Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 478
CASPER (Wyoming News Exchange) — Yellowstone National Park rangers arrested a Virginia man Saturday after he allegedly stole a heavy wrecker while intoxicated and told rangers he was a federal agent on a mission. The incident began just before 5 p.m., Saturday, when Alan Bowling, born in 1967, attempted to buy a beer at the Old Faithful Upper General Store and had his credit card declined. He then “left the general store, got into the heavy wrecker without permission of [the park] and drove the wrecker away,” according to an affidavit. Range...
WHITE MOUNTAIN-"That's a lot of horses," lamented Cheyenne resident Robyn Smith from a high-desert ridgeline. It wasn't her first exasperated exclamation. "Argh, oh crap," was her immediate reaction to learning a federal judge had given the Bureau of Land Management the OK to proceed with plans to fully remove two wild horse herds from the landscape in southwest Wyoming. A retired architect donning a "Return to Freedom" ball cap that featured a bucking mustang, Smith proudly described herself...
The crane operator who was killed on the job earlier this month at a wind-energy construction site in remote Natrona County was driving a crane that rolled into a pond, according to a Natrona County Sheriff’s Office’s incident report obtained by WyoFile. The victim, John William Hoffpauir, Jr., 55, of Houma, Louisiana, was driving a “large dual axle crane” at about 20 miles per hour on Twenty Mile Hill Road east of Interstate 25 about 20 miles north of Casper on Aug. 5 when it “slowly veered off the roadway,” the report states. The crane “roll...
A federal judge in Wyoming dismissed a lawsuit Thursday alleging the state’s ban on selling delta-8 and similar substances is unconstitutional. The substances are similar to marijuana and occur in tiny amounts in the cannabis plant, but anecdotally produce milder effects and, in some cases, can be synthesized using dangerous chemicals. Judge Kelly Rankin accepted the state’s motion to dismiss for many of the same reasons he dismissed the plaintiff’s request for a temporary restraining order or injunction, he stated. “Much of the analysi...
Albert Rueben Gaines, 31, of Casper, Wyoming, was sentenced to 200 months’ imprisonment for felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, use of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a machinegun. According to court documents, in January 2023, DCI agents began receiving information that Gaines was involved in the use and distribution of controlled substances throughout the state of Wyoming. In June of 2023, several incidents occurred that led to the arrest of Gaines a...
Yellowstone National Park has closed the Biscuit Basin area for the season after a hydrothermal explosion strewed boiling water and rocks skyward Tuesday morning, destroying a section of boardwalk and spurring frightened tourists to flee. No one was injured in the blast at Black Diamond Pool, which was caused by hydrothermal conditions and not volcanic activity, the park said Wednesday. Geologists are monitoring conditions, mapping the debris field and sampling water to assess any changes in the...
JACKSON — Scientists aren’t sure whether it’s possible to detect hydrothermal explosions like last Tuesday’s Biscuit Basin blow-up before they happen. Still, they want to try and learn what they can about the subterranean blasts. Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly is open to the idea. “We definitely had what I’d call a close call. I’m very happy no one was injured or worse,” Sholly said. “We’ll continue to work with the scientists to figure out if there’s any better ways to improve monitoring. Obviously, we want to make sure...
KEMMERER — “It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when you’re going to see fraud. You’ve gotta get comfortable with being uncomfortable having these conversations,” said First Bank Vice President and Branch Manager David Benton. Benton, who has over 20 years of experience in the banking industry, is no stranger to monetary scams. “Our tellers are the first line of defense a lot of the time,” he said. “We train a couple of times a year to spot fraud, and we’re catching a lot of it. Most of the scams we’re seeing now involve something tha...
CASPER — Commercial livestock grazing across the West is a growing threat to the greater sage-grouse, according to an analysis by conservation groups Western Watersheds Project and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The groups analyzed documents from the Bureau of Land Management and concluded the agency’s latest proposal for managing sage-grouse habitat fails to remedy damage caused by livestock grazing across millions of acres of sage-grouse habitat. Sage-grouse, a ground-dwelling bird and iconic western species, is con...
Wyoming Republicans and Democrats reacted Sunday to President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden said in a social media post Sunday. He also endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee...
“It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when you’re going to see fraud. You’ve gotta get comfortable with being uncomfortable having these conversations,” said First Bank Vice President and Branch Manager David Benton. Benton, who has over 20 years of experience in the banking industry, is no stranger to monetary scams. “Our tellers are the first line of defense a lot of the time,” he said. “We train a couple of times a year to spot fraud, and we’re catching a lot of it. Most of the scams we’re seeing now involve something that’s ju...
Before hitting the road for the weekend, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Wyoming State Parks remind all boaters - from motorized boaters to paddlers - to be prepared and be sure watercraft are outfitted with the required safety equipment. "We want all boaters to safely enjoy Wyoming's waters. We can't emphasize enough how important it is to have a life jacket for all of the passengers in your watercraft. It is the law and life jackets are proven to save lives," said Aaron Kerr, Game...
