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...HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 6 PM MDT SATURDAY...
* WHAT...West winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts up to 65 mph
expected.
* WHERE...South Laramie Range, South Laramie Range Foothills and
Central Laramie County. This includes the locations of Cheyenne
Buford and Whitaker.
* WHEN...From 3 AM to 6 PM MDT Saturday.
* IMPACTS...Mainly to transportation. Strong cross winds will be
hazardous to light weight and high profile vehicles, including
campers and tractor trailers.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
People should avoid being outside in forested areas and around
trees and branches. If possible, remain in the lower levels of
your home during the windstorm, and avoid windows. Use caution if
you must drive.
&&
Volunteers to celebrate Earth Day by sprucing up Holliday Park
CHEYENNE – Cheyenne Urban Forestry staff, along with volunteers from CNSI, will be celebrating Earth Day on Saturday by planting trees and sprucing up landscaped beds at Holliday Park.
A variety of shade and ornamental trees will be planted to replace trees that were recently removed due to age and disease. Landscaped beds within the park will also be cleaned up and mulched.
Approximately 12 staff from CNSI, which is the fiscal agent for the state of Wyoming Division of Healthcare Financing, responsible for core claims and TPL processing, will be volunteering their Saturday to improve Holliday Park’s tree canopy and appearance, benefiting generations to come.
Due to reductions in staffing and challenges in recruiting seasonal staff, Urban Forestry has a backlog of work suitable for volunteer projects. If your group is interested in volunteering to make a difference in the community, contact Urban Forestry at 307-637-6428 or email mellison@cheyennecity.org.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/volunteers-to-celebrate-earth-day-by-sprucing-up-holliday-park/article_54643e94-33d6-5468-9af3-05078bc02f6b.html
| 2022-04-23T02:42:13Z
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Port Huron Twp. taxpayers would pay more for fire protection under new millage proposal
Port Huron Township taxpayers could pay more to support their local fire department under a 3-mill tax proposed on August’s primary ballot.
Currently, the township’s fire millage is 1.5 mills. The term for that tax, last approved in 2018, ends this year.
Supervisor Bob Lewandowski said last week that although residents would see an increase in what they pay more for fire protection — about $150 annually for a home with a taxable value of $100,000 — what would appear before voters on Aug. 2 would be a new millage overall.
“If this passes, we would just stick with this one,” he said of the 3 mills. “If not, then we would go back and ask for the 1.5.”
Officials said the new tax, if approved, would help finance three more full-time firefighters — something that Fire Chief Randy Vesper said the department needs after seeing challenges with staffing and training requirements that have increased over time.
As of Thursday, the chief said Port Huron Township had four full-time employees in the fire department, including himself, and nine part-timers, in addition to one brand new individual working paid-on-call.
“Back when most departments were started, they were volunteer. There was no training,” he said, referencing the firefighters’ training council established in the state in the 1960s. “Shortly after that, there was a 66-hour firefighter training course, which was a lot then. And it’s in the hundreds of hours now along with hazardous materials training and emergency medical training. So, it’s getting harder for the average person to meet those requirements, maintain a family, maintain a job, a full-time career, and then ask them to come to the fire department whenever the tones go off or whenever we have training.”
The township’s board approved language for the tax proposal during last Monday’s meeting.
Also, with a term of four years, it would levy an estimated $804,931.43 a year if approved by voters.
“Having a few more full-time career people would help keep that base, where their training would be done on the job or they would schedule it into their daily routines,” Vesper said. “… And it would help keep that knowledge base here in the township.”
Vesper said he’d originally approached Lewandowski about what it would to take for three more full-time firefighters.
However, Lewandowski said that with just over $1 million now a year budget-wise for the fire department, he didn’t see other options for the need.
“It’s like, ‘I’m tapped out,’” he said. “The changes that we’ve made over the years trying to keep going, to keep going to part-time, and offering a benefit or two to the part-time guys, the general fund (can’t spare more). I’m empty.”
On Monday, Trustee Steve Riehl said the 3-mill tax was “a double-edged sword.”
He originally asked to clarify that the proposal wasn’t for an additional 3 mills on top of the 1.5 tax. And though it isn’t, he said he tries to “look at the average person” and what the costs of taxes mean.
Still, Riehl said he also understood the needs cited by Vesper. The board's approval was unanimous with Treasurer Peter Shonka absent.
“You want to build and supply what the fire department needs,” he said. “But you also can’t tap it out so high that the average person will go like, ‘Whoa.’ It needs to be done. But people don’t look at fire until they need them. We’ve done that for years. … This is fair and within reason as one or the other. I think that makes sense.”
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.
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https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/2022/04/23/port-huron-township-residents-would-pay-more-under-new-fire-tax-proposal/7402319001/
| 2022-04-23T03:32:01Z
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Chris Rock’s mother reacts to Oscars slap, “when Will slapped Chris, he slapped all of us.”
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS/Gray News) - Rose Rock, mother of comedian Chris Rock, was in Columbia, South Carolina Friday delivering motivational speeches to high schools in the area before stopping by ‘Soda City Live.’
In an exclusive, one-on-one interview with WIS’ Billie Jean Shaw, for the first time ever, Rock spoke out about the shocking incident when her son Chris Rock was slapped on live television by actor Will Smith, following a joke made about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s hair.
“You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye and you went and made her day because she was mulled over laughing when it happened,” Rock said.
Rock says this is the one year she did not attend the Oscars and was watching the ceremony at home when her son was slapped in front of millions. She told WIS, at first, she thought the slap was staged, until “he [WIll] started using obscenities.” She continued saying, “when he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us.” She added, “He really slapped me.”
According to Rock, her son was very excited to give Questlove his Academy Award, and because of Smith, that moment was taken away.
“No one even heard his speech. No one was able to just be in the moment because everyone was sitting there like, ‘what just happened?’” she said.
She said the only thing she could do from home was reach out, and tell him she was proud of how he reacted. Which, as a mother, was hard to do.
Rock said so many things could have happened at that moment, stating Chris could have stepped back and fallen or Smith could have even been taken out in handcuffs.
Earlier this month, The Academy announced Will Smith has been banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years.
“The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards,” Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement earlier this month.
When asked about how the Academy handled the situation Rock said, “I wouldn’t take his award away, and I don’t see any good way they could have taken him out without disrupting.” However, the Hollywood mom did say the lack of apology from Will Smith for his actions has hurt her. “I feel really bad that he never apologized,” Rock said. “I mean his people wrote up a piece saying I apologize to Chris Rock, but you see something like that is personal, you reach out.”
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wvva.com/2022/04/23/chris-rocks-mother-reacts-oscars-slap-when-will-slapped-chris-he-slapped-all-us/
| 2022-04-23T03:48:47Z
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Want to get paid $10K to eat tacos? You could be the next ‘Chief Taco Officer’
(Gray News) - A Texas-based food delivery service is offering taco fans a job to find some of the best street tacos in the state.
Favor, a food delivery service, is hiring someone to be its “Chief Taco Officer.”
According to the company, the new CTO will travel across the Lone Star State to discover and review select tacos.
Favor’s job listing reports it will pay $10,000 for the role with dates listed for June and July. The person who gets the job will get free food, accommodations, transportation and free delivery for a year.
Those interested in applying do have to be a Texas resident. The application process also includes creating and sharing a short video on why you should be selected along with completing an online form.
There is no catch with the job offer, according to Favor. The company said it wants to find the best delivery tacos in Texas with a little help.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wvva.com/2022/04/23/want-get-paid-10k-eat-tacos-you-could-be-next-chief-taco-officer/
| 2022-04-23T03:48:55Z
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UPDATE: Kauai police have positively identified Roxanne Fasanella as the 59-year-old woman that was killed in last week’s crash on Kuhio Highway.
Thomas Castro, the driver of the white Chevrolet, has turned himself into custody.
He now faces charges of negligent homicide, negligent injury in the first degree, negligent injury in the second degree, collisions involving death or bodily injury, and inattention to driving.
---
KAUAI (KITV4) -- Kauai police are asking for witnesses to come forward after a hit-and-run crash in Anahola that injured two women.
It happened just after 12:30 p.m. on Friday on Kuhio Highway near mile marker 15. Police closed the highway in both directions for three hours while they investigated.
Police said a white Chevrolet pickup truck, traveling southbound, hit a blue Chevrolet pickup truck that was turning left at mile marker 15. The blue pickup truck then crashed into a Ford MPV.
Police said the white pickup truck then hit a Chevrolet convertible before taking off.
A 79-year-old woman was critically injured and was flown to Oahu for medical treatment. A 59-year-old woman in same vehicle was also injured.
Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact Officer Shawn Hanna of the Traffic Safety Section at (808) 241-1615.
Marisa Yamane joined KITV4 in January 2022 as an anchor and executive producer. She is an award-winning veteran journalist, who’s spent most of her career in Hawaii. She’s a proud graduate of Iolani School and UCLA.
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https://www.kitv.com/news/crime/hit-and-run-crash-in-kauai-injures-two-women-and-closes-kuhio-highway/article_8cedc6ce-bd5d-11ec-b5b4-2bf4478468c8.html
| 2022-04-23T04:12:41Z
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https://www.kitv.com/news/local/celebrating-earth-day-all-the-events-this-weekend/article_f5684970-c214-11ec-ab0c-4761f3d55f36.html
| 2022-04-23T04:12:47Z
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Domestic Violence Resources KITV4 News Staff Apr 21, 2022 Apr 21, 2022 Updated 2 hrs ago 0 Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic violence abuse, resources are available to help. National Domestic Violence HotlineHours: 24/7. Languages: English, Spanish and 200+ through interpretation service.800-799-7233To seek emergency shelter or speak to a confidential domestic violence advocate in Hawai‘i, please reach out to these 24/7 hotlines:City and County of HonoluluCFS: (808) 841-0822PACT: (808) 526-2200DVAC: (605) 956-5680 (text line) or 24/7 online chatHawai‘i CountyCFS East Hawai‘i Island:(808) 959-8864CFS West Hawai‘i Island:(808) 322-7233Kaua‘i CountyYWCA: (808) 245-6362Maui CountyWHW: (808) 579-9581Here are a few signs of domestic violence that our community should look out for:- Any outward signs of physical abuse, such as bruises, scratches, broken bones, etc.- Verbal abuse to the partner- Disrespect in the relationship- Physical and emotional control- Social isolation from family and friends- Fear and anxiety, withdrawn Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save Tags Domestic Violence Resources Domestic Violence Resources Abuse Help More From KITV 4 Island News Local Wednesday Weather: Increasing rain chances and Big Surf on the way Updated Feb 15, 2022 Local HOS rescues women after falling several feet at Mokulua Islands Mar 5, 2022 Business Ohana Hale Marketplace, Starbucks to vacate Ward Village spaces in April 2022 Updated Apr 15, 2022 Local Exclusive: Zelensky says world should be prepared for possibility Putin could use nuclear weapons Apr 15, 2022 Local Missing diver located off Poipu waters Updated Apr 15, 2022 Local Florida Senate advances DeSantis priorities on redistricting and Disney during special session Updated Apr 20, 2022 Recommended for you
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Local Exclusive: Zelensky says world should be prepared for possibility Putin could use nuclear weapons Apr 15, 2022
Local Florida Senate advances DeSantis priorities on redistricting and Disney during special session Updated Apr 20, 2022
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https://www.kitv.com/news/local/domestic-violence-resources/article_af6796d0-c2a3-11ec-86b9-5b14f014cb56.html
| 2022-04-23T04:12:53Z
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HONOLULU (KITV4) - The Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) rescued a sick hiker on the Diamond Head Trail in Honolulu on Friday.
It was reported that a 31-year-old female started feeling sick and was unable to descend the trail on her own. At 8:40 a.m., HFD personnel arrived at the hiker’s location and conducted a medical assessment.
The hiker was airlifted to the nearby landing zone where medical care was transferred to Emergency Medical Services at 8:59 a.m.
HFD concluded this incident with no other injuries reported.
Hikers are encouraged by the HFD to follow these hiking safety tips:
Bring Your Cell Phone
In case of an emergency, your cell phone can be a lifesaver. Ensure that your battery is full prior to your hike. It is recommended to pack an external back-up battery.
Get Information About The Trail
Prior to hiking, learn about the trail you intend to hike so you will know the route, where to start, and the degree of difficulty. When you get to the trail’s entrance, read and follow the signage. Be aware of any restricted or closed trails. Do not just rely on social media to get the information you need about a trail.
Stay Put
You will be found more quickly and reduce the chances of getting into further trouble, especially after dark, by staying in one place. This is why it is important to notify someone of your hike location and destination.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com
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https://www.kitv.com/news/local/hiker-rescued-from-diamond-head-trail/article_8da14de4-c29d-11ec-be44-3b9dbe761e4b.html
| 2022-04-23T04:12:59Z
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Cuba and US take tentative step with talks on migration
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cuba and the United States took a tentative step toward thawing relations and resuming joint efforts to address irregular migration, a senior Cuban official said following the highest-level talks between the two countries in four years.
There were no major breakthroughs, but the mere fact that the U.S. was holding substantive talks was a sign relations might be looking better under President Joe Biden after going into deep freeze under his predecessor, Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio said Friday.
“They seem committed. They ratified that they are committed to the agreements in place,” Fernandez de Cossio said. “So we have no reason to mistrust what they’re saying, but time will tell.”
The talks did not focus on broader U.S.-Cuba relations but more narrowly on restoring adherence to previous agreements that were intended to curtail the often-dangerous irregular migration from the island to the United States.
“These talks helped both of us to understand the nature and the magnitude of the problem we’re facing,” the deputy foreign minister said in an interview with The Associated Press at the Cuban ambassador’s residence outside Washington.
U.S. officials want Cuba to resume taking back flights of deported migrants, which it stopped doing at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cuban authorities, meanwhile, want to see the U.S. follow through on its plan to restore consular services in Havana, so people can once again get visas to legally come to the United States, as well as change other policies that it believes encourage irregular migration from the island.
“They asked us to renew the flights because it was an important element of deterrence,” he said. “We said we agree that is an important element of deterrence. We explained that we needed to do in an integral manner, and they understood this.”
It was a more detailed rundown of the talks than what was provided by the U.S. a day earlier. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the meeting “underscores our commitment to pursuing constructive discussions with the government of Cuba where appropriate to advance U.S. interests.”
The talks take place against the backdrop of relations that sharply deteriorated under President Donald Trump and amid a sharp increase in the number of Cubans seeking to enter the U.S. along the Southwest border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped Cubans more than 79,800 times from October through March — more than double all of 2021 and five times more than all of 2020. Overall, the Border Patrol stopped migrants of all nationalities more than 209,000 times in March, the highest monthly mark in 22 years.
Cubans who cross the U.S. border illegally face little risk of being deported or expelled under a public health law that has been used to deny asylum to thousands of migrants of other nationalities on the grounds of slowing the spread of COVID-19.
Asked why so many Cubans are fleeing their country, Fernandez de Cossio blamed tough economic conditions in his country and widespread knowledge among Cubans that they will be granted asylum and legal residency in the U.S.
“Life is difficult for Cubans. It’s a developing country like any other country in the region,” he said. “They leave for economic reasons, like most migrants around the world.”
Cubans are often granted asylum after they assert what’s known under U.S. law as “credible fear” of persecution, typically for political or religious reasons. The deputy foreign minister is, not surprisingly, skeptical of such claims.
“When they reach the border, they claim that they have a credible fear if they if they are returned,” he said. “But then they’re accepted, and once they get residence the first thing they do is get a passport and move back to Cuba.”
Cuba wants the U.S. to stop routinely granting asylum, end the economic embargo and take other measures that it says encourage migration and to restore consular activities so people can legally travel back and forth from the island with visitor visas.
Operations at the U.S. embassy in Havana were severely curtailed beginning in 2017 after the emergence of unexplained health problems among some employees.
Cases of what became known as “Havana Syndrome” became a major issue during the Trump administration, which rolled back the rapprochement between the United States and Cuba that had been initiated by former President Barack Obama.
Fernandez de Cossio said the Trump administration curtailed visas as part of its “maximum pressure” against Cuba, contributing to the irregular migration occurring now and he welcomed the Biden administration’s commitment to restore visa operations.
“It needs to be done so that people in Cuba can find that there’s a legal normal way to migrate to the United States, which has been lacking since 2017,” he said.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wvva.com/2022/04/23/cuba-us-take-tentative-step-with-talks-migration/
| 2022-04-23T05:22:02Z
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Official: Meadows had been warned of possible 1/6 violence
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former White House official told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, had been advised of intelligence reports showing the potential for violence that day, according to transcripts released late Friday night.
Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as a special assistant in the Trump White House, told the committee “there were concerns brought forward” to Meadows ahead of the riot but it was unclear what Meadows did with that information.
“I just remember Mr. Ornato coming in and saying that we had intel reports saying that there could potentially be violence on the 6th,” Hutchinson said, presumably referencing Anthony Ornato, a senior Secret Service official. “And Mr. Meadows said: ‘All right. Let’s talk about it.’”
The filing Friday is the latest volley in a months-long legal fight over the extent to which Meadows, a close Trump ally whose proximity to the president has made him a key target of House Democrats, can be forced to cooperate with the committee’s investigation. Though Meadows supplied the committee with thousands of text messages, he refused to sit for an interview, argued that he was immune from having to testify by virtue of his White House position and instead sued the committee.
The filing seeks a court ruling in the committee’s favor that would compel Meadows’ cooperation. It says the committee has refined the scope of its request to focus on seven specific topics, including testimony about communication with Congress before Jan. 6; about White House plans to replace the leadership of the Justice Department so the department could pursue Trump’s bogus claims of election fraud; and about efforts to create alternate, or fake, slates of state electors who could change the outcome of the presidential vote.
The committee released as exhibits to the complaint excerpts of testimony from multiple witnesses it has interviewed, including Hutchinson. Besides describing warnings of potential violence provided to Meadows, she also revealed how the White House counsel’s office cautioned against plans to enlist fake electors in states, including in meetings involving Meadows and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
The filing also includes new text messages that Meadows turned over to the committee, including several from GOP members of Congress who were pushing him to act. Meadows’ former colleague and close friend, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, suggests in a late text on Jan. 5 — the day before Congress was due to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory — that Vice President Mike Pence “should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all.”
Meadows texted back in the early hours of Jan. 6: “I have pushed for this. Not sure it is going to happen.” Pence ultimately resisted the overwhelming pressure from Trump and his allies and did not attempt to object to Biden’s certification.
Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry was texting Meadows as early as Dec. 26: “Mark, just checking in as time continues to count down. 11 days to 1/6 and 25 days to inauguration. We gotta get going!”
In the texts released by the committee, Perry encouraged Meadows to talk to Jeffrey Clark, an assistant attorney general who was sympathetic to Trump’s bogus claims of election fraud. A week later, on Jan. 3, Clark attended a meeting at the White House with Trump, where the prospect of elevating Clark to the role of acting attorney general was discussed — but adamantly resisted by Justice Department officials, who threatened to resign, and White House lawyers. Trump ultimately backed down.
The testimony released Friday also reinforced how certain Republican members of Congress were deeply involved in White House discussions about overturning the election in the months leading to the deadly insurrection.
Hutchinson, for instance, described several calls involving Meadows and members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus in late November and early December in which participants discussed what Pence’s role could be on Jan. 6, besides the ceremonial role he was required to play.
On those calls, according to Hutchinson, were representatives from Trump’s legal team, including Giuliani, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, as well as Jordan and Perry.
Meadows’ lawsuit asked a judge to invalidate two subpoenas that he received from the committee, alleging they were “overly broad and unduly burdensome.” The suit accused the committee of overreaching by subpoenaing Verizon for his cell phone records.
After the complaint was filed, the select committee sent a contempt of Congress charge against Meadows to the House floor, where it passed on a near-party-line vote. It was the first time the chamber had voted to hold a former member in contempt since the 1830s.
While an earlier contempt referral against former Trump adviser Steve Bannon resulted in an indictment, the Justice Department has been slower to decide whether to prosecute Meadows.
The criminal case against Meadows is more complex than that presented against Bannon, in part because Meadows was a White House chief of staff and because he had begun to cooperate with the committee, even providing documents to the nine-member panel.
Meadows’ attorney, George Terwilliger, has previously defended his client by noting that due to Meadows’ willingness to turn over records, he should not be compelled to appear for an interview. Terwilliger did not immediately return an email seeking comment Friday night.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wvva.com/2022/04/23/official-meadows-had-been-warned-possible-16-violence/
| 2022-04-23T05:22:08Z
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Princeton blanks Pikeview behind dominant pitching
Emma Johnson hurls complete-game shutout
Published: Apr. 23, 2022 at 12:29 AM EDT|Updated: 52 minutes ago
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) - Tigers pitcher, Emma Johnson struck out the side in the first and dominated through the rest of the game. Johnson went the distance and didn’t allow a run.
Princeton led the whole way after a two-run first inning. The Tigers win the cross-town battle 8-0.
Copyright 2022 WVVA. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wvva.com/2022/04/23/princeton-blanks-pikeview-behind-dominant-pitching/
| 2022-04-23T05:22:17Z
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Russia shifts forces for battle over Ukrainian heartland
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine hurtled toward what could be an epic battle for control of the country’s industrial heartland as Ukrainian officials reported that Moscow had shifted a dozen crack military units from the shattered port of Mariupol to eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia reported Friday that one serviceman was killed and 27 others were left missing after the fire on board the warship Moskva, which sank a week ago following what the Ukrainians boasted was a missile attack. The Russian military previously reported everyone aboard had been rescued.
Also Friday, new satellite images showed a second possible mass grave site in a town near Mariupol, where Ukrainian defenders are holed up in a steel plant.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not acknowledge an attack on the warship. It continued to say a fire broke out after ammunition detonated, without explaining how that happened. The loss of the guided missile cruiser — the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet — was a humiliating setback for Moscow.
In Mariupol, reduced largely to smoking rubble by weeks of bombardment, Russian state TV showed the flag of the pro-Moscow Donetsk separatists raised on what it said was the city’s highest point, its TV tower. It also showed what it said was the main building at the city’s besieged Azovstal steel plant in flames.
The Kremlin has thrown over 100,000 troops and mercenaries from Syria and Libya into the fight in Ukraine and is deploying more forces in the country every day, said Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
“We have a difficult situation, but our army is defending our state,” he said.
Numerous cities and villages came under bombardment in the Donbas — the industrial region in the east that the Kremlin has declared the new, main theater of war — as well as in the Kharkiv region just to the west, and in the south, authorities said.
Russian forces pummeled the 2,000 Ukrainian fighters still holed up inside the sprawling Azovstal plant, the last known pocket of resistance in the strategic southern port city, the mayor’s office reported.
“Every day they drop several bombs on Azovstal,” said Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor. “Fighting, shelling, bombing do not stop.”
In other developments, a senior Russian military official publicly outlined Russian war aims that appeared to be wider than what the Kremlin has stated in recent weeks. Rustam Minnekayev said Russia’s forces aim to take full control of southern Urkaine, in addition to eastern Ukraine, and that doing so would open the way to the nation of Moldova, where Russia backs the breakaway region of Transnistria.
Responding to Minnekayev’s declaration about Russian forces opening a route to Moldva from southern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine was assumed to be just the beginning; further, they want to grab other countries.”
Moldovan officials are warily watching Putin’s actions in Ukraine, and Zelenskyy adviser Mykhailo Podolyak added that Russia “was always lying to everyone and that, in fact from the very beginning, it wanted stupidly to steal some of Ukraine’s territory to secure an outlet to Transnistria.”
The latest satellite photos from Maxar Technologies revealed what appeared to be a second mass grave site near Mariupol. The site at a cemetery in the town of Vynohradne has several newly dug parallel trenches measuring about 40 meters (131 feet) long, Maxar said in a statement.
A day earlier, Maxar released photos of what appeared to be rows upon rows of more than 200 freshly dug mass graves next to a cemetery in the town of Manhush, outside Mariupol. That prompted Ukrainian accusations that the Russians are trying to conceal the slaughter of civilians in the city.
“This confirms again that the occupiers arrange the collection, burial and cremation of dead residents in every district of the city,” Andryushchenko said on the Telegram messaging app.
The Ukrainians estimated that the graves seen in the photos released Thursday could hold 9,000 bodies.
The Kremlin did not respond to the satellite pictures.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared victory in the battle for Mariupol despite the steel-mill holdouts. He ordered his forces not to storm the plant to finish off the defenders but to seal it off instead in an apparent bid to force them to surrender.
Mariupol has taken on outsize importance in the war. Capturing it would deprive the Ukrainians of a vital port and complete a land corridor between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Putin seized from Ukraine in 2014.
It would also allow Putin to throw more of his forces into the potentially climactic battle for the Donbas and its coal mines, factories and other industries, or what the Kremlin has now declared to be its main objective.
Danilov reported that some 12 to 14 of Russia’s elite military units have, in fact, left Mariupol and begun moving to the east to take part in the fighting there.
“It will now be difficult for our forces, because our guys in Mariupol were taking (those units) on themselves. It is their courage and feat,” he said.
Danilov also said Kyiv managed to deliver weapons via helicopter at great risk under cover of night to the Mariupol steelworks, which have been bombarded for weeks.
Putin said Russia gave Ukrainian forces inside the plant the option to surrender, with guarantees to keep them alive, and offered “decent treatment and medical care,” according to an account of a phone call with European Council President Charles Michel, provided by the Kremlin.
“But the Kyiv regime does not allow them to take this opportunity,” Putin charged.
More than 100,000 people — down from a prewar population of about 430,000 — are believed trapped in Mariupol with little food, water or heat, and over 20,000 civilians have been killed in the nearly two-month siege, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Most attempts to evacuate civilians from the city have failed because of what the Ukrainians said was continued Russian shelling.
Days into the Russian offensive to take the east, the campaign has yet to become a full-out assault, with military analysts saying Moscow’s forces are still ramping up and have not achieved any major breakthroughs in the Donbas or gained any significant ground.
But shelling attacks killed three civilians in a small town and two villages Friday in the Donetsk region, which is part of the Donbas, the regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, posted on a messaging app. Kyrylenko said the Russians opened fire on at least 20 of the region’s settlements.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said talks between the two countries have “ground to a halt” because Moscow hasn’t received a response from Kyiv to its latest proposals, the details of which have not been released.
Putin’s lead negotiator at the talks, Vladimir Medinsky, said he held several lengthy conversations Friday with the head of the Ukrainian delegation. He gave no details.
___
Fisch reported from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Associated Press journalists Mstyslav Chernov and Felipe Dana in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Inna Varenytsia in Kviv and Robert Burns and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report, as did other AP staff members around the world.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wvva.com/2022/04/23/russia-shifts-forces-battle-over-ukrainian-heartland/
| 2022-04-23T05:22:23Z
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Two Tazewell High School athletes sign to play at collegiate level
Published: Apr. 23, 2022 at 12:58 AM EDT|Updated: 23 minutes ago
TAZEWELL, Va. (WVVA) - Two Tazewell High School athletes are headed to the college level.
Sage Lambert is headed to Southwest Virginia Community College to join the softball team.
Payton Harvey will join the volleyball team at Bluefield University.
Copyright 2022 WVVA. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wvva.com/2022/04/23/two-tazewell-high-school-athletes-sign-play-collegiate-level/
| 2022-04-23T05:22:30Z
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UPDATED 8:15PM: The fire was extinguished at 5:01 p.m. The American Red Cross was requested to assist one man, two women, and one child. The HFD Fire Investigator arrived at the scene to determine the origin and cause of the fire.
Damage assessments are currently ongoing.
Fire units had initially arrived at the scene at 4:08 p.m. to find smoke and flames emanating from a fourth-floor corner unit in the four-story apartment building on Nohonani street in Waikiki. HFD personnel quickly secured a water supply, initiated a fire attack and simultaneous primary search for any occupants in danger. Crews assigned to the interior of the apartment achieved fire control at 4:39 p.m. and continued to extinguish smaller incidental fires.
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Original Story
WAIKIKI (KITV4) - The Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) responded to a two-alarm fire at the Pacific Oasis apartment complex on Nohonani street in Waikiki on Friday afternoon.
The HFD received the 911 call around 4 p.m. The first unit arrived at the scene shortly after to find smoke and flames emanating from a third-floor corner unit in a three-story apartment building.
Guests from the apartment complex as well as the neighboring Ilima Hotel were reportedly evacuated.
HFD personnel quickly secured a water supply then attacked the fire and conducted a primary search for any occupants in danger.
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https://www.kitv.com/news/local/apartment-fire-reported-in-waikiki-guests-residents-evacuated/article_d0a817f4-c2b5-11ec-9f15-2b00bb9a8314.html
| 2022-04-23T06:27:01Z
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HAWAII KAI (KITV4) - After years of setbacks and a feud over who should run Koko Crater Stables, the city is now looking for the facility's new tenant.
