Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Sorted by date Results 26 - 45 of 45
CASPER — A new poll leaked to a conservative media outlet shows Rep. Liz Cheney leading former Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis by more than 20 points in a hypothetical head-to-head primary matchup for outgoing Sen. Mike Enzi’s seat, though neither woman has declared their intentions for 2020. According to a report describing the poll — leaked to Breitbart News early this week — Cheney leads Lummis 56 percent to 34 percent among likely voters in Wyoming. However, among definite voters, Cheney leads just 31 percent to 19 percent — a 12-point differe... Full story
GILLETTE — Wyoming Blackjewel LLC employees still having problems with their final regular paychecks may have those worked out by Friday. Concerned over reports of Blackjewel LLC employees not being paid, a federal bankruptcy court judge held a short Fourth of July hearing where he made it clear that getting workers the money they’re owed is a top priority. “I know this may be interfering with the holiday plans for some of you, but I’m sure you’d agree it’s minimal (compared) to what these employees are dealing with,” said Judge Frank W. Volk...
DOUGLAS — About 14 miles from Orin Junction along WYO 20, a 100-year-old visibly weathered building sits off to the right side of the road, nearly alone in the countryside. The paint on its stucco sides is fading under the hot summer sun. The paint on the walls inside is peeling off in large, faded blue sheets, leaving the wall looking like a map of a make-believe country. The original school bell sits on top, but its tones haven’t been heard in a long time. The bell and the building sit quietly, the days of calling children into class lon... Full story
Former court clerk makes first appearance on theft charges TORRINGTON (WNE) – Former Goshen County District Court Clerk Kathi Rickard appeared in court for the first time Wednesday to begin the process of answering to six felony theft charges relating to her time as an elected official. Rickard stands accused of stealing a large sum of money while serving in her elected position as court clerk – enough that the county was forced to pay $120,217.65 just to keep the affected accounts current. During the hearing, Judge Randall Arp - in what could... Full story
POSTED: July 8, 2019 GILLETTE — Partially prompted by threats from locked-out Blackjewel LLC coal miners and others, former company President and CEO Jeffrey Hoops Sr. maintains he’s not a crook, did not steal from company accounts and took extraordinary efforts to make sure miners were paid. In a Fourth of July statement addressed to “All Blackjewel Employees,” Hoops said that he realizes there are 1,700 employees not working and wondering if they have a future at any of the 32 Blackjewel properties that are in limbo after the company filed f... Full story
CASPER — The Wyoming Supreme Court disbarred a former Torrington municipal judge after a lawyers’ disciplinary board found he’d slept with a client of his private law practice and lied to investigators about it. The state’s highest court ordered Gregory L. Knudsen’s law license defunct on July 15th in its Wednesday ruling. A disciplinary board filing attached to the ruling also states the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation in April searched Knudsen’s home and law office. The reason for the searches was unclear — warrants and supportin... Full story
GILLETTE — It didn’t take this past week’s bankruptcy and lockout of 1,700 Blackjewel LLC workers countrywide to convince Melissa Peterson-Worden that the struggling coal producer was reaching a financial critical mass. “I knew it was coming and it was going to be bad,” she said. “I was like, ‘OK, the ship is going down.’” Peterson-Worden has worked in various roles at Powder River Basin coal mines off and on for 18 years, including in the warehouse for Blackjewel starting just a few months ago. She helped organize supplies, equipment and maint... Full story
CASPER — A man accused of kidnapping a child from a south Casper apartment complex on Wednesday — and then eluding police for 24 hours — now faces up to life in prison. Prosecutors on Friday afternoon filed three felony charges against Joshua Hicks, 32, who, authorities have said, abducted a young girl on Wednesday morning from a lawn near Southwest Wyoming Boulevard and sexually abused her. He then dropped her in the area of the apartment building and left in a truck, according to a series of news releases police issued in connecting to the c... Full story
CHEYENNE – When the Wyoming State Capitol reopens to the public Wednesday after more than four years of extensive renovations and improvements, it might be hard for people to truly appreciate just how far the building has come. It's good to keep in mind that back in the 1990s, maintenance crews were having to work around crumbling concrete, disintegrating pipes and wires that predated World War II hanging loose in the wall. Former state lawmaker Jayne Mockler of Cheyenne said when she entered t... Full story
Search of Snake River for missing man winds down JACKSON (WNE) — After finding no clues, Teton County Search and Rescue stopped combing the Snake River on Sunday, winding down its search for a 21-year-old man reported missing since Wednesday night. Rescuers started looking for Averin Scott on Thursday, the busy Fourth of July holiday, when his disappearance was first reported. “There’s been no clues,” said Cody Lockhart, chief advisor for Teton County Search and Rescue. “We need something to go on ... and we just haven’t gotten that.” Linc... Full story
