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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GILLETTE — Powder River Basin coal mines entered 2024 back on a downhill slope, as the long-term trajectory of Campbell County’s legacy industry resumed its decline following a two-year upswing in production. With an unexpected boost to coal demand fading away, the long-term trends of coal-fired power plant retirements and short-term availability of cheaper energy sources has put Wyoming coal back into a slide. Wyoming’s 12 PRB mines — all in Campbell County — combined to produce about 230.4 million tons of coal in 2023, according to data from...
Do you know how to spot a government imposter scam? We continue to raise public awareness about Social Security-related and other government imposter scams during the fifth annual “Slam the Scam” Day on March 7, 2024. Knowing how to identify potential scammers will help safeguard your personal information. There are common elements to many scams. Scammers often take advantage of fears and threaten you with arrest or legal action. Scammers also pretend to be Social Security or other government employees and claim there’s a problem with your...
Wapiti hunter to pay $15K for mistakenly killing grizzly POWELL (WNE) — A local black bear hunter who mistakenly killed a grizzly last spring must pay $15,000 in restitution and is barred from hunting over the next year. At a Wednesday hearing in Park County Circuit Court, Patrick M. Gogerty of Wapiti pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of illegally taking a grizzly without a license. However, under a deal accepted by the court, Gogerty’s guilty plea was deferred and the case will be dismissed if he successfully completes a year of uns...
Man found in woman’s home arrested for drug use, trespassing GILLETTE (WNE) — A 31-year-old man was ticketed for drug use after a 65-year-old woman found him in her home Friday night. The woman called police after finding the man in her apartment in the 600 block of Tyler Avenue. She had not given him permission to be there, but she was able to get him out of her apartment and into the hallway. He appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance, and EMTs were called. The woman showed police a syringe that she found in her apartment...
Man stuck in the snow gets federal prison on drug and gun charges GILLETTE (WNE) — A Campbell County man who was arrested after driving his truck into a snowbank last spring has been sentenced to more than 13 years in federal prison on drug and gun charges. Jesse Walthers, 40, appeared before U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson in Cheyenne on Jan. 12. Johnson gave Walthers a 100-month sentence for possession with intent to distribute meth and a 60-month sentence for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, set to r...
Gordon urges BLM to listen to Wyoming on Rock Springs RMP CHEYENNE (WNE) — Gov. Mark Gordon is urging the Bureau of Land Management to “reconsider its restriction-heavy preferred alternative and deliver a reasonable plan incorporating more of Wyoming’s compromise approach to managing the Rock Springs area,” the governor’s office said in a news release. Gordon submitted his comment letter, along with those from numerous state agencies, on the BLM draft Resource Management Plan this week. “No other National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documen...
Amid funding and staffing pressures at emergency medical service agencies across Wyoming, two bills this legislative session aim to help attract more volunteers. The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee voted nearly unanimously to sponsor two bills for this session: Senate File 3 – State employee leave for volunteer fire or volunteer EMS and Senate File 8 – Health insurance for volunteer emergency responders. They come at a time of mixed success for legislation intended to help rur...
GILLETTE - While coal is still king in Campbell County, oil and gas are still the second and third largest contributors to the county's economy, as far as taxable value goes. Across the state, natural gas production has been on a steady decline since 2009, while oil production has been more up and down. According to a report put out by the Wyoming State Geological Survey this month, the state's oil production has not yet surpassed its 2019 high, while nationwide oil production has surpassed...
Salt River Range avalanche kills former Jackson resident JACKSON (WNE) - David Rice, 41, was caught and killed in an avalanche Sunday in the mountains east of Star Valley Ranch. Rice, an avid musician, lived in Jackson for years and owned Jackson Hole Music, the only music store in town, before closing the shop last year. Until June 2021, he also owned a guitar store in Boulder, Colorado. Rice was killed after a week of sustained snowfall dropped over three feet of snow in the Tetons. That snow...
Applications open for internship program for new farmers, ranchers CHEYENNE (WNE) — The GrowinG Internship Program is now accepting applications for 2024, according to a news release from University of Wyoming Extension. “The goal of this program is to provide interns with a hands-on internship at a working farm or ranch in Wyoming, in cooperation with state producer organizations and educational institutions,” said Kendra Faucett, program coordinator, in the release. The program provides a $5000 stipend for a 10-week work experience, which...
CASPER — A mine exploration project in Halleck Creek was ranked as one of the top ten critical mineral sites on the planet after assay results earlier this year revealed exceptionally high levels of rare earth elements. But this month the project owners, American Rare Earths, U.S. subsidiary of an Australian-founded exploration company, have completed their full development drilling campaign, and the new assay results suggest that soon this Albany County mine will be ranked number one. Mineral testing of samples from Overton Mountain r...
Man accused of strangling girlfriend, holding her against her will GILLETTE (WNE) — Officers forced their way into a home and later arrested a 37-year-old man who allegedly strangled his girlfriend and held her against her will Friday night. Police went to the 100 block of Bay Avenue for the report of a man and woman in a fight at about 11:15 p.m., Police Cpl. Dan Stroup said. When they arrived, they forced their way into the home after they heard a woman whimpering and what sounded like strangling noises. In the home, they spoke to the man a...
Children, mother injured in fiery crash near Ralston POWELL (WNE) — A woman and her two school-aged children suffered “extensive” injuries on Sunday evening after their vehicle crashed down an embankment and caught fire just east of Ralston. The 36-year-old woman, her nine-year-old son and her six-year-old daughter were all taken by ambulance to Powell Valley Hospital and then flown on to larger hospitals in neighboring states, said Trooper Kaycee Shroyer of the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Authorities were unsure of the occupants’ place of residen...