Members of the Hawai'i Kai neighborhood board claim the corrals' current lessee, Horse Haven LLC, is violating its contract with the city by not offering horseback riding and lessons to the public.
Koko Crater Stables sits on land Kamehameha Schools gifted to the city in 1928, intended for public use.
People of all ages and skill levels have enjoyed horse back riding and lessons at the facility for nearly 6 decades. But that hasn't been the case as of late.
Hawai'i Kai neighborhood member Herb Schreiner said he and many others tried to secure lessons, but were turned away.
"The stables, to me, are supposed to be for the community, for anybody that wants to go and learn," Schreiner added.
"Horse Haven appears to be, and this is my wording, a club for people to just have their horses boarded there."
The city has now issued a request for proposals to put the stables under new management.
The solicitation comes after years of complications and a feud over who should oversee the facility--- Horse Haven or another equestrian company -- Aloha Riding Lessons, whose owner also sits on the neighborhood board.
"It's good it's out for bid, it's something that no matter who wins the bid, it's not the concern of the community," said Rep. Gene Ward, who represents Hawai'i Kai.
"The concern of the community is that it remain a horse stable, it's a blessing to us and we want to keep it that way."
Horse Haven declined comment, claiming the contract forbids them from speaking to media about its agreement.
The city also did not have a response ready on Friday.
Bids for the new contract are due by mid-July.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com
'A'ali'i is a reporter with KITV. He was born and raised on the island of Maui and graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor's degree in Journalism.
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https://www.kitv.com/news/local/city-seeks-new-management-for-embattled-koko-crater-stables/article_9f94b384-c2ab-11ec-9ee6-2bd4d4e753c5.html
| 2022-04-23T06:27:07Z
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Some parents at a Mililani Pre-school are alarmed that the school will now be managed by Hawaii Baptist Academy. Parents were told of this change on Tuesday night that the school will officially close on July 1st for the transition. KITV-4 spoke with a parent whose daughter has been at the school for a year and says she was blindsided by change in ownership and management. GracePoint Church has been running Cornerstone Early Education Center since August 1999, And Mililani Mother, Rabeca Poentis says the news that Hawaii Baptist Academy will be taking over operations of the preschool at this same location on August 1st came as a shock to her and other parents. “ My Biggest concern, is they are not giving us enough time, to look for other options, we have a deadline, register by May 2 for the August 1st start date. They are getting rid of the quality teachers that have been here for so long. With their employment requirements, many teachers would not be eligible to return. And that’s what makes this school “ Pastor James Shiroma from GracePoint Church says, “We want to apologize to all the families we know this brings hardship, we are working to bring healing and to provide for all the families who want to be part of this Hawaii Baptist at GracePoint Ohana, and the staff we want to encourage them too. “ Hawaii Baptist Academy says all current students as well as students who have already been accepted in the 2022-23 school year will be admitted at the promised tuition rate and have tiered tuition in the following years. Plus, HBA says, they have met with the current preschool staff and encouraged all to apply with Hawaii Baptist Academy. HBA does not require teachers to be members of a Baptist church, however, the school does require teachers to be members of a Christian Bible Based church.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to Cyip@kitv.com
Cynthia is an award-winning journalist who returned to Hawaii as an Anchor/Reporter/MMJ from Houston. She is a graduate of the University of Hawaii with a B.A. and M.B.A. DM her on IG @CynthiaYipTV to share stories.
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https://www.kitv.com/news/local/hawaii-baptist-academy-to-take-over-cornerstone-early-education-center-in-mililani/article_853016d8-c2b9-11ec-a6ca-13c46e8a96d7.html
| 2022-04-23T06:27:13Z
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Covid-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2021, CDC reports. Flags are placed in the ground to commemorate the Americans who have died due to COVID-19 near the Washington Monument on September 18, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Covid-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2021, following heart disease and cancer, for the second year in a row, according to provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The overall age-adjusted death rate for all causes in the US was about 1% higher in 2021 that in was in 2020, but the death rate from Covid-19 increased by nearly 20%. The data was published Friday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
More than one in eight deaths in 2021 had Covid-19 as an underlying cause, up from about one in 10 deaths in 2020.
More than 415,000 people died from Covid-19 in 2021, while about 605,000 people died from cancer and about 693,000 people died from heart disease, according to the CDC data. Influenza dropped out of the top 10 causes of death in 2021, while suicide rose to the tenth leading cause of death overall.
Demographic patterns in 2021 were similar to 2020, with overall death rates highest for Black people and American Indians and Alaskan Natives.
However, disparities in Covid-19 death rates decreased significantly for most racial and ethnic groups compared to the first year of the pandemic relative to death rates for multiracial people.
About 13% of Covid-19 deaths were among Black people in 2021, down from about 16% in 2020. Similarly, 16.5% of Covid-19 deaths were among Hispanic people in 2021, down from about 19% in 2020. White people, however, increased from about 60% of Covid-19 deaths in 2020 to more than 65% in 2021, according to the CDC data.
Also, Covid-19 death rates remained highest among those ages 85 and older in 2021, but were lower than they were in 2020. For all other age groups, Covid-19 death rates were higher in 2021 than they were in 2020.
"The results of both studies highlight the need for greater effort to implement effective interventions," the CDC said in a statement. "We must work to ensure equal treatment in all communities in proportion to their need for effective interventions that can prevent excess COVID-19 deaths."
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https://www.kitv.com/news/national/covid-19-was-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-the-united-states-in-2021-cdc/article_6790673b-9944-5218-94aa-7fde5fb447c6.html
| 2022-04-23T06:27:19Z
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The suspect in a shooting in northwest Washington, DC, that left four people wounded on Friday afternoon has died, DC Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said.
"The suspect that we believe is responsible for this is now deceased," said Contee, who declined to name the suspect pending notification of next of kin. "We believe that the suspect took his own life as MPD members were entering or breaching the apartment where the suspect was located."
Police are not looking for another suspect, Contee said.
Earlier, Stuart Emerman, the assistant chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, named Raymond Spencer, 23, as a person of interest. It was not known if Spencer is currently in the area.
Spencer is not a suspect, Emerman cautioned. Contee declined to say if Spencer was the suspect who is dead but said, "we are no longer looking for that person of interest."
Police are aware of video uploaded to the internet message board 4chan that appears to show the shooter opening fire on Edmund Burke School, a college prep school in northwest Washington. The video was uploaded by an individual using the name Raymond Spencer, and police wanted to speak with him to determine whether he was involved in the shooting.
"At this time, based upon the things we have seen on social media, based upon the information we are investigating, we are seeking a person of interest that we would like to speak with. That individual's name has come to light as Raymond Spencer. He is a 23-year-old male," Emerman said at a news briefing earlier Friday.
A man and a woman are in stable but critical condition, Emerman said, updating an earlier report from a police source who said two men had been shot. A girl is also being treated for a minor gunshot wound. All three are being treated at local hospitals.
At a later media briefing, Emerman said a fourth victim, whom he described as a woman in her mid-60s, was grazed by a bullet but did not have to go to the hospital.
The shooting happened on the 2900 block of Van Ness Street Northwest, MPD said.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said authorities were beginning to lift a lockdown at Edmund Burke and students are reunifying with their families.
Samuel Nicolido, a student who lives near where the shooting took place, told CNN that he had heard about 20 shots.
"It was like five shots and then stopped for like, one minute, and then four more, five more, and then again," Nicolido said. "I saw cops with shields everywhere and then they were saying -- they were telling us to stay at home. Don't leave. So yeah, it was scary."
Police are also investigating whether shots fired at a deli about half a mile down the street from the initial shooting location is connected. CNN spoke to the owner of the deli, who said his window had been hit by a bullet at 3:24 p.m. ET. A car parked across the street from the deli was also hit by a bullet, according to the owner of the car who spoke to CNN.
There was also a bullet hole in the storefront window of an optometrist several doors down from the deli.
A large law enforcement presence responded to the scene, including MPD, the city's Fire and EMS Department, the US Secret Service's uniformed division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said there is "no impact" to a protectee.
Video appears to show shooter opening fire
The video uploaded to 4chan is incredibly shaky and has a red crosshairs in the center. It appears to be taken by a bodycam worn by the shooter: it bears a time stamp, 3:17 p.m., and the metadata shows that a video encoder which creates the video file from a bodycam and dashcam manufacturer was used.
CNN has geolocated the video, which shows it was taken from an apartment building directly next to the Edmund Burke School.
An enclosed bridge between two school buildings is seen in the video -- an individual with a backpack appears in one frame -- before multiple gunshots are heard. The shooter appears to reload the weapon once in the video.
CNN has spoken with an eyewitness who confirmed that an enclosed bridge at the school, connecting two buildings, was shot up.
Individuals in the enclosed bridge are seen running. A man on the ground, wearing a reflective vest, runs between parked cars for cover.
4chan did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.
The individual who posted the video to 4chan appeared to taunt the police, who were searching for them, in additional posts on the site.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
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https://www.kitv.com/news/national/suspect-in-dc-shooting-that-wounded-4-is-dead-police-say/article_22000c94-5a7c-53fb-bdf7-3fbb99357b7c.html
| 2022-04-23T06:27:25Z
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Bob Prasser was dropping off laundry today for his uncle Rodney Lo who lives at the Wahiawa Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Prasser said he was blindsided to learn Wahiawa's only skilled nursing facility is closing after more than half a century.
"It was more than shocking. We just don't know what to do at this point. Because we understand there's nothing available," he said. "It's not just a hospital or long-term care unit. It's uncle's home."
It's a tough pill to swallow for Prasser and the other families of residents now scrambling to find another place for their loved ones to live.
"It's going to impact a lot of people," Prasser added. "There's quite a few people here who have relatives visit them like us too, but there's also a lot of them that have nobody."
Wahiawa General Hospital said it will close the 136-bed facility by July 22.
Officials said the nursing home has been losing more than $1 million a year because government reimbursements don't cover the costs of care.
"Yeah, it's a sad situation, because I'm 77 so I'm going to be in a situation before too long, and I would hate to be kicked out of someplace," said Wahiawa resident Shirley Mason.
The pandemic has also created another big problem -- not enough workers to take care of nursing home residents.
The head of the hospital told KITV4 that it was a hard decision, but necessary for survival.
"Heartbroken would be the good word," said Brian Cunningham, chief executive officer of Wahiawa General Hospital. "This is our family. We've been here serving our kupuna for 50-plus years. So we're all devastated."
Wahiawa General said it will help the facility's 60 residents find other homes.
And it is hoping to offer as many of the 75 nursing home workers jobs at the hospital, which is expanding its acute care unit from 21 beds to 66.
Kristen joined KITV4 in March 2021 after working for the past two decades as a newspaper reporter. Kristen's goal is to produce meaningful journalism that educates, enlightens and inspires to affect positive change in society.
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https://www.kitv.com/news/wahiawas-only-skilled-nursing-home-closing-families-scramble-to-find-new-homes-for-loved-ones/article_117d3e3e-c2b7-11ec-98f3-6bd697ff570b.html
| 2022-04-23T06:27:31Z
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Archived Video- April 28, 2002 Tornado
Shenk Interview
Published: Apr. 21, 2022 at 4:18 PM EDT
An emotional interview with Jim Shenk, him and his wife Nancy survived the tornado but their home was destroyed.
Witnnesses and survivors of the tornado
Original report from Rachel DePompa
Cleaning up, hearing from witnesses
Original story from Jay Webb
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/archived-video-april-28-2002-tornado-2/
| 2022-04-23T07:42:16Z
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Archived Video- April 28, 2002 Tornado
Witnnesses and survivors of the tornado
Published: Apr. 21, 2022 at 4:23 PM EDT
Original report from Rachel DePompa
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved.
Original report from Rachel DePompa
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/archived-video-april-28-2002-tornado-3/
| 2022-04-23T07:42:22Z
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Archived Video- April 28, 2002 Tornado
Cleaning up, hearing from witnesses
Published: Apr. 21, 2022 at 4:30 PM EDT
Original story from Jay Webb
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved.
Original story from Jay Webb
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/archived-video-april-28-2002-tornado-4/
| 2022-04-23T07:42:29Z
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Archived Video- April 28, 2002 Tornado
Raw Footage of the tornado
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Published: Apr. 21, 2022 at 4:15 PM EDT
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Raw footage of the tornado, captured by WHSV
Raw footage captured by WHSV of the formation of the 2002 Tornado in Shenandoah county, around the Quicksburg area
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/archived-video-april-28-2002-tornado/
| 2022-04-23T07:42:36Z
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COVID: Parents of unvaccinated children upset about new mask rules
LOS ANGELES (CNN) - A federal court ruling has recently struck down the travel mask mandate, and parents of young children are saying they felt blindsided by such a ruling when it comes to their future travel plans.
Erin Goulder, a mother to a 6- and 3-year-old, said she has done everything to keep her children safe from COVID since the start of the pandemic.
“We’re pretty COVID conscious. We’re probably the strictest people that we know,” Goulder said.
The family said they have been to parks, nature reserves and zoos, but they won’t be getting on an airplane anytime soon.
“If people aren’t wearing masks, then we’re definitely going to come up with a different plan,” Goulder said.
The Goulders said they had planned to fly to California and Europe over the summer, but now they’ve scrapped all that after the sudden end of masking requirements on planes.
“I don’t understand what the big deal about a mask is. When you’re in an enclosed space with that many people coming from that many different places,” Goulder said.
Fellow travelers wearing masks was an important layer of safety for the whole family.
Goulder, her husband and her older daughter are vaccinated, but they know they could still get COVID. And their younger daughter is too young to be vaccinated so, she’s completely unprotected.
“My biggest worry is the long COVID and also the unknowns,” Goulder said.
Dr. William Schaffner, a vaccine adviser to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said different families will make different decisions about flying in planes.
“I wouldn’t think that going on a plane exposes them to any more risk than they might be exposed to in the community in everyday activities,” Schaffner said.
If parents are worried about their child’s safety on a plane, he said to consider driving if that’s possible. And if it’s not, do everything to minimize the risk, such as mask-wearing and as much social distancing as possible.
Overall, children are less at risk of severe disease with COVID, but Schaffner emphasizes it’s not zero.
According to the World Health Organization, the number of new COVID cases was down globally by 24% last week.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/covid-parents-unvaccinated-children-upset-about-new-mask-rules/
| 2022-04-23T07:42:43Z
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Crews respond to Stanley house fire
STANLEY, Va. (WHSV) - Stanley Fire Chief Terry A. Pettit reported that the Stanley Fire Department responded to a structure fire involving a house at 3:41 a.m. Thursday morning located at 287 Little Roundhead Drive. The house was in a wooded area about one mile south of Stanley and had been abandoned for several years.
Chief Pettit said that the wood frame two-story house owned by Neil and Linda Fields of Danville, Kentucky was fully ablaze when firefighters arrived.
Chief Pettit explained that firefighters were hampered by the delay in somebody not reporting the fire due the time and the fact over 1,800 feet of hose had to be laid to reach a fire hydrant near the Masonite Door Company for water supply. The road leading to the home was too narrow for tankers, he added.
Damage is estimated at $200,000.00 and the house is considered a total loss. Officials are attempting to reach the owners to obtain more information.
Pettit also stated the cause of the fire is unknown at this time however, Page County Sheriff Department Investigators were interviewing a male subject who was discovered in a building at the scene and appeared to be homeless.
Chief Pettit reported that six units from the Stanley Fire Department and 24 members responded to the blaze and were on the scene for about four hours.
Page County EMS also responded, and no injuries were reported. The Luray Fire Department stood by the Stanley station with an engine to answer other calls.
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/crews-respond-stanley-house-fire/
| 2022-04-23T07:42:50Z
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Dust Devil on Easter Sunday
STUARTS DRAFT, Va. (WHSV) - A dust devil captured on video on Easter Sunday. This was taken around 1:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon in a field around the interesection of Indian Ridge Road and University Farm Road.
Conditions Sunday would have been right for a dust devil. It doesn’t necessarily have to be that warm, but Sunday was warm. Wind was light at the surface and the ground was dry.
HOW DUST DEVILS FORM
On a day with a lot of sunshine and very light wind, warm air heats up and it starts to rise forming like a mini updraft. So it kind of forms an area of low pressure.
The surrounding area rushes in to fill that void, to fill that low pressure and if you have just enough of a cross breeze, it can form an area of rotation and therefore we can have a dust devil.
A lot of times you have to have very dry weather and no rain for an extended period of time so we don’t see these very often, but they do happen on occasion.
In fact earlier this year, a dust devil formed in Shenandoah county and moved over Lake Laura, creating- well we can call it a lake spout.
Another dust devil occurred in 2017 from Page County in the Stanley area. Most of the time, dust devils are very weak, they don’t last very long. Sometimes, a few seconds to even a few minutes and they are usually more tall and skinny. They’re not very wide, but they can be hundreds of feet tall or even thousands of feet tall in some cases but that’s also kind of rare. So you never know. Sometimes when we have a persistent dry spell, you may encounter a dust devil.
Dust Devil into Lake Spout
A dust devil moved over lake waters in Shenandoah County
Dust Devil Picks up 70lb Dog
From 2021
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/dust-devil-easter-sunday/
| 2022-04-23T07:42:56Z
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Former Raiders QB Daryle Lamonica dies at age 80
(AP) – Daryle Lamonica, the deep-throwing quarterback who won an AFL Player of the Year award and led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl appearance, has died. He was 80.
The Fresno County Sherriff’s Office said Lamonica passed away at his Fresno home on Thursday morning. The death is considered to be from natural causes.
The Raiders acquired Lamonica in a trade from Buffalo in 1967 and he was immediately the perfect fit for the vertical offense owner Al Davis coveted for his franchise.
Nicknamed the “Mad Bomber,” Lamonica made an immediate impact in Oakland after starting only four games in four seasons with the Bills.
Lamonica’s deep arm teamed up with receivers such as Warren Wells and Fred Biletnikoff and turned the Raiders into a powerhouse. They went 13-1 his first season as Lamonica was a first-team All-Pro and AP AFL Player of the Year when he led the league with 30 touchdown passes.
Lamonica then threw two TD passes in a win over Houston in the AFL title game to send the Raiders to their first Super Bowl where they lost 33-14 to Green Bay.
In his six seasons as a starter for the Raiders, Lamonica was one of the most prolific passers in the game, leading led pro football with 145 TD passes — 24 more than second-place Fran Tarkenton. His 16,006 yards passing ranked third from 1967-72.
Lamonica was an All-Pro again in 1969 when he led the AFL with 3,302 yards passing and 34 touchdowns. The 34 TDs still stand as the franchise’s single-season record more than a half-century later.
Lamonica was at his best during the playoffs, throwing five TD passes in a 41-6 win over Kansas City in 1968 and a record six the following season against Houston. Only Steve Young and Tom Brady have matched Lamonica’s six TD passes in a playoff game and only Patrick Mahomes and Kurt Warner have multiple games with at least five.
Lamonica also played a starring role in one of the most memorable games ever, throwing four TD passes, including the go-ahead score to Charlie Smith in a 43-32 win over the Jets in a game now known as the “Heidi Game” because NBC cut away from the finish on the East Coast before the Raiders comeback to show the children’s movie.
Lamonica was replaced as the starter in 1973 by Ken Stabler and went to the World Football League the following season where he finished his career.
Lamonica finished his career with 19,154 yards passing and 164 TDs. The Raiders went 62-16-6 in Lamonica’s starts for the best winning percentage for any starting QB in the Super Bowl era with at least 75 starts.
Lamonica was born and raised in Fresno before going to college at Notre Dame. He was drafted in the 12th round by Green Bay and the 23rd round by the Bills in 1963 and opted to go to the AFL. He was a backup to Jack Kemp in Buffalo before becoming a star in Oakland.
___
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://apnews.com/hub/pro-32 and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/former-raiders-qb-daryle-lamonica-dies-age-80/
| 2022-04-23T07:43:03Z
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Kentucky abortion law blocked in win for clinics
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a state law that effectively eliminated abortions in Kentucky after the state’s two remaining clinics said they couldn’t meet its requirements.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings was a victory for abortion rights advocates and a setback for the Republican-led legislature, which passed the law in March and then overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of the measure last week. One of the clinics said Thursday that it would immediately resume abortion services.
The new law bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy and requires women to be examined by a doctor before receiving abortion pills. It also contains new reporting requirements that the Kentucky clinics said they couldn’t immediately comply with. Noncompliance can result in stiff fines and felony penalties.
Jennings’ order did not delve into the larger issue of the new law’s constitutionality. Instead, it focused on the clinics’ claims that they’re unable to comply with the measure because the state hasn’t yet set up clear guidelines.
Jennings, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, said she decided to block the entire law because she lacked information “to specifically determine which individual provisions and subsections are capable of compliance.”
Abortion rights activists said they were relieved by the decision but noted more rounds are ahead in the legal fight.
“This is a win, but it is only the first step,” said Rebecca Gibron, the CEO for Planned Parenthood in Kentucky, where its clinic is immediately resuming abortion services. “We’re prepared to fight for our patients’ right to basic health in court and to continue doing everything in our power in ensure abortion access is permanently secured in Kentucky.”
Supporters say the goal of Kentucky’s new law is to protect women’s health and strengthen oversight. Opponents say the objective all along was to stop abortions in the state completely.
Kentucky is among the GOP-led states that have passed restrictive abortion laws in anticipation of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could reverse the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that established a right to abortion nationwide nearly 50 years ago.
Pending before the high court is a challenge to a law passed in a fifth state, Mississippi, that bans abortion after 15 weeks. The court has indicated that it will allow Mississippi’s ban to stand and conservative justices have suggested they support overruling Roe.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/kentucky-abortion-law-blocked-win-clinics/
| 2022-04-23T07:43:10Z
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Man bites, stabs K-9, leaving dog injured, police say
FAIRFIELD, Calif. (Gray News) – Police in California said a suspect stabbed and bit a K-9 during a chase Wednesday, which left the dog injured.
According to the Fairfield Police Department, the series of events began when a male suspect broke into an elderly victim’s home about 43 miles southwest of Sacramento. The victim was able to flee the home while calling 911.
During that time, dispatchers received another call that the same suspect had just tried to steal an Amazon delivery truck and threatened to kill the driver.
Officers located the suspect inside the elderly victim’s home and attempted to get him to come out without success. Eventually, officers entered the home in an attempt to arrest the man.
K-9 Cort was able to reach the suspect, but the man bit Cort in the face and stabbed the dog in his left side with a knife, police said.
Officers were able to take the man into custody and identified him as Kurt Dasilva, 44. They said it appeared he was under the influence of drugs.
Police said Cort was treated at a nearby veterinary hospital and is “comfortably recovering at home with his handler.”
Dasilva was treated at a local hospital and booked into Solano County Jail on several felony charges, including carjacking, burglary, harming a police dog, and violation of parole.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/man-bites-stabs-k-9-leaving-dog-injured-police-say/
| 2022-04-23T07:43:17Z
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Masks still required on CAT buses
Published: Apr. 21, 2022 at 4:42 PM EDT
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - If you’re planning on catching a ride on bus with Charlottesville Area Transit any time soon, make sure you have a mask.
According to city policy, you must wear a mask on city property, and that includes CAT buses.
Drivers and passengers must wear a facemask while on the bus. Anyone who does not have a mask will be provided with one.
CAT says the policy will be revisited at the end of May.
Copyright 2022 WVIR. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/masks-still-required-cat-buses/
| 2022-04-23T07:43:24Z
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‘My life is incredible’: 76-year-old man is one of the last people with an iron lung
(CNN) – A Texas man who has lived 70 years in an iron lung says he has lived a full and exciting life because he “never gave up.”
The machine was common during the polio epidemic, and Paul Alexander is one of the last people to be in one.
The iron lung works to change the air pressure and stimulate breathing. It has been the home of 76-year-old Alexander, keeping him alive for 70 years.
In 1952, Alexander contracted polio at 6 years old and became paralyzed from the neck down.
Alexander said a therapist promised him a dog if he could breathe on his own for three minutes.
“I developed a way to get air and breathing,” Alexander said. “I worked on it for a year before I could reach that three minutes, but I reached it.”
Eventually, Alexander would be able to gulp or take in air for hours at a time, allowing him to leave the confines of the iron lung during the day and accomplish more than anyone thought was possible for him.
He went on to go to college, law school and had a 30-year-long career as a courtroom attorney.
Alexander wrote an autobiography, and is now working on a second book.
“But I’ve got some big dreams,” he said. “I am not going to accept from anybody their limitations on my life. Not gonna do it. My life is incredible.”
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/my-life-is-incredible-76-year-old-man-is-one-last-people-with-an-iron-lung/
| 2022-04-23T07:43:30Z
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Police: 2 charged with kidnapping after 17-year-old goes missing after work
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (KAIT/Gray News) - Police in Arkansas have arrested two people in a kidnapping case involving a 17-year-old girl.
KAIT reports officers with the Hot Springs Police Department arrested 38-year-old Samuel Wayne Bolling Jr. and 19-year-old Dayla Diane Ferrer earlier this week.
The two are facing charges that include kidnapping, aggravated robbery and first-degree battery after an Amber Alert was issued for 17-year-old Trynytee Case, who went missing after work on Monday.
Officers said Case was found Tuesday in a local neighborhood and taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Bolling and Ferrer were located nearby and taken into custody.
Originally, police said the 17-year-old was approached by an unknown woman who said she had lost her parents and asked Case for help while she was walking to her car with another co-worker.
Case’s co-worker went to get her car nearby, and by the time she returned, police said Case was gone.
Additionally, Arkansas police said a man later got on the phone and demanded $10,000 from Case’s mother for her return or else they were going to kill her.
On Wednesday, authorities said the two suspects were being held without bond at the Garland County Detention Center.
Copyright 2022 KAIT via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/police-2-charged-with-kidnapping-after-17-year-old-goes-missing-after-work/
| 2022-04-23T07:43:37Z
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Police officers surprise shoppers with cash in California
OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KFMB) – If you’re interacting with a police officer, usually it’s because you’ve been in an accident, are a victim of a crime, or you’re getting a ticket.
But in one California city, officers are changing that by giving away thousands of dollars.
Officers T.J. Dunn and Charles Dabney surprised shoppers Wednesday at a Walmart store located in the area where they regularly patrol.
“So, how much money do you think you’re going to spend today?” Dunn asked Sandy Hughes as she was shopping.
“More than I want to!” Hughes said.
Hughes is in the middle of moving because her rent just went up again, but her quick trip to the grocery store ended up making her smile.
“I’m going to give you $100 in cash,” Dunn told her before handing her the money. “It’s called an act of kindness.”
Technically, it’s called the Random Acts of Kindness Project, which was made possible by an Oceanside resident who donated $20,000 to the Oceanside Police Department to randomly give out to residents throughout the year to help make ends meet.
The project is giving officers the opportunity to meet people in a more relaxed and friendly environment than usual.
“Most of the time when people call the police, it’s not under the greatest circumstances,” said Jennifer Atenza, the department’s public information officer. “It’s when something bad has happened, there’s an emergency, there’s trauma involved. So, this affords us the opportunity to make connections under positive circumstances.”
Last month, Oceanside officers visited gas stations along their regular beat to help people with spiking gas prices.
Officers said soon they will randomly stop by other grocery stores across the city to give away cash.
Copyright 2022 KFMB via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/police-officers-surprise-shoppers-with-cash-california/
| 2022-04-23T07:43:43Z
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Powell reinforces expectations of sharp rate hike next month
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve must move faster than it has in the past to rein in high inflation, Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday, signaling that sharp interest rate increases are likely in the coming months, beginning at the Fed’s next policy meeting in May.
In a panel discussion held by the International Monetary Fund during its spring meetings, Powell also suggested that “there’s something in the idea of front-loading” aggressive rate hikes as the Fed grapples with inflation that has reached a four-decade high.
“So that does point in the direction of (a half-point rate increase) being on the table” for the Fed’s policy meeting May 3-4, Powell said. Typically in the past, the Fed has raised its benchmark short-term rate by more modest quarter-point increments. When the Fed raises its rate, it often leads to higher borrowing costs for people and businesses, including those seeking to borrow to buy homes, cars and other costly goods.
Wall Street investors already expect the Fed to raise its key rate by a half-point at its next three meetings, including those that will occur in June and July. Powell’s comments Thursday underscored those expectations.
That would be the fastest tightening since 1994, when the Fed raised its rate by 1.25 percentage points over the course of three meetings.
By contrast, Christine Lagarde, president of European Central Bank, who took part in Thursday’s discussion, sounded a much more cautious note. Inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro reached 7.5% last month, compared with a year earlier, the highest level since records began in 1997.
Yet Europe’s economy faces a greater threat from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has sent food and particularly energy prices on the continent soaring and has weighed more on its economic growth than in the United States.