A group of hemp retailers and an agricultural organization are suing the state of Wyoming claiming that its recent ban on the marijuana-like substance delta-8 is unconstitutional. The Hemp Community of Wyoming wants an injunction or restraining order to stop the law from going into effect today. "We will fight to keep our small businesses open, keep food on the tables of our staff, and keep products coming to the hardworking people [of] Wyoming," Gillette's Mountain High Wellness store owners...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Flanked by three fellow activists, Kristin Combs was tired, hungry and catching up on messages after hours of trying to convince congressional staffers that legislation was needed following the most infamous animal welfare case in recent Wyoming history. The all-women activist crew, who traveled from around the country, had met with the offices of several congressional Endangered Species Act Caucus members: U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan), Don Beyer (D-Virginia), Raúl...
JACKSON - As the Wyoming Department of Transportation aims to open the temporary Teton Pass detour next week, only three weeks after a landslide took out part of the pass, geotechnical engineers say monitoring is key. WYDOT is planning to monitor the detour with instruments. But officials did not say by press time whether they plan to staff observers on the road around the clock, a key piece of advice from outside engineers. "The once-daily reading, combined with the visual monitoring, would be...
Some Republican lawmakers have sought to restrict foreign ownership of Wyoming land in recent years, but doing so could put mining industry jobs and tax revenue at risk. That’s what energy industry spokespeople told the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee Thursday during a meeting in Buffalo. “Foreign ownership in Sweetwater County and Southwest Wyoming is a benefit to the state,” Jody Levin, speaking on behalf of the trona industry and the Wyoming Mining Association, told lawmakers. Wyoming is one of several states whose conserv...
WIND RIVER VALLEY-Biologists Tucker Russell and Rene Schell stopped in their tracks. Spooked out of a daybed, a mule deer doe sprung to her feet. She bounded up a gentle, grassy slope amid badlands-like rock formations overlooking the Wind River, then froze, staring right back. But Russell, with the University of Wyoming, and Schell, with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, had eyes on something else. A still-spotted fawn. Within moments, the youngster abandoned its hiding spot, bolting for mo...
Kandace Sitting Eagle, 33, of Arapahoe, Wyoming, was convicted by a federal jury on Jun. 13, for aggravated child abuse, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and assault with a dangerous weapon. The four-day trial was held before U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson, in Cheyenne. According to trial evidence, on Dec. 12, 2023, an Arapahoe school resource officer conducted a welfare check on a 13-year-old student that had not been to school in over a month. He eventually found the child in a crawl space under the trailer where the par...
Federal agencies and the Biden administration must be more flexible and encourage technological innovations like carbon capture that can enable low-carbon energy while keeping coal and other fossil fuels in the nation's energy mix, a new report by the Western Governors' Association concludes. The association released its Decarbonizing the West report Tuesday, an initiative spearheaded by Gov. Mark Gordon, who is wrapping up his 2023-34 tenure as the organization's chairman. Among the report's...
JACKSON - There's no timeline yet for how long Teton Pass will remain closed after a weekend landslide left a gaping hole in the highway linking the communities and economies of Idaho and Wyoming. But Wyoming Department of Transportation crews have pinpointed the area where the ground had been shifting under the highway, and that "acceleration of movement" has stopped, WYDOT spokesperson Stephanie Harsha said Sunday. The landslide isn't the only threat to the corridor, which shuttles goods and p...
Within hours of the sighting on Wednesday, Frank van Manen caught word that there was a grizzly sow with five cubs in tow spotted in Yellowstone National Park. Five cubs following mom is so unlikely that van Manen, who leads the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, pondered an explanation. Maybe, he said, there was an adoption event: Sometimes two female siblings produce cubs in the same year, and one ends up with the other's youngsters. "We've seen that before, with adoptions taking place," van...
After sparring in court over the first 10-year phase of the Regional Haze Program, state and federal regulators - along with environmental groups and industrial polluters - are preparing for battle in the next phase of the effort that is intended to gradually restore "natural visibility" at some 156 national parks and wilderness areas. Wyoming's second-round "state implementation plan" awaits approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is expected to begin accepting public...
Wyoming’s elected officials are standing with former President Donald Trump after he was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in a New York case. Trump, who is seeking to win the presidency in November, is facing up to 4 years in prison for trying to illegally influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn actor who claimed they had sex in 2006. Wyoming senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis both released statements on social media platforms on Thursday stating that D...
A gas exploration company with Florida ties is pursuing plans to pull groundwater out of existing coalbed methane wells in southern Wyoming, then pipe it into the lower reaches of the water-stressed Colorado River Basin. The project was formally initiated in December, when the State Engineer’s Office received 21 groundwater test well applications from Mark Dolar of Dolar Energy, LLC. The test wells are all located on Bureau of Land Management property south of Rawlins in the Atlantic Rim gas field. Two test well applications have since been r...
Wyoming's largest energy supplier sued state regulators Thursday claiming they wrongly reduced a rate hike by disregarding federal requirements. Filed in U.S. District Court by PacifiCorp, the parent company of Rocky Mountain Power, the suit asks the court to overturn the commission's January decision to approve only part of an electricity rate hike sought by the Oregon company, which is the largest utility operating in Wyoming. The complaint names Wyoming Public Service Commissioners Mary...
