Wyoming News Briefs

Family of three found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning

RIVERTON (WNE) — A family of two adults and a toddler died after an undetected carbon monoxide leak consumed their home in Riverton. 

Police were initially called to the 900 block of East Adams Street Thursday morning at around 7:40 a.m. after someone reported smelling fumes in the area. 

“Fire department personnel found a high concentration of carbon monoxide around [the] home,” the Riverton Police Department (RPD) reported. 

Police and firefighters forced open the door to the residence and discovered a family deceased. 

The deaths are still under investigation at this time; the names of the victims have not been released. 

Carbon monoxide is a gas that’s both colorless and odorless, and hundreds of people in the U.S. are killed by it each year. It’s produced when fuel is burned by things like vehicles, fireplaces, furnaces and portable generators; when the gas builds up in enclosed spaces, it can be deadly. 

Winter is the season in which carbon monoxide poisoning is most frequent, as furnaces and other heating systems are at work and when people mistakenly warm up their vehicles inside garages. 

Signs of carbon monoxide poisoning depend heavily on the level and duration of exposure. Mild symptoms can be flu-like, and include headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea and dizziness. High-level poisoning produces mental confusion, vomiting, loss of muscular coordination, loss of consciousness and death. 

Average gasoline prices in Wyoming decline slightly again in past week

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Average gasoline prices in Wyoming have fallen 1.8 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.11 per gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy.com’s survey of 494 stations in Wyoming.

Prices in Wyoming are 8.4 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, and stand 38.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the lowest price in the state Sunday was $2.78, while the highest was $3.49, a difference of 71 cents per gallon.

The national average price of gasoline has fallen 2.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.05 on Monday. The national average is down 11.8 cents per gallon from a month ago, and stands 34.5 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations 

across the country.

More than 8000 Campbell County voters cast ballots early

GILLETTE (WNE) — Nearly half of Campbell County’s registered voters had already voted prior to Election Day.

Michelle Leiker, the county’s elections coordinator, said that as of Friday evening, 8193 people had voted, which is about 49% of the county’s 16,770 registered voters.

This includes 6923 people who have voted in the elections office, and 1271 people who have turned in an absentee ballot, either by mail or by dropping it off, Leiker said. 

Friday was the busiest day yet for early voting, with more than 700 people casting a ballot, and Leiker expected Monday to be even busier, with it being the final day for early voting.

The 8193 early ballots already surpasses the total number of ballots cast in the primary election, when 7475 Campbell County people voted.

17-year-old girl hospitalized after Halloween night stabbing

CASPER (WNE) — Casper police have a suspect in custody following a Halloween night stabbing that left a 17-year-old girl in serious condition at Banner Wyoming Medical Center. 

Officers responded to a reported stabbing in the 1500 block of North Poplar Street just before 9:30 p.m. Thursday and found the girl with an apparent knife wound to her abdomen, according to a news release from the Casper Police Department. 

She was transported to the hospital following life-saving measures administered at the scene, the release said. 

The suspect, also a 17-year-old girl, was later arrested with a charge of felony aggravated assault recommended to the Natrona County District Attorney’s Office, according to the release. 

The suspect was one of three juveniles in a vehicle that was identified by witnesses at the scene and later stopped by a partnering law enforcement agency. 

The stabbing victim was in serious but stable condition at the hospital, the Friday release stated. 

There is no ongoing threat to the community, police said. The department’s Victim Services Team is providing support for involved families.

Grizzly 399’s remains cremated

JACKSON (WNE) — Less than a week and a half after Grizzly 399 was hit and killed by a car in the Snake River Canyon, federal land and wildlife managers decided to cremate her body and return her ashes to Pilgrim Creek.

None of her body parts were retained for educational purposes or otherwise, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said Friday.

Pilgrim Creek is in the core of 399’s home range, the area in Grand Teton National Park most associated with her memory. She denned in the area every winter and attracted thousands of wildlife watchers every spring, as they waited, cameras ready, for her to emerge with her cubs.

By cremating the famous bear, who has been heralded over the past week as a symbol of her species’ recovery in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Grand Teton National Park did what the majority of bear buffs had lobbied them to do. 

Rather than taxidermizing 399, her fiercest advocates and followers had asked officials to return her body to the landscape.

Now, 399’s ashes are scattered across her home range.

“399 will always be part of this special place,” Grand Teton National Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins said in the statement. “However, there is still work to do to ensure her descendants and all grizzly bears continue to thrive in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It’s up to all of us to make sure they do.”

Campbell County Library board disbands new adult section

GILLETTE (WNE) — Several months after it was created, the new adult section at the Campbell County Public Library is no more.