Lagarde said the ECB, at its next meeting in June, would decide when to end its program of bond purchases, which are intended to lower long-term interest rates. The Fed completed a similar effort in March. The ECB has set the July-September quarter as a target to stop buying bonds but hasn’t been more specific.
One reason for Lagarde’s caution, she said, is that about half of Europe’s inflation is driven by high energy prices. Typically, interest rate policies can do little about such supply shocks.
“Our economies are moving at a different pace,” Lagarde said, referring to Europe and the United States, where growth has been faster. “Our inflation is fed by different components.”
In his remarks, Powell said the Fed wants to “expeditiously” raise its benchmark rate to a neutral level, meaning a level that neither encourages nor restrains economic growth. Fed officials now consider a rate of between 2.25% and 2.5% to be roughly neutral. That’s 2 percentage points above its current level.
The Fed could raise rates beyond neutral, Powell said, to a level that would slow the economy — “if that turns out to be appropriate” to stem high inflation.
How quickly the Fed should lift rates to a point they start to restrain the economy could be a point of debate among policymakers in the coming months. On Wednesday, Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said that rates “will probably end up” above neutral by next year.
But Mary Daly, president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve, suggested Wednesday that once the Fed lifted rates to a level that no longer encouraged or restricted growth, it should proceed cautiously.
“If we slam the brakes on the economy by adjusting rates too quickly or too much, we risk...potentially tipping the economy into recession,” Daly said.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.whsv.com/2022/04/21/powell-reinforces-expectations-sharp-rate-hike-next-month/
| 2022-04-23T07:43:50Z
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Week in Review, April 18-22: Top Business Stories in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS — Here are the week’s top business stories:
Xavier Plans Graduate School of Health Sciences, Medical School
Breeze Airways to Introduce Nonstop Route from New Orleans to Savannah
Kimberly Gramm to Head Tulane’s New Innovation Institute
GNO Inc., Bank of America Release 3rd Greater New Orleans Jobs Report
10 Companies Honored as 2022 Louisiana Growth Leaders
HRI Communities to Develop New Community in Downtown Lake Charles
Great Southern Wood Preserving Announces $22.5M Expansion in Avoyelles
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https://www.bizneworleans.com/week-in-review-april-18-22-top-business-stories-in-new-orleans/
| 2022-04-23T07:46:15Z
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HONOLULU (KITV)- Domestic violence is something that happens behind closed doors, but the current court testimony between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has domestic violence making headlines. While the Hollywood case shines a light on the issue, many incidents go unreported. Especially those in which men are the abuse victims.
The Domestic Violence Action Center says in March it provided services to 387 people and only 5 were men. The Honolulu Police Department says violence against men cases largely go unreported. This is a problem, because the issue touches more people than you might expect.
"I actually broke down in tears," said domestic violence survivor Kia'i Neff. The journey from domestic violence victim to survivor for Neff has not been an easy one. It took him 2 years just to get a restraining order against his significant other. He has stories of epileptic seizures being triggered by fights.
"I would find myself on the floor. I would ask to go to the hospital, but I wouldn't be in a state where I could summon the ambulance myself. He would not," said Neff. He is part of a small demographic that is rarely mentioned in discussions about domestic violence, the male victim.
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence says in 2020 34% of women and 24% of men in Hawaii experienced domestic violence or stalking. " I had the police tell me, 'you're bigger than him', and that is damaging," said Neff.
National statistics say only 15% of cases involve men as victims. There are victims out there who are gay, straight, or represent many different identities on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
Neff says his relationship started off in a much different place that where it ended. "It began with him isolating me from family and friends to control my environment. He tried to control my finances and separate me from my medical alert dog," said Neff.
"It's really about power and control," said Angelina Mercado who is Executive Director of the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Mercado says often the abuser, no matter what sex they are, tries to control every aspect of the victim's life.
Another aspect comes into play for the male victim. "There are definitely barriers to disclosing having to do with machismo and stereotypes," said Mercado. "We're told we should be able to defend ourselves or even, if we can't do that we should be able to get over it," said Neff.
Neff says that stereotype is not based in the reality of the situation. "We might move on with our lives, but those memories never go away," said Neff. He said part of the solution was finally finding out there is help available.
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If you're an abuse victim, you have resources and can report it. There is help out there for anyone facing abuse. If you or anyone you know is going through this call:
National Domestic Violence Hotline 800-799-7233
Domestic Violence Action Center 808-531-3771
Or Text the 24-7 hotline 605-956-5680
For more resources, visit the page here.
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https://www.kitv.com/news/crime/domestic-violence-against-males-often-unreported/article_7e82e5b2-c2c4-11ec-a9b4-53d85ec20347.html
| 2022-04-23T08:29:59Z
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UPDATED 8:15PM: The fire was extinguished at 5:01 p.m. The American Red Cross was requested to assist one man, two women, and one child. The HFD Fire Investigator arrived at the scene to determine the origin and cause of the fire.
Damage assessments are currently ongoing.
Fire units had initially arrived at the scene at 4:08 p.m. to find smoke and flames emanating from a fourth-floor corner unit in the four-story apartment building on Nohonani street in Waikiki. HFD personnel quickly secured a water supply, initiated a fire attack and simultaneous primary search for any occupants in danger. Crews assigned to the interior of the apartment achieved fire control at 4:39 p.m. and continued to extinguish smaller incidental fires.
A witness at the scene spoke with KITV4 after helping rescue an elderly resident:
“The smoke was really bad, especially on the third floor, so I took my shirt off and soaked it in water at one of the residences places," said Waikiki resident Jeremy Castro. "I had to go down the stairs a little bit, hop up over and then climb up on to his lanai, and knock on his door. He never answered so I just kind of opened it and got his attention. I finally was able to get him outside…by that time I think three officers came up to the top floor.”
This is a developing story - check back for more updates.
--
Original Story
WAIKIKI (KITV4) - The Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) responded to a two-alarm fire at the Pacific Oasis apartment complex on Nohonani street in Waikiki on Friday afternoon.
The HFD received the 911 call around 4 p.m. The first unit arrived at the scene shortly after to find smoke and flames emanating from a third-floor corner unit in a three-story apartment building.
Guests from the apartment complex as well as the neighboring Ilima Hotel were reportedly evacuated.
HFD personnel quickly secured a water supply then attacked the fire and conducted a primary search for any occupants in danger.
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https://www.kitv.com/news/local/apartment-fire-reported-in-waikiki-guests-residents-evacuated-update/article_d0a817f4-c2b5-11ec-9f15-2b00bb9a8314.html
| 2022-04-23T08:30:05Z
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HONOLULU COUNTY (KITV4) - On Earth Day 2022, community organization Mālama Pu`uloa partnered with Hilton Grand Vacations and removed hundreds of an invasive type of plant species and replaced them with native Hawaiian vegetation.
Mālama Pu`uloa is the main program of Hui o Ho`ohonua (HOH), an organization committed to restoring Kapapapui Point Park and the natural shoreline on Pearl Harbor.
The organization had more than 7,000 volunteers over time, and cleared more than seven acres of land covered in trees. And now the public can see fish ponds and even exotic birds.
"The power of the Hui, it continues to grow. It attracts people because the idea of clearing away what shouldn’t be here is drawing in a lot of people. We always credit the first Hawaiians who showed how to do it," said Sandy Ward, Executive Director of Hui o Ho`ohonua.
Mālama Pu`uloa members say it is important to raise awareness for Earth Day because it gives them a chance to spread the word about Hawaii's natural history.
“Things like Red Hill come up, or our water distribution. There’s a lot of things going on with our environment that people don’t understand yet we hear a lot about it. When you do things like this and participate then some of that awareness is brought out," said Ai Jeffers-Fabro, project manager at Mālama Pu`uloa.
Also on this Earth Day, Mayor Rick Blangiardi and community sustainability leaders released the City’s 2022 Annual Sustainability Report that outlines the progress on sustainability goals.
"We have seen a large increase in clean energy powering in our community with Honolulu ranked number one again with the most solar rooftop per capita in the nation. we passed our halfway point to our 100,000 trees planting goal by 2025 with more than 4,000 almost 5,000 tree plantings from our community,” said Nicola Hedge, deputy director at Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resilience.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com
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https://www.kitv.com/news/local/m-lama-pu-uloa-partnered-with-hilton-grand-vacations-on-earth-day/article_0510cc12-c2bf-11ec-9847-83f2efe09e95.html
| 2022-04-23T08:30:11Z
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HILO (KITV4) - Hawaii Island Police are investigating a traffic collision involving two vehicles that resulted in a motorcyclist being critically injured.
The collision occurred on Thursday evening at the intersection of Mamalahoa Highway and Hau Street in the Wainaku area of Hilo. The earliest reports of the crash came in around 8:28 pm.
On the scene, police investigators determined that a 2013 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck made a left turn from Hau Street onto Highway 19, causing a 2005 Honda motorcycle traveling Hilo-bound on Highway 19, to collide with the rear driver’s side of the truck.
At the time of the collision it was raining and the roadway was wet.
The 39-year-old man riding the motorcycle was initially transported to Hilo Medical Center and later to Queens Medical Center on Oahu. He is in stable but critical condition as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.
The 47-year-old man and driver of the pickup truck was not injured as a result of the traffic collision.
The East Hawaii Traffic Enforcement Unit is conducting further investigation relative to any contributing factors and have initiated a negligent injury investigation, which is pending.
Police are asking for anyone who may have witnessed the collision to contact Officer Jared Cabatu at (808) 961-2339 or via email Jared.Cabatu@HawaiiCounty.gov.
Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com
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https://www.kitv.com/news/local/police-seeking-information-in-hilo-crash-that-left-one-hospitalized/article_915f8c98-c2c0-11ec-b85e-cbeade7b147f.html
| 2022-04-23T08:30:17Z
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In a surprise reversal, the Department of Defense dismissed the appeals it had filed this year challenging the Hawaii Health Department’s Emergency Order to defuel the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
The Navy’s decision to withdraw its appeals came after a ruling by State Environmental Judge Jeffrey P. Crabtree. He denied the Navy’s motion to put the state court appeal on hold, citing the ongoing threat the Red Hill Facility poses to the water supply.
“This is a very positive development for the people of Hawaii and our environment. We will continue working to ensure the Red Hill tanks are safely defueled and closed by the federal government and that the state will have access to clean, fresh water for the future,” said Gov. David Y. Ige.
“The Navy dropping its appeals is a step forward in protecting the people of Hawaii and our environment", said DOH Deputy Director of Environmental Health Kathleen Ho. "While today’s announcement is good news, the work continues. DOH will continue to act expeditiously and proactively to oversee the safe defueling and decommissioning of Red Hill and restoration of the aquifer.”
“This is the right thing to do, and I worked very hard to push the DOD to make this decision. The legal challenge to the order made it difficult for the state to work cooperatively with the DOD, and dropping the lawsuit paves the way for us to shut down Red Hill this year,” said Senator Schatz.
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https://www.kitv.com/news/local/red-hill-defueling-efforts-inch-closer-after-navy-drops-their-appeal-against-the-emergency-defueling/article_b04ffd40-c2bb-11ec-90cc-bff852818154.html
| 2022-04-23T08:30:23Z
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https://www.kitv.com/news/eric-thompson-indicted-by-oahu-grand-jury-for-murder-of-acupuncturist-jon-tokuhara/article_66d7f684-c2e0-11ec-937e-07beed6cbfaa.html
| 2022-04-23T10:26:56Z
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HONOLULU-- Those supporting the Shut Down Red Hill movement in Hawaii received welcome news on Earth Day.
The United States government has removed the last legal obstacle that could have stood in the way of the defueling of the Red Hill fuel tanks.
This means the Hawaii Department of Health emergency order to shut down the fuel storage facility stands uncontested.
The DOH order specifies a timeline of 30 days for defueling to be completed, after the Navy submits its plan. The Navy had previously floated a timeline closer to a year to complete the process.
According to David Henkin of Earthjustice, the appeals were the last obstacle for defueling the Red Hill fuel storage tanks which have put Honolulu's primary aquifer at risk.
"And by dropping the appeal all the cards are now in the Department of Health's hands. So we are really gonna need our Department of Health to stand up to the public interests," Henkin told KITV.
Deputy Director of Environmental Health Kathleen Ho released a statement saying:
"The work continues. DOH will continue to act expeditiously and proactively to oversee the safe defueling and decommissioning of Red Hill and restoration of the aquifer."
Members of the Congressional delegation also spoke out in support of the news. It marks the result of a collective effort to take on the federal government's efforts to keep the Red Hill fuel storage facility operational.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com
Jeremy Lee joined KITV after over a decade & a half in broadcast news from coast to coast on the mainland. Jeremy most recently traveled the country documenting protests & civil unrest.
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https://www.kitv.com/news/u-s-drops-appeal-contesting-red-hill-defueling-order/article_6f2744e8-c2e0-11ec-b50a-a3ae2ad63baf.html
| 2022-04-23T10:27:02Z
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40 year-old Christopher Kaneali‘i Enos of Waianae was charged with sexual assault, kidnapping, violation of privacy, abuse, and criminal property damage in relation to an incident that occurred on February 26 and February 27, 2022.
WAIANAE (KITV4) - 40 year-old Christopher Kaneali‘i Enos of Waianae was charged with sexual assault, kidnapping, violation of privacy, abuse, and criminal property damage in relation to an incident that occurred on February 26 and February 27, 2022.
As the Indictment alleges, Enos, who has prior felony convictions for Kidnapping, Place to Keep Firearms, and Theft in the Second Degree, was charged with eleven counts including: two counts of Sexual Assault in the First Degree, Kidnapping, Violation of Privacy in the First Degree, five counts of Felony Abuse of a Family or Household Member, Misdemeanor Abuse of a Family or Household Member, and Criminal Property Damage in the Third Degree. If convicted as charged, Enos faces sentencing to a mandatory prison term.
The most serious offense, Sexual Assault in the First Degree, a class A felony, is punishable by a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison. Prosecutors have provided notice of their intent to seek an extended prison term, meaning Enos could face a life term with the possibility of parole.
Enos is scheduled to make his initial appearance in Hilo Circuit Court on Wednesday. He remains in custody in lieu of $179,000.00 bail in this case and is also being held without bail for parole violations.
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https://www.kitv.com/news/waianae-man-indicted-on-sexual-assault-kidnapping-violation-of-privacy-and-abuse-charges/article_4649d2e6-c2dd-11ec-b554-2f8e7783bbcc.html
| 2022-04-23T10:27:08Z
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United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
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https://www.kitv.com/weather/friday-evening-weather-report-april-22-2022/article_434fdfba-c2db-11ec-88eb-bb870402d29a.html
| 2022-04-23T10:27:14Z
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LARAMIE — When is the last time local fans can say they saw the nation’s top-ranked college team competing in their backyard?
That opportunity will come this weekend when the University of Wyoming men’s rodeo team — ranked No. 1 among all National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association teams across 11 regions — hosts the annual Laramie River Rendezvous Rodeo at the Cliff and Martha Hansen Livestock Teaching Arena southwest of Laramie. The Cowboys also boast several national leaders in their respective individual events.
The rodeo will feature the top competitors and teams from the 12-member Central Rocky Mountain Region for the regular-season finale leading up to the College National Finals Rodeo later this summer in Casper.
With just the home rodeo left, the UW men’s team widened its national lead against second-place Missouri Valley College. The Cowboys have a school-record 7,545 points accumulated through nine fall and spring rodeos, while the Vikings from the Ozark Region are nearly 400 back with 7,175, also with one rodeo left on their schedule. In third place is the College of Southern Idaho with 6,235.
“It’s really an exciting group of boys to watch. They are all capable of winning their events,” UW coach Beau Clark said. “It’s been fun to watch them battle all year. I hope the community comes out to support one of the nation’s best college rodeo programs.”
In his four years leading the UW rodeo program, Clark has led the Cowboys to four straight CRMR team titles, while the Cowgirls are the three-time defending regional champion and closing in on a fourth straight title. The UW women lead the CRMR with 2,385 points and are attempting to hold off second-place Gillette College, which has 2,195.
Rodeo fans also will be treated to the top 16 performers in each of the men’s six and the women’s three events during the Friday and Saturday night performances, both beginning at 6 p.m. The short go (finals) is slated for 10 a.m. Sunday.
Some other highlights include electrifying the atmosphere for fans, including pyrotechnics and a large-screen video, which is provided for the CNFR each year.
“We’re trying to duplicate what is done at the CNFR,” Clark said.
The Friday and Saturday slack rounds are at noon and 8 a.m., respectively, and admission is free. The Friday and Saturday night ticket prices are $20 for all attendees. Sunday’s short go is Family Day, with tickets for $10. To purchase tickets, visit the UW rodeo team’s Facebook page or call the UW athletics ticket office at 307-766-7220. Tickets will not be sold at the door.
“With the final rodeo in Laramie, it should be a lot of fun to watch our teams battle for championships and qualifications to the CNFR,” Clark said.
The top two teams in the region in the men’s and women’s divisions qualify for the CNFR as well as the top three individuals in each event. Several UW team members are battling for individual event titles.
For the Cowboys:
— Teammates Brice Patterson and Garrett Uptain are locked in a tight battle for the all-around, which goes to an individual who scored qualifying points in two or more events. Patterson has 1,740 points in nine rodeos, and Uptain is 30 back. The teammates are fourth and fifth, respectively, in the national all-around standings.
— Patterson is attempting to hold off teammate Donny Proffit in bareback riding. Patterson is leading with 1,370, which is 35 ahead of Proffit, the defending regional champion. The teammates also are running first and second in the national standings.
— Uptain has the chance to win two individual events. He is the top-rated saddle bronc rider, with nearly a 200-point lead over Casper College’s Quinten Taylor, and is third in bull riding, 30 behind leader Stefan Tonita, of Laramie County Community College. Uptain also is the national saddle bronc leader over Taylor.
— Chadron Coffield is the region’s top tie-down roper with 540, while Casper College’s Linkyn Petersek sits second with 460. Coffield also is sixth in bulldogging. He is sixth in the all-around, giving the Cowboys five multiple event competitors among the top six in the region.
— Austin Hurlburt is another event leader for the Cowboys. He heads the steer wrestling pack by a comfortable margin. Patterson has a chance to move up from his fourth-place position. Hurlburt is sixth in tie-down roping and also is fourth in the all-around.
— Cameron Jensen is fifth in the all-around standings and has a chance to move up in two individual events. He is third in steer wrestling and fifth in tie-down roping.
The strength of the UW women’s team has been its steady scoring in all three events, but goat tying is the only competition where the Cowgirls have individuals in regional title contention. The Cowgirls have three team members who have won regional titles in the event during their careers.
Riata Day is attempting to hang on to second place with her 595 points, which trails Eastern Wyoming College’s Karissa Rayhill by 315. That leaves teammates Taylour Latham and Faith Hoffman trying to gain the last of the three automatic qualifying positions. Latham is third in the region with 530, and Hoffman is fifth at 425.
The Cowgirls have the 12th-most points among all national teams. Cal Poly State University-San Luis Obispo leads the pack with 4,078.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/college-rodeo-s-top-ranked-cowboys-host-final-event/article_a45a4a82-b090-526c-a88f-78a01a148164.html
| 2022-04-23T13:29:53Z
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Dubois has declined to back an effort to obtain Continental Divide Trail gateway community status, which advocates say would raise the town’s profile as an outdoor recreation destination and help connect CDT trail users with its services.
The Dubois Town Council on April 13 decided not to formally support the effort with a letter. The Wind River Visitors Council sought the letter as part of its application to secure the status, arguing Dubois would benefit from marketing itself as friendly to outdoor recreation and users of the nearby trail.
Council members cited stories of problematic hiker behavior in town establishments, raised worries the effort could lead to loss of multi-use trails and expressed displeasure with the timeline — those spearheading the effort hoped designation could be achieved by early May.
“We don’t live here so that people tell us what to do,” Mayor John Meyer said. “In fact if somebody wants to come in and tell us what to do, more than likely we show them the door very quickly.”
The town council can perhaps revisit the proposal, he said, but it needs to better understand the designation first. “So I just think that what I’m hearing is we need some more information to help us maybe change some minds.”
The body’s refusal to support the effort could spell its defeat. According to the Continental Divide Trail Coalition, which administers the gateway program, the town or county government of the community that is applying must approve the designation.
The Lander City Council took the opposite tack when the visitors council approached it with a similar request this spring, embracing the effort to apply for gateway designation for Lander and South Pass City (which is not a municipality). Fremont County, several agencies and individuals supported gateway status for all three communities.
If the CDTC anoints Lander/South Pass as gateway communities, they will join 19 towns along the 3,100-mile trail and three in Wyoming — Pinedale, Rawlins and Riverside/Encampment.
Most communities consider the status an achievement, citizen Beth Estes, remarked at the meeting.
“Are other communities looking at this as an honor to be designated as a gateway community, and Dubois is looking at it as a problem?” she asked. “Somehow it seems like that this should be an honor that we’re being designated, as opposed to us looking as though we don’t want this…”
The conflict underscores the state’s varied attitudes toward tourism, as some see the industry as a necessary piece of Wyoming’s economic diversification but others meet outdoor recreation proposals with skepticism.
The CDT hews close to the backbone of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico, with some 550 miles unfurling through Wyoming. Users include thru-hikers who tackle the entire length, as well as day hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders and more.
Obtaining gateway status for the well-known route has long been on the Wind River Visitors Council’s wishlist, Executive Director Helen Wilson said. The trail cuts directly through South Pass and hugs close to Lander and Dubois as it wends through the Wind River Range. Considering the trail’s proximity, the designation “seems obvious.”
The WRVC has been coordinating the effort with the help of three University of Wyoming students in the Outdoor Recreation & Tourism Management program. The group seeks separate designations: one that lumps Lander with South Pass City and one for Dubois. It submitted applications in late March to the Continental Divide Trail Coalition — an organization that promotes, protects and advocates for the trail — with hope the communities will be designated before the students graduate in May.
A designation helps flag communities as friendly destinations with amenities for hikers. It also aims to engender trail support among locals, said Andrea Kurth, the CDTC’s gateway community program manager. An estimated 600-700 people are expected to attempt thru-hikes this season, she said, and the activity is gaining popularity.
If designation is granted, the coalition partners with communities to give them a marketing boost. The CDTC also offers funding and networking opportunities, it says. A gateway community is on the hook to host at least one annual event tied to the trail.
When the WRVC toured through Fremont County boardrooms to pitch its effort this spring, it mostly met friendly support. The City of Lander and Fremont County submitted support letters along with Wyoming State Parks, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, Dubois Regional Initiative for a Vital Economy and several individuals.
But when Wilson presented to the Dubois Town Council on March 23, councilors and citizens were more skeptical. Some said hikers don’t spend much money but do smell bad, and others raised worries about the bustling town’s ability to handle even more summer visitors. It was the group’s first and only speedbump, Wilson said.
The body decided to revisit the issue on April 13.
When they convened, a conversation unfolded about the preservation of trails, the necessity of a designation, the town’s autonomy to dictate its own fate and the desire of the municipality to invite in more visitors.
Resident Patrick Neary researched the trail, gateway status program and groups involved with the CDTC body that administers it, he told the council.
“And in contrast to some of the rumors you see around town, there’s no environmental groups associated,” he said. Apart from some national outdoor companies, he said “what I see here is a whole bunch of small businessmen on main street.”
The designation can bolster these local businesses, he said. “To me this is about business development.”
Others saw it differently. Council members Bruce Thompson and Rick Lee said they worry the designation could lead to loss of motorized travel on nearby multi-use trails.
The town’s grocery store and post office are overwhelmed as is, longtime resident Mike Neubauer said. “So how are we going to cope with everything that’s coming in?”
Booming demand, Neary countered, “is a good business problem to have.”
Wilson stressed that gateway status has zero impact on the historic trail, which Congress established 1978. Rather, it applies to the town, better tying it to the internationally known trail.
“From a tourism perspective, why not put Dubois in the center of that?” Wilson asked.
Council member Randy Lahr said based on past council discussion, “it sounds like these people have three heads and eight legs and they all smell miles away. I don’t like pigeonholing people … and to say that everybody that goes on that trail is a laggard or unclean or uncaring for people’s property, I’d have a hard time generalizing like that.”
Ian Watson manages a hiker/biker shelter through a church, and said his experience has been overwhelmingly positive. When the travelers leave town and spread the word about Dubois, he said, it’s priceless advertising.
“They’re … very nice people. I love to talk to them. And they love the magic of Dubois,” he said, recommending status support.
The council wasn’t convinced. Lee said the proposed timeline was rushed — “the government don’t work that way.” Members appeared wary of creating local advisory committee — necessary for designation.
When resident Sandy Neubauer heard about the proposal, she told the council, “I went to probably 10 business people in this town, most did not know anything about this, and they were all against it.”
Mayor Meyer wants more information on things like how designation has affected other gateway towns, he said. “I just don’t know that right now is the time,” he said.
In the end, only Lahr voted in support of the letter.
Wilson expects to hear back on the Lander/South Pass designation soon.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/dubois-opts-out-of-continental-divide-trail-designation/article_cc7f9578-5669-5637-8fa0-735c7e8d433f.html
| 2022-04-23T13:29:59Z
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PHILADELPHIA – There’s a song called “Fo Sho” on Kurt Vile’s parenthetically titled new album “(Watch My Moves)” in which the Philadelphia guitarist boasts of his impressive longevity in the music game.
”I know I’m right, and I’ve been doing this a long time,” Vile sings in his signature drawl over a loping, hypnotic groove. “Since before I was born.”
Well, maybe not that long. But the 42-year-old songwriter, who was raised in Lansdowne and lives in Mount Airy, does make timeless music that’s unmistakably his own while also consciously drawing from his classic rock forebears.
The top-notch new “(Watch My Moves),”which is a standout among this month’s new music releases, is a pivotal album for Vile, whose 2008 debut, “Constant Hitmaker,” was released on Matador Records.
After seven more albums on that indie label, Vile has moved on to Verve Records, where he now counts Jon Batiste and Diana Krall as label mates.
That doesn’t mean that Vile, whose music has always had an improvisational bent, has become a jazzer – though James Stewart of Sun Ra Arkestra does appear on the single “Like Exploding Stones.”
Verve is owned by Universal Music Group, so that makes “(Watch My Moves)” Vile’s first album on a major label.
Don’t expect concessions to commercialism, though. What “(Watch My Moves)” does, rather than shift Vile’s focus, is emphasize the casually entrancing, semi-psychedelic, Zen approach to songwriting he’s long been known for.
The album opens with Vile accompanying himself on piano on the characteristically charming “Goin’ on a Plane Today.” Along with 14 new songs, the album includes a smartly selected cover of the Bruce Springsteen rarity “Wages of Sin.” It was recorded at OKV Central, the home studio Vile built during the pandemic, as well as in Los Angeles.
The video for beautifully dreamy “Mount Airy Hill” captures Vile wandering in Wissahickon Valley Park, where he’s the masked man pictured with daughters Awilda and Delphine on the album cover.
And the newest video from “(Watch)” is for the acoustic mood piece “Flyin (Like a Fast Train).” It finds Vile playing guitar while walking along railroad tracks and riding commuter trains, and serves as an homage to the singer’s father, Charlie Vile, who worked as a SEPTA rail conductor. Like “(Watch My Moves)” at its best, the “Flyin” clip takes you on a quietly magical ride.
In addition to Vile’s latest, here are four more recommended releases that are new this month.
—Wet Leg, “Wet Leg”: The most buzzed-about release of the month – or for that matter, the year – is the self-titled debut by Wet Leg, the duo of singer-guitarists Hester Chambers and Rhian Teasdale, who hail from the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of England.
The song that catapulted the duo from anonymity is “Chaise Longue,” the clever and super-catchy first single that snuck its way onto year-end best of 2021 playlists. It instantly went into heavy rotation on public radio music stations.
“Chaise Longue” grates with repeated listens. But the pleasant surprise is that Wet Leg turns out to be full of non-gimmicky songs about sex, friendship, and groceries, like “Wet Dream,” that put to rest any worries that the band is a one-novelty wonder.
—Vince Staples, “Ramona Park Broke My Heart”: Vince Staples has been so consistently excellent in the years since his 2015 debut album “Summertime ‘06” that his failure to become a household hip-hop name is somewhat puzzling.
Part of the answer is that the Long Beach, California, rapper tends to shift focus from project to project, and his clear, sharply observed missives from the streets are almost too matter-of-fact in their delivery for pop consumption. Despite its title, “Ramona Park Broke My Heart” is not as downcast as last year’s companion piece, which was simply called “Vince Staples.”
But although the West Coast funk backdrops, provided by a variety of producers including Mustard and DJ Dahi, are buttery and pleasing, Staples can bring the listener up short as he describes a world where violence is ever present. In “When Sparks Fly,” the protagonist’s most cherished relationship is with a firearm. And “The Beach” issues a caution: “In the city, baby, your first rap can be a murder rap.”
