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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Growers work to save beets after freeze POWELL (WNE) — Even the smell in the air tells the story of freeze-damaged beets. “You only have to drive by a beet field and the smell will tell that the damage is real,” said Ric Rodriguez, Heart Mountain grower and vice chairman the Western Sugar Cooperative board. More than a week after the killing frost lifted on Oct 11, the area beet crop has shown signs of some healing. But these facts remain: a big percentage of the crop is still in the ground, and Western Sugar and growers must take measu...
Sweetwater commissioners suspend part of uranium company loan payment ROCK SPRINGS (WNE) — Sweetwater County commissioners agreed to sign documents last week suspending principal payments for a struggling Sweetwater County uranium mine. Roger Smith, president and chief financial officer of Ur-Energy, came before commissioners to explain difficulties facing the U.S. uranium industry that have affected the Lost Creek mine and to ask them to sign documents that would allow the company to make interest only payments for 18 months on a loan b...
Campbell County computer outage nearly repaired GILLETTE (WNE) — About 98 percent to 99 percent of the computer systems at Campbell County Health were expected to be back online Friday, two weeks after a ransomware attack at the hospital left it without its 1500 computers. Campbell County Health officials expressed their appreciation for the work staff, state and federal agencies have done and continue to do in tackling the attack. “In conjunction with our law enforcement partners, our cyber security response team and everything else, we are...
One killed in five-car crash LARAMIE (WNE) — The Wyoming Highway Patrol reported one person dead and expected U.S. Highway 230 to be closed for an several hours Monday afternoon after a five-vehicle crash occurred within a few hundred feet of where Lewis Road intersects the highway, close to the entrance of Harmony Elementary School. Five vehicles were involved in the crash, including two commercial vehicles. There was one fatality and two serious injuries, Wyoming Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeremy Beck said Monday. One of the five vehicles i...
Wyoming motorists who need permission to travel on closed sections of highways when conditions are safe may be eligible for faster approval into the state’s authorized travel program. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) is streamlining its WYDOT Authorized Travel (WAT) program to allow faster approval for new and renewing Wyoming applicants under certain conditions. Once approved, WAT users would then receive travel permission alerts the same way. WYDOT decided to implement a faster-approval system to help when the state has r...
No patient data at risk in Gillette ransomware attack GILLETTE (WNE) — There is no indication that any patient data was compromised by the Friday ransomware attack that has disrupted Campbell County Health’s computer systems, said Matt Sabus, CCH IT director, in a press conference Monday afternoon. CCH has no estimated time for when its computer systems will be restored after Friday’s ransomware attack, but in the meantime it is continuing to serve patients. During a press conference Monday afternoon, Dr. Nicholas Stamato, chief of medic...
UW proposes increased investment in Sheridan, Casper centers SHERIDAN — A University of Wyoming official announced a university proposal to immediately invest roughly $560,000 into the Sheridan and Casper Wyoming Technology Business Centers during the Wyoming Business Council’s quarterly Board of Directors meeting last week. UW Vice President of Research and Economic Development Ed Synakowski said the proposal stems from a review of the university’s economic development programs ordered by acting-President Neil Theobald and conversations with...
CASPER — Lawmakers on Monday defeated two controversial bills that would have had significant implications on Wyoming’s elections. The bills — one to eliminate the practice of crossover voting in primary elections, another to combat voter fraud by requiring photo identification at the polls — have received considerable attention since first appearing last fall, inspired by national concerns over voter fraud and the revelation that thousands of voters purposefully switched their party affiliations to participate in the 2018 Republican primari...
CASPER — A company co-owned by two Wyoming legislators is suing its former CEO over the use of a trademark attributed to the blockchain-based agricultural company they founded together. In a complaint filed Aug. 30 in federal court, well-known GOP financier and Wyoming Blockchain Coalition founding member Robert Jennings is accused by his former partners in the company, American Certified Brands LLC, of posing as the owner of a brand owned by the company, BeefChain, in an attempt to damage the company’s reputation after being dismissed fro...
Sex offender moved to Wyoming to ‘fly under radar’ GILLETTE (WNE) — Prosecutors are recommending prison time for an Oregon sex offender who moved to Gillette more than a year ago to “fly under the radar” and take some college classes. George Cook IV never registered as a sex offender — a fact law enforcement learned after he was arrested in domestic violence cases in February. The cases were considered felonies because he had two previous convictions for domestic violence in 2016 in Washington and 2017 in Oregon. The second incident al...
Campbell Co. makes pitch for business court GILLETTE (WNE) — The state is currently looking for locations for a business court, and Campbell County Commissioners hope it will select Gillette. Campbell County Deputy County Attorney Carol Seeger told commissioners Thursday that she has written letters that will be sent to a committee tasked with picking three Wyoming cities to host a chancery court. “The letter is just really brief, saying, ‘Look at us, we’re an excellent option,’” she said. The state is currently looking for locations f...
CASPER — In an effort to better understand how Wyoming’s 48 school districts are protecting their students, the state Department of Education is sending a survey to administrators across the Equality State. “The intent is not to be prescriptive,” state Superintendent Jillian Balow told the Star-Tribune. “The intent is to make sure we have a baseline of best practices and support systems for schools across the state.” The survey, which Balow sent to superintendents across the state in her weekly email to administrators, is open until Sept....
JACKSON — A bundle of Mylar balloons tangled with power lines and created an electric arc that started the 255-acre Saddle Butte Fire, investigators confirmed Monday night. The arc sent flaming materials flying to the ground, igniting dried grass below the power lines. “Because the metal balloon, that tin foil balloon, was creating an arc it would drop sparks on the ground and that’s what started the fire,” Jackson Hole Fire/EMS Chief Brady Hansen said Monday. The metal caused the reaction, as rubber balloons wouldn’t have caused the arc, Hans...
