The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
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Governor recovering from COVID-19 at home, first lady tests negative CHEYENNE (WNE) — After announcing last week that he had tested positive for COVID-19, Gov. Mark Gordon is continuing to recover from home while working a full work schedule this week, his office said Monday. The governor is continuing to experience mild symptoms from the virus, though he has not needed any medical interventions, according to Gordon’s communications director, Michael Pearlman. Wyoming first lady Jennie Gordon, meanwhile, has tested negative for the virus and...
CASPER — It is again the time when Wyomingites can apply for health care through the federal marketplace established by the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. The state has put new resources toward helping residents apply, and those looking for coverage will have a new option this year. Gov. Mark Gordon in October allocated $600,000 of federal coronavirus relief money toward promoting the open enrollment period. “Wyoming is facing increased numbers of uninsured residents as a result of the pandemic,” Gordon said in a release announcing the fundi...
CASPER – When the Wyoming Department of Health announces that more COVID-19 patients in the state have died from the disease, it is often announcing deaths that actually occurred weeks if not months before. The lag in reporting is a result of the time it can take for death certificates to be filed, department spokeswoman Kim Deti said. The department does not count a patient as a coronavirus death unless COVID-19 has been listed on his or her death certificate as the cause of death or a contributing factor. And the time it takes for those c...
CASPER — There’s a new organization in town, and it’s been making the rounds in the Wyoming Legislature’s interim committee meetings. Meet Powering Up Wyoming. The group describes itself as a grassroots organization promoting the use of an “all of the above energy strategy” to prepare the state for an uncertain economic future. The team lobbies for some relative newcomers to the energy landscape here: wind and solar energy, as well as storage technology. Last week, the organization announced it had formed an inaugural advisory board of director...
Yellowstone sees record visits in October CODY (WNE) — Yellowstone National Park posted another record month in October to close out its 2020 summer season, shattering the previous record for that month with more than 110,000 additional people visiting this year. In total, the Park hosted 360,034 recreation visits during the month, up 110% from October 2019. The previous October record was set in 2015, when 252,013 people came through the gates. It was also the busiest October on record at the East Entrance with 12,182 people visiting. This w...
Wyoming Republicans pick legislative leadership CASPER (WNE) – Rep. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, and Sen Dan Dockstader, R-Afton, will likely be the Wyoming Legislature for the next two years after a remote vote of the Republican caucus Saturday morning. Barlow, who now serves as house majority floor leader, is on track to replace Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, as speaker at the conclusion of the Casper lawmaker’s unusual second term this year. The final tally in Barlow’s favor, 32-18, came against Sheridan Republican Rep. Mark Jennings, a state...
GILLETTE – All John McClelland wants to do is complete his daily ranching chores, but he recently had to deal with unexpected losses of livestock as well as clean up a growing amount of trash on land he uses. In early October, McClelland found one of his cows lying dead near a target practice shooting site on a parcel of state trust land he leases northwest of Gillette. “There’s another loss,” McClelland said, adding that two cows and a calf of his were shot a year ago on the same section of land. On Oct. 6, the Campbell County Sheriff...
Outbreak at Shepherd of the Valley largest of its kind in Wyoming CASPER (WNE) – Fourteen residents of Casper’s Shepherd of the Valley nursing home have died from COVID-19, the most deaths reported at any such facility in Wyoming since the pandemic emerged. Casper-Natrona County Health Department spokesperson Hailey Bloom said the deaths at the facility began in early October. An administrator for Shepherd of the Valley did not respond to a call Friday, nor did they respond to a call last week regarding the outbreak. It’s unclear how many...
JACKSON — Cold air filled Sgt. Russ Ruschill’s unmarked car Saturday night during a shadowy cruise down East Kelly Avenue. His window down, the detective explained, “I’m listening for anything that’s out of place. People screaming or dogs barking. If someone is creeping down a back alley the dogs will give him away.” It was just after 10 p.m. on Halloween. The sergeant over the Jackson Police Department’s investigations unit, Ruschill was out on special assignment, part of new efforts to find a man believed to be sexually targeting wom...
Not guilty plea entered in attempted manslaughter in Gillette GILLETTE (WNE) — The man accused of attempted manslaughter after a bullet from his gun grazed another man’s head has pleaded not guilty to charges against him. Zachary Shawn Manning, 34, faces two counts of attempted manslaughter and a misdemeanor count of reckless endangering. A March 1 date has been set for a three-day trial in District Court. Manning is accused of firing three shots from his apartment balcony Aug. 2 using his custom Olympic Arms AR-15 after he saw people with “gl...
CASPER – A meeting intended to discuss the surge of coronavirus cases in Natrona County and a possible mask order ended abruptly Monday after a hostile crowd repeatedly interrupted and heckled doctors and politicians who were trying to speak. Natrona County commissioners called the meeting to discuss the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, how it’s affecting local health resources and what can be done to stem the spread of the virus. Scheduled to speak was a list of local officials: Casper-Natrona County Health Department director Anna Kinder, cou...
PINEDALE — More than 200 miles of federal and private lands in Sublette County are designated in the state’s final version of the Wyoming Pipeline Corridor Initiative that proposes a large network to move carbon dioxide and enhance oil recovery. Even though the county and Upper Green River Basin hold a small amount of the corridor initiative’s 1,970 mile long network, the Bureau of Land Management’s choice of Alternative E could potentially cause more disruption to sagebrush, soils, greater sage-grouse, wildlife, recreation livestock and air qu...