—Jack White, “Fear of the Dawn”: The now blue-haired guitar hero has always been shrewd when it comes to presenting his retro rock and blues obsession in shiny packaging, going back to the red-and-white color-coordinated White Stripes.
”Fear of the Dawn” is the first of two albums due this year from the Third Man Records auteur, who got engaged and married to musician Olivia Jean at a show in his hometown of Detroit recently. (The second album, “Entering Heaven Alive,” is due on July 22.)
White doesn’t occupy the place in pop culture he did in the 00’s when White Stripes were at their zenith, though “Seven Nation Army” and “Fell in Love With a Girl” still rev up crowds at packed sports stadiums worldwide. But he’s still got plenty of tricks up his sleeve and knows how to deliver a lightning bolt solo or a creepy theremin interlude for maximum drama.
From “Hi-De-Ho,” which samples Cab Calloway and pairs White off with A Tribe Called Quest rapper Q-Tip, to the vampiric “Eosophobia”, White’s fourth album is a fun-house ride of thrills and chills.
—The Linda Lindas, “Growing Up”: The most unadulterated fun to be had among these releases is without question on “Growing Up,” maybe because the music is not made by adults. The Linda Lindas are four Asian and Latinx punk rock girls, ranging in age from 11 to 17.
They came to fame last year via a viral video of their song “Racist, Sexist Boy” at the Los Angeles Public Library, with then 10-year-old drummer Mila de la Garza wearing a Bikini Kill shirt.
Much as with Wet Leg, “Growing Up” turns out to be a proving ground where the band, which takes its name from the 2005 Japanese movie “Linda Linda Linda,” demonstrates that they have a full album’s worth of smart, snappy songs.
Looking further ahead in April, Bonnie Raitt will release the self-produced “Just Like That …” – her first album in six years, on Friday.
Irish postpunk quartet Fontaines D.C., recently named best band in the world at the NME Awards, have a new album called “Skinty Fia” that is also due Friday.
And rocker Ben Vaughn’s new album “The World of Ben Vaughn” is due out as a vinyl exclusive for Record Store Day on Saturday. It will be released digitally on May 20.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/features/5-new-albums-for-spring-2022-with-kurt-vile-wet-leg-and-more/article_3ce13759-9f68-5854-88b2-9dd544dffb0e.html
| 2022-04-23T13:30:06Z
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The last week of April is a great time to watch Venus and Jupiter in the pre-dawn sky. The two planets will make a very close approach, passing less than 0.4 degrees apart on the morning of April 30.
That is less than the width of a full moon.
From Cheyenne, Jupiter and Venus will be rise at about 4:26 a.m. The sun rises that day at 5:58 a.m. They will get to an altitude of 13 degrees above the southeastern horizon. Dawn breaks at about 5:28 a.m. Venus will be shining at magnitude -4.1, and Jupiter will be shining at magnitude -2.1. Both planets are in the constellation of Pisces. The two planets will be close enough to fit within the same field of view in a telescope, and easily visible to the naked eye or in binoculars.On the morning of May 1, Venus will finally pass below Jupiter as they continue to move farther apart. You can also watch them for several days before and after their close encounter, seeing how the distance between them changes from day to day. At their closest – depending on your eyesight – they may merge into one point of light, or you may be able to see each individual planet.
This planetary pairing is known as a conjunction, which is when two or more planets appear close to each other in the sky. Their close proximity is an optical illusion because, in reality, they are millions of miles apart. When a conjunction occurs with very bright objects, they are often even noticed by people who don’t generally pay attention to the stars in the sky.
Usually, a conjunction is between planets or can occur when the Moon appears near a planet. To be considered a conjunction, they have to be within a half-degree or up to a few degrees apart. For reference, a full moon covers a half-degree of the sky. Some conjunctions can be even closer than that. In December 2020, a widely observed conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn occurred when the two planets got within 0.1 degree of each other.
The moon will be near Jupiter and Venus on April 26. A tighter grouping of the planets with the moon will be on April 27, when a very thin, waning crescent Moon, will be seen below Venus and Jupiter in the eastern sky, forming a striking, triangular conjunction. The faint planet Neptune, magnitude 7.9, will be less than 1 degree from Venus, which you might try to locate using binoculars as an additional observing challenge.
Continue to watch Venus and Jupiter on April 28 and 29 as they move closer and closer together. However, the Moon will quickly descend toward the eastern horizon, and will no longer be a part of this conjunction.
Also, remember to look for reddish Mars and creamy Saturn at the same time. They are also nearby, a little bit higher in the sky and along the horizon toward the southeast. A good way to tell the difference between a star and a planet is stars twinkle, planets do not.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/features/outdoors/catch-jupiter-and-venus-like-youve-never-seen-them-before/article_1f8284ed-05d9-590e-9bf3-52d684f104ed.html
| 2022-04-23T13:30:12Z
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American humorist Erma Bombeck’s observation, and 1976 bestseller “The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank,” foreshadowed a plan to improve pollinator habitat in Laramie County.
Rex Lockman, wildlife and range specialist for the Laramie County Conservation District, identified the potential of new septic fields for a program he calls “Native Prairie Islands.”
Septic systems are required for wastewater from homes and businesses outside the city’s sewer and wastewater treatment system. An underground tank collects all the wastewater (sinks, showers, toilets, washers, dishwashers, etc.) in a concrete vault underground. The solids settle to the bottom and have to be periodically removed.
The water, however, flows out into a system of perforated pipes about three feet underground known as the leach field. The size of the field depends on the projected water use of the residents. Rex said a typical residential leach field is 3,000 to 4,000 square feet.
Right now, there is a building boom on small-acreage parcels in our county – and many leach fields with bare dirt. Rex wants to see what happens if the leach fields are seeded in native plants, to provide for our small wildlife: bees, butterflies, birds, etc.
At the same time, Rex’s colleague, Jeff Geyer, LCCD water specialist, heard about grants available to communities where Microsoft has facilities. The company has a “cloud” on the west side of Cheyenne and are building two more data center facilities on the east and south sides.
These community grants are handled for Microsoft by a company called ChangeX. Although community groups can design their own, ChangeX has a website full of ready-to-use community-based projects to pick from such as community gardens, open orchards, Lego leagues and pop-up museums. Jeff must have noticed the one called “Pollinator Partner.”
Because of the way LCCD is set up financially, Rex and Jeff next needed to find a nonprofit organization to partner with. Cheyenne–High Plains Audubon Society has been working with them on other projects. Chapter President Wanda Manley, who has had a long and close relationship with the district, helped with the seed list. Chapter secretary Lorie Chesnut, who is sometimes up to her ankles in LCCD wetlands projects, assisted with the grant writing.
News that the grant request was successful came in March, along with the first funds earmarked for a new seeder. It’s a little piece of farm equipment that can be pulled behind an ATV or garden tractor to seed raw areas like new septic fields and new construction.
LCCD will be renting it out like they did the old one – $75 per day or $150 per weekend, late Friday afternoon through early Monday morning. The old seeder, after 10 years and many repairs, is being retired.
The second installment of funds will be for the native wildflower and grass seed mixes. Wanda complained to me that liatris (common name gayfeather or blazing star) costs $300 per pound of seed. I’m trying to imagine collecting that much in the wild – around Cheyenne last year, I only saw a few blooming on the prairie. Growing them for harvest can’t be much easier, trying to figure out when tiny seeds are ripe and catching them before they disperse themselves.
This spring will be an experiment. There will be enough seed for a few people to seed their disturbed ground. A little irrigation will help seedlings get established, and, luckily, septic fields and house construction sites are within reach of a hose. Rex said some new construction is in old wheat fields, and those folks will need a lot more seed.
Jeff is hard at work writing another grant to pay for additional native seed so that it can be offered to more landowners for free.
These native prairie islands have several advantages. Once established, they won’t require irrigation – with the septic system sites a little more green and flowery than other seeded areas. Homeowners on 5- and 10-acre lots will otherwise find themselves competing for groundwater with their neighbors, especially as our drought continues.
Native wildflowers and grasses can shade out the weeds. While some weeds are interesting, the native plants are better at feeding native birds, bees and butterflies. Native plants, especially grasses, shelter native animals, including insects and grassland birds, which nest on the ground and need the cover.
If anyone in this county knows a thing or two about seeding, it’s Rex and Jeff. I’m looking forward to the results of this great idea. And maybe the island natives will take off across the oceans of prairie and renew their vigor.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/features/outdoors/microsoft-funds-native-prairie-islands-program-in-laramie-county/article_961cc077-5ff5-5a5e-bf17-0ce4df54c3e4.html
| 2022-04-23T13:30:18Z
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The Boxmasters hadn’t realized what time zone they were in. It pretty much changes from day to day.
The recording duo, made up of Oscar winning actor/musician Billy Bob Thornton and Grammy award winning audio engineer J.D. Andrew, got their start in 2008. They have since carved out a diverse catalogue of albums, from a rockabilly inspired debut to releasing three albums over the course of the pandemic, one of which is a Christmas album.
The album they’re currently recording, tentatively titled “’69,” is a late ‘60s rock homage.
On Wednesday, they were in Phoenix; the day prior, Flagstaff, Arizona, where the duo (who perform live with a five-piece band) just had their previous show. Arizona actually is in the Mountain time zone, but confusingly, doesn’t observe daylight saving time. With the mixup, they logged on to a video chat with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle just a little late.
No fault on their part – they’re a band caught up with playing 60 tour dates in just 70 days. Stop 34 on the “Help...I’m Alive!” tour will be at The Lincoln Theatre on May 19.
Wyoming Tribune Eagle: Is it kind of intimidating having to play that many shows in such a short time?
Thornton: “It is a little bit, especially for me and J.D., because J.D. does all the business for the band. I’m an idiot, he’s smart, so he does all business. For him, it’s a lot of work, advancing all the shows and everything. For me, as a lead singer, we’ll do a dozen shows in a row or more, so you really have to be careful to take plenty of honey.”
Q: How’s this tour going so far?
Andrew: “This show in Phoenix will be our fifth sellout of the eight or nine shows that we’ve done so far. You can’t beat that when you’re selling out rooms. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Q: Do you often perform sold out shows?
Thornton: “The music business is very fickle, because there are some cities where you just don’t go over well or they don’t get you, whatever it is. We don’t have many of those. But I talked to other friends of ours in bands, and they saw the same thing. We have no idea why we’re not big in Atlanta, but then we are big in Birmingham.
“In most of our tours, about three quarters of the places are cities we’ve been playing over the years. Those are always real solid. But then you hit a new place every now and then where they don’t know you as well.”
Q: You guys just released another album. How was the process of getting that together?
Thornton: “We made three albums. It worked out really well because J.D.’s kids are going to public school. My daughter’s homeschooled, so it didn’t really change our life at all.”
Andrew: “We got a lot done. The first one that we made was the darker pandemic-themed record. After we got that one done, we started in on the “Help…I’m Alive!” record, and it’s got a lot more hope and optimism. Once we got done with that, we made the Christmas record that came out last fall.
“It was just something I’ve wanted to do for a while. We thought, let’s make a new Christmas record because the first one was really ‘rockabilly-ish,’ and we don’t really sound like that anymore.”
Q: It seems like your style has changed a lot in a little over 10 years.
Andrew: “It definitely has. We initially were doing experimental things that were really different from Billy’s solo stuff. We were mixing hillbilly music along with British Invasion stuff.
“We went with what really is our core sound when we just pick up a guitar – what do we sound like? What does it sound like when Billy sings and plays drums and all that? It’s just basically the ‘Bs,’ you know? The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Byrds and The Box Tops.”
Q: Do you think your influences have changed over time?
Thornton: “We’ve always been influenced by what we play now. The first couple hillbilly albums were meant to be stylized. They were kind of tongue-in-cheek. We had the idea ‘If Frank Zappa made a hillbilly album, what would it sound like?’ Our actual influences are still what we have. The British Invasion rock, Southern California pop and the Memphis sound, that’s really where we come from.”
Q: Looking back at “Tea Surfing” (2016), the first song off of that album is a bit heavier. It’s different from even the albums you released this year and last year. How can your style change to what it is now in such a short span of time?
Andrew: “For the sound of each record, we kind of pick an era like, ‘this is kind of our 1966 record.’ We’ve had keyboard players as part of the official Boxmasters lineup, (so) now we’re putting more keyboards in our songs. That’s a strange evolution for us, but it’s how we feel at the moment.
“We’ve got some other songs that we want to work on, and they’re more of a psychedelic kind of feeling. A little more space and weirdness.”
Thornton: “When we get back, and we start working on this more psychedelic stuff, it might be interesting if only one of us does acid and the other one doesn’t. One guy will be straight and the other guy will be talking to 9-foot caterpillars with top hats.”
Q: What are you guys looking to bring to Cheyenne? What can people expect at your concert?
Thornton: “Anytime we play somewhere that we haven’t played before, I always say, ‘We have a big following around the country, but we’ve never played here before. So, if you don’t have our records, and if you hadn’t been one of our shows, get ready for the worst hour and 45 minutes of your life.’”
Andrew: “We’re a good band that drink beer, too. We keep it uptempo. It’s a fun show, and we have fun doing it. It’s also good stuff to have a beverage or six to.”
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/features/q-a-with-sold-out-shows-and-new-albums-the-boxmasters-ready-for-a-busy/article_6bf6549c-7ead-5152-b71a-9bce51da161e.html
| 2022-04-23T13:30:24Z
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...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM MDT THIS
EVENING...
* WHAT...Northwest winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts above 65 mph.
* WHERE...South Laramie Range, South Laramie Range Foothills and
Central Laramie County.
* WHEN...Until 6 PM MDT this evening.
* IMPACTS...Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines.
Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be
difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
People should avoid being outside in forested areas and around
trees and branches. If possible, remain in the lower levels of
your home during the windstorm, and avoid windows. Use caution if
you must drive.
&&
'The Bad Guys' review: Animated villain types find their good side
In “The Bad Guys,” the big bad wolf is the most evil villain on the planet, a quaint notion of simpler times when storybook characters were the worst we had to fear.
OK, so it’s a kid’s movie, and a fast-paced, slickly rendered one at that. But it never quite grounds itself or finds a through line of storytelling reality to pass for anything more than a temporary distraction while things whiz by on screen and characters smirk at themselves and the audience.
Sam Rockwell voices Mr. Wolf, who’s not even that bad a guy here, a simple heist man decked out in a George Clooney suit. Danny Ocean robbed banks, sure, but he was about as good as supposed “bad” guys come, and as far as animated characters go, you probably wouldn’t think twice about letting this Wolf babysit your children. (He has the voice of Sam Rockwell. How bad can he be?)
He’s softened because there’s a lesson to be learned here, and the Bad Guys of the title – a posse of thieves that includes a shark (voice of Craig Robinson), a tarantula (Awkwafina), a snake (comic and podcaster Marc Maron) and a piranha (Anthony Ramos) – are in the process of converting to good guys.
Ethan Cohen’s screenplay is rather toothless, touching on themes of stereotyping and redemption, and it features flatulence – which takes the form of wavy green air – as not only a running gag, but a full-on plot point.
There are Tarantino references for the adults (the characters’ names all resemble the gang from “Reservoir Dogs,” and is that meant to be the cafe from “Pulp Fiction” in the opening scene?), and, well, fart jokes for the kids. “The Bad Guys” isn’t necessarily bad, but it could be a whole lot better.
Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/features/the-bad-guys-review-animated-villain-types-find-their-good-side/article_36449dca-bb26-568a-b535-b146c042c241.html
| 2022-04-23T13:30:30Z
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Cheyenne and Laramie County
Yoga Together
– April 23, 10:15-10:45 a.m. 18 months to 5 years old. Experience stories, stretching and fun with a special early literacy class. This month’s theme is “Splish Splash Ducky.” Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
Virtual SaturD&D
– April 23, 1-3 p.m. Join the library’s teen Dungeons and Dragons online community and get started on creating a character today. Don’t have a Discord account yet? No problem. They offers Discord Communities for teens to interact, chat and play online. To participate, you will need a phone, tablet or computer with internet connection and a Discord account. RSVP for the event at lclsonline.org/calendar/.
Fur Ball presents Jurassic Bark
– April 23, 5-10 p.m. $110. The Fur Ball is Cheyenne’s pet-friendly gala, which raises money in support of the animals and programs at the Cheyenne Animal Shelter. Little America Hotel and Resort, 2800 W. Lincolnway. 307-278-6195
Cruise the Legend
– April 23, 6-9 p.m. The first Cruise the Legend of 2022, where classic cars gather to cruise the Cheyenne strip. This month’s cruise benefits the Girl Scouts. Troop members will be selling cookies on sight. 24th Street parking lot, downtown Cheyenne. cheyennecruisenights@gmail.com
CSO presents “A Time to Transcend”
– April 23, 7:30 p.m. $10-$50 for in person, $15 per household for livestream. This Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra concert will feature Jennifer Higdon’s “Blue Cathedral” and Brahms’ German Requiem to close the 2021-22 season. This evening will feature vocal soloists Jennifer Bird-Arvidsson and Rhys Lloyd Talbot, plus a large local choir. Cheyenne Civic Center, 510 W. 20th St. 307-778-8561
Wyo Music Showcase
– April 23, doors at 7 p.m. $5, free entry 11 and under. A local rap showcase hosted by Wyoming Wave Recording Studio featuring Trey Wrks, 2une Godi, Compass, Alienation and more. There will also be a raffle. The Louise Event Venue, 110 E. 17th Street. 307-220-1474
”An Evening of One Acts” @ LCCC
– April 23 7:30 p.m. $10. LCCC’s spring production is a series of one-act plays over two weekends. Playwright Matthew McLachlan collaborated with the theater department in the creation of these plays. Laramie County Community College, 1400 E. College Drive. 307-778-5222
Young Readers Book Party
– April 24, 1:15-2 p.m. Grades pre-K to 2. Join the library for a celebration of reading with young readers that’s a little bit early literacy class and a little bit more. The class will read and talk about books, sing, play and learn. This month’s themes are Bird Art and Family Storytelling Games. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
Hausmusik 2: Wyoming Brass Quintet
– April 24, 2 p.m. Adults, $50; students, $25. CSO presents an afternoon with the Wyoming Brass Quintet in the beautiful new Blue Community Events Center at World Headquarters. The recital will be followed by a reception including light appetizers. Blue Federal Credit Union, 2401 E. Pershing Blvd. 307-778-8561
Speed Friending at Blacktooth Brewing Co.
– April 24, 6-9 p.m. $25. This speed friending event will be structured just like speed dating, but for anyone wanting to meet new people. Black Tooth knows it’s difficult to make the first move or initiate a new friend-date, so the team wants to facilitate those connections. Tickets include two beer tokens. Black Tooth Brewing Co. 520 W. 19th St. 307-514-0362
Chicago at the Civic Center
– April 24, 7-10 p.m. $54+. The legendary rock band with horns, Chicago, is coming back to Cheyenne. Cheyenne Civic Center, 510 W. 20th St. 307-778-8561
Make it Mondays
– April 25, 1-5 p.m. Get crafty at the library every Monday! We will be making beautiful heart paper flowers to celebrate the coming of spring. Burns Branch Library, 112 Main St., 307-547-2249
Minute to Win It, Burns Branch Library
– April 25-30, 1-5 p.m. Can you complete our wacky and fun games in just one minute? Compete against your friends and family, or see how fast you can win the games by yourself. Every participant gets a prize. Burns Branch Library, 112 Main St., 307-547-2249
Tales Together
– April 26-28, 10:15-10:45 a.m. and 11-11:30 a.m. Join the library for an in-person interactive early literacy class for preschool children and their caregivers. Practice new skills incorporating books, songs, rhymes, movement and more. Pick up weekly craft packet from Ask Here desk on the second floor. Call to reserve a spot. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
Fun for Kids! Burns Branch Library
– April 26, 10:15-11 a.m. Join in an interactive storytime session to promote early literacy through books, songs, puppets, crafts and much more. This week’s theme is “Bears.” Burns Branch Library, 112 Main St., 307-547-2249
Famous Illustrators
– April 26, 4:15-5 p.m. Grades K-2. Join the library for a peek into how some of your favorite book illustrators make their art. This month, the focus will be on Lois Ehlert. Wear play clothes, as it could get messy. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
Book Discussion Group
– April 26, 6-7:30 p.m. April is known for Earth Day and the sowing of spring seedlings, so join Laramie County Library in reading Octavia Butler’s dystopian novel “Parable of the Sower.” Join the group for tea and scones on the last Tuesday of the month. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
Virtual Tales Together
– April 28, 9:30-10 a.m. Free. Join the Laramie County Library for a virtual interactive early literacy class where young children will practice new skills incorporating books, songs, rhymes, movement and more. Pick up weekly craft packet from Ask Here desk on the second floor. RSVP at lclsonline.org/calendar/. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
Fun for Kids! Pine Bluffs Branch
– April 28, 10:15-10:45 a.m. Join in an interactive storytime session to promote early literacy through books, songs, puppets, crafts and much more. This week’s theme is “Bears.” Pine Bluffs Branch Library, 110 E. Second St. 307-245-3646
Brown Bag Book Club
– April 28, 6-7 p.m. Grade 4-6. Book Club will meet twice during the month of April. The club will chat about the book, do some crazy activities and enjoy a delicious treat. Participants can bring a “brown bag” meal, and drinks will be provided. Participants can pick up “Masterminds” by Gordon Korman from the second floor. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
Movies at the Library, Burns Branch
– April 29, 1-3 p.m. Join the Burns Branch Library for a family-friendly movie and some popcorn. This week’s movie is “Jungle Cruise (PG-13).” Burns Branch Library, 112 Main St., 307-547-2249
Friday Matinee, Pine Bluffs
– April 29, 1:30-3:30 p.m. Spend your Friday afternoons at the Pine Bluffs Branch library to watch a matinee. Each week will feature a different movie. This week’s movie is “Tom and Jerry: The Movie” (PG). Pine Bluffs Branch Library, 110 E. Second St. 307-245-3646
Friday Night Jazz
– April 29, 6 p.m. 21+. Bring some friends, grab a drink and food, and listen to some beautiful music by Jazztet in the relaxing Hathaway’s Lounge. Two-drink minimum required. Little America Hotel and Resort, 2800 W. Lincolnway. 307-775-8400
Cheyenne Audubon Free Talk
– April 29, 7 p.m. Award-winning Pinedale wildlife photographer Elizabeth Boehm will be presenting a free talk, “Bird Photography Using Blinds.” Wyoming Game and Fish Department Headquarters, 5400 Bishop Blvd. 307-777-4600
Art for Art
– April 29, 7-10 p.m. $35. An immersive art experience hosted by Arts Cheyenne. Local and regional artists are coming together to create a multi-sensory evening of enjoying art, with an art auction and experience. The Lincoln Theatre, 1615 Central Ave. 307-369-6028
Southeast Wyoming Concert Series presents Joe Robinson
– April 29, 7 p.m. $20. Joe Robinson’s live “one man” acoustic/electric show is an energetic display of virtuosity and witty, finely crafted lyrics delivered with his personable Aussie charisma. Joe won “Australia’s Got Talent” in 2008 at the age of 17, and has since earned a reputation as one of the world’s greatest guitar players and brilliant song writers. Call 307-214-7076 for more information. South High School Auditorium, 1213 W. Allison Road. 307-771-2410
{div class=”subscriber-only”}
Dueling Pianos
{/div}
{div class=”subscriber-only”}– April 29-30, 8-11 p.m. $20. Come laugh and sing along in an evening of musical entertainment directed by your requests. The Metropolitan Downtown, 1701 Carey Ave. 307-432-0022
Cheyenne Audubon Free Photography Workshop
– April 30, 7 a.m. Award-winning Pinedale wildlife photographer Elizabeth Boehm will be presenting a free bird blind demonstration open to the public. Cheyenne Botanic Gardens’ Paul Smith Children’s Village, 710 S. Lions Park Drive. 307-637-6349
Meet the Birds!
– April 30, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. $15. A bird identification class for adults and children 12 and older. Just before the peak of migration, let Cheyenne Audubon members introduce you to 50 local birds. A combination of classroom discussion and short walks into Lions Park, a Wyoming Important Bird Area, with borrowed binoculars or your own. Cheyenne Botanic Gardens’ Paul Smith Children’s Village, 710 S. Lions Park Drive. 307-637-6349{/div}
National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day
– April 30, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Join local animal shelters to celebrate National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day! You can fill out adoption documents, see pictures of other adoptable animals, learn how to take care of your new pet, and donate pet food and supplies to the shelters. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
”Wild Creek Whispers” Book Signing
– April 30, 10-2 p.m. Local author Cindy Reynders will hold a signing of the first book in her new series about a Wyoming private investigator. Barnes and Noble, 1851 Dell Range Blvd. 307-632-3000.
Virtual SaturD&D
– April 30, 1-3 p.m. Join the library’s teen Dungeons and Dragons online community and get started on creating a character today. Don’t have a Discord account yet? No problem. They offers Discord Communities for teens to interact, chat and play online. To participate, you will need a phone, tablet or computer with internet connection and a Discord account. RSVP for the event at lclsonline.org/calendar/.
”The Price is Right” at the Laramie County Library
– April 30, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Grades 3-6. “Come on down” to be a contestant in our version of “The Price is Right” gameshow. Participants could win cool prizes as you learn about how far your money can go. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
Tunes, Taps and Apps
– April 30, 5 p.m. $60. Join the Symphony Friends for a fantastic evening of locally brewed beer and chef-curated appetizer pairings in support of the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. There will also be a cash bar and silent auction. The Atlas Theatre, 211 W. Lincolnway. 307-638-6543
Cheyenne Capital Chorale Spring Concert
– April 30, 7 p.m. Free. This concert is titled “Pieces Put Together for Beautiful Music.” South High School Auditorium, 1213 W. Allison Road. 307-771-2410
All City Children’s Chorus Concert
– May 1, 4 p.m. The final performance in their 46th season, “Unforgettable,” is titled “Favorite Classics.” The concert will include songs that are favorites of the singers, the directors and the audience. The graduating 8th graders will be honored and ACCC alumni are invited to join the singers on the stage for the final number “River in Judea”.”Cheyenne Civic Center, 510 W. 20th St. 307-778-8561
LCCC presents Chanticleer
– May 1, 7 p.m. Laramie County Community College Foundation will host the Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer. The performance will be the group’s second performance in Cheyenne and part of their 2022 Tour. Laramie County Community College, 1400 E. College Drive. 307-778-5222
Guided Play
– May 2, 10-11:45 a.m. Each week, the library will feature a different playscape in the Early Literacy Center, along with suggestions of how to engage your child in guided play. This week’s theme is “Dress Up and Pretend.” Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
Sit, Stay, Read! Read to a Therapy Dog
– May 2, 4-5 p.m. Everyone loves to hear a story, even our four-pawed friends. Visit the library and practice reading aloud to one of the community’s therapy dogs. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
May the Fourth Celebrations
– May 4, 6-9 p.m. There’s a disturbance in the Force and the source of the disturbance is fun. Visit and celebrate May 4th with special guest characters from the 501st Legion Mountain Garrison. The library will have fun activities and refreshments with a Star Wars theme. Join for trivia starting at 7 p.m. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
May the Fourth DIY Lightsaber Workshop
– May 4, 6-7:30 p.m. Is the Force strong with you? Prove it by making your own lightsaber as part of the library’s May the 4th celebration. The library will provide all the materials you need to create your very own special Jedi blade. Sign up at lclsonline.org/calendar/. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
Movies at the Library, Burns
– May 6, 1-3 p.m. Join the Burns Branch Library for a family friendly movie and some popcorn. This week’s movie is “Encanto” (PG). Burns Branch Library, 112 Main St. 307-547-2249
Friday Matinee, Pine Bluffs
– May 6, 1:30-3:30 p.m. Spend your Friday afternoons at the library to watch a family friendly matinee. Bring a favorite snack and enjoy the show. This week’s movie is “The Addams Family 2” (PG). Pine Bluffs Branch Library, 110 E. Second St. 307-245-3646
Arts Cheyenne ArtHaus Launch Party and Artwalk
– May 6, 6 p.m. Arts Cheyenne will be showcasing the first ArtHaus exhibit, a Fine Arts Cheyenne Invitational, which will highlight local artists’ work. Enjoy the art as you sip on a beverage and meet the artists eager to chat and share their creations. Cheyenne Depot, 232 W. 15th St. 307-632-3905
WyArt Coalition Fine Art Exchange
- May 6-7. The second installment of the Fine Art Exchange is here. Attendees can bid through the silent auction, or ... You know all those skills you have in plumbing? Or web design? Maybe you bake a killer wedding cake. How about just a crazy, off-the-wall skill you can teach? Well, now is your chance to offer that up in return for some artwork. Cheyenne Depot, 232 W. 15th St. 307-632-3905
CLTP presents “Cabaret”
– May 6-8, 12-15, 20-22, 7:30 p.m. $24, dinner theater $48. In a Berlin nightclub, as the 1920s draw to a close, a garish Master of Ceremonies welcomes the audience and assures them they will forget all their troubles at the “Cabaret.” With the Emcee’s bawdy songs as wry commentary, “Cabaret” explores the dark, heady and tumultuous life of Berlin’s natives and expatriates as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich. Historic Atlas Theatre, 211 W. Lincolnway. 307-638-6543
Wyoming State Museum Family Day
May 7, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. Join the Wyoming State Museum for a day dedicated to the diverse plant life of our state. Make your own potted plant, explore the root systems of your favorite flowers and meet experts from across Wyoming. The library will also hold story time from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Wyoming State Museum, 2301 Central Ave. 307-630-2573
The Three Little Pigs: Musical Story Time and Instrument Petting Zoo
– May 7, 11 a.m. Free. Join master storyteller Aaron Sommers and Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra musicians, violinist Sarah McCoy and cellist Suzy Wagner for musical story time. Activities presented in partnership with Delta-Kappa Gamma, Upsilon Chapter. Paul Smith Children’s Village at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, 710 S. Lions Park Drive. 307-637-6458
Gamers Unite: Super Smash Bros.