EVANSTON — A proposal to construct an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Evanston may again be moving forward following a long period of inactivity since first being proposed more than two years ago. A notice was posted on fedbizopps.gov, the federal business opportunities website, on June 27, stating that ICE “intends to solicit for a contractor-owned/ contractor-operated facility that will provide detention management, food and transportation services preferably within a 90-mile radius of the Salt Lake City, Enf... Full story
CASPER — Bankrupt coal operator Blackjewel continues to seek additional funding to reopen its two shuttered coal mines in Campbell County, company lawyers said during a weekend bankruptcy hearing. The company will present a new financial package to the court by Friday, or sooner. U.S. District Judge Frank Volk, who must approve any new loan, said he will expedite the emergency hearing if Blackjewel secures additional money before that date. If Blackjewel’s new financial proposal receives a green light, it plans to reopen its mines and employ at... Full story
CHEYENNE — Wyoming’s wind is a highly desirable commodity in renewable energy. But trying to increase revenue from the industry might drive investors away from the state and into the arms of Wyoming’s three biggest competitors for wind. There has been a drive in recent years at the Legislature for Wyoming to increase taxes on wind energy production. As coal loses its value in the marketplace, and more states in the western part of the country push for their energy portfolio to consist only of renewables, state lawmakers and advocates have... Full story
Black bear killed after raiding picnic sites, trash cans JACKSON (WNE) — One Jackson Hole bear is dead and another two have been hauled to more remote locales after raiding visitors’ picnics and residents’ trash cans. The subadult female black bear that lost her life regularly trolled developed parts of Jenny and String lakes, an area that has seen regular summertime conflict in recent years despite efforts to educate visitors not to feed the bears. “We did intend to relocate it,” Grand Teton National Park spokeswoman Denise Germann said. “Bu... Full story
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature's Joint Revenue Interim Committee will take another swing at trying to raise the state's gasoline tax after failing to connect during this year's session. The Revenue Committee voted 8-6 on Tuesday to approve sponsorship of a bill that would raise the state's gasoline and diesel tax by 3 cents per gallon. The Wyoming Department of Transportation estimates that increase would generate about $20 million in additional state revenues annually. After that new money was split up between the cities, counties and W... Full story
GILLETTE — A Gillette employee of Blackjewel LLC has filed a class-action lawsuit against the coal mining company, claiming it failed to give its 1,700 employees proper notice or pay wages and other benefits earned before and after Blackjewel filed for bankruptcy then abruptly shut its mines across the United States. Those affected include nearly 600 workers at the Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr mines in Campbell County, along with employees at mines in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. David Engelbrecht is seeking 60 days’ pay and benefits fro... Full story
RAWLINS – Just after Scott David Drumm said he was “shocked” and “willing to accept my consequences” when he realized he may have accidentally shot somebody, a judge on Monday recommended he receive long-term probation in lieu of prison time. “I was firing the SKS,” Drumm admitted. “It was stupid.” Carbon County District Court Judge Dawnessa Snyder delivered the recommendation after calling the prosecution into her chambers for more than an hour before regular court proceedings commenced. From this, the defense would eventually strike... Full story
Four groups are calling for Wyoming’s DEQ to reject Aethon Energy’s application to dump millions of gallons and thousands of tons of oil- and gas-field pollutants above Boysen Reservoir in a scathing scientific review of the company’s proposal. In the first publicly released independent review of a 637-page modeling report and 113-page application for a “produced water” discharge permit, consultants hired by four conservation groups let loose on the science in Aethon studies describing methods and results as “misleading,” “very odd,” “question... Full story
Taiwan president’s visit falls through CHEYENNE (WNE) — The president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, will not visit Wyoming during her upcoming visit to the United States and the Caribbean. Gov. Mark Gordon's office had been communicating with Tsai's office about a possible visit during Cheyenne Frontier Days this month, but those plans appear to have fallen through. The announcement came Tuesday morning in a statement released jointly by Gordon's office and the Taiwanese delegation. "Both sides have discussed the possibility of President Tsai's tra... Full story
TORRINGTON – An affidavit filed in Eighth Judicial Circuit Court by Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agent Michael Carlson alleges that Former Goshen County District Court Clerk Kathi Rickard began embezzling money from the court’s two checking accounts almost as soon as she took office in July 2014. Rickard took over for Bonnie Petsch in July 2014, and was elected in 2014 and 2018. The affidavit shows that the discrepancies in the office’s accounts started small, at a few hundred dollars in 2014, but quickly escalated to the point th... Full story