Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Sorted by date Results 135 - 159 of 216
LANDER — By Oakley Boycott’s count, 145 people showed up at this past Tuesday’s city council meeting in Lander. People crowded into the room until they couldn’t anymore; so many were in attendance that even with people sitting on the floor and standing against the walls, many were left peering into the room from the hallway, unable to even get inside of the chambers. The issue at hand? Pride events in Lander, and more specifically, the city’s annual Pride (now changed to an anti-discrimination) proclamation. “We don’t hate anyone … It is those...
Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp inmate escapes custody CHEYENNE (WNE) — An inmate at the Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp escaped during a work detail assignment Monday, according to a news release from the Wyoming Department of Corrections. Monday morning, three forestry work details left the facility north of Newcastle, according to the release.Two details had 10 inmates and a supervisor each, and one detail had five inmates and a supervisor to work at a forestry work site east of the facility. At approximately 2:30 p.m. Monday, the work d...
CHEYENNE - The library book policy in Laramie County School District 1 is set to expand, but it will remain opt-out for the immediate future. English language arts secondary curriculum coordinator Joe Evans said he hopes to present four options in the coming months to district stakeholders when it comes to their schools' media centers: open choice, parent limits choice, no access choice or identified list choice. He told trustees at their meeting Monday night the goal is to recognize every...
GILLETTE - The Gillette City Council remained split on a proposed malicious harms ordinance, but the group passed it on a third and final reading Tuesday night with a 4-3 vote. Amendments were made to the ordinance, with the biggest change being the addition of age as a protected class. The votes on the ordinance remained unchanged from the first two readings, with City Councilmen Jim West, Billy Montgomery and Nathan McLeland and Councilwoman Heidi Gross voting for the ordinance, and Mayor...
CODY (WNE) — The City of Cody will bring in a third party to review its investigation and findings regarding Cody Police Officer Blake Stinson’s conduct during an arrest of a 17-year-old juvenile in January. A formal complaint was filed in early May that “expressed concern over the officer’s professional conduct” during the arrest, a City of Cody June 6 press release said. The complaint was followed by a YouTube video published May 21 which compiled Stinson’s body camera and dash camera footage of the arrest. The video also called into question...
CHEYENNE — Earthquakes were recorded two nights in a row almost exactly 24 hours apart along the Continental Divide in southeastern Wyoming this week. The first incident, a 3.9 magnitude earthquake that occurred at 2:14 a.m. Friday, had an epicenter near Antelope Hills, a rural subdivision between Saratoga and Encampment in Carbon County. Its depth was 15.4 km. Residents in the towns of Saratoga, Encampment and Riverside were within a MMI 3.5 shaking intensity zone, according to the USGS. Laramie was within a third zone, MMI 2.5, in which ...
CHEYENNE - The charges against a second Cheyenne teen who was allegedly involved in a shooting at Lincoln Park will be bound over to district court. Julian Espinoza, 16, will face felony conspiracy and aiding and abetting first-degree murder charges in district court, Circuit Court Judge Antoinette Williams Healy ruled early Friday afternoon. He is being held on a $250,000 cash-only bond, which Espinoza's lawyer, Marci Hoff Linde, says his family will be unable to pay. Linde asked Williams...
CODY - "First and foremost, it's not personal or against all the LDS faithful whatsoever," Terry Skinner said in discussing his opposition to the construction of a Mormon Temple in Cody. "It's really about doing what's right for the neighborhood. "We want to be respectful of the church and the community, and from our standpoint, what's best for the community is to relocate the temple to a different site," Skinner continued. Ahead of the city planning and zoning public hearing originally...
POWELL - After several months of collaboration, including the forming of a special committee, the Park County School District 1 school board unanimously passed the new book selection and adoption policy May 9, which details the steps for reconsideration of library books and the material reconsideration form. The policies began revision through the use of a special committee this winter that consisted of district administrators, teachers, parents and community members. The policy was first seen b...
Gas prices back up by more than 4 cents a gallon in Wyoming CHEYENNE (WNE) — Average gasoline prices in Wyoming have risen 4.3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.40 per gallon on Monday, according to Gas-Buddy.com’s survey of 494 stations in Wyoming. Prices in Wyoming are 0.9 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, and stand 87.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.The national average price of diesel has fallen 3.2 cents in the last week, and stands at $3.94 per gallon. According to GasBuddy price reports, the lowest pri...
The pathway to federal funds is uncertain for Kemmerer and Diamondville despite major infrastructure needs to host a nuclear power plant project. KEMMERER-When a 16-inch diameter ductile-iron municipal water pipeline failed this spring, a crew dug in for repairs. They found that the 40-year-old line was so brittle that repressuring it after patching it up created more breaks 100 yards away. The crew chased and patched leaks over several days until they ran out of repair "bands" and had to find...
Effort also seeks to combat vilification of Wyoming teachers CASPER - Laramie County resident Jen Solis started going to her local district's school board meetings in July of 2021, just around the time when debates at these meetings started shifting from COVID masking to school library books. Such debates - which stem from some parents' fears that their kids are being exposed to explicit content in school books - have cropped up across Wyoming and the country. Many of these books address LGBTQ...
CHEYENNE - State lawmakers have been tasked with studying how to reopen the Wyoming Cowboy Challenge Academy following its closure in September due to sustained staff vacancies and safety concerns. The Wyoming Military Department made it clear Thursday to the Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee that it will be an uphill battle. "The decision to close the WCCA was necessary to assure the safety of cadets, given the inability to meet the National Guard Bureau (NGB)...