– May 6, 3-5 p.m. They’re crashing and smashing at the library. Go get your game on at Gamers Unite. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561
Virtual SaturD&D
– May 7, 1-3 p.m. Roleplaying adventure is just a click away. Join the library’s Teen D&D online community and get started on creating a character today. Don’t have a Discord account yet? No problem. Laramie County Library offers Discord Communities for teens to interact, chat, and play online. RSVP for the event at lclsonline.org/calendar/.
Ongoing
Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition
– Through Aug. 14, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Presented by the Wyoming State Museum, this exhibit compiles 66 different pieces of artwork from artists around the state of Wyoming. Wyoming State Capitol basement extension, 200 W. 24th St. 307-777-7220
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”Mountains and Monochromatic” April Art Show
{/div}
{div class=”subscriber-only”}– Through April 30. Wednesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. No explanation needed for the mountains. This art show also features monochromatic works to convey simplicity, peacefulness, starkness, purity or other meaning. It can use different shades of one color, but, by definition, should contain only one base color. Cheyenne Artists Guild, 1701 Morrie Ave. 307-632-2263
Art & Text: Artist as Storyteller
– Through May 17, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Enjoy visual stories and the written word created by K–12 students in Laramie County School District 1. Art is located throughout all three floors of the library. Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. 307-634-3561{/div}
The Front Range
Alice in Wonderland
- April 29-30, May 6-7, 13-14, 7 p.m.; May 1, 7, 14, 1 p.m. $10. To celebrate their 30th season, Debut Theatre Company takes you on a delightful adventure to capture the imagination of all ages with clever, nonsensical word-play and irreverent humor. Lewis Carroll’s famous story about dreams and reality, childhood and growing up, games and nonsense, will transport you to a land that vexes time, stretches space and asks you to believe at least six impossible things before breakfast. The Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St. 970-221-6730
Canyon Concert Ballet presents “Snow White”
– May 7-8, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. $30-$40. This debut production brings to life the legendary fairy tale of Snow White. This production from new Artistic Director Michael Pappalardo will be complete with new sets, costumes and his exquisite choreographic style. Lincoln Center Performance Hall, 417 W. Magnolia St. 970-221-6730
”Black and White in Black and White” Exhibit
–Through May 28, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. $8. This new exhibit features striking photographs attributed to African American photographer John Johnson who took powerful, early 20th-century portraits of African Americans in Lincoln, Nebraska. Greeley History Museum, 714 9th St, Greeley, Colorado. 970-350-9220
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/features/todo/saturday-calendar-4-23-22/article_f3d52286-9bc7-56c3-ad64-8ababeac3a1c.html
| 2022-04-23T13:30:37Z
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SATURDAY
Laramie Home and Garden Show: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Laramie Ice and Events Center.
Free stress relief clinic: 10-11 a.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
UW planetarium presents “From Earth to the Universe”: 2 p.m., UW Planetarium. The night sky, both beautiful and mysterious, has been the subject of campfire stories, ancient myths and awe for as long as there have been people.
LHS musical theatre presents “Bye Bye Birdie”: 7 p.m., Laramie High School theater. Tickets are $8 adults, $6 students and can be bought online at lhstg7838.booktix.com or at the door.
Relative Theatrics presents “Black Sky”: 7:30 p.m., Gryphon Theatre at the Laramie Plains Civic Center, 710 E. Garfield St. Tickets are $16, and $14 for students and seniors. Get them online at relativetheatrics.eventbrite.com.
UW Theater and Dance presents Koresh Dance Co.: 7:30 p.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts main stage. Tickets $16, $13 for seniors and $8 for students. Call 307-766-6666 or visit uwyo.edu/finearts.
SUNDAY
Understanding Medicare informational meeting: 3 p.m., American Legion post, 417 E. Ivinson Ave. Free and open to the public.
UW Department of Music presents “Grieg, Violin Sonatas for Flute”: 7:30 p.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts. Free to attend and public is invited.
MONDAY
Alcoholics Anonymous meets: Daily at various times in person or on Zoom. For more information, call 307-399-0590 or visit area76aawyoming.org or aa.org.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group: Meets from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at Hospice of Laramie House, 1754 Centennial Drive.
Wyoming’s energy economy panel discussion: 6 p.m., online at uweconomists.eventbrite.com. Features four University of Wyoming economists.
Women for Sobriety meet: 6:30-8:30 p.m. via Zoom. For meeting details, email 1093@womenforsobriety.org.
America Sewing Guild Laramie Chapter meets: 7 p.m., United Methodist Church, 1215 E. Gibbon St. Please enter through the lower east door off the parking lot.
TUESDAY
Prayers & Squares Quilting Group meets: 9 a.m., Room 1 of Hunter Hall at St. Matthews Cathedral.
Free stress relief clinic: 1-2 p.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
Albany County Public Library Board meets: 4 p.m., in the large meeting room at the library’s Laramie branch. Public comments can be emailed to rcrocker@acplwy.org to be read aloud at the meeting.
WEDNESDAY
Laramie Tai Chi and tea: Meets at 1:30 p.m. at the north end of the stadium in Laramie Plainsman Park, North 15th and Reynolds. For more information, visit laramietaichiandtea.org.
WU Theatre and Dance presents rock musical “Be Like Joe”: 7:30 p.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets — $14, $11 for seniors and $7 for students — call 307-766-6666 or visit uwyo.edu/finearts.
THURSDAY
Caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer’s/dementia: 3 p.m., meet for coffee, pie, understanding and comradeship at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, 204 S. 30th St. For more information, call 307-745-6451.
Albany County Democrats host legislative town hall and pizza party: 5:30-7:30 p.m., Lincoln Community Center, 365 W. Grand Ave. Also will be livestreamed on the Albany County Democrats Facebook page.
International Night at Laramie High School: 6-7:30 p.m., at the school. Tickets cost $15 and are available 3:15-4:15 p.m. in the lobby through April 22.
Stitching the Past Together creative aging class: 6:30-8 p.m., Albany County Public Library large meeting room. Students will learn memory-based storytelling through beading techniques in this free course. Register at acplwy.org or at the circulation desk.
WU Theatre and Dance presents rock musical “Be Like Joe”: 7:30 p.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets — $14, $11 for seniors and $7 for students — call 307-766-6666 or visit uwyo.edu/finearts.
FRIDAY
Free stress relief clinic: Noon to 1 p.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
Pianist Cory Smythe public recital: 7 p.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts. Performing with Sherry Sinift on violin and James Przygocki on viola. Free to attend.
UW planetarium presents “Mars”: 7 p.m., UW Planetarium. The red planet is host to many questions; did it used to be like Earth? Did it once harbor life? Could it still support life?
WU Theatre and Dance presents rock musical “Be Like Joe”: 7:30 p.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets — $14, $11 for seniors and $7 for students — call 307-766-6666 or visit uwyo.edu/finearts.
April 30
Free stress relief clinic: 10-11 a.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
UW planetarium presents “Mexica Archaeoastronomy”: 2 p.m., UW Planetarium. Illustrates the important role played by astronomical observation for the evolution of pre-Hispanic cultures in central Mexico.
UW planetarium presents “Liquid Sky, Electronica”: 7 p.m., UW Planetarium. Enjoy a custom playlist of music from today’s top artists.
WU Theatre and Dance presents rock musical “Be Like Joe”: 7:30 p.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets — $14, $11 for seniors and $7 for students — call 307-766-6666 or visit uwyo.edu/finearts.
May 1
Learn about veterans benefits and how to apply: 3 p.m., American Legion post, 417 E. Ivinson Ave. Free and open to the public.
May 2
Alcoholics Anonymous meets: Daily at various times in person or on Zoom. For more information, call 307-399-0590 or visit area76aawyoming.org or aa.org.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group: Meets from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at Hospice of Laramie House, 1754 Centennial Drive.
Women for Sobriety meet: 6:30-8:30 p.m. via Zoom. For meeting details, email 1093@womenforsobriety.org.
May 3
Prayers & Squares Quilting Group meets: 9 a.m., Room 1 of Hunter Hall at St. Matthews Cathedral.
Free stress relief clinic: 1-2 p.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
May 4
Laramie Tai Chi and tea: Meets at 1:30 p.m. at the north end of the stadium in Laramie Plainsman Park, North 15th and Reynolds. For more information, visit laramietaichiandtea.org.
Ivinson Medical Group women’s health prenatal education: 5:30 p.m., Ivinson Memorial Hospital in the Summit Conference Room. Learn more or register at ivinsonhospital.org/childbirth.
May 5
Caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer’s/dementia: 3 p.m., meet for coffee, pie, understanding and comradeship at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, 204 S. 30th St. For more information, call 307-745-6451.
Diabetes Support Group meets: 5:30-6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Email questions@ivinsosnhospital.org for the link.
Cinco de Mayo at the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site: 5:30-7:30 p.m., Horse Barn Theater at the site. Free to public.
Stitching the Past Together creative aging class: 6:30-8 p.m., Albany County Public Library large meeting room. Students will learn memory-based storytelling through beading techniques in this free course. Register at acplwy.org or at the circulation desk.
UW Symphony presents “An American in Paris”: 7:30 p.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts concert hall. For tickets call 307-766-6666, visit the UW box offices at Fine Arts or the Student Union, or visit uwyo.edu/fineart.
May 6
Free stress relief clinic: Noon to 1 p.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
May 7
Free stress relief clinic: 10-11 a.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
VFW Post 2221 Commander’s Charity Dinner: 5:30-8 p.m., 2142 E. Garfield St. Tickets 412 at the door, all proceeds to benefit VFW Poppy Fund and Albany County Search and Rescue.
May 9
Alcoholics Anonymous meets: Daily at various times in person or on Zoom. For more information, call 307-399-0590 or visit area76aawyoming.org or aa.org.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group: Meets from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at Hospice of Laramie House, 1754 Centennial Drive.
Women for Sobriety meet: 6:30-8:30 p.m. via Zoom. For meeting details, email 1093@womenforsobriety.org.
May 10
Prayers & Squares Quilting Group meets: 9 a.m., Room 1 of Hunter Hall at St. Matthews Cathedral.
Free stress relief clinic: 1-2 p.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
Albany County Republican Party meets: 6 p.m., Albany County Public Library.
May 11
Laramie Tai Chi and tea: Meets at 1:30 p.m. at the north end of the stadium in Laramie Plainsman Park, North 15th and Reynolds. For more information, visit laramietaichiandtea.org.
Ivinson Medical Group women’s health prenatal education: 5:30 p.m., Ivinson Memorial Hospital in the Summit Conference Room. Learn more or register at ivinsonhospital.org/childbirth.
May 12
Caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer’s/dementia: 3 p.m., meet for coffee, pie, understanding and comradeship at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, 204 S. 30th St. For more information, call 307-745-6451.
Stitching the Past Together creative aging class: 6:30-8 p.m., Albany County Public Library large meeting room. Students will learn memory-based storytelling through beading techniques in this free course. Register at acplwy.org or at the circulation desk.
May 13
Free stress relief clinic: Noon to 1 p.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
May 14
University of Wyoming graduation ceremony: 8:30 a.m., UW Arena-Auditorium, undergraduate ceremony for the colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Engineering and Applied Science and School of Energy Resources.
Free stress relief clinic: 10-11 a.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
University of Wyoming graduation ceremony: 10 a.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts, for the College of Law.
University of Wyoming graduation ceremony: 12:15 p.m., UW Arena-Auditorium, for master’s and doctoral students from colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Business, Education, Engineering and Applied Science, Health Sciences and Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources.
University of Wyoming graduation ceremony: 3:30 p.m., UW Arena-Auditorium, for undergraduate ceremony for colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education, Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and Office of Academic Affairs.
May 16
Alcoholics Anonymous meets: Daily at various times in person or on Zoom. For more information, call 307-399-0590 or visit area76aawyoming.org or aa.org.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group: Meets from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at Hospice of Laramie House, 1754 Centennial Drive.
Women for Sobriety meet: 6:30-8:30 p.m. via Zoom. For meeting details, email 1093@womenforsobriety.org.
May 17
Prayers & Squares Quilting Group meets: 9 a.m., Room 1 of Hunter Hall at St. Matthews Cathedral.
Free stress relief clinic: 1-2 p.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
May 18
Laramie Tai Chi and tea: Meets at 1:30 p.m. at the north end of the stadium in Laramie Plainsman Park, North 15th and Reynolds. For more information, visit laramietaichiandtea.org.
Ivinson Medical Group women’s health prenatal education: 5:30 p.m., Ivinson Memorial Hospital in the Summit Conference Room. Learn more or register at ivinsonhospital.org/childbirth.
May 19
Caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer’s/dementia: 3 p.m., meet for coffee, pie, understanding and comradeship at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, 204 S. 30th St. For more information, call 307-745-6451.
Stitching the Past Together creative aging class: 6:30-8 p.m., Albany County Public Library large meeting room. Students will learn memory-based storytelling through beading techniques in this free course. Register at acplwy.org or at the circulation desk.
May 20
Albany County CattleWomen meet: 11:30 a.m., location tbd. Visit wyaccw.com in the week before the meeting for location and more information.
Free stress relief clinic: Noon to 1 p.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
May 21
Free stress relief clinic: 10-11 a.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
May 23
Alcoholics Anonymous meets: Daily at various times in person or on Zoom. For more information, call 307-399-0590 or visit area76aawyoming.org or aa.org.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group: Meets from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at Hospice of Laramie House, 1754 Centennial Drive.
Women for Sobriety meet: 6:30-8:30 p.m. via Zoom. For meeting details, email 1093@womenforsobriety.org.
America Sewing Guild Laramie Chapter meets: 7 p.m., United Methodist Church, 1215 E. Gibbon St. Please enter through the lower east door off the parking lot.
May 24
Prayers & Squares Quilting Group meets: 9 a.m., Room 1 of Hunter Hall at St. Matthews Cathedral.
Free stress relief clinic: 1-2 p.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
May 25
Laramie Tai Chi and tea: Meets at 1:30 p.m. at the north end of the stadium in Laramie Plainsman Park, North 15th and Reynolds. For more information, visit laramietaichiandtea.org.
May 26
Caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer’s/dementia: 3 p.m., meet for coffee, pie, understanding and comradeship at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, 204 S. 30th St. For more information, call 307-745-6451.
Stitching the Past Together creative aging class: 6:30-8 p.m., Albany County Public Library large meeting room. Students will learn memory-based storytelling through beading techniques in this free course. Register at acplwy.org or at the circulation desk.
May 27
Free stress relief clinic: Noon to 1 p.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
May 28
Free stress relief clinic: 10-11 a.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
May 30
Alcoholics Anonymous meets: Daily at various times in person or on Zoom. For more information, call 307-399-0590 or visit area76aawyoming.org or aa.org.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group: Meets from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at Hospice of Laramie House, 1754 Centennial Drive.
Women for Sobriety meet: 6:30-8:30 p.m. via Zoom. For meeting details, email 1093@womenforsobriety.org.
May 31
Prayers & Squares Quilting Group meets: 9 a.m., Room 1 of Hunter Hall at St. Matthews Cathedral.
Free stress relief clinic: 1-2 p.m., Laramie Plains Civic Center Phoenix Ballroom.
Have an event for What’s Happening? Send it to Managing Editor Greg Johnson at gjohnson@laramieboomerang.com.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/announcements/whats-happening/article_414c5540-d957-5f36-a7b8-217f5df45377.html
| 2022-04-23T13:30:43Z
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Students in Stacy Hoffer’s second grade class at Indian Paintbrush Elementary School in Laramie raise their hands on the first day of school. They were all wearing face masks to comply with the school district’s mandate they be worn indoors and on buses by all students and staff.
Albany County School District 1 is ready for the next step in its search for a new superintendent after announcing three finalists for the position this week.
The district is looking for new leadership after Superintendent Jubal Yennie tendered his resignation earlier this year. His last day on the job will be June 30.
The three finalists plan to come to town next week for formal interviews with the ACSD1 Board of Education, as well as to attend forums with school staff, students, parents and members of the general public.
“Hiring the superintendent is one of the most — if not the most — important tasks that the school board undertakes,” said board Chairperson Janice Marshall in a press release. “The trustees have deliberated a great deal to arrive at these finalists. Now it is time to engage each applicant with the Albany County community.”
The public forums are from 6-7 p.m. at Laramie Middle School each night Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The candidates will present on a different night. Attendees will have the option to submit questions ahead of time through an online form. The forums also can be watched on the district's YouTube channel.
The finalists are:
David Barker, superintendent of Fremont County School District 1 in Lander, who will visit Tuesday.
John Goldhart, the superintendent of Manchester School District in New Hampshire, will visit Wednesday.
Charlotte Patterson of the Tucson Unified School District in Arizona will visit Thursday.
Between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. each day, district staff also can meet with the candidates.
“The school board has approached the process of hiring a new superintendent with thoughtfulness and rigor,” Marshall said in the press release. “We look forward to seeing how they interact with our community, learning more about them in-person, and gathering feedback.”
Stakeholders will be able to provide the school board with feedback on the candidates after the forums. The board will meet to select a new superintendent during an executive session at 4 p.m. May 4.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/acsd-superintendent-finalists-to-visit-next-week/article_ed5e491c-cdae-5b24-9190-56bb991264af.html
| 2022-04-23T13:30:49Z
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There’s a reason for the saying “busy as a bee.” That’s because these members of the insect world keep very active in their quest to collect pollen and create the next generation of bees.
An opportunity to learn much more about bees is offered by a collaboration of the Biodiversity Institute at the University of Wyoming, the Albany County Public Library and Wyoming PBS. The Bee Jubilee is scheduled for 1 p.m. May 1 at the Berry Center on the UW campus.
Dorothy Tuthill, assistant director of the Biodiversity Institute, said this is the first time for this event that features a viewing of the PBS film “My Garden of a Thousand Bees.”
“The film is stunning, and watching it on the large screen at the Berry Center will really enhance the experience,” Tuthill said. “The photography is fabulous.”
Most people likely picture honey bees when thinking of bees. Honey bees are non-native and were brought to the Americas by early European settlers for their beeswax and honey. They are very social and live in hives.
By contrast, our “wild” bees tend to live solitary lives and create nests in holes. These can be on the ground, in old wood or even in rock. Discovering the habits and world of bees is no easy feat since they tend to fly off when researchers get too close.
It took acclaimed wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn considerable effort and adaptation to figure out how to film bees going about their normal lives. He had the time, though, and no place to go except his own yard in Bristol, England. It was the lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of traveling around the globe to film wildlife, he headed to his own urban backyard.
In his rather wild-looking garden, Dohrn found it difficult to get close to the bees. They seemed particularly alert and wary of his approaches. So, he forged unique lenses at his kitchen table.
Once he figured out how to film them, he catalogued more than 60 bee species just in his own garden. These ranged from large bumblebees to mosquito-sized scissor bees.
With his attention to detail, Dohrn named a few distinctive individual bees. He even became somewhat attached to a leafcutter bee he named Nicky (because of a nick in her wing).
Not only is the photography in the film amazing, it also goes into the life of bees. It will keep the interest of viewers of all ages; even youngsters will be enthralled.
After the film, a panel of bee experts will take questions from the audience. Tuthill said the panelists are UW graduate students with two focused on native bees and one on the non-native honey bee.
Moderator is Laramie High School student Tresize Tronstad, daughter ofLusha Tronstad, invertebrate zoology program manager for the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database.
“Bring all your bee questions,” Tuthill said. “The three bee specialists offer a wealth of knowledge and are ready to answer your questions.”
Following the panel, participants can enjoy bee-related activities. One likely to attract all ages is the construction of a bee hotel. Tuthill explains this type of “hotel” is a series of holes in recycled lumber.
“Holes are a big thing with bees,” Dohrn says in the film. “They can’t seem to pass one by without having to check it out.”
Another activity that goes through the summer is the planting of wildflowers to attract bees. While the seeds can be planted in an individual’s yard, there is also the opportunity to plant them in a garden at the Albany County Public Library. Journals will be given out to those who want to keep a record of the plants’ progress through the summer.
Members of the Laramie Garden Club will be on hand to provide recommendations on what to grow to attract pollinators. There will even be insects on display where the various species of bees can be viewed without the risk of getting stung.
This is a great opportunity for residents of all ages to learn about and appreciate these insects that buzz from flower to flower all summer.
If you go:
What: Bee Jubilee
When: 1 p.m. May 1
Where: University of Wyoming Berry Center on Campus
Cost: Free
Event schedule
1 p.m.: Film screening of “My Garden of a Thousand Bees”
2 p.m.: Q&A with University of Wyoming graduate students specializing in bumble bees, honey bees and pollination
2:30 p.m.: Learning stations and crafts
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/all-abuzz-about-bees/article_28a10e5d-1d54-5dad-bc7b-1020c48a1e91.html
| 2022-04-23T13:30:55Z
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Elections will look a bit different for Albany County residents this year. After a redistricting process and some changes to voter identification laws were passed by legislators, the Albany County Clerk’s office is working to educate voters on the changes in time for election season.
“We want to be your avenue for providing you key information,” Albany County Clerk Jackie Gonzales said during an information session Wednesday. “It's all of us working together to make the election process successful in Albany County.”
Voters should pay attention to their mailboxes next month, as the county will send postcards explaining each resident’s updated Wyoming House of Representatives and Senate districts, city of Laramie ward boundaries and polling places.
The changes come as a result of the once-a-decade redistricting process, which state legislators completed during their session that started in February this year.
The state districts had to be readjusted to be within 10% of an ideal population distribution after population changes were recorded in the latest U.S. Census.
The new map has been called a “win” for Albany County by local state lawmakers because it keeps the county relatively whole. For the past 10 years, Rock River had been drawn into Carbon County districts. With the new map, the town has returned to Albany County, which better reflects the constituents in that area, said House District 13 Rep. Cathy Connolly, D-Laramie.
Albany County will have four House districts and two representatives in the state Senate.
Though the latest redistricting map was “pocket passed” by Gov. Mark Gordon, meaning he allowed the bill to pass without a signature, this may not be the end of the redistricting conversation, Connolly said.
Though violations don’t impact Albany County, there are some areas of the map that fail to follow the population requirements. This opens the map up to be challenged in court, but there hasn’t yet been an indication that this will happen.
Because the latest census was taken in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, there also is some concern that Albany County’s population was undercounted as the population for the University of Wyoming was largely absent because of remote operations.
According to the census, Albany County shrunk by 600 people over the past decade, but many legislators feel the population actually grew. After one year, the county will have the option to challenge the numbers put out by the federal government.
The redistricting process ended up taking longer than expected and was “a contentious process,” Connolly said.
Because of this, there may be interest in re-imagining the redistricting process in the future to include an independent commission that doesn’t have political affiliations.
Laramie City Council had similar difficulties with the process, as it had to redraw city ward boundaries to account for population changes and to match the new state districts.
“I’ve gone through the redistricting process four times. This was probably the hardest out of the four, and I hope that as time goes down it becomes easier,” Gonzales said. “If the Legislature is open to having assistance from individuals who don’t have interest in drawing along party lines or gerrymandering, that might be a good thing in the future.”
Voter ID laws
In addition to finding their new polling places, voters should be prepared to follow new voter identification laws that went into effect last year.
Voters will be required to show a photo ID to cast any type of ballot in-person. However, ID will not be required for merely requesting an absentee ballot.
Acceptable forms of identification include a driver’s license, passport, tribal ID card, U.S. military card, student ID card or a valid Medicare or Medicaid insurance card.
The City Clerk’s Office has been working to educate voters about the changes and prepare for a smooth election season, Gonzales said.
All told, it takes about 200 election judges to help on Election Day between providing voter registration, polling, canvassing, managing absentee ballots and more.
“Please reach out to your delegates to ask any questions you might have," Gonzales said. "Come see us in-person (or) call us on the phone. Together we’re in this and we look forward to a successful 2022 election cycle.”
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/county-educates-public-on-new-polling-places-voter-id-laws-ahead-of-election-season/article_d5ec3707-73d8-5d72-9116-959dee46789e.html
| 2022-04-23T13:31:02Z
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CASPER — Roughly 150 people protested Thursday outside an abortion clinic now under construction in Casper. The prayer event took place during the evening commute at one of Casper’s busier intersections, Second and McKinley.
Some protesters carried signs with sayings such as “Remember the unborn” and “Life, the first inalienable right.”
Protester Molly Moore brought a rosary and a dish of blessing salt “to keep evil out of this place.”
“Our country is drenched in the blood of aborted babies,” she said. “It’s selfish and evil, and we don’t want it in our town.”
The clinic is set to open this summer. It’ll be the only provider of surgical abortions in Wyoming and will also offer medication abortions, family planning, OB/GYN care and gender-affirming services.
Former Mills Town Councilman Mike Pyatt said ideally the clinic won’t open at all because of the opposition.
But if it does, he said he knows the group will “do its best to disrupt the services with so many people out front, women and girls won’t want to come in.”
Pyatt said he plans to ask members of the Casper City Council to “denounce” the clinic.
News of the clinic became public last week. Most in attendance said they heard about it from their churches or from the Casper True Care office.
The protest attracted considerably more people than organizers had expected, said Bob Brechtel, a former Republican state lawmaker who planned the demonstration.
“This is thrilling,” he said, “and it’s just beginning.”
Clinic founder Julie Burkhart attended the event and said she’s no stranger to opposition. She’s slightly worried about security — some people tried to come up on the clinic grounds — but said she’s glad it’s on such a busy street to get “more eyes” on it.
About half of the cars driving by cheered or honked in support of the demonstration. The rest shouted against them or laid on their horns. One man parked across the street and blasted music out of the back of his truck, apparently in opposition to the gathering.
Some protesters brought their children, including Tyler Martin, a pastor at Outfitter Church in Bar Nunn. He told his children they were going to “help mommies know they’re loved and supported.”
Currently, a Jackson doctor is the only provider of medical abortions in Wyoming.
Residents can also order abortion medication in the mail.
Surgical abortions can be performed later in a pregnancy than those by medication, though a Wyoming law passed in 2019 prohibits any abortions after a fetus is viable outside of the womb.
Burkhart said her organization, Circle of Hope, chose Casper for its first clinic because of its location. People from all parts of the state, as well as neighboring areas in South Dakota and Nebraska, will be able to use the facility, she said.
Circle of Hope has worked with a local advisory board to get the clinic open. Members of the board were also at the clinic during the demonstration. The nonprofit, based in Washington, D.C., eventually plans to open other clinics around the country, according to Burkhart.
Thursday’s demonstration was the first of weekly prayer events planned by abortion opponents.
Protesters passed around forms encouraging others to sign up for future demonstrations. The form included a non-violence pledge.
A larger, statewide peaceful protest is planned for the clinic’s opening this summer, according to Tim Lasseter of Park County Right to Life.
Ninety-one abortions were performed by Wyoming providers in 2020, according to data from the state health department. Eighty-eight of those were by medication, one was a surgical dilation procedure and two did not report their method.
Chelsea’s Fund, a Wyoming nonprofit that provides financial assistance to people seeking abortions, has assisted 63 people so far in 2022.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/crowd-protests-outside-planned-abortion-clinic/article_9f1b25b0-361a-540e-b74a-c3c69250b775.html
| 2022-04-23T13:31:08Z
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JACKSON — Members of the Grizzly 399 fan club had been staking out Pilgrim Creek for weeks, waiting for the celebrity bear to make her first appearance.
Among them, Jill Hall had guessed that the famous mom would emerge April 1. Instead, she showed herself more than two weeks later, a span that saw Hall, 59, camping out in the snow, hoping to be near the action.
Watching Grizzly 399 is “almost a spiritual experience,” said Hall, who doesn’t normally camp in the snow.