UW raises ACT score requirement LARAMIE (WNE) — The University of Wyoming’s board of trustees voted this month, at the request of university administrators, to set a minimum ACT score of 17 for students to be admitted to the school. Previously, high school graduates could be assured admission to UW, albeit with some remedial classes, if they had a cumulative grade-point average of 2.5-2.99. No standardized test score was required. However, that new policy will still require those students with a sub-3.0 GPA to have a GPA of at least 17 or an...
GILLETTE — Compared to the large metropolitan areas found in and around Washington, D.C., Gillette is a pretty small fish. But there’s nothing small-time about carbon research happening here. That was one of the observations of a top U.S. Department of Energy official when he toured the Dry Fork Station power plant, the connected Integrated Test Center and the nearby CarbonSAFE test well site Wednesday afternoon. “They have just a fantastic setup to test [carbon capture] technology,” said Steven Winberg, assistant secretary of fossil energy at...
GILLETTE — Patience may be a virtue, but if you’re among the nearly 600 locked out Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr coal miners who have been out of work for 56 days, it’s also more difficult to practice. For many, there is no more patience. Deanna Fritz has spent a dozen years as a coal mine worker, including the last two has a haul truck driver for Blackjewel. After Fritz and about 1700 of her coworkers in four states were abruptly locked out of their jobs without notice July 1, they’ve been living what she described as a roller coaster soap opera n...
CHEYENNE - A bill to mandate Wyoming share disqualifying mental health information on potential firearms purchasers with the federal background check system is still alive for a potential 2020 vote. The proposed legislation would mandate Wyoming report to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System information on people whose mental health issues would disqualify them from owning a firearm. The proposed legislation would also create a legal process to reinstate rights for people in Wyoming who have been disqualified from owning a...
No new district judge for Campbell County GILLETTE (WNE) — The 6th Judicial District is the second most overworked district in the state, and Campbell County officials are being proactive in trying to alleviate the issue. Judge Michael N. “Nick” Deegan and Commission Chairman Rusty Bell made the case to the Joint Judiciary Committee on Thursday evening to add another district judge, but they were unsuccessful. The committee voted it down, 8-4. Deegan said the framework exists to add a fourth judge. In the 2016 legislative session, lawma...
Council gives initial nod to e-cig ban CHEYENNE (WNE) — The Cheyenne City Council voted 8-1 Monday night to approve the second reading of an ordinance amendment adding electronic smoking devices to the list of smoking instruments banned in public places. A third reading and council vote is needed before the amendment can go into effect. The ordinance approved by council in 2006 already bans cigars, cigarettes, pipes, hookahs and water pipes. The proposed amendment defines an electronic smoking device as “any device that can be used to del...
SHERIDAN — Judge John Fenn took arguments under advisement during a status conference for Herrera v. Wyoming in 4th Judicial District Court Friday. The case stems from an incident in January 2014 when Clayvin Herrera, a Crow tribal member, allegedly killed elk on public land out of season in Sheridan County. Three Wyoming judicial rulings found Herrera guilty. In May, however, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision affirming Herrera’s right to hunt on the land based on an 1868 treaty between the United States and representatives of the...
Alabama man charged with 42 game violations GILLETTE (WNE) — An Alabama man pleaded not guilty last week to 42 big game violations that he is accused of committing over a ten-year period in Campbell County. Russell “Rusty” B. Vick, 54, could spend up to 31 years in jail and pay up to $218,000 in fines if convicted of all the misdemeanor crimes. Among the charges are 20 counts of illegally taking a game animal without a license or during a closed season involving buck antelope, buck mule deer, bull and cow elk from 2003 to 2012, according to cha...
GILLETTE — Nearly 600 Blackjewel LLC coal workers in Wyoming and West Virginia may see a monthlong forced layoff end soon after the company has agreed to sell a trio of mines to Contura Energy Inc. An agreement to sell the company’s flagship Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr mines in Campbell County, along with the Pax Surface Mine in West Virginia, was one of the notable outcomes of a marathon three-day Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction that began Thursday morning and concluded about 8:45 p.m. Saturday. After a competitive bidding process, Contura wil...
CASPER — This winter, lawmakers voted to allow hemp in Wyoming, hoping the crop will become a boon for the state’s agricultural industry. But farmers will have to wait at least one more growing season before they can plant hemp in Wyoming soil. Submitted to the federal government in spring, Wyoming’s industrial hemp plan was put in motion in the green rush following the legalization of hemp in the 2018 farm bill. Some lawmakers and farmers see the plant as a new economic opportunity. It’s ideally suited for Wyoming as a cool weather crop th...
Woman accused of stealing same car twice GILLETTE (WNE) — A 21-year-old woman apparently likes red Ford Explorers: She is accused of stealing the same one twice in less than 24 hours. A 35-year-old woman reported that her 1994 red Ford Explorer was missing from the Walmart parking lot at about 1 a.m. Sunday evening after she parked near the entrance of the Marketside door with the keys in it, Police Lt. Brent Wasson said. She was in the store for about 20 minutes. Officers were then able to locate the vehicle at 1001 Douglas Highway parked u...
Irrigation tunnel collapse prompts emergency declaration TORRINGTON (WNE) — Gov. Mark Gordon has officially declared a state of emergency for Goshen County due to the collapse of an irrigation tunnel along the Fort Laramie-Gering canal. In a press release issued Monday evening by the governor’s office, Gordon pledged to deploy state resources to Goshen County “in an effort to provide assistance to farmers affected by a catastrophic irrigation tunnel collapse in Goshen County.” “The Governor signed an Executive Order for a Declaration of Emerge...
