The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
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Average gas prices remain unchanged in past week in Wyoming CHEYENNE (WNE) — Average gasoline prices in Wyoming are unchanged in the last week, averaging $3.25 per gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy.com’s survey of 494 stations in Wyoming. Prices in Wyoming are 4.9 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, and stand 64.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. According to GasBuddy price reports, the lowest price in the state Sunday was $2.79, while the highest was $4.49, a difference of $1.70 per gallon. The national average price of gas...
Gordon extends executive order to aid in livestock, feed transport CHEYENNE (WNE) — As significant wildfires continue to impact Wyoming’s agricultural producers, Gov. Mark Gordon has extended the executive order which eases restrictions to transport loads of livestock feed and livestock, exempting motor carrier drivers from operating time requirements. “The extension of this EO allows our ranchers to continue to move their livestock to safety quickly and expedites bringing in necessary feed. Wyoming’s commitment to supporting agricul...
CASPER — Wyoming’s oil and gas producers have won a reprieve with a federal court injunction against the Bureau of Land Management’s methane regulation rule, stalling for now regulatory requirements that would have added millions of dollars in overhead for producers and threatened to force many of Wyoming’s small operators out of business, industry representatives say. ‘The left hand of the government does not know what the right hand of the government is doing’ The court declared the BLM’s “Waste Prevention Rule” — which tightens methane em...
A federal judge has upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's plans for managing black-footed ferrets in Wyoming, the state where the once-presumed-extinct species was rediscovered some four decades ago. The dispute over how the federal government managed the endangered weasel-like animal traces back nearly a decade to when federal wildlife managers officially designated the Wyoming population as "nonessential, experimental." That classification allows for more regulatory flexibility than...
Gas prices edge slightly higher in Wyoming in the past week CHEYENNE (WNE) — Average gasoline prices in Wyoming have risen 0.9 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.29 per gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy.com’s survey of 494 stations in Wyoming. Prices in Wyoming are 4.1 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, and stand 62.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. According to GasBuddy price reports, the lowest price in the state Sunday was $2.79, while the highest was $4.29, a difference of $1.50 per gallon. The national ave...
Silver Spoon Fire grows to 1700 acres in northern Campbell County GILLETTE (WNE) — The Silver Spoon Fire north of Recluse has burned an estimated 1700 acres since starting Sunday morning. The Campbell County Fire Department “made good progress” on the fire Sunday, according to a Facebook post, and at 6 p.m. Monday, Southwest Area Incident Management Team No. 5 took over the management of this fire, which is about 37 miles north of Gillette. The same team is overseeing the Constitution and Flat Rock fires in Campbell County, as well as the H...
Florida man gets 15 years for fatal crash GILLETTE (WNE) — A truck driver from Florida who was found with beer cans in his cab after crashing into and killing another driver north of Gillette has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Nicholas L. Alvarez, 39, on Aug. 15 received an imposed 8.5- to 15-year sentence for aggravated vehicular homicide, according to court documents. Alvarez pleaded guilty to the charge in May. In addition to imposing prison time, District Judge Stuart S. Healy III also ordered Alvarez to pay $11,196.08 in r...
State’s unemployment rate holds steady at 2.9% CASPER (WNE) — Wyoming’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 2.9% from June to July, the Research & Planning section of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services reported Monday. While Wyoming’s unemployment rate has remained low, the U.S. unemployment rate has increased in each of the past three months, rising from 3.8% in March to 4.3% in July. Over the year, unemployment rates were higher than year-ago levels in every county, with most counties ticking up two-tenths of a pe...
The political action committee affiliated with the hard-line Republican Wyoming Freedom Caucus announced late Thursday it returned thousands of dollars to the Crook County GOP after the Wyoming Senate president alleged the donation was illegal in a complaint he filed last week. "While we are immensely grateful for the Crook County Republican Party's commitment to the liberty movement, no amount of support is worth a politically motivated prosecution for the sake of another headline meant to...
New York man pleads not guilty after saying he would shoot up a school CASPER (WNE) — The case of a man who called 911 to report that he was going to shoot up several locations — including a mission, Walmart, high school and the Natrona County Library — was taken up in court recently as officials sought to determine if he should stand trial. On June 22, 2023, police arrested Bryce Montesdeoca at the Central Wyoming Rescue Mission in Casper, where he had been staying since his recent move from New York. Montesdeoca had a 9 mm pistol he claim...
Utility requests rate increase to offset fire costs, new power lines CASPER (WNE) — Rocky Mountain Power, Wyoming’s largest public utility, filed a request to increase customer rates in order to underwrite new infrastructure and cover the rising costs of insurance premiums relating to wildfire risk. The company is seeking to levy an additional $123.5 million, or an overall increase of 14.7%, resulting in an extra $17.17 per month for the typical residential customer. Around half of the increase is requested to pay Wyoming’s share of new infra...
CHEYENNE — This year, Wyoming lawmakers and health care stakeholders are narrowing down the state’s role in supporting essential services for vulnerable adults. A vulnerable adult is anyone 18 years of age and older who is vulnerable to abuse. Adult Protective Services defines “abuse” as financial exploitation, neglect, self-neglect, physical or sexual abuse, or intimidation. The Wyoming Department of Family Services is statutorily required to “coordinate a protective services program consistent with this act, with the goal of ensuring...