As snow once again started to fall Saturday, the grizzly and her brood emerged in the afternoon to 15 to 20 carloads of spectators. An entourage of roughly 100 vehicles soon coalesced around the famous fivesome as the bears promenaded down along Pilgrim Creek, crossed the road to Willow Flats and forded the Snake River before continuing south in Grand Teton National Park.
“It left us all really speechless,” said wildlife photographer Tiffany Taxis. “Everyone was just overjoyed to see all five.”
Hall admired how the mother grizzly led her cubs, turning her head to keep an eye on them, especially one cub that tends to lag behind the others.
“She’s still definitely in charge for a mom her age,” Hall said.
But that will soon change as her roughly 2-year-old cubs strike out on their own. Her and her cubs’ actions last season — when they traveled through southern Jackson Hole, getting into human-related foods and moving through downtown Jackson — have her followers on high alert.
And she’s continuing to move south in the park. On Tuesday evening, Grand Teton Chief of Staff Jeremy Barnum said 399 and her cubs had been spotted near the Chapel of Transfiguration near Moose. He said that wasn’t necessarily cause for alarm and that her trajectory was “part of a movement pattern that we’ve seen before.”
Still, he cautioned: “The farther south she goes, the more we all need to pay attention and be vigilant.”
At 26, 399 is relatively old for a grizzly. Bear watchers wondered what condition she would be in and whether she would emerge at all.
“I was starting to worry about her,” said Tom Mangelsen, a Jackson Hole wildlife photographer who’s followed 399 around the valley for years.
The mother griz is one of the most well-known animals in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, if not the most well-known. But she is also a bear that’s gotten into conflicts and become habituated to human presence.
In 2007, she and her three yearling cubs made a name for themselves as they foraged along the roads between Colter Bay and Oxbow Bend in Teton Park. They also became notorious that year after 399 attacked a hiker who stumbled across her and her cubs feeding on an elk carcass near Jackson Lake Lodge. She bit the hiker on the buttocks.
The hiker survived, and 399’s actions were classified as “defensive.” Officials didn’t take further management actions.
399 has since mothered a number of cubs and raised them along park roads, delighting tourists, wildlife photographers and wildlife watchers alike. From 2012 to 2019, her presence attracted thousands of bear watchers. She’s inspired stickers and her own Facebook group, and birthed other sows, like Grizzly 610, who went on to be successful, semi-famous bears of their own.
People are now passionate about 399’s survival.
“Depending who you talk to, that’s the most important bear that’s ever been in the GYE,” Wyoming Game and Fish Large Carnivore Supervisor Dan Thompson said at an early April press conference largely focused on 399 and her four cubs.
Wildlife managers expect that the cubs will separate from their mother sometime this season.
For the past two years, 399 has led her cubs into the valley’s developed southern reaches where they’ve gotten into livestock feed, garbage and beehives: Human-related foods that can be deadly for grizzlies and other bears.
After getting food rewards, bears can get used to a food source — and become aggressive in trying to reach it, potentially posing a danger to humans. When that happens, wildlife officials consider hazing, relocating or removing bears, either by euthanasia or placement in a zoo or other animal rescue facility.
All of those options are on the table for dealing with 399 and her cubs, wildlife managers have said.
To prevent any of those steps, wildlife officials are putting the onus on people.
They’re asking residents to store garbage in bear-resistant containers, secure livestock feed, pet food, compost, and beehives, and hang bird feeders to make them inaccessible to bears. Teton County will require all of that as part of a recently-approved update to its land development regulations. But that update won’t go into effect until July 1.
Compliance in the meantime is voluntary but encouraged by local, state and federal wildlife officials.
“We want people to be able to see bears in their natural habitat,” Thompson said in April. “With that comes great responsibility, I think. If that gets abused, things can go awry extremely quickly.”
Mangelsen said the path 399 and her cubs are on is fairly typical.
“I’ve seen her go as far as the airport right after she comes out of the den,” said Mangelsen, who spoke with the News&Guide before Grizzly 399 was spotted near Moose.
Teton Park’s branch manager of fish and wildlife, Kate Wilmot, said 399’s path over the weekend, which took her to the Signal Mountain area, was “totally normal for her within her home range.”
Barnum said Tuesday night that she’s moved as far south as she had by then “in years past.”
Wilmot said where Grizzly 399 and her cubs go will depend, in part, on what foods she’s able to find, which will depend on weather and moisture over the next few weeks.
“Bears are opportunistic omnivores so they have an opportunity to diet switch when their natural foods aren’t in season for whatever reason,” Wilmot said. “We just have to see what Mother Nature gives us.”
If 399 does head farther south, she could once again enter developed areas where she’s encountered human foods in the past. There’s concern that the young bears have learned that behavior from their mother.
Hilary Cooley, grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, came to Jackson last fall to manage 399’s foray into developed areas.
“We’re probably going to have to deal with at least one of the cubs in some shape or form,” Cooley previously told the News&Guide.
In the meantime, park officials are planning to manage 399 and other bears the way they typically do: Managing crowds and traffic around roadside bears and trying to prevent conflict.
But they also have a bit of an advantage this year when it comes to 399, at least until the cubs are kicked off. Two of the cubs were radio collared last year, and park officials are watching that tracking data.
“We’re monitoring their movement pretty closely,” Barnum said.
The park’s wildlife brigade, a team of roughly 30 park volunteers and three park staff who manage bear jams, is also up and running.
All of that comes as bears emerge, and 399 in particular captures the hearts of her fans like wildlife photographer Joe Stone.
“I’m more worried about people than I am anything else,” Stone said. “I’m just hoping our community can do the right thing.”
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/famous-fivesome-offers-easter-surprise-to-watchers/article_46bae88a-3eb3-53d4-8c10-d16293707cf4.html
| 2022-04-23T13:31:14Z
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JACKSON — She is risen.
The day before Easter, Grizzly 399 and her four cubs emerged from the den. Last Saturday afternoon, the bear family promenaded down along Pilgrim Creek, made it across the highway to Willow Flats, and forded the Snake River before continuing south as they showed themselves to the public for the first time this spring.
While onlookers reported about 15 to 20 cars in the Pilgrim Creek area when the famous fivesome first emerged, a full entourage of roughly 100 vehicles quickly assembled to tag along for the bears’ stroll.
On Sunday, a smaller group reassembled, following 399’s trail and scrambling to get eyes on her as she emerged near Signal Mountain Lodge.
“They all look pretty healthy,” said Joe Stone, a wildlife photographer who watched 399 and her cubs swim across the Snake River as snow fell Saturday afternoon.
“It was a bit of a relief to see them all out,” he said. “They were running around, stretching their limbs.”
Having successfully raised her cubs along the roadsides of Grand Teton National Park since 2007, Grizzly 399 is one of the most well-known animals in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, if not the most well known.
At 26, she is also relatively old for a grizzly. Bear watchers wondered what condition she and her cubs would be in when they emerged this spring. Some wondered whether 399 would emerge at all.
“I was starting to worry about her,” said Tom Mangelsen, a Jackson Hole wildlife photographer who has followed 399 around the valley for years.
When 399 did emerge, Mangelsen was mollified.
“All five of them look very healthy,” he said.
Grizzly 399’s cubs are now approximately two years old, and wildlife managers expect they will separate from their mother sometime this season.
When that happens, if not before, wildlife managers are concerned about what will happen.
For the past two years, 399 has led her cubs into the valley’s developed southern reaches where they have gotten into livestock feed, garbage and beehives: human-related food sources that can be deadly for grizzlies and other bears.
After receiving food rewards, bears can get used to accessing that food source and become aggressive in trying to reach it, potentially posing a danger to humans. When that happens, wildlife managers consider hazing, relocating or removing bears, either by euthanasia or live placement.
All of those options are on the table for dealing with 399 and her cubs, wildlife managers have said.
To prevent any of those interventions, wildlife officials are putting the onus on people.
They’re asking residents to store garbage in bear-resistant containers; secure livestock feed, pet food, compost and beehives; and hang bird feeders to make them inaccessible to bears.
Teton County will require all of that as part of a recently approved update to its land development regulations. But that update won’t go into effect until July 1. Compliance in the meantime is voluntary but encouraged by local, state and federal wildlife officials.
“We want people to be able to see bears in their natural habitat,” Wyoming Game and Fish Large Carnivore Supervisor Dan Thompson said at an early April press conference. “And with that comes great responsibility, I think. If that gets abused, things can go awry extremely quickly.”
For now, Mangelsen said the path 399 and her cubs are on is fairly “typical.”
He isn’t anticipating her going south of Jackson Hole Airport anytime soon, although he didn’t rule it out for this summer.
“I don’t think there’s any indication that she would head ‘south of town’ at this point,” he said.
But if 399 does head farther south this season, she could once again enter developed areas where she has encountered human foods in the past. There is concern that the young bears have learned that behavior from their mother.
Hilary Cooley, the grizzly bear recovery coordinator from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who was called out to Jackson last fall to manage 399’s time in developed areas, expects conflicts will arise.
“We’re probably going to have to deal with at least one of the cubs in some shape or form,” Cooley previously told the Jackson Hole Daily.
All of that has onlookers like wildlife photographers Tiffany Taxis and Joe Stone concerned about what’s to come.
“I’m more worried about people than I am anything else,” Stone told the Daily. “I’m just hoping our community can do the right thing.”
But, in the meantime, crowds are gathering in Grand Teton National Park to watch 399 as she moves through her traditional home range.
Park officials were not able to respond to a request for comment before press time Sunday because they were in the field managing bear traffic.
But bear watchers were having a ball, albeit in smaller numbers than Saturday.
Jill Hall is among fans keeping an eye on the mother griz. When she spoke with the Daily around 11:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday, Hall said she was headed to church. If it wasn’t for the holiday, she would have had other plans involving 399.
“I’d be up there by now,” she said.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/grizzly-399-cubs-emerge-from-den/article_97cd9e58-fb4f-524b-8913-0b5c9ce541db.html
| 2022-04-23T13:31:20Z
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The University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra will reach the crescendo of its 2021-22 season with a closing performance titled “An American in Paris.”
The theme for this year’s UWSO has been “Joy and Reflection.” When conductor Michael Griffith wrote that last summer, he thought the pandemic was almost over, so audiences would be joyful for that and reflecting on what they’ve been through.
At least in Laramie, the local community and UW are in a lull between surges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the orchestra hopes to see a great turnout for what’s being billed as a varied and fascinating closing concert.
The closing concert selection of George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” is a favorite in the orchestral sphere. Its joyful message turns jazzy, bluesy and bright, and even includes Parisian taxi horns. You’ll hear the bustle of Parisian life, the loneliness of the expat hero or heroine and their exciting life in this wonderful city.
You may recognize the music from the MGM film of the same name, where Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron dance one of Hollywood’s great ballets. But be aware: The music came first, the film followed.
The guest soloist is a wonderful young pianist named Andrew Staupe. He’s chosen the 1934 “Concerto in One Movement” by Black composer Florence Price. Her music has only recently become generally known, and the UWSO is thrilled to bring it to Laramie, Griffith said.
He calls the music “engaging and attractive, with a wonderful closing section based on a juba, a folk dance popular in the years before the Civil War. It sounds a bit like a Scott Joplin rag, highly syncopated. Other sections are more dramatic or lyrical, a bit more like late-Romantic music.”
The UW Symphony also is one four orchestra premiering Jesse Ayers’ “Shinkansen.”
Griffith has family in Japan and rides the country’s bullet trains to see his grandchildren. Shinkansen is what they call these 186-mph wonders. As you may expect, the music is fast.
Griffith said that last year he read a biography of George Szell, who conducted The Cleveland Orchestra for decades. In it, he ran across a piece he’d never heard of: William Grant Still’s 1943 “In Memoriam: The Colored Soldiers Who Died for Democracy.” Still was the leading Black composer of his generation, best known for his “Afro-American Symphony.”
Szell believed in the piece so much that when the Cleveland Orchestra toured the Soviet Union in 1965, he made it an important part of the repertoire. He also performed it while a guest conductor of the Boston Symphony.
This piqued Griffith’s curiosity. He said he became familiar with it, and decided to include it on this concert.
Still wrote it for the New York Philharmonic during World War II, one of a series of commissions commemorating those who lost their lives in that war. Musically, it moves back and forth between distant military fanfares and a Black spiritual.
The initial plan for the UWSO was to present a program all by American composers. However, it’s adding one additional short piece: Valentin Silvestrov’s “Prayer for Ukraine.”
Silvestrov is today’s leading Ukrainian composer, and he wrote this piece as for choir in 2014. Only weeks ago the Bamberg Symphony in Germany commissioned an orchestral version, which was posted to YouTube.
Griffith said he came across it and was tremendously moved. The UW symphony is one of only a few orchestras in the world performing “Prayer for Ukraine,” which will start the concert.
If you have a 4th or 5th grade student in Laramie, they’ll be hearing some of this same music the morning of May 6. The UWSO’s annual Young Persons’ Concert is returning after a two-year hiatus. They are so happy we can do this important concert again.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/local_news/uw-symphony-brings-paris-to-laramie-to-close-season/article_55f48e27-0c72-579c-bd01-a8e53c115521.html
| 2022-04-23T13:31:26Z
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PINEDALE — After being outed for apparently replying to an undercover online sting April 7, David Shaw, Sublette County School District No. 1's director of special services was terminated April 14.
The SCSD No.1 Board of Trustees called an extra executive session at its April 14 public meeting and unanimously, without conversation, voted to dismiss the administrator.
School officials and the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office were informed by phone and email April 11 that Shaw was allegedly shown on video in Ocean Beach, Calif., after making plans on the adult social network Grindr to meet someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy.
The amateur sting was carried out by a 30-year-old California man with a cellphone and camera who responds to men looking for sex contacts, then tells them he is younger than 15 and arranges to meet them somewhere public.
In this case, as Shaw waited outside a San Diego business, a man walked up to him and announced he was the 14-year-old boy Shaw had planned to meet that night.
The man told Shaw he was the one who texted with him for a live YouTube sting titled “People v. Preds.”
Recording the entire time, the man followed Shaw through the streets, screaming insults and questions. Shaw denied the Grindr meetup, but the man showed him Shaw’s profile picture and texts between them, including Shaw’s online name “Teacher of All.”
Shaw called the San Diego Police Department and eventually was taken away in a patrol car.
“We received the video on the afternoon of (April 11) from 'People vs. Predators,'” Sheriff KC Lehr said.
As of the writing of this story, the San Diego Police Department had not responded to the sheriff’s request for more information, and it is not known if Shaw was charged in that jurisdiction.
“We are aware of it and the YouTube video was sent to us, as well,” the sheriff said. “The school district has been made aware.”
The next day, April 15, Sgt. Travis Bingham sent out a joint press release.
“On Monday, April 11, 2022, SCSD No.1 Superintendent Shannon Harris, and SCSO School Resource Officers Lyndy Guenther and Ryan Day, received a voicemail message from an unidentified male caller alleging misconduct by an SCSD No. 1 employee,” the release says. "After contact was made with the caller, that individual sent an email which included a video of the SCSD No.1 employee in question.”
The SCSD No.1 employee was immediately placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
At the school board meeting, a reporter showed officials two photos taken from the video, asking if it was a Pinedale teacher named David Shaw and whether they were aware of the allegation that Shaw attempted to procure sex from a 14-year-old boy.
“This is a very sensitive personnel matter and we have nothing further to say,” said board chairperson Jamison Ziegler.
Later, the board amended its agenda, went into a new executive session and returned to vote unanimously to dismiss Shaw “on the recommendation of the superintendent (Harris) — effective immediately.”
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/school-administrator-fired-after-caught-in-online-sting/article_20ea1edc-698d-5603-9c61-74edb4b8dfad.html
| 2022-04-23T13:31:32Z
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With a financial assist from the federal government, the state of Wyoming wants to help vulnerable populations stay in their homes.
Using up to an initial $1 million, the Wyoming Department of Health is accepting applications from residents who already are participants in a COVID-19 pandemic rental assistance program. The department’s newer program is called Housing Stability Services, or HSS, and is part of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
Both are funded through money the state received as part of the 2021 federal American Rescue Plan Act.
Wyoming’s ERAP-HSS initiative is offering to pay as much as $5,000 a household for people with disabilities and those who are older than 55 to make necessary upgrades to their homes so that they can more easily maneuver inside.
Another part of the initiative offers a similar stipend for much-needed repairs to trailers and mobile homes for people who rent the lots they sit on.
There’s potential for significant demand for this help, state officials told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle this week. This is partly because the shortage of affordable places to live, coupled with rising prices for housing and overall inflation, means many people are being crunched financially. This is particularly true for people with lower incomes, experts say.
The Wyoming Department of Health last year got the $1 million in funding for HSS from the state Department of Family Services, which helps run ERAP. Officials involved in HSS hope to extend the amount of time repairs and mobility updates can be made to beyond September. It’s also possible more money could be made available, although details are not final.
“The need is huge” for such assistance across the state, said Dan Dorsch, special projects coordinator at Habitat for Humanity for Laramie County. His organization helps administer HSS in the county, and the Department of Health has other administrators throughout the state.
There are people in Wyoming and locally who pay more than the government-recommended 30% threshold of their income for housing, Dorsch said.
“I think that is playing a huge part in where that need is coming from,” he said.
From the second quarter of 2020 through all of last year, Laramie County mobile home expenses increased 10.7% to an average of $1,027 monthly, according to a local economist whose organization compiles such statistics.
Wyoming Center for Business and Economic Analysis Director Nick Colsch also said lot rents rose during that period of time. That’s part of an increase of $99 per month on average, or 10.7%, in just 18 months. Lot rents went from $468 to $490, up $22 per month on average and up 4.7% over the last 18 months.
Although it is somewhat early on in the state program, Habitat for Humanity for Laramie County has already overseen the completion of two projects for local mobile homes.
“We’ve spent up to the limit” for those two households, Dorsch said.
Additional households in the county have been referred by the Wyoming Department of Health to Habitat for Humanity for similar upgrades, so there are more projects that hopefully will be in the works.
Therein lies a wrinkle, caused in part by some of the economic conditions that make it harder for some people to remain in their homes or pay for necessary repairs.
The same supply chain crunch stemming from the pandemic that has raised prices for many goods also means that government money doesn’t go as far in paying for upgrades. Wait times for projects to be completed also are longer. Meanwhile, the increase in housing prices and rents means people may have less money available to make repairs, even in dangerous situations.
“The $5,000 is great, but sometimes there is a greater need than that,” Dorsch said of the per-household reimbursement limit for repairs and upgrades. “The cost of building supplies keep going up and up” and may rise more.
The bottom line is that while “that $5,000 bucket seems like a lot,” Dorsch said that it “can seem a lot smaller once you start making calls” to contractors and repair people to learn what repairs could cost.
In one mobile home in Laramie County, additional repairs remain on the to-do list so that the resident does not need to unplug one appliance to use another, Dorsch said.
“There was a lot of electrical work that needed to be done,” he said, adding that only some things could be fixed with the initial allotment. “There are still a few electrical things that need to be done for the person to continue to (safely) live in the trailer.”
The person has already received a new microwave and a new oven, as neither were working correctly. A thermostat was fixed, as was a leaky faucet.
State officials and Dorsch said they were unable to provide identifying details of those who have benefited from the state program for privacy reasons. But overall, they said recipients have been appreciative of the work.
In fact, the state is looking for additional administrators (formally called subrecipients) so ERAP-HSS can fully operate in every county in Wyoming.
So far, the Department of Health has connected 45 households in the state with a subrecipient, said Mark Kelly, who works at the department’s Aging Division and helps run ERAP-HSS.
“We do have people on the waiting list” in counties lacking a local organization that can coordinate all services available under ERAP-HSS, Kelly said. “As time goes on, that list is getting shorter, and that is good news.”
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/state-wants-to-help-vulnerable-people-stay-in-homes/article_93b96698-2e96-5bbe-9ca5-4713c0713a85.html
| 2022-04-23T13:31:34Z
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Bird flu prompts emergency order for Wyo poultry
The Wyoming Livestock Board has issued an emergency poultry rule in response to the continues spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) across the United States.
The bird flu has been confirmed in domestic poultry in 29 states, including Wyoming, and affects an estimated 31 million birds.
To try and stem the spread of the disease, the Livestock Board has passed an emergency rule limiting poultry movement, which was signed by Gov. Mark Gordon on Tuesday.
Under the order, all poultry events are prohibited, which includes exhibitions, swaps, tours, sales and competitions.
The prohibition does not include catalog or retail sale of poultry.
The emergency poultry rule may be in effect for up to 120 days. The Livestock Board will review it in late May to determine if it’s still needed.
For more information, visit https://tinyurl.com/ycks6u4k for attend a webinar from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday. Register at https://tinyurl.com/3tusvusz.
Gordon prioritizes EMS in 2022, seeks $20 million
Gov. Mark Gordon’s Health Task Force and the Wyoming Department of Health have been working on ideas for improvements to the delivery of health care in Wyoming.
A major focus in the early months is on emergency medical services. Regional EMS providers have struggled to sustain operations in recent years due to a combination of factors, including low call volume, high cost of operations, staffing and volunteer shortages, and reimbursement for services.
As a result of the conversations and recommendations from the Health Task Force’s EMS Subcommittee, the governor requested the Legislature appropriate $20 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to help stabilize the current system and provide regional pilot programs to address sustainability of operations.
Legislators recognized the importance of stabilizing the EMS system in Wyoming by approving $5 million in stabilization funding and $10 million to develop regional pilot programs.
“One of the key components necessary for Wyoming to have a robust health care system is to ensure our first responder system is viable and sustainable,” Gordon said in a news release this week. “It is essential that emergency services be ready to respond when and where the need arises, whether that be in our most rural areas or in our larger communities.”
The task force and Wyoming Department of Health will host a series of regional discussions with stakeholders to address challenges related to emergency medical services in the coming months. The first regional discussion will take place in Cheyenne and address Trauma Region 3, which includes Albany, Laramie, Goshen and Platte counties. Additional meetings will follow in each of the state’s five trauma regions, with exact dates and locations still to be determined.
Additional details on the meetings are available by contacting health and human services policy advisor Jen Davis at 307-777-8094 or jen.davis@wyo.gov.
WYDOT reminds not to place signs along roads
The Wyoming Department of Transportation has a reminder for anyone with a hankering to post signs along roads and highways: Just don’t do it.
Whether you are a resident of our state, someone doing business here, a political candidate, or selling real estate (or potentially other goods), this applies to you, WYDOT said Thursday. The agency cited Wyoming statute 24-10-104, which says that outdoor advertising must meet various conditions in order to be allowed.
“Placing signs or objects within highway rights-of-way is prohibited, including on right-of-way fencing or on trees, traffic signs or traffic signal poles within the right-of-way,” WYDOT reminded people.
There are a few reasons why you should not post materials along highways, roads and the like.
For one, such “signs in the rights of way and on traffic poles create a distraction to drivers, thus increasing the likelihood of an accident.”
Further, the agency continued in its announcement, “the accumulation of paper, tape and staples becomes a littering issue.”
WYDOT had one final reminder to those who might be tempted to violate this portion of the state’s statute: “Fines and even jail time can be inflicted on those who don’t comply with the law.”
Officials mark start of CO2 pipeline used for oil recovery
BOWMAN, N.D. (AP) – State and energy officials held a ceremony in Bowman on Wednesday to mark the completion of a carbon dioxide pipeline used to help recover more crude from older oil fields.
Plano, Texas-based Denbury Resources’ pipeline runs through Slope and Bowman counties to old oil fields along the Montana-North Dakota border. The carbon dioxide is injected underground to force oil to the surface.
Denbury is targeting oil fields within the Cedar Creek Anticline Area that straddles the border. The carbon dioxide would come from Exxon Mobil’s Shute Creek Gas Plant and Conoco Phillips’ Lost Cabin Gas Plant in Wyoming, according to Denbury’s application filed with North Dakota regulators. It would travel via several pipelines in Montana before crossing into North Dakota.
The North Dakota portion of the 18-mile, two-state $9.2 million line spans 9 miles, according to the company’s permit application.
It’s the second such pipeline in the state. The North Dakota Public Service Commission approved its first carbon dioxide pipeline in 1998, to carry gas from Basin Electric’s Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah to oil fields in Saskatchewan.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/worth-noting/article_734c683b-1b61-50ce-b98f-6ab21d8ee3a6.html
| 2022-04-23T13:31:40Z
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Forty-year-old Egyptian political prisoner Alaa Abd el-Fattah has embarked on a hunger strike to the death.
A leader of the 2011 Arab Spring in Cairo’s Tahrir Square that overthrew the longtime, U.S.-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak, Alaa has been repeatedly targeted for his activism by successive Egyptian governments. He’s spent eight of the last nine years in prison. The dubious crime of “broadcasting false news” earned him an additional five-year sentence last December. “He is in prison for his ideas and his words,” write the editors of “You Have Not Yet Been Defeated,” the just-published collection of Alaa’s writings. The editors chose to remain anonymous to avoid the same persecution that Alaa has suffered at the hands of the current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Alaa’s youngest sister, 28-year-old Egyptian filmmaker and activist Sanaa Seif, who herself has spent more than three years in prison, is now in the U.S. on a national tour to promote Alaa’s book and to advocate for his freedom.
The Egyptian government is doing all it can to silence Alaa Abd el-Fattah, so we rely here on interviews he gave during those fleeting moments over the last decade when he was free. Alaa first appeared on the Democracy Now! news hour in February 2011 as the Arab Spring was sweeping across Egypt.
Amy Goodman: “Tell us, Alaa — it’s great to have you with us, a prominent Egyptian blogger, democracy activist. What is happening in front of the presidential palace, one of a number of new places that are being occupied by protesters, like Egyptian state TV, as well, and the parliament?”
Alaa Abd el-Fattah: “In front of the TV building, there’s a big crowd. We can’t shut down the TV building ... It’s heavily barricaded by the army. What we’re trying to do is put pressure on the employees working inside to join us, to revolt and refuse to spread state propaganda.”
Alaa’s activism during the revolution landed him in jail, that time for two months. He spoke on Democracy Now! two days after his release:
“I was in complete darkness for five days. It was very filthy and very crowded. It was nine of us in a two-by-three-meter cell, having no access to water or toilet except 10 minutes per day. Basically, they knew they couldn’t torture me, because of the solidarity and the media attention, so they just made sure to try and use every other measure to put me in discomfort or psychological pressure.”
Journalist and Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Adbel Kouddous is also on the book tour. Sharif works with Mada Masr, one of the only independent media outlets in Egypt. Speaking on Democracy Now!, he described the al-Sisi regime’s increasing reliance on incarceration:
“There’s this ballooning of the prison population, because the regime doesn’t really deal with any of the deep social, economic and political problems that are in the country except through incarceration or other forms of oppression.”
Case in point is Egyptian TikTok influencer Haneen Hossam, jailed on alleged “human trafficking” charges. She was instructing women how to earn money by sharing videos on a platform called Likee. She was first sentenced to 10 years, reduced this week to three, with a fine of over $10,000, about three times Egypt’s average annual salary.
Alaa comes from an activist family, from his late father, Ahmed Seif El-Islam, a human rights lawyer, to his mother, mathematician Laila Soueif. After she and her daughters protested in front of the prison where Alaa was being held, her youngest, Sanaa, was beaten and arrested. She was imprisoned for a year and a half. Sanaa said on Democracy Now!, “What moves me, what keeps us going is that we, as a family, want to survive and want to unite in peace... I don’t think they are giving us any choice but to resist them.”
Alaa told Sharif Abdel Kouddous in a recorded interview in 2014: “When we talk about the revolution while living it, we are talking about a dream, a wish, something that we’re trying to fulfill, something that we’re trying to create... If what you’re trying to do is to achieve a life of dignity and safety and prosperity for yourself and for your loved ones, then you have no choice.”
Seif and Kouddous are touring the U.S. to raise awareness of Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s dire plight, now in his fourth week on hunger strike. Meanwhile, Alaa’s family managed to obtain U.K. citizenship for him, as his mother was born in London. An immediate intervention by both the Biden administration and the British government would provide the best hope to save this courageous political prisoner.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/opinion/guest_column/alaa-abd-el-fattah-has-not-yet-been-defeated/article_a27c22ec-c8da-5933-a466-07fc616c0970.html
| 2022-04-23T13:31:46Z
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A year after being named Time magazine’s person of the year, Elon Musk is attempting to acquire Twitter.
To listen to Musk’s critics, you’d believe it’s an act almost on par with Hitler invading Poland not long after being named Time’s man of the year in 1938.
A writer for the left-wing website Salon worried that a Musk takeover of Twitter would enable fascism in America. A New York University journalism professor lamented that posting on Twitter with the threat of Musk looming feels like partying at a Berlin nightclub “at the twilight of Weimar Germany.” Former Labor secretary Robert Reich warned, “This is what oligarchy looks like.” And so on.
