suspects, and the fire is being investigated as arson, Wason said.

Semi crash shuts down Interstate

SARATOGA (WNE) — Driver fatigue is being investigated as a contributing factor in a wreck near Walcott that closed Interstate 80 for nearly four hours on October 9. 

According to a press release from the Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP), troopers responded to milepost 240 on I80 westbound around 4:30 a.m. for a wreck involving three semi trucks. 

The first semi rolled over before coming to rest blocking right lane westbound traffic with the bottom of the trailer facing oncoming traffic. The two other semis involved in the wreck collided with the bottom of the trailer, which caused them to roll over as well. 

The second semi flipped onto its left side, entrapping the driver, who had to be extracted. 

The third vehicle also rolled onto its left side. 

The second and third semis were stuck together when the landing gear from the second semi punched through the top of the third semi’s trailer. The tow companies which were on scene were able to separate the two vehicles. 

Two people involved in the wreck suffered serious injuries, according to Trooper Ryan Gerdes. One was airlifted at the scene of the wreck to the Banner Wyoming Medical Center in Casper. A ground ambulance transported the second injured person to Memorial Hospital of Carbon County in Rawlins, but that person was later airlifted to Casper as well. 

Two others were transported to MHCC. 

The Wyoming Highway Patrol did not release the names of those involved in the wreck at this time.

Grand Teton National Park charges runner after Grand speed record attempt

JACKSON (WNE) — Grand Teton National Park has officially charged the athlete who ran afoul of park officials and irked endurance athletes while attempting to set the speed record for ascending and descending the Grand Teton.

Park law enforcement charged Michelino Sunseri, 32, with cutting a switchback, a seemingly innocuous charge that carries significant weight in the Tetons. Doing so is illegal in national parks, where rangers try to prevent erosion and confine visitors’ impacts to designated trails in most areas. 

The pro mountain runner, an athlete for The North Face, must now appear in court on Nov. 19.

“It was a very public violation of NPS regulations, shared in such a public way by this influencer and sponsored athlete in association with his effort to achieve the fastest known time goal,” public information officer Emily Davis said, when asked why Sunseri was charged.

Cutting a switchback is a misdemeanor that comes with a fine of up to $5,000 or six months in jail. The judge who oversees the case will determine the penalty if Sunseri is found guilty, Davis said. 

Sunseri did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

On Sept. 2, Labor Day, Sunseri tore up and down the 13,775-foot Grand in 2 hours, 50 minutes and 50 seconds, technically, the fastest time ever recorded. But in the days and weeks that followed, Sunseri’s effort was heavily scrutinized.

Digital maps of the mountain runner’s feat, published and downloadable on his Strava account — a social media site for athletes — showed that he cut the largest switchback on the descent from Garnet Canyon to Lupine Meadows. 

His narrative of his descent, also posted on Strava, confirmed that he actively made the choice to cut the switchbacks. In doing so, he waded into a decades-long debate about the appropriateness of leaving a trail in search of speed.