State Briefs

Woman sentenced to probation in embezzlement from county

GILLETTE (WNE) — The former employee who stole almost $40,000 in taxpayer money from the Campbell County Treasurer’s Office is serving a 30-day split sentence in county jail before being released on three years of supervised probation.

Marcella Racel Hall, 35, had pleaded guilty to felony theft after admitting that she altered 39 receipts of people who paid their vehicle taxes and kept the money, which amounted to $39,585.

Campbell County Attorney Ronald Wirthwein had negotiated a plea agreement in which Hall would repay only $2500, which was the amount of the deductible after the county’s insurance company paid all the losses from the thefts.

District Judge Michael N. “Nick” Deegan questioned the discrepancy in the amounts, noting that defendants usually are required to repay the full amount.

Deegan sentenced her to 30 days in jail beyond the suspended three- to five-year prison sentence in the plea agreement.

He noted the breach of trust with the Treasurer’s Office from the public it serves.

“This all will have, for a long time, a question as to their integrity brought about by the acts of Ms. Hall,” he said.

Campbell County Treasurer’s Office records show that between December 2018 and September 2019, Hall had altered 39 receipts from people who had paid their vehicle taxes. She would change the dates on the receipts to a weekend date because those were not included in weekly accounting reports, according to the affidavit.

Cash taken by Hall was not accounted for in any audits.

Grand Teton sees near-record visitation

JACKSON (WNE) — Despite a lack of in-park lodging due to COVID-19, Grand Teton National Park reported the second highest number of recreational visits — an estimated 710,198 — on record for August.

Although recreational visits grew by just 1.2% compared to the previous August, that number still marks the second highest recreational visitation on record — eclipsed only by August 2017 when an actual solar eclipse drew lots of visitors.

Below are August trends for recreational visits over the last several years:

• 2020: 710,198

• 2019: 702,022

• 2018: 692,074

• 2017: 716,690 (Total Solar Eclipse)

• 2016: 633,657 (Berry Fire)

• 2015: 651,245

This summer, most hiking trails in the park had increased daily traffic and all campgrounds in the park were filling earlier each day when compared to previous summers, park officials said in a news release. In general, hiking use in the park has increased approximately 26% and camping in concession-operated campgrounds increased 13% with backcountry camping down 10% in August 2020 compared to August 2019.

The News&Guide has reported on how all the park visitation has spilled onto the nearby national forest. 

Describing the bustling scene in a once-quiet corner of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, the forest’s Linda Merigliano, told the News&Guide: “It’s the eclipse every day.”

Gas prices expected to drop

GILLETTE (WNE) — Gasoline prices in Wyoming have gone up almost 6 cents in a month, but they are expected to trend downward as winter approaches.

Prices in Wyoming average $2.20 a gallon – 0.5 cents a gallon higher than a week ago, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 494 stations. It was $2.045 in Gillette, which was third lowest in the state behind Albany ($1.946) and Laramie and Natrona (both at $2.007)

The national average price of gasoline has fallen 3.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.17 a gallon today.

“Seasonal factors, as expected, are pushing gas prices down in most areas across the country,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “In addition, oil prices have hit a rough patch on renewed concerns about the economy and falling demand, leaving motorists the beneficiaries for the next few weeks.

“No one should be in a rush to fill up as prices will likely continue to trend lower,” he said.

The summer gasoline requirement ends on Tuesday, ushering in cheaper-to-produce winter gasoline and a return to less fragmentation in supply since winter gasoline is common nearly coast-to-coast, he said.

In Wyoming, gas prices are 40.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

The cheapest station in Wyoming is priced at $1.79 a gallon while the most expensive is $3.09.