A report for the news site Axios compared Musk to “a movie super-villain,” and related — accurately — that journalists who break news and opine on Twitter “really don’t want to be working in Elon Musk’s private playpen.”
No, they much prefer to be working in a playpen whose ever-shifting rules — constantly changing to keep up with the latest progressive priorities — are written by the kind of people who thought the story of Hunter Biden’s laptop should have been suppressed.
In their eyes, Elon Musk is guilty of a thought crime — namely, believing that thought should be free, and should be freely expressed on a social media platform with outsize influence on the nation’s public life.
Not too long ago, this would have been considered a core American belief, especially welcome to journalists whose work depends on the First Amendment. That was before content moderation, weaponized against one side of the political spectrum, supposedly became the thin line protecting American democracy from the onset of misinformation-driven dictatorship.
Who knew that so much could depend on policing what pronouns apply to trans people or cracking down on users who believed in the lab-leak theory early in the pandemic?
Musk presents a clear and present danger to the use of Twitter as a one-sided instrument to impose progressive rules on the public debate.
From one point of view, Twitter should be beneath him. In contrast to many other Silicon Valley giants, Musk has focused on creating revolutionary physical products in the real world, whether electric cars or rockets. Transforming the American space program makes figuring out a better way for people to share their opinions 280 characters at time seem quite puny in comparison.
Musk is firmly in the tradition of great American entrepreneurs whose audacious vision, business acumen, and showmanship have made them larger-than-life celebrities. Think Thomas Edison.
They have usually been willing to think for themselves, a quality now in short supply.
In today’s America, world famous entrepreneurs and the companies that they’ve created, which are supposed to be all about innovation and disruption, happily let themselves get pulled along in the slipstream of progressive group think.
Companies built on great risks are deathly afraid that they might have to weather a critical hashtag or a tantrum by their woke millennial employees.
People who would presumably object to the government telling them what to say and think are too willing to let free-floating social media mobs effectively dictate to them.
Musk, a kind of libertarian who has a puckish sense of humor and willingness to defy authority (just ask the SEC), rejects this thoughtless and often cowardly conformity.
Like podcaster Joe Rogan, another recent target of progressive ire, his fundamental offense is being uncategorizable and willing to question conventional wisdom. Like Dave Chapelle and J.K. Rowling, he is too rich and famous to be canceled or cowed — to be more precise, he’s the richest man in the world who enjoys a public fight and genuinely disdains the censors and scolds.
All of this makes him a very dangerous man indeed, and perhaps just the guy to make the statement against intimidation and in favor of free speech that this moment so desperately needs.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/opinion/guest_column/in-defense-of-elon-musk/article_e0022ecb-f4c9-5f06-9afc-7d1959910f73.html
| 2022-04-23T13:31:52Z
|
...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM MDT THIS
EVENING...
* WHAT...Northwest winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts above 65 mph.
* WHERE...South Laramie Range, South Laramie Range Foothills and
Central Laramie County.
* WHEN...Until 6 PM MDT this evening.
* IMPACTS...Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines.
Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be
difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
People should avoid being outside in forested areas and around
trees and branches. If possible, remain in the lower levels of
your home during the windstorm, and avoid windows. Use caution if
you must drive.
&&
For Zachary, 15, a day well spent includes flexing his creative muscles. The performing arts is where he feels comfortable. Zachary loves music and belting out tunes whenever he can. Dancing is also another interest of his.
When he needs a break from the spotlight, Zachary can’t wait to hit the skate park for an afternoon of kick-flips and ollies on his skateboard. He thinks black is the coolest color, and he likes chowing down on cheese pizza. Zachary is also known for his funny side.
He is now in the ninth grade.
Zachary would do best in a family with a dad, in which he can be the only child in the home; however, his caseworker will consider all family types. He will need to remain in contact with his siblings following placement. Financial assistance may be available for adoption-related services. Zachary lives in Colorado. Child ID: 125877
Child profiles are provided by Raise the Future at www.raisethefuture.org. For more information about waiting children, contact Raise the Future at 800-451-5246.
An approved adoption home study is required to be considered for placement of a child. Children can be placed across state lines, so Wyoming families are encouraged to inquire, regardless of the child’s current state of residence.
For information about becoming an adoptive parent, contact Wyoming Children’s Society at 307-632-7619 or visit www.wyomingcs.org.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/a_child_waits/a-child-waits-4-23-22/article_69611439-44ed-5de4-9b89-b3d5229a6460.html
| 2022-04-23T13:31:54Z
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CHEYENNE – On Friday, 96-year-old Mary Terwilliger took a victory lap.
Not running, but as the first person to hop in a trishaw as a part of the new Miles of Smiles program, a chapter of the larger Cycling Without Age program.
It was the inaugural ride of the program, created in partnership with AARP Wyoming, Edgewood Healthcare and CaringEdge Outpatient Therapy.
Miles of Smiles provides a leisurely ride for elderly people living in assisted-care facilities. Volunteers, referred to as “pilots,” operate bicycle rickshaws, where riders take a seat in the front and feel the wind rush by on a 45-minute trip. A difference between a rickshaw and a trishaw has to do with the number of tires – a trishaw generally has three.
Pulling back into the parking lot after a lap around Cahill Park, Terwilliger was all smiles.
“It was great,” she said. “It’s really nice. The first time I was ever on one of these buggies. A perfect day for a ride.”
The worldwide nonprofit organization has the goal of increasing quality of life for the elderly through what Kelsey Devereaux identifies as the five principles. They are “generosity,” “slowness,” “storytelling,” “building relationships” and “without impairment.”
After eight years working as a physical therapist, she noticed that there was a “gap between quality of life and thriving” based on what her elderly patients’ insurance would cover. It’s also common for her patients to live on a fixed income, which doesn’t allow them to spend extra money to leave the facility and travel.
Many of her patients have difficulty stepping outside, either as a result of physical or mental impairment. Miles of Smiles is an efficient and effective way to combat the issue by getting her patients the interaction with the outside world that they need.
Devereaux was the pilot for Terwilliger’s ride.
“I just wanted to fill that gap and stop having this isolation,” Devereaux said. “The opinion of how when you get old that that’s good enough. It’s good enough that I can get myself dressed. It’s good enough that I can get in and out of the shower.
“These amazing people deserve more than ‘just enough.’”
What does it look like for a volunteer in the program to embody all five of these principles?
“Giving your gift of time,” Deveraux said. “Allowing them to go slower, allowing them to think and have the space to think. Storytelling is another, so that they can have the opportunity to tell their stories, because once they’re gone, the stories can be lost.”
Pilots and passengers
The drivers of these trishaw cycles are referred to as pilots. Not only do they have to be able to take these riders on a steady trip with ease, they’re also expected to be attentive conversationalists.
“Building relationships” is one of the most important principles for this reason – it allows riders to stimulate their brain with human interaction that they don’t often get. The final principle, “without impairment,” emphasizes the importance of the Miles of Smiles program being inclusive and inviting people to participate, regardless of age or disability.
Devereaux will be the “captain” of Cheyenne Miles of Smiles, but the model of the local branch was completely based on the program that Ed Wittman founded in Boulder, Colorado, in 2019.
Wittman worked directly with Devereaux in getting a program started in Cheyenne. They both agreed that introducing the service to Cheyenne was “just the right thing to do.”
Since he started Miles of Smiles Colorado, Wittman has seen a direct impact on the lives of elderly community members who participate.
“It is amazing,” Wittman said. “When our residents sign up, a few days before they arrive, their attitude changes. They’re smiling more on the day of the ride; that’s all they can talk about before and after. For a couple of days after, they are just simply in a better mood, and I have seen that.”
As of now, Cheyenne Miles of Smiles is an affiliate of Miles of Smiles Colorado, rather than occupying its own status as an independent nonprofit. This allowed for Devereaux, who wanted to avoid the business side of things, to provide the service here while depending on the more experienced Wittman for help.
Jackson is the only other city in Wyoming with a Cycling Without Age program. In northern Colorado, Miles of Smiles operates in Loveland, Boulder County and Lafayette. Cycling Without Age has other locations across Colorado, as well.
In Boulder, Miles of Smiles has three trishaws and about 24 volunteers giving rides at three facilities one day a week. Starting Friday, they will add to the fleet one trishaw and five volunteers in Cheyenne.
The Boulder location has recently grown rapidly, given the scaling back of restrictions imposed during the earlier parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The general hope is to see a similar degree of growth for the program here.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/cheyenne-miles-of-smiles-holds-inaugural-ride/article_b130c7f8-c122-5476-85d5-8251ee7a2fe6.html
| 2022-04-23T13:32:00Z
|
...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM MDT THIS
EVENING...
* WHAT...Northwest winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts above 65 mph.
* WHERE...South Laramie Range, South Laramie Range Foothills and
Central Laramie County.
* WHEN...Until 6 PM MDT this evening.
* IMPACTS...Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines.
Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be
difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
People should avoid being outside in forested areas and around
trees and branches. If possible, remain in the lower levels of
your home during the windstorm, and avoid windows. Use caution if
you must drive.
&&
Man killed in motorcycle crash in Cheyenne earlier this month
CHEYENNE – A man died in a motorcycle crash in Cheyenne earlier this month, according to a Wyoming Highway Patrol crash report summary.
Joseph Sharp, 56, of Wyoming died after being thrown from the motorcycle at around 10 p.m. April 9.
Sharp was riding southbound on Powderhouse Road near milepost 3.78 when he failed to negotiate a curve after cresting a hill, the report summary said. His motorcycle crossed into the northbound lane, and he then left the roadway.
After attempting to get the motorcycle back onto the road, it began to slide, the report said. The motorcycle flipped several times, and Sharp was thrown from the bike.
Sharp was not wearing a helmet.
No contributing factors were listed. The weather was described in the report summary as clear, and the roadway as dry.
Hannah Black is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s criminal justice reporter. She can be reached at hblack@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3128. Follow her on Twitter at @hannahcblack.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/man-killed-in-motorcycle-crash-in-cheyenne-earlier-this-month/article_d0dfe5c5-03a4-50e8-90d6-1db493b0ac87.html
| 2022-04-23T13:32:06Z
|
...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM MDT THIS
EVENING...
* WHAT...Northwest winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts above 65 mph.
* WHERE...South Laramie Range, South Laramie Range Foothills and
Central Laramie County.
* WHEN...Until 6 PM MDT this evening.
* IMPACTS...Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines.
Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be
difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
People should avoid being outside in forested areas and around
trees and branches. If possible, remain in the lower levels of
your home during the windstorm, and avoid windows. Use caution if
you must drive.
&&
A logo for the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office Crime Stoppers-Silent Witness program. Screenshot from the sheriff’s department website taken on March 25, 2022.
CHEYENNE – The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information related to a burglary.
On March 19, someone entered a residence in the 4700 block of James Drive. A Baretta .380 pistol and a Kawasaki ATV were taken.
If you have information about this or any other crime, call Crime Stoppers-Silent Witness at 307-638-TIPS or visit silentwitnesslaramiecounty.com. You will remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/silent_witness/silent-witness-4-23-22/article_042d80eb-2ec9-5d23-9841-616d027745c1.html
| 2022-04-23T13:32:12Z
|
Student readiness is the single most important thing we do as a school district, so it’s not a surprise that this topic emerged as one of our three strategic plan themes.
I should probably back up for a minute. For those of you who are not aware, Laramie County School District 1 launched its new five-year strategic plan on Monday, during our Board of Trustees meeting.
Students, parents, staff and community members gave us thousands of comments about what they would like to see from our district going forward. Many of these same people came together as a team to help disseminate the information and narrow the focus into a strategic plan. We are grateful for this work, and are excited to engage as we go forward.
Sifting through the comments, team members easily pulled student readiness as a top priority. After all, our job is to educate today’s students to become tomorrow’s leaders. But what does this look like?
Technology and innovation move at the speed of light. As we prepare our students for their future, we must ensure they are equipped take on this ever-changing world. Our student readiness component has to support students by meeting their needs and dreams in careers we can’t even fathom. Just as we anticipated the arrival of color TV and traveling to the moon, our students are preparing for a future that doesn’t exist yet.
In the most basic sense, it is my hope that upon graduation, every student has a life plan and that they have a support system of adults who have helped them along the way. If circumstances change, and they need to pivot, they will need skills, resources, a backup plan and the confidence to survive.
To prepare our students for this future, we must all be on the same page so that we are aware of our role. As we implement the components of our student readiness theme, we will be working on how we communicate with our students, parents and staff.
As a mom of four, I know that raising children is tough enough without having to second guess where to find information about my children’s education. Student readiness components will include navigating documents for families. Our goal is to provide open access with a level of transparency and systems to allow parents to ask questions.
We will also be focusing on kindergarten preparedness, college and career readiness, and measures and outcomes aligned to the standards in all content areas. Because we recognize that every student is an individual, a one-size-fits-all approach does not get us where we need to be. I want families to know that we are here to support their student, whether they want to be a welder, a cardiologist or a YouTuber. This can only be done through collaboration with families so that we know the needs of their children and can forge a path together.
Yes, students still need to be proficient in their core subjects. They need to know how to read and do math. However, we recognize that our students can achieve their dreams in a variety of ways. Our goal will be to help them realize that they are lifelong learners with a life path that revolves around their interests.
As a district, we have always been committed to our students. Through our new strategic plan, which is based on community feedback, we are recommitting to our students and looking through a different lens. Our next steps are to delve deeply into this process. We have outlined specific outcomes and timeframes. Next, we will develop initiatives and strategies to ensure the work is completed.
Throughout this process, we will report out to our community and Board of Trustees in a uniform way on a regular basis regarding specific topics, outcomes and measures. As always, we welcome your thoughts and suggestions.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/opinion/guest_column/crespo-student-readiness-a-top-priority-in-lcsd1-strategic-plan/article_b11c4e53-2b46-5c2a-a2c8-af6913503f06.html
| 2022-04-23T13:32:18Z
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My grandson drew a picture with a caption that read, “Peace Feels Like Sitting in a Warm Chair.”
At 6 years old, he understands his Place of Peace. It is a place where he feels safe, loved, centered and warm. His place of peace is in the safety of a chair with the sun warming his heart and looking into the magical wonders of the ocean.
At a time when the news is filled with the opposite of peace, our children – and all of us – need the security of knowing what peace feels like. We need to know what peace sounds like. We need to know what peace looks like. We all need to know where our Place of Peace is.
When I saw my grandson’s drawing, it reminded me of my meditation chair. It is growing old and tattered, and with the wisdom of age, it has become softer, safer and stronger. It has held me for years of long hours of meditations, journaling and prayers. The spirit of these practices layer into every aging wrinkle of the chair’s fabric. I feel a sacred sense of love and kindness every morning as I sink into its safe arms … settling into my Place of Peace.
What does peace feel like to you? Where do you feel safe, loved, centered and warm? How often do you visit this sacred space to relax your heart and center your soul? If nothing comes to your mind, it is time to find your sacred space. It is time to find your Place of Peace.
Find a place to nestle into like a baby bird nestles into a feather-lined nest. It may be a space in your home or backyard. It may be your favorite coffee shop. It may be a park or library. It may be the top of a mountain after a long hike or floating down a river in a kayak. Or it may be a beach chair with the sun on your face as you look into the wonders of the ocean. You may be one of the lucky ones who has honed the ability to close your eyes and shut out the outside noise to find your Place of Peace within – any time and any place.
Everyone has a different idea of peace. It doesn’t matter where your Place of Peace is. What matters is that you have one and you visit it often. It is in this quiet reflective space that you rejuvenate your ability to live in the moment you are given. To relax into the humanness you were meant to experience. To tune into the inner calmness without the distraction of the world outside of us.
For me, I agree with the wisdom of a 6-year-old – Peace makes me feel loved, centered and warm. Peace feels like sitting in a warm chair.
Pennie’s Life Lesson: Find your Place of Peace. Visit it often.
Pennie Hunt is a Cheyenne-based author, blogger and speaker who teaches how to “Love Your Life ... NO MATTER WHAT!” Visit her online at www.PennieHunt.com. Email: penniehunt@gmail.com.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/opinion/guest_column/hunt-peace-feels-like-sitting-in-a-warm-chair/article_21ecc8ee-ea79-5bc9-ab4b-fbee841b821a.html
| 2022-04-23T13:32:25Z
|
I was saddened to learn of the passing of Mayor Bill Nation. He passed away last week at 96. He served our community as mayor for a total of eight years during tough financial times.
We are so blessed today to have the voters support of fifth- and sixth-penny sales taxes, support Mr. Nation would have loved to have when in office. He was honored to have Nationway named for him. Bill was a Navy veteran who served in World War II and also served Laramie County in the state Legislature. Mayor Don Erickson shared with me what a gracious and charming man he was. They shared similar experiences and became great friends. I want to give my thanks for his great service to our city and celebrate a life well lived. Rest in peace, Mr. Mayor.
One of our city goals is to create a railroad experience along 15th Street. We have applied for an EDA grant to help with the first phase. We were notified that the city had made the cut, and there were a few more questions we needed to answer. Our team met to review the answers and prepare our response. Renee Smith, our grant writer, is a rock star, and has our grant process on lock.
Lowe’s Distribution Center invited me to tour their distribution facility. A million-square-foot facility is amazing to see in action. Allen, Alicia, Barb, Dave, Josh and Sally were amazing hosts. I watched the process of how 80 to 120 trucks a day drop off freight, and also how items are broken down and put on an eight-lane conveyor system that delivers directly to the correct garage door to be shipped to each of the 65 stores the center serves.
I think the highlight was “her majesty” Barb, who runs the second-floor conveyor system. She is most definitely in charge. I was impressed how their almost 500 employees act as a team. Their support of Trucks to Trades is helping build our workforce, and their philanthropic efforts are impressive. It was a great visit.
The mayor’s budget is finally finished and ready to send to the City Council. This would not be possible without the professionalism and talent of our treasurer, Robin Lockman, and our departments. This year was harder than I would have hoped. The challenge is projecting revenues in these turbulent times. I will be reporting our budget to you in the very near future. Fingers crossed we got the revenues right.
Speaking of past mayors, I met with Mayor Don Erickson. Mayor Don is on the Cheyenne Regional Air Service Focus Team (CRAFT), the group that advocates for the airport to get airlines to fly in and out of our airport. They have been successful in getting SkyWest to serve Cheyenne, and he wanted to talk about the support they get from the city and county. I really like talking about city issues with those that served before me. I appreciate their stories.
Chief Kopper stopped by to discuss the status of our new fire stations. Good news: things are on track and seem to be going in the right direction. I know the chief and his team have been working hard to make sure we get the stations built and ready for protecting our community. You should see groundbreaking this August.
I attended my first school board meeting. First, the bad news: it lasted over four hours. The good news: it was fun to see how they honored students and their performances at the beginning of the meeting. The beginning took at least an hour due to the vast numbers of students being honored. I knew a couple of the students. Liam Fox is a freshman who won the 132-pound state wrestling championship. Zoey Lundin is the chair of the Mayor’s Youth Council, and she was honored with her partner for winning a state championship in DECA. I like celebrating successes, and they did it up right.
The main reason for attending the meeting was to ask the board to publicly speak up to condemn the racist behaviors that are happening in some of our schools. The board spent a couple of hours listening to testimony from the base, and then debating a resolution outlining their position. I appreciate the board listening and publicly showing leadership. I probably won’t sit through another whole meeting, but I look forward to the beginning, where they celebrate student success.
Members of the Affordable Housing Task Force stopped by to talk about their work and to discuss the next steps. It was interesting to learn that higher interest rates on mortgages have cut the buying power of loan amounts by 20%. We all agree that we have a housing crisis, and it will take everyone working together to find solutions. I am concerned that the momentum we have been building as a community could be stalled by the lack of housing. I am encouraged by the state Legislature taking housing on as an interim topic. It is my hope that we find solutions and can find the resources to implement them. We have a great team on the task force, and their time is appreciated.
Sam Galeotos hosts a fun series of luncheons called “Food for Thought” at the Met. This week, the topic was pricing transparency in health care. Cynthia Fisher has taken on this crusade across the country. I learned that health care facilities are required to publish their pricing so consumers can compare and choose where they get their services. I also learned this is a very complicated subject, but I do like the idea of knowing what things cost before purchasing them. Sam is holding a series of discussions, and I am looking forward to attending.
The LEADS board meeting was on Wednesday, and they had a guest speaker from the Tax Foundation. LEADS wanted a study of how our tax rates compare to our neighbors, and if there is any impact in business recruiting and retention. We learned that in Wyoming, businesses pay a much larger percentage of taxes, 69.6% versus the national average of 44%. The Tax Foundation took eight hypothetical companies and looked to see what the tax burden is in all 50 states. We learned that Wyoming is number one in mature companies and ranked seventh for new ones. I appreciate all the work and research LEADS is doing to make sure we are competitive.
Safehouse Services is the nonprofit that takes care of victims of domestic abuse. I was invited to spend a few minutes at their board retreat. I appreciate the way they are looking at the future and what the needs will be. Unfortunately, I think they will continue to be very busy. Finding the resources to support today’s needs and tomorrow’s is going to be the biggest challenge. I am confident that our community will step up and make the difference.
I appreciate the relationship we have with the county commissioners. I had lunch with Commissioners Thompson and Malm to discuss the ways we work together and how we split the costs. The big topic was the new animal control program we started on Sept. 1, 2021. This relationship is so different than my time on the City Council 20 years ago. Troy bought lunch, and we are on track moving into the future.
I have shared my disappointment with the state of our school buildings and learned this week that many in our city agree. We have 11 of the 20 oldest buildings in the state. A parent from Arp Elementary stopped by to share her disappointment and shared her passion to find a solution. This is a big deal to make sure our students have the same opportunities as students in other cities in our state.
On Thursday, I read a proclamation declaring April as Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month. It was fun to have a bunch of kids in attendance as they remind us of the importance of this mission. A person from DFS told us that over 900 cases of child abuse were investigated in Laramie County last year, and 301 cases so far this year. Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to do this kind of proclamation? Perhaps one day.
I hope you’re all enjoying this change of season. I feel so energized by the sunshine and warmer weather.
If you have a question for me, send it to media@cheyennecity.org. I’ll continue to answer them in my future Mayor’s Minute columns.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/opinion/guest_column/mayor-s-minute-celebrating-and-learning-from-mayors-of-the-past/article_46963e77-51a1-5110-8d24-d373504dc61d.html
| 2022-04-23T13:32:31Z
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At the behest of the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association (WYOGA), the Wyoming Wildlife Task Force (WWTF) is currently taking public input on eliminating the existing 7,250 cap on nonresident elk tags.
The 7,250 cap is set forth in Chapter 44 of the Game & Fish Regulations, was implemented in 1989 and has been in place for over 30 years.
Since that time, WYOGA and their allies on the Game & Fish Commission (G&F) have tried, and failed, to eliminate or increase it no less than six times, most recently in 2018.
This latest effort will mark their seventh attempt. Aided by his allies on the stacked Wyoming Wildlife Taskforce (eight-plus outfitters or landowners), WYOGA President Sy Gilliland (yes, he’s a WWTF member) proposed once again to eliminate the 7,250 cap at the WWTF’s March meeting. The rest of the WWTF fell dutifully in line and is now seeking public input.
Despite the 7,250 cap, in 2020, nonresident hunters purchased 13,513 Wyoming elk tags. Here’s the breakdown:
2,957 types 1-5 and type 9 limited quota tags (nonresidents receive 16% of these), plus 4,296 general elk tags offered to nonresidents equals 7,253, which is the nonresident elk tag cap.
Add that to 2,800 types 6-8 reduced price cow/calf nonresident elk tags (not counted against the cap), plus approximately 3,460 leftover elk tags, and that totals 13,513 nonresident elk tags.
One note about the 2,800 type 6-8 reduced price cow/calf nonresident elk tags G&F not counting against the 7,250 cap: They began doing this in 1997, we believe, in violation of the clear language of the Chapter 44 regulation. Not counting these tags against the cap allows G&F to issue nonresidents 3,000+ additional general season elk tags each year. In November, we filed a lawsuit to end this practice. The case is currently before the District Court.
Back to ending the current 7,250 cap ... WYOGA wants this because it will further increase the number of general season elk tags going to nonresident hunters. Because hunters can kill a bull elk with a general season tag, WYOGA sees this as a way to sell more outfitted bull elk hunts to nonresident hunters.
What it will also do is increase the number of do-it-yourself general season nonresident elk hunters, who already currently crowd the public land elk hunting across the state.
We believe we’re already giving nonresident hunters too many of our precious elk hunting opportunities. Driven by COVID refugees and YouTube hunting influencers, Wyoming’s population is increasing, and many are moving here just to hunt. Resident hunter competition is increasing; we don’t need to add more nonresident elk hunters to the mix.
Help us stop this latest grab by the outfitters. Please Google the Wyoming Wildlife Task Force, and from the home page, click the “Public Input” link. Scroll down (it’s hidden) to find the proposal to eliminate the 7,250 nonresident elk tag cap. In your comment, note that you are a Wyoming resident and that you are strongly against eliminating the nonresident 7,250 elk tag cap.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/opinion/guest_column/shaul-hunters-help-block-outfitters-grab-for-more-nonresident-elk-tags/article_6b1e8756-6708-5e98-a7d6-07257b3d9b26.html
| 2022-04-23T13:32:37Z
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CASPER — An abortion clinic is set to open in Casper this summer. The clinic would be the only facility to offer surgical abortions in Wyoming, and opponents have begun to organize against it.
Surgical abortions can end a pregnancy further in its term than abortions by medication. A Jackson doctor is currently the only provider of medical abortions in Wyoming.
The Casper clinic’s Second Street facility is still under construction, but its founder says it should be staffed and ready to open by the summer if all goes according to plan. It’s operated by Circle of Hope, a national health care nonprofit with a mission of providing reproductive care to underserved, rural areas.
In addition to performing abortions, the clinic plans to offer family planning, OB/GYN and gender-affirming services.
Casper will be the company’s first location, but founder Julie Burkhart said the organization is planning on expanding across the country. The nonprofit lists a Washington, D.C. address on its website but registered the Casper address with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office earlier this year.
“Casper is centrally located, so this clinic will be as accessible as possible to the majority of Wyomingites ... including people in the rural parts of the state,” Burkhart said. It’s also positioned to be accessible to people in nearby areas of South Dakota and Nebraska, she said.
Abortion is a divisive topic in Wyoming. In this most recent legislative session, lawmakers passed three abortion-related bills through the committee stage, one of which became law. That bill would ban abortion in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
The clinic is working with a community advisory board of Wyoming residents from local churches, tribes and health care.
“There is a robust, diverse community of people in Wyoming who believe that people should be able access the health care they need, including abortion,” said Rev. Leslie Kee of Casper’s Unitarian Universalist Church, who sits on the committee. “Opening this clinic is essential for those across our state who currently find that care is out of reach, including people living in rural areas, members of Native tribes, and those with low incomes.”
But others in Casper and around the state oppose the clinic’s opening.
“I don’t think there’s a market for it,” said Michelle St. Louis, an anti-abortion Casper resident. “We all know teenagers who chose to go through with their pregnancy; it’s not their first inclination to get an abortion. Most women don’t want to do that.”
Several local residents are planning a prayer event outside the facility on April 21, and a “life chain” demonstration the following Sunday.
A larger coalition from across Wyoming is coordinating a trip to Casper for the clinic’s anticipated opening in June, Park County Right to Life President Tim Lasseter said.
The groups are planning a peaceful protest for the opening, Lasseter said, reaching out to churches and anti-abortion groups around the state.
“We expect there to be a large turnout,” he said. “We’re not looking for confrontation, we’re just looking to let people know we disagree.”
Marti Halverson, president of Right to Life Wyoming, said the statewide group is planning “multiple tracks” of opposition to the clinic.
“The organization has some money we’re willing to put behind the effort,” she said Thursday, but declined to specify what members were planning. “You have 53 life-friendly legislators, a governor who says he’s pro-life,” Halverson said. “This should be shut down tomorrow.”
Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Burns, opposes abortion and said the practice shouldn’t be used as birth control.
Bouchard himself was adopted as a baby, and said that since Americans are leaving the country to adopt children, there should be no reason to abort a fetus that could be adopted in the U.S.
Burkhart says she’s no stranger to opposition — she’s operated reproductive health clinics in Washington, Oklahoma and Kansas. Her former boss, nationally known abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, was murdered in 2009 at his Wichita church.
“We do recognize that there are people in Wyoming who are opposed to what we’re doing, including many in the state legislature,” Burkhart said. “We hope that those who oppose our work will do so peacefully and without harassing or intimidating people seeking or providing reproductive health care.”
Surgical abortions can be performed later in a pregnancy than medical ones, which are limited to those who have been pregnant for 10 or fewer weeks.