Recruitment more difficult as pay gap shrinks, experts say CASPER - Wyoming's neighbors are catching up on teacher salaries and making it more challenging for school districts to recruit educators, researchers and school officials say. The Joint Education Committee heard Wednesday during its first interim meeting in Casper from a handful of researchers and school leaders who pointed to lagging teacher salaries and a narrowing gap with other states as one of the key reasons schools across the sta...
Market declines to explain policy, after kids report meeting an ‘aggressive’ guard. JACKSON — After Avery Ward wrapped up her day at the Teton Literacy Center on May 23, her stomach hurt so she headed to Smith’s with a friend to grab some over-the-counter medicine. Both were barred from entering. “There was a guy in the front with a walkie-talkie who stopped me,” 15-year-old Ward said. “He said, ‘You can’t go in, you’re not old enough.’ Then he asked my friend’s age. He’s 17, and he wasn’t allowed in, either. He was trying to buy mayonnaise....
SHERIDAN — Final payments from the Wyoming Emergency Rental Assistance Program will come in June. Those helping families with the program in Sheridan County expressed concern about potential impacts of the program’s end. ERAP began April 29, 2021, and was designed to assist people who were unable to make rent or utilities payments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through May 25, Wyoming Department of Family Services data shows 17,143 households have received assistance from the program and payments totaled $107 million. Payments were made...
CHEYENNE - A Gold's Gym patron tackled and subdued a local man Friday before he was arrested for allegedly trying to steal a vehicle and rob the establishment. Brandon B. Creel, 37, of 505 Williams St. was taken into custody and charged with two counts of felony robbery (threat of injury), misdemeanor interference with a peace officer and misdemeanor simple assault for attempting to cause bodily injury. He faces up to 11 years in prison and $11,750 in fines if convicted. His preliminary hearing...
A 'big chunk of the mountain' fell off last fall, altering the profile of the Grand's East Ridge so drastically that people can see the difference from the valley floor. A giant rockfall has forever changed what's arguably the world's most famous natural skyline - the iconic Cathedral Group view of the Grand Teton, Teewinot and Mount Owen. What's being called "a big chunk of the mountain" fell off last fall, altering the profile of the Grand's East Ridge so significantly that people can see the...
Parents challenge policy on student names, pronouns CASPER - Lawyers for Sweetwater County School District No. 1 issued a blistering response on Monday to a lawsuit filed by two parents over the district's use of their child's preferred pronouns and name, calling their allegations "nonexistent" and arguing that the parents are trying to force their personal beliefs on the district. Attorneys Kathleen Chaney and Eric Hevenor of the Denver law firm Lambdin & Chaney asked a judge to deny the legal...
CODY - "Maybe a lot of people don't know that most cases are solved by the average citizen," Cody Police Chief Al Vanderpool said in a Nov. 1, 1962, Cody Enterprise article. "That is, by something they have seen or personal knowledge they have of some individual that may be connected to a case." Chief Vanderpool was speaking about the mysterious homicide of 13-year-old Christine Nebel, who was found dead in her home on Bleistein Avenue on Oct. 7, 1962. Over six decades later, Nebel's murder...
JACKSON — Michael Wayne McCollum will be released from a Montana jail where he was held on Yellowstone National Park’s behalf — even though federal prosecutors initially labeled him a flight risk after an accident that apparently led to a woman’s death last Saturday on Craig Pass. “The court does believe release would be appropriate in your case,” Stephanie A. Hambrick, magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court of Wyoming in Mammoth Hot Springs, told McCollum in court Thursday. Hambrick di...
Exotic creatures find care in Laramie LARAMIE - The Laramie Animal Shelter has become something of an ark. The shelter unexpectedly found itself caring for 63 exotic pets following a rollover accident on Interstate 80 on May 12. Although the original ark is said to have held many species,the animals temporarily cared for are mostly reptiles. The shelter is keeping them safe with the food, water and warmth they need to survive. Animal Control Officer Teresa Bingham said the animals are exotic...
Cheyenne population estimates show shift of residents from city to county CHEYENNE (WNE) - Although Wyoming's largest city lost population between 2021 and 2022, rural Laramie County gained nearly as many residents as Cheyenne lost. Cheyenne's population dropped by 456 people between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022, according to recent population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. However, Laramie County as a whole gained residents, Wenlin Liu, chief economist with the State of...
Powell family first in line welcomed by new entrance supervisor POWELL - When Chris Baltz, East Entrance fee supervisor at Yellowstone National Park, saw a car parked in front of the closed entrance Thursday evening before dark, he thought the visitors were mistaken about the park's opening schedule. This is his first season in the park. He approached the vehicle to advise the occupants, only to find they were well aware of the Friday morning schedule and intended to wait until 8 a.m. to save...
GILLETTE (WNE) — Gillette police investigated and found multiple instances of cheese slices left on vehicles parked outside of homes Tuesday. The first report came in from a 27-year-old woman who said her vehicle in the 1500 block of Ohara Drive had cheese slices on it. There was no damage from the cheese, and it’s unclear what kind of cheese they were. Several other neighbors found similar cheese placements on their cars, said Police Deputy Chief Brent Wasson. While investigating that report, an officer found a 2008 Chevy in the 1400 blo...