At a meeting Monday, the Campbell County Public Library board decided to pull the plug on the section.

“We weighed the pros and cons, [and] our recommendation is to not go down this road any further, but just to disband the new adult section, [and] have everything go into the adult or parenting section,” said board member Sage Bear.

“We’ve got four books over there right now; they can be moved to the adult section,” said John Jackson, library director. “That would be fine.”

The new adult section of the Campbell County Public Library, which was on the first floor next to the magazine section, was designed to be a place where books that were deemed inappropriate for the children’s and young adult sections would be moved. It had two shelves with a total of 12 rows of shelving.

Jackson said the new adult section made things a little tricky when deciding where a book should go in the library.

“[Removing] it simplifies things a bit…so I think it was the right thing to do,” he said Wednesday.

In March, Jackson, under the direction of library board chair Chuck Butler, had moved a couple of dozen books to the new adult section while in the process of reviewing them to decide whether they should go back to their original locations.

Jackson police find woman who had been reported missing

JACKSON (WNE) — Braigene Collins, who had been reported missing in September, has been found and is safe, the Jackson Police Department announced Friday evening.

Police officers told the Jackson Hole Daily earlier last week that they were following a soft lead in the case.

“We followed some leads that led us to a potential employer in another state,” police said Friday in a news release. “A detective from that jurisdiction contacted the business and shortly afterward, Ms. Collins called one of our detectives to confirm she is safe.”

Police noted that the case had garnered significant public interest and so authorities wanted the public to know that the 30-year-old had been found.

However, the release added, “Out of respect for Ms. Collins’ privacy we won’t be releasing her current location.”

Collins was last seen in Jackson on Sept. 14. She did not show up for her shift at the 49’er Inn and Suites in downtown Jackson. Her employer told police that she had always been responsive and responsible with her job. Police found personal items left behind in Collins’ employee housing, but not her wallet or cellphone.

Police first alerted the public about the missing Jackson woman in an Oct. 14 Facebook post.

Queen of the Tetons’ documentary free online

JACKSON (WNE) — In the wake of the death of Grizzly 399 on Oct. 22, Jackson Wild and filmmakers are offering a special virtual screening of the full, 90-minute documentary about the world-famous bear today through Tuesday.

“399: Queen of the Tetons” debuted on May 8, 2024, on PBS. It has also been screened at the Center for the Arts in Jackson and at other Western theaters.

There are two versions of the film. One, a 50-minute version, is available on PBS Nature’s YouTube channel. The filmmakers do not yet have distribution rights to the longer, 90-minute version of the film.

The fact that it is streaming free, online and in full for five days is relatively rare.

“The filmmaking team and Jackson Wild are honored to share ‘399: Queen of the Tetons’ as a tribute to her life and legacy,” Jackson Wild’s invitation says.

To stream the full version of the film, visit TinyURL.com/queen399full.

“Not only was she a grizzly bear, but she was a very visible grizzly bear,” said Bridger-Teton National Forest Botanist Trevor Bloom. “For a lot of people, she was probably the first grizzly bear they ever saw. And over the course of her life, she might have influenced thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people to think differently about grizzly bears and endangered species and wildlife coexistence.”

The 50-minute version can be found on TinyURL.com/queen399.

UW celebrates record-breaking 10th annual Giving Day

LARAMIE (WNE) — The University of Wyoming’s 10th annual Giving Day set records with 11,202 donors who gave more than $4.1 million, making it the most successful Giving Day in the university’s history.

The proceeds from the fundraising event supports the university’s student programs, faculty, research and resources.

Since its inception, UW Giving Day has grown exponentially. 

The 2024 total of $4,175,132 represents significant increases from 2023’s results of 8,978 donors and $3,605,192 raised and 2022’s totals of 6,296 donors and $4,107,408 raised, according to a news release. 

A key driver of Giving Day’s success was the more than $1.4 million from matching funds and challenges, which provided donors the opportunity to multiply their impact. 

Notably, the UW Foundation contributed $360,000 in matching funds, while the UW Board of Trustees added $250,000 — helping to maximize gifts for student success. 

The McMurry Foundation also provided a $100,000 surprise match.

This year had a significant increase in student-run campaigns, with the number growing to 117, up from 72 in 2023. These campaigns collectively raised $453,881 in 2024, marking a nearly 20% increase compared to the $380,606 raised in 2023.

“This year’s Giving Day highlights the extraordinary commitment of the entire University of Wyoming community,” UW President Ed Seidel said in the release. “Every gift, large and small, plays a vital role in empowering our students and advancing our mission.”