JACKSON — Gov. Mark Gordon plans to send another set of Wyoming law enforcement personnel to the southern border in response to an aid request from Texas. The ten Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers will deploy later in August, and will provide law enforcement and emergency assistance on the border of Mexico in support of the Texas Department of Safety for two weeks. Two Wyoming deputies from the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office also plan to deploy at a later date. The announcement comes after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made a request for emergency ass...
Arch coal production stays down in PRB GILLETTE (WNE) — The amount of thermal coal shipped from Arch Energy Resources, the bulk of which comes from its Powder River Basin mines, dipped further as the industry’s slow start continued through the first half of the year. The roughly 9.7 million tons mined from Black Thunder marked the lowest production number at the mine this millennium, and its first time notching fewer than 10 million tons in a quarter, according to Mine Safety and Health Administration data. After shipping 12.8 million tons — p...
The 2023-'24 winter proved the third deadliest for Yellowstone wolves in the decades since Canis lupus was reintroduced to the landscape in 1995. Overall, 13 wolves were shot by legal hunters, caught by trappers, killed by poachers or died of suspected hunting-related injuries. Like in past winters, the vast majority of wolves that met their fate after straying beyond the protections of Yellowstone National Park did so in Montana, near the park's northern boundary. Eight wolves were legally hunt...
Devils Tower on pace to have busiest year ever GILLETTE (WNE) — Devils Tower has been on a record-setting pace so far in 2024. Through June, 192,682 people visited the national monument in Crook County. That’s up more than 5000 visitors from 2021, which is the busiest year on record for Devils Tower. In 2021, 550,712 people visited Devils Tower. It was the first time the national monument broke the 500,000-visitor mark, and it happened as the country started to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic and people began flocking to the outdoors. But...
Kidnapped man lands up to 14 years in prison GILLETTE (WNE) — A Gillette man who pleaded guilty to the second-degree sexual abuse of a minor received has been sentenced to ten to 14 years in prison. Zackery Minard, 22, was found in bed with a 14-year-old girl by the girl’s mother, who called her boyfriend, Timothy James Ott. Ott, 30, and a friend beat up Minard, put him in a car trunk and drove him out of town, eventually abandoning him on a country road. The temperature outside was about 35 degrees. According to Minard, Ott told him to wal...
CASPER - Walking into the Natrona County Townsend Justice Center is a bit daunting. You're met with security, asked to part with electronic devices and then shepherded through a metal detector. Take a quick right, then left, and just past the elevator you arrive at the Natrona County Court Navigator Pilot Project, which has a name possibly larger than the closet-like space from which it operates. While sparse and windowless, the room and its volunteers represent an effort from the state's...
Wyoming’s top elected officials denounced political violence and offered their prayers following an assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. “President Trump, his family and the families of the victims of today’s shooting are in our prayers,” Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement. Trump’s campaign said the presumptive GOP nominee was doing “fine” after the shooting, according to the Associated Press, after a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear. “We are thankful for th...
GILLETTE - The last several months have been a whirlwind for Crook County ranchers Shondah and Randall Otwell. They have been putting the finishing touches on their product, the water rippler, which they hope will make life easier for ranchers all across the country when it hits the market this fall. The water rippler solves a problem that has plagued the agricultural industry for generations. In the winter, water tanks freeze over and ranchers have to go out to each tank and break the ice...
The Wyoming Department of Transportation would like to remind motorists of the new penalties for violating highway closures to light and high profile vehicles that went into effect July 1. The "Light and high profile vehicle closures bill" (SF0113) passed in the 2024 legislative session. The bill language notes that, "any person who willfully fails to observe any sign, marker, warning, notice or direction" for closures to light, high-profile vehicles is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon...
Local woman sentenced for role in state park death CHEYENNE (WNE) — In connection with the death of a man in Curt Gowdy State Park, Gizelle Kellum has pleaded no contest to accessory after the fact as a relative. This misdemeanor is punishable by up to six months in prison and/or a $750 fine. Judge Steven Sharpe sentenced Kellum to 180 days with credit for 175 days of time served. Kellum’s varying accounts during the investigation were cited by the prosecution as a reason for the charge. Stacey “Jason” Mullen was found unresponsive at Curt Go...
Police arrest man known for harassing people at Cheyenne businesses CHEYENNE (WNE) — Laramie County Sheriff ’s deputies arrested a 42-year-old man known locally for harassing and “hexing” business owners on June 20 for trespassing. On the day of Joshua Hayden-Ali’s arrest, Deputy Aaron Veldheer responded to a disturbance in progress at the Safeway supermarket at 700 South Greeley Highway. The description of the man matched that of Hayden-Ali. Veldheer spoke with the woman who said Hayden-Ali had been threatening her. She told Veldheer...
Powell woman dies in apparent suicide at jail POWELL (WNE) — An inmate at the Park County Detention Center died Saturday night in what authorities described as an apparent suicide. The Powell woman, who’d been booked into the jail early Friday morning, was 35 years old at the time of her death. In a Monday afternoon news release, the Park County Sheriff’s Office withheld the woman’s name, saying that a family member had yet to be notified of her death. As a result, the Tribune is not publishing her name either. The sheriff’s office said dete...
BUFFALO — Federal and state firefighting agencies on Friday unveiled a new aerial firefighting base in Casper, a centrally located resource created to benefit all of Wyoming heading into what is expected to be a busy fire season. Amping up aerial firefighting capabilities out of the base at the Casper-Natrona County International Airport has been an interagency effort, involving the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and Wyoming State Forestry. The single engine airtanker – or SEAT – base first opened in 2020, and the BLM has si...