After banned items explode, Teton recyclers ask residents to do better JACKSON (WNE) — After suffering both a fire and a bear spray canister explosion, Teton County Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling is asking the public to do a better job properly disposing of batteries and canisters. “Please remember the human element of recycling and trash in Teton County,” a press release said. “Recycling Center staff work very closely with every piece of material that comes to the facility, and some can be very dangerous.” Batteries and bear spray are...
CASPER – Wyoming leaders are hoping for more money from the federal government as Congress remains gridlocked over an additional round of stimulus funding. The state is working to spend the remainder of the $1.25 billion in federal relief granted earlier this year before its Dec. 30 deadline. Still, Wyoming leaders are hoping for more time to spend the money. Simultaneously, they are looking for additional funds to help bolster the state amid a structural decline in revenues driven by woes in the extractive energies. The feeling is a common one...
GILLETTE— A decade ago, the Powder River Basin was hitting its economic peak. Fracking was exploding to pump new life into Wyoming’s oil and natural gas industries, and coal was proving why it was the real black gold of the Cowboy State. The Powder River Basin produced nearly 420 million tons of coal in 2009 and accounted for 50% of the electricity generation in the United States. The four large, publicly traded coal companies that dominated PRB production were so flush with cash they were taking on billions in debt to fuel extensive expansion...
Brand inspection case to resume in December PINEDALE (WNE) — The 2019 livestock brand-inspection misdemeanor case against Rex. F. Rammell is picking up about where it left off eight months ago – in Sublette County Circuit Court. Rammell contested five citations after a deputy stopped him in June 2019 and he did not have current brand inspections for horses he was moving from Sweetwater to Sublette County. He has a Rock Springs mailing address and owns a veterinary clinic in Pinedale. He argued the state law requiring brand inspections bet...
CHEYENNE – With only a few weeks remaining until Election Day, the candidates vying to be Wyoming’s sole delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives discussed their visions for a country hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic during a debate Thursday night in Torrington. The debate, which was hosted by WyomingPBS and Wyoming Public Radio at Eastern Wyoming College, featured incumbent Republican Liz Cheney, Democratic challenger Lynnette Grey Bull and Constitution Party candidate Jeff Haggit. The discussion offered the first opportunity for the...
Yellowstone sees record visits in September CODY (WNE) — Despite COVID-19, a national economic slowdown and fewer in-Park lodging options available, Yellowstone National Park broke its September record for visitation. A total of 837,499 people passed through the Park’s turnstiles in September, a more than 21% increase in traffic from September 2019. The previous record was set in 2018. After a very slow start to the year, Yellowstone has now rebounded to within 11% of 2019 visitation at this point, reaching 3,383,872 visitors. It is about 500...
CASPER — In a win for Wyoming’s oil and gas industry, a federal court overturned on Thursday a rule limiting the amount of methane and other pollutants emitted during natural gas production on public and tribal lands. The final ruling has been a long time coming. Back in 2016, the state of Wyoming, along with other energy-dependent states, was set on challenging new federal restrictions on methane emissions adopted during the Obama administration. The groups called the regulations overreaching and harmful. So they challenged the rule — known as...
GILLETTE — Most of those who spoke during a Saturday public hearing at the Pronghorn Center support Gillette College breaking from the Northern Wyoming Community College District and forming one of its own. Some spoke from nostalgia and fond past experiences with the school. Others said it’s an issue of autonomy and gaining independence from a district that is based in another county yet has ultimate decision making over the Gillette branch campus. Those who are opposed questioned why a new district is needed and how it would be funded. Wyoming...
GILLETTE — Cowboy Skill Games hit its $1 million mark about four months after receiving a license to operate across Wyoming. Cowboy Skills Games is a group of Wyoming operators who run the legal skill games in restaurants and bars across the state. It got its license in early May. “We think that the taxes generated for this time period have been fantastic,” said Jimmy Orr, Wyoming Cowboy Skills Games spokesman. Everyone, including restaurants and bars, has been through rough times with the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down businesses for a...
JACKSON — As it nears the end of a busy and successful summer season, Yellowstone National Park’s largest concessionaire has announced big changes to overnight lodging for the coming winter, as well as some earlier-than-planned closures this fall. More than 100 guest units in Yellowstone National Park’s Old Faithful area are closing for the season ahead of schedule as a precaution to guard against the pandemic. There was no big COVID-19 flare-up among staff stationed at the famous geyser’s developed area. But the Old Faithful clinic closed...
Wildfire in Teton Wilderness at 230 acres and growing JACKSON (WNE) – After a calm morning, the largest wildfire of 2020 in Jackson Hole was just picking up steam Monday afternoon and starting to torch trees and grow along its perimeter. Because of the time of year and its location well into the Teton Wilderness, the Bridger-Teton National Forest is giving the 230-acre Pilgrim Creek Fire some latitude to move around the landscape as it naturally would. That’s not to say the wildfire is being allowed to burn in the absence of any man...
Hospital receives insurance payment for ransomware attack GILLETTE (WNE) — Campbell County Health has received an insurance settlement almost a year after a ransomware attack crippled its computer systems and disrupted its operations for months. After a series of negotiations with multiple insurance companies, CCH has recouped $1 million as part of its insurance settlement, which officials hope marks an end to the cyber incident and fallout that dragged on throughout the past year. “We obviously continue to look at our systems, but with the...
Gillette man faces five drug charges after 121 fentanyl pills found in home GILLETTE (WNE) – A stash of 121 fentanyl pills found in a home on Rohan Avenue in July — an amount described as “large” and “not indicative of a user quantity” by an agent with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation — and has led to drug charges against a 38-year-old man. Matthew Skipper has been charged three counts of delivery of fentanyl and heroin and two counts of possession with intent to deliver cocaine and fentanyl. Skipper was convicted in 2012 and serv...