12-year-old arrested Thanksgiving Day bound over on drug charges GILLETTE (WNE) — A 75-year-old Gillette man arrested on drug charges Thanksgiving Day has been bound over to District Court. Dickie F. Sandy waived his preliminary hearing Nov. 30, binding him over to District Court for possession with intent to deliver meth and possession of meth and liquid meth, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of cocaine and amphetamine pill possession, according to court documents. A Sheriff’s deputy, who recognized Sandy from his past work wit...
As summer turned to fall in Wyoming this year, red and gold political leaflets began to appear in mailboxes. At first glance, the oversized glossy postcards didn’t look much different than any other campaign material. They featured an official lawmaker headshot, his name, contact info and the word “conservative” several times over. The header “Legislative Update” was emblazoned on the front. Albeit early for a campaign season that won’t officially kick off until May — when the candidate filing period opens — the mailers appeared normal...
Man caught after getting stuck in snow pleads guilty to federal charges GILLETTE (WNE) — A Campbell County man who was arrested after driving his truck into a snowbank on the side of Highway 50 pleaded guilty to federal drug charges while another man involved in the drug bust has been sentenced to state prison. Jesse Ray Walthers, 39, pleaded guilty at his October change of plea hearing in U.S. District Court to a count of possession with intent to distribute meth and a count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, a...
CASPER — Wyoming’s Black Butte Mine in January 2021 applied to add federal coal reserves at its Sweetwater County operations, which supplies the Jim Bridger Power Plant and a sizable share of baseload thermal energy throughout the West. It was a run-of-the-mill application that state regulators expected to be approved smoothly. Instead, it has become mired in a nightmarishly tedious approval process that’s brought state leaders to their wits’ end. Concerns at the Black Butte Mine are among a host of recent complaints coming out of coal country...
Black 14 Philanthropy delivers 40,000 pounds of food to Laramie LARAMIE (WNE) — Cathedral Home and the University of Wyoming Food Share Pantry welcomed a delivery of 40,000 pounds of food and goods that traveled to Laramie last Tuesday. The delivery is made possible through a partnership between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Black 14’s “Mind, Body and Soul” initiative, which dispatches food to communities identified by active Black 14 players, according to a news release from the Cathedral Home. Mel Hamilton and John Gr...
JACKSON — Despite objections from some Republican lawmakers and local governments, a state task force is moving ahead with a draft bill to override local building regulations for accessory housing units like detached guest homes or mother-in-law apartments. Sen. Bob Ide, a Natrona County Republican, warned that the draft bill could add regulation — not reduce it — by layering state rules on top of local ones: “Just looks like we’ve got a one-size-fits-all homeowners association for the state of Wyoming,” Ide said. Ide raised his objections...
Information sought about missing Cody woman POWELL (WNE) — Family members of a missing Cody woman are asking anyone with information about her whereabouts to get in touch with law enforcement. Katie Ferguson was last seen on Oct. 10 in Arkansas, Ferguson’s mother, Mona Hartling, wrote in a Nov. 5 Facebook post. Ferguson had been traveling from Dothan, Alabama, to Cody with her ex-boyfriend and their two children, but “somewhere near Little Rock, Arkansas she disappeared,” Hartling wrote. Hartling shared few other details, explaining in a Saturd...
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Department of Transportation faces a shortfall in revenue of around $400 million each year, and the state is digging through the couch to find ways to increase revenue with minimal consequences for commercial and residential drivers. The combination of commercial drivers, cross-country travelers and extreme weather conditions means constant upkeep for Wyoming’s interstate highways. WYDOT is responsible for administering and distributing gasoline, diesel and alternative fuel taxes in the state, with a significant por...
GILLETTE (WNE) — A man accused of going on a crime spree throughout Gillette in which he allegedly stole several pickup trucks, drove into multiple buildings and led law enforcement on a high-speed chase has been found competent to proceed in court. Cody K. Fuger, 40, has been charged with 16 counts, including five felonies, ranging from destruction of property, theft, fleeing law enforcement and meth possession. District Judge Stuart S. Healy III found him competent to proceed in court at an Oct. 12 review hearing, based on the findings of a...
Viewers see a newborn moose calf struggling to stand mere seconds after it entered the world. The sun shines and the wind blows through a nearby pine tree. As the calf’s mother licks its back, cleaning amniotic fluid away from its fur, the newborn lifts its back legs and tumbles. It’s one of the most intimate moments a human can witness in the animal world. And researchers have a six-minute video taken not by a human, but by a small camera similar to a GoPro attached to the mother’s neck. “Watc...
Hightman drops Supreme Court appeal GILLETTE (WNE) — A Gillette man serving prison time for stealing from his fiancée – who remains missing – in the days and weeks after she was last seen, has backed out of his appeal filed with the Wyoming Supreme Court. Nathan J. Hightman, 40, filed his intent to appeal less than two weeks after receiving a three- to six-year prison sentence — along with fines, restitution and probation — in June. The motion to waive his appeal was filed last week, as Hightman decided not to move forward after weighing his op...
Shooting complex task force finalizes pre-proposal survey SHERIDAN (WNE) — The State Shooting Complex Oversight Task Force completed work during its meeting Friday morning that will help it identify communities interested in being home to the complex. The task force was established by Senate File 169, which Gov. Mark Gordon signed into law March 2. The task force comprises several legislators and representatives from Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, Wyoming Travel and Tourism, firearm and archery m...