Until recently, one doctor in Jackson provided surgical abortions — though state health department statistics from recent years show very few were actually performed. But after the doctor sold his clinic to St. John’s Health in 2020 and resigned as a hospital contractor in October, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reported that he’s barred from practicing there by a non-compete clause in the sale.
Another Jackson-based doctor is now the state’s sole abortion provider, though her office only offers medical abortions.
“Because of legal restrictions and other barriers to abortion access, people sometimes need access to abortion care after that (10-week) period,” Burkhart said.
Chelsea’s Fund, a nonprofit that provides financial assistance to Wyomingites seeking abortions, has assisted 63 people so far in 2022.
Its money helps cover the cost of the abortion medication, which starts at $350 for a mail-in dose.
Nurse Cristina Gonzalez, who works with the fund, said the organization doesn’t turn away anyone who needs help.
“(The Casper clinic) would increase access because it’s providing options to individuals in the state, not overwhelming one resource,” Gonzalez said. “Now, if you’re outside that 10-week time frame, you’re looking at having to go to Colorado.”
A Wyoming law passed in 2019 prohibits all abortions after viability, the point when a fetus could survive outside the womb.
According to the health department, 91 abortions were performed by Wyoming providers in 2020 — the first full year the state required providers to report statistics. One of those was reported as a surgical dilation procedure. Eighty-eight were medical, and the other two did not specify the method.
Among those who received abortions in 2020, 48 (or 53%) were already mothers to at least one child. Four had four or more children.
Every abortion during that year was performed before 10 weeks, though one did not report. More than half were performed before reaching six weeks of pregnancy. Gonzalez said most of the people Chelsea’s Fund helps are single working mothers who already have children.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/abortion-clinic-to-open-in-casper/article_c592096a-a744-5f3c-8597-01bf32abb636.html
| 2022-04-23T13:32:43Z
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Unemployment falls across the state in March
CHEYENNE (WNE) — As measured by one economic statistic, the unemployment rate fell in every county in Wyoming last month compared to March 2021. And statewide, this seasonally adjusted jobless statistic fell by 2/10 of a percentage point to 3.4%, according to the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services’ Research & Planning section.
The state unemployment percentage is also “slightly lower than the current U.S. rate of 3.6% and much lower than its March 2021 level of 5.0%,” the Research & Planning section said Monday. In just the approximately month-long period from this February to March 2022, seasonally adjusted employment of Wyoming residents increased by 796 workers, or a gain of 0.3%, “as people returned to work.”
In Laramie County, a jobless rate that is not seasonally adjusted fell to 3.3% last month from 4.8% a year earlier, according to a table of the civilian labor force by place of residence.
Across the state as a whole, this figure fell to 3.1% from 3.9%. The most recent figures both locally and in Wyoming are preliminary.
“Unemployment rates were unusually high during much of 2021 because of the pandemic,” the government agency noted. “Total non-farm employment in Wyoming (not seasonally adjusted and measured by place of work) rose from 270,300 in March 2021 to 278,500 in March 2022, an increase of 8,200 jobs (3.0%).”
Secretary of State Buchanan seeks second term
SHERIDAN (WNE) — Wyoming Secretary of State Edward Buchanan will pursue his second term in office.
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve the people of Wyoming,” Buchanan said in a statement released April 18. “… I am asking for your continued support as there is more to be done. I have some great ideas on how we can continue to give our customers world-class service and how we can ensure our elections remain secure and efficient.”
The secretary is the chief election officer in the state. The secretary is also responsible for handling the business affairs of the state and serves as the acting governor when the governor is not available.
Buchanan was appointed to the role in March 2018 by Gov. Matt Mead following the resignation of former Secretary Ed Murray, who resigned among sexual misconduct allegations in February 2018. In the November 2018 general election, he earned his first full term in the position, receiving 68.8% of the vote.
In his statement, Buchanan highlighted a variety of accomplishments during his time in office including deploying secure and efficient election equipment in the 2020 election season; updating the election code and passing a voter identification law; and participating in a major update to notary and securities laws.
“This was essential to Wyoming business and commerce and protecting Wyoming citizens,” Buchanan said. “We did this all without interruption, remaining open for business during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Jackson council, mayor give selves raises
JACKSON (WNE) — After public comment describing the town’s approach as “tax and spend,” the Jackson Town Council approved on third reading salary increases for the mayor and councilors.
Councilor Jim Rooks was the sole vote against the raises, despite having voted in favor of the boosts on the first two readings. He had previously expressed reservations due to public perception during a time when the council is seeking ways to fund community services in future years.
Rooks shared the same concern after hearing from Jackson resident Earle Lindell during public comment on the item. Lindell noted that raises are given in other industries when employees demonstrate the value they bring to an organization.
“I would like, maybe, to take three minutes and you guys tell me what you’re worth,” Lindell said. “Why do you need a raise? You got one two years ago, deserved or not deserved, and no one complained; I didn’t. ... Is this one of the deals where after you’re gone, the raise continues and you always say, ‘Well, it wasn’t me, it was the previous council’? That’s why I’m here.”
Lindell added, “We’ve got to say no to something. ... We don’t say no anymore. It seems to be a place here where it’s a tax and spend place.”
The raises increase the mayor’s annual salary from $39,300 to $44,000, and councilors’ salaries from $32,750 to $36,000. Jorgensen and Schechter are currently receiving the $25,000 salaries councilors received before the 2020 increase, as they are still serving the same terms as when that raise was approved.
EWC president resigns
DOUGLAS (WNE) — The Eastern Wyoming College Board of Trustees has announced that President Lesley Travers has tendered her resignation, effective immediately.
The news was released by the college based in Torrington on April 15.
“The board would like to thank Dr. Travers for her service to the college and wish her well in her retirement,” Board Chair Robert Baumgartner said. “As we move forward, the board is committed to finding the best fit for EWC who will focus on our students and build a strong future.”
Following an emergency executive session, the board convened to accept the resignation of Dr. Travers and approve the immediate appointment of Dr. Richard Patterson as the interim president to assume all presidential duties immediately.
The board said it intends to move expeditiously in the presidential search process to find the right president as quickly as possible.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/around-wyoming/article_316d82e4-02c9-5cc6-9b75-3bdae0ab531c.html
| 2022-04-23T13:32:49Z
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CASPER — Price increases driven by the coronavirus pandemic last year brought a state inflation measure to its highest point in four decades.
The Wyoming Cost of Living Index is a twice-a-year publication done by the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division that studies changes in inflation. The latest report, published April 18, covers the fourth quarter of 2021, which covers October, November and December.
Inflation in Wyoming rose 9.3% from the fourth quarter of 2020 to the fourth quarter of 2021, the report found.
The last time Wyoming saw a spike that high was the third quarter of 1981, which posted a year-over-year inflation rate of 11.8%. That was during the economic recession of the early ‘80s.
The pandemic has taken prices on a roller coaster, but early last year is when inflation really began to surge, according to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit group that studies the U.S. economy.
The last Wyoming Cost of Living Index report, which came out in October, recorded a 7.7% inflation rate between spring 2020 and spring 2021. That same measure was just 1.1% a year prior.
The index measures inflation rates for six consumer categories:
Transportation in Wyoming recorded the highest increase at 22.1%. It’s little wonder — oil prices have risen dramatically since tanking at the beginning of the pandemic.
Food underwent an 8.3% increase. By comparison, food costs rose just 1.9% from the second quarter 2020 to the second quarter of 2021.
Housing had the next highest inflation at 7.4%.
Recreation and personal care underwent a 6.7% price increase.
Medical costs recorded a 4.3% increase and apparel recorded an increase of 3.3%.
The higher food prices come at no surprise. In Wyoming — where most of what we eat is shipped in from elsewhere — higher transportation costs equal higher food costs.
“Our food bill has doubled,” said Jamie Purcell, founder and executive director at Wyoming Food for Thought.
For now, the social safety net is helping to keep people fed, Purcell said.
Public schools across the nation still offer kids free breakfast and lunch, no questions asked, on the U.S. That program is set to wear off at the end of June.
In March 2020, the federal government temporarily expanded food stamps and other social programs. While that measure’s no longer in effect, the Biden Administration in August approved permanent changes to food stamps that were expected to up average benefits by about a quarter, the New York Times reported last year.
Still, Purcell anticipates the price hike to catch up with families in six months or so. In the meantime, she encourages Wyoming residents to enroll in whatever assistance programs they can — food stamps, free and reduced lunch for kids or the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, for example — and to take advantage of local resources like food pantries.
Some regions of the state have been hit harder by inflation than others, the cost of living index shows.
Northeast Wyoming, which includes Campbell, Crook, Johnson, Sheridan and Weston counties, had the highest rate, at 10.4%.
Southeast Wyoming — Albany, Carbon, Goshen, Laramie, Niobrara and Platte counties — followed close behind with an inflation rate of 10.2%.
Central Wyoming, which includes Natrona, Converse and Fremont counties, experienced 7.4% inflation.
Nationally, the inflation rate from December 2020 to December 2021 was 7%, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The report also compares the costs of living in each county.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, Teton County had the highest cost of living, at 65% higher than the statewide average. As a popular tourist destination, Teton has one of the highest per-capita incomes in the country. As of late 2021, an apartment in Teton County averaged $2,780 a month, according to the index. An average apartment in Natrona County ran $771.
The cost of living in Natrona County is on par with the rest of Wyoming, just 6% lower than the statewide average. Laramie County, by comparison, recorded a cost of living just 5% higher than the average.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/cost-of-living-grows-by-fastest-pace-in-40-years/article_bea2d693-00e1-56d3-80fc-c5e6f16ded12.html
| 2022-04-23T13:32:56Z
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The children may not know it, but as they build tall towers with magnetic tiles, geometric patterns crisscrossing in bright pops of color, they’re learning problem solving skills.
They’re also gaining experience working in a group and learning critical social and emotional skills they will carry with them into elementary school. And in one of Wyoming’s most rural communities, the Encampment Preschool Board is able to offer its classes tuition free.
Established in 1984, the Encampment Preschool is a nonprofit that originally began as a parent cooperative preschool serving the towns of Encampment and Riverside, with a combined population of just over 500 people.
The school’s reach extends into neighboring cattle ranches and unincorporated rural communities, offering local children opportunities to attend an inclusive preschool program that promotes optimal development for each child, upholds best practices in the field of early childhood instruction and provides a community model for quality and engagement.
In the classroom, Encampment Preschool teacher Rachel Swanson emphasizes hands-on activities as well as academic subjects.
“These children are learning to recognize letters, learning to write their names,” Swanson said. “In the morning class, we started by building their name in blocks, and that has transformed into writing their name. It’s amazing to see that progress.”
The school was recently awarded a $10,000 Wyoming Community Foundation grant through its Early Childhood Education Endowment Fund, with all the money planned for tuition costs for the 2022-2023 school year. Through community support and grants like the one from WYCF, the Encampment Preschool has offered its students tuition-free enrollment for years.
Evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that experiences from birth through age 5 are critical to children’s development, according to the Learning Policy Institute. Yet despite the long-term benefits of early education, children across the nation often lack access to integrated, inclusive early learning experiences before kindergarten. The Encampment Preschool, though, is able to offer occupational and physical therapy services to its students that may otherwise be hours away, acting as an early childhood education hub.
“We’re able to screen these kids and get in early intervention for speech and occupational therapy, and special education as well,” Swanson said. “It’s very beneficial for children to be in programs like this, and it just sets them up for success through elementary school.”
Often, children who access early intervention therapies at preschool do not need them later on when they enter elementary school, said longtime board member and retired Encampment kindergarten teacher Linda Kraft. Cost should never be a barrier, she said.
Providing scholarships advances the equity for all community members to have access to a quality preschool, despite economic status, according to the board. The median annual income in Carbon County is about $60,000, and nearly 12% of the population lives in poverty. There are very limited day care facilities in Encampment, and there are no other locally accessible free, structured resources for educational opportunities for children in the community.
“We really wanted to be tuition free because we knew that there were so many children who couldn’t afford it. We wanted to make this our gift to the community,” Kraft said.
The preschool is located in the K-12 Encampment School, so students become comfortable with the elementary school well before entering kindergarten.
“Our children come to kindergarten already comfortable with being in the building, walking through the halls and seeing other kids there,” Kraft said. “That is a real advantage. For the parents, it’s like a stepping stone and their comfort level is improved because the preschool experience is right there in the building.”
Board Secretary Leslie McLinskey said early childhood education is about so much more than exposure to academics.
“Preschool encourages children to develop so many important social and emotional skills that help them succeed in their future education and throughout all areas of their lives,” she said.
“Even more than that, our Encampment Preschool sets the foundation for such a positive relationship between our families and our school that keeps our entire community strong,” McLinksey said.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/early-birds-rural-preschool-offers-free-tuition-in-part-through-wyoming-community-foundation-grant/article_a4fe3273-5af7-59e7-b639-7be49c857932.html
| 2022-04-23T13:33:02Z
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The federal government will include one-third fewer Wyoming tracts than anticipated in the first oil and gas lease sale of the Biden presidency — about 28% of the 459 parcels analyzed across the state last fall.
A total of 129 offerings “containing about 131,771 acres of public minerals” will be available for leasing in Wyoming on June 21 and 22, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said Monday.
Roughly another 44 parcels will be up for sale in seven other Western states.
The sale, originally scheduled for the first quarter of 2022, was postponed because of a since-reversed court order barring the Biden administration from using its estimate of climate harm to inform decisions about leasing.
It’s now set for the final days of the second quarter — nearly a year and a half after the administration’s announcement that it would suspend new oil and gas leasing on federal lands until the program could be reviewed and reformed.
Comparatively, in 2019, before COVID-19 caused interest in leasing to temporarily plummet, the BLM under the Trump administration included 160 Wyoming parcels in its second-quarter sale notice.
Public comment on the upcoming sale will be accepted through May 18.
Reactions from interest groups to the Biden administration’s announcement Friday that the BLM would resume leasing but reduce the total number of leases substantially ran the gamut from enthusiasm to outrage. The details, released late Monday, didn’t change overall reception much.
To some conservation groups, the decreased number of potential leases and higher royalty rate of 18.75% — the first time in more than a century that the BLM has set the royalty for new leases above the federal minimum of 12.5% — was a victory.
“It’s high time to halt the underpriced giveaway of federal lands and mineral resources and reframe leasing to better serve American taxpayers, state treasuries, public land users, and the millions of citizens suffering accelerating harm from climate change,” Bob LeResche, a Powder River Basin Resource Council board member, said in a statement.
The Wyoming Outdoor Council, Taxpayers for Common Sense and other groups also advocating for a higher royalty rate celebrated the “long-overdue” announcement.
But to the conservation groups that want federal oil and gas leasing to end, the news felt like a betrayal.
“The Biden administration’s claim that it must hold these lease sales is pure fiction and a reckless failure of climate leadership,” Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “It’s as if they’re ignoring the horror of firestorms, floods and megadroughts, and accepting climate catastrophes as business as usual.”
The Sierra Club criticized the move, calling it a handout to oil companies.
Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director for WildEarth Guardians, said it was “pure climate denial.”
Meanwhile, to an oil and gas industry already angered by the yearlong pause on leasing, the reduction came as yet another blow — one that is, according to Western Energy Alliance president Kathleen Sgamma, “unwarranted.”
In Wyoming, where nearly half of the land and more of the minerals are federally owned, industry is especially nervous about whether, and how significantly, the changes could affect companies’ willingness to drill.
Ryan McConnaughey, director of communications for the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, said reducing the number of available leases and raising the federal royalty rate “is going to put Wyoming in a difficult position.”
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/fewer-tracts-for-oil-and-gas-lease-sale/article_dcf7c1c3-1e2c-5d6a-8c0a-35309d6b8193.html
| 2022-04-23T13:33:08Z
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A judge in Rawlins on April 15 rejected a motion to dismiss criminal trespass charges against four hunters accused of corner crossing but said she would consider requests to delay their trial.
Carbon County Circuit Court Judge Susan Stipe said the outcome of a separate, ongoing civil trespass suit involving the same 2021 hunting incident could affect the criminal case in front of her. It is scheduled to be tried before a jury starting April 27.
“Having this jury trial … may be the cart before the horse,” Stipe said. The separate civil suit, brought by the owner of the Elk Mountain Ranch where the men are accused of trespassing, could undo the foundation of the criminal case before her, she suggested.
Four Missouri hunters have pleaded not guilty to the trespass charges and contend they stepped from one piece of public land to another — at the intersection of two public and two private sections — without setting foot on private property. The case involves the checkerboard pattern of land ownership in parts of Carbon County where private and public land are interspersed.
The cases hinge on whether a person passing through the airspace above a private piece of land is trespassing, and their outcomes may impact public access to millions of acres of public land in the West.
Stipe declined defense attorneys’ requests to dismiss the trespass charges, saying she found no grounds under her authority to throw them out. Because she ruled from the bench Friday and lawyers needed time to confer with their clients, she said she would consider a delay of the April 27 trial, if requested, at another hearing Friday.
As the hunters, prosecutors, defense attorneys and court personnel prepare for the criminal trespass jury trial in Rawlins, the Elk Mountain Ranch owner told a federal judge he should move the case back into the Wyoming court system. An attorney for Fred Eshelman outlined reasons to federal judge Scott Skavdahl in a memo filed Thursday.
Skavdahl on March 1 accepted a transfer of the civil case from Carbon County District Court to his federal venue. Eshelman’s attorney objected last week, calling the transfer “an attempt to impermissibly derail state court proceedings.” Attorney Gregory Weisz, representing the ranch’s holding company Iron Bar Holdings LLC, asked that it immediately be returned to Wyoming’s jurisdiction.
Hunters’ attorneys “raise federal defenses that are, at best, speculative,” Weisz wrote. Further, the hunters’ claims that the value of the civil litigation meets the minimum $75,000 federal threshold are “threadbare allegations.”
Eshelman and Iron Bar make their civil trespass claims only under state laws, Weisz wrote. The case “does not rely on any federal statute …”
Just because the alleged trespass involves the hunters stepping from one piece of federal Bureau of Land Management land to another does not mean the issue should be adjudicated in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming, Iron Bar says.
“If the other [checkerboard] parcels of property were owned by another private landowner as opposed to the BLM, Plaintiff would have still brought its claims … in state court,” the filing states. The federal Unlawful Inclosure of Public Lands Act that generally prevents landowners from fencing others out of federal land does not apply to the Elk Mountain Ranch civil complaint, Weisz contends.
“Plaintiff’s Complaint focuses on the validity of Plaintiff’s private property rights, the legal ability to exclude others from its property, and a determination of whether Defendants unlawfully trespassed upon the airspace above Plaintiff’s private property,” he wrote. “[T]here simply is no ‘substantial federal interest’ that would warrant removal of the case … from Wyoming courts to federal court.”
Many believe that resolution of the unsettled corner-crossing trespass question in a federal venue would address access to millions of acres of public land across the West that are now “landlocked” by any interpretation that corner crossing is illegal.
Weisz made other arguments to support return to Wyoming jurisdiction, while an attorney for the hunters maintained that the case belongs before a federal judge.
In circuit court Friday Judge Stipe also called prosecutors’ motion to limit the distribution of public court documents a request for a “gag order.” She denied that motion.
During a two-and-a-half-hour hearing, she listened to prosecutors’ request for an order “to limit prejudicial pretrial communications with the media and release of information.” That request apparently included even the distribution of public court documents.
Carbon County Prosecutor Ashley Mayfield Davis told Stipe there is “too much media attention” on the case and that it is being tried in the media instead of in front of a Carbon County jury.
Media coverage of the case is such that it would be hard to find a venue, even “on a desert island,” where denizens were not aware of the dispute, Davis told Stipe.
The prosecutor’s request is for “what I’m going to call a gag order,” Stipe said.
“I’m concerned about that issue,” Stipe said. “I’m guessing the media is also concerned.
“Any motion for a gag order is hereby denied,” she said.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/judge-mulls-delay-in-corner-crossing-trial-rejects-gag-order/article_df570f66-3396-54f6-a582-24c3ea7e0c82.html
| 2022-04-23T13:33:14Z
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In Jackson, workers camp out in cars and tents.
In Cheyenne, hundreds commute from neighboring towns.
Meanwhile, Laramie is struggling to attract new businesses, Wyoming Public Media reported last year.
All because of an affordable housing shortage.
Lawmakers will look for solutions during this year’s interim legislative session.
The interim session is the Legislature’s brainstorming period. Lawmakers meet to research dozens of issues affecting the state, and blueprint bills to address them.
Earlier this month, the Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee named workforce housing as its second-highest priority for the interim.
It’ll be new territory for lawmakers, said Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, co-chair of the committee.
Housing reform has had a fringe following in the Wyoming Legislature for years, especially among Teton County lawmakers. For the most part, though, the state’s left the matter to local governments and housing groups to sort out.
And they tried, said Brenda Birkle, head of Cheyenne’s affordable housing task force and executive director of My Front Door, a nonprofit that helps first-time home buyers. It wasn’t enough.
“Attempts to manage it elsewhere, outside of the Legislature, have failed,” she said.
Meanwhile, the affordable housing shortage is only getting worse, advocates and officials told the Star-Tribune, especially since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The committee’s aim is twofold, Zwonitzer said: figure out why, and what can be done about it.
“I don’t think there’s a clear end point of where we want to get to,” Zwonitzer said. “It’s really a survey of the field and what possibilities are before us.”
The first task is nailing down the problem. The committee will consult a variety of groups for help, including housing advocates, realtors and construction companies, Zwonitzer said.
What is “workforce housing,” anyway?
Housing organizations often use the term to mean housing for low- or middle-income workers, especially those employed in major industries and essential services.
In Teton County, that’d be housing for those tourism and hospitality jobs, for instance.
Some housing groups define workforce housing by income level instead. In those cases, the term usually refers to housing for people making around 50% to 120% of their community’s area median income.
In Teton County, that’s roughly $43,500 to $104,500. That same bracket in Laramie County would be $33,500 to $80,400, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Birkle’s organization, My Front Door, primarily serves people who make a little less than that — between 30% and 80% of the area median income. (That’s around $26,100 to $69,600 in Teton County and $20,073 to $53,528 in Laramie County, according to HUD data.)
While quality housing is often woefully out-of-reach for households in this bracket, they make up a huge portion of the population, Birkle said. Helping them could have an enormous impact on stabilizing the workforce, she said.
“Really, if you want to break the poverty cycle permanently, it’s in that group,” she said.
So, what about solutions?
Birkle urged the committee to lean on nonprofits that work in workforce housing for help finding some direction.
Dan Dorsch, special projects coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of Laramie County, recommended housing trust funds as a potential starting point. (Dorsch also sits on Cheyenne’s affordable housing task force.)
Housing trust funds set aside pools of money for affordable housing programs. There are a few different ways the state could pay for one, Dorsch explained.
Federal programs are available through the National Housing Trust Fund, “but they can be difficult to navigate and have a lot of red tape that smaller organizations don’t have the capacity to access,” he said in an email.
“Local housing trust funds make it easier to access funds, and can be used in conjunction with federal dollars,” he added.
Dorsch pointed to Iowa’s State Housing Trust Fund program as a potential model.
Wyoming lawmakers have no shortage of their own ideas for addressing the housing shortage.
Teton County delegates have long floated the so-called “McMansion Tax” bill, for example, to prop up Jackon’s housing programs. That legislation would let counties pull in extra cash by taxing high-end real estate transfers. The latest version of the bill, which was sponsored by the Joint Revenue Committee, failed its introductory vote on the house floor in February.
Shelly Duncan, R-Lingle, spoke against the McMansion Tax during the 2022 legislative session. Duncan works in real estate, and said the tax unfairly burdens commercial property owners and home buyers.
Duncan, who is a member of the Corporations Committee, is in favor of creating a state agency to keep stock of housing needs and coordinate relief efforts in times of crisis.
“We need to take a holistic look across the entire state,” she said.
It could also serve as Wyoming’s fair housing office, Duncan said. Wyoming is one of just a handful of states without an agency to enforce housing discrimination law.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/legislature-set-to-review-housing-shortage/article_dafd7dad-eb0c-5d6a-b68a-74d72a65f981.html
| 2022-04-23T13:33:20Z
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Ever wondered who takes care of the displaced or stray animals around town? It’s the staff at the Rawlins Rochelle Animal Shelter.
Rawlins Animal Control Officers Leah Ketner and Robert Valdes handle the day-to-day operations of the animal shelter.
“We have 37 dog kennels. For cats, we have a quarantine room that can hold 10 kennels,” Ketner said. “The other cat room holds around 18-24 cats, but we don’t like to push 20.”
Ketner said the shelter is typically the busiest with the most dogs right after Christmas. For cats, it’s the summer months, which means it’s coming up on feline season.
“Sometimes, the case with the dogs is people will get a new puppy for Christmas and don’t want any issues between it and the older dog,” Ketner said. “So, instead of rehoming the puppy, they end up rehoming the older dog in some cases.”
Operating the animal shelter comes with myriad tasks that have to be done daily.
Ketner said that she starts her day off feeding the dogs then taking them outside so she can clean out their kennels.
“If it’s nice enough to keep them outside for the day, we make sure that they have enough water,” she said. “If I have any sick cats, I'll clean that room last and clean the other cat room beforehand. We then move on to getting our paperwork done, clean the office and move on to patrol the city.”
Ketner said they go around town looking for animals at large or deceased.
“We also get calls that we have to go out for any issues that come up,’ she said. “Sometimes that looks like animals that are stuck in traps, a barking dog complaint, a dog bite, an animal at large or a dead animal.
“At 3 p.m., we have shelter hours (through 5:30). That’s the time when we let the public come in, look at the animals we have available for adoption and do the adoptions.”
Ketner said that in a rural area and county like Rawlins and Carbon County, the local animal shelter has to be prepared to handle more than just cats and dogs.
“We’ve had pigs, ducks, geese, a goat, guinea pigs, a tortoise, bunnies and even a couple of hamsters,” she said. “If we have larger animals, we keep them at the Glenn Addition.”
When it comes to fostering animals, Ketner said the shelter is a big fan of the practice.
“We really encourage people to foster, especially around Christmastime and New Year’s,” Ketner said. “That’s when everyone is typically spending time with their families and it gives the animals a chance to be around people.”
Anyone wishing to foster can do so by going to the shelter and filling out an application.
“We then set up a house check with them and start finding the animal that is the right fit,” Ketner said.
Rawlins Police Department Lt. Daria Hooper said it’s easy for the public to overlook the importance of animal control in a community.
“We’re very thankful that we have two dedicated animal control officers who do it all,” Hooper said. “They take care of a lot and we really appreciate everything that they do for our community.”
Thoe wishing to adopt can do so by filling out the pre-adoption paperwork at the shelter. A house check is then scheduled.
Adoption fees are $25 for cats and $40 for dogs, cash or check only.
The Rawlins Rochelle Animal Shelter has a Facebook page, which is a good place to see animals available for adoption. It also lists them on petfinder.com.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/local/another-day-at-the-paw-ffice-animal-shelter-works-to-care-for-pets-around-rawlins/article_596eab6f-651e-567b-ad92-d4cc433836ce.html
| 2022-04-23T13:33:27Z
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Life may seem back to normal for residents in Rawlins and Sinclair after a critical failure of the local water system, but the problem is far from being solved.
It began March 3 when the system failed and people were notified the area’s water tanks were at “critical levels” and asked to limit their water use. Even so, the tanks were depleted, causing a low-pressure event that led to a boil-water advisory.
According to a city of Rawlins “Water Infrastructure and 2022 Critical Water Event Report” released March 30, it’s estimated it will take three to five years to make all of the necessary repairs to the water infrastructure.
The report states the communities use about 900 gallons of water a minute during the winter, about 1 million gallons a day.
During the summer, the report states that even with conservation, customers will use 2,800-4,000 gallons a minute, or 4-6 million gallons a day.
“As of late March, without the repairs made in the Sage Creek Basin to the 10,000 feet of woodstave pipeline, we are averaging 1,500 gallons of flow between springs and wells,” the report says. “Although flow will increase with the wood pipeline replacement and with the spring thaw, you can see that we are currently significantly short of meeting our lowest typical summer demands.”
It goes on to forewarn potential shortages for summer.
“The reduced flow will be more problematic in 2022 as our reservoirs are not full, due to our repairs this winter,” according to the report.
Public Works Director Cody Dill said replacing the old wooden pipeline is critical to not only addressing the recent failure, but upgrading the system for future use.
“We are anxiously awaiting the completion of the new 10,000-foot water line at the Sage Creek Basin,” he said. “We are hopeful that by replacing the woodstave with PVC we will be able to bring more water into our treatment plant so we can have a little more irrigation this summer.
“However, this project won’t be completed until (late) June, so we need to be extra cautious until then.”
Regarding the safety of the city’s water, the report also states that it is safe, the treatment plant is working and people can drink the water “without concern.”
That doesn’t mean the city is out of the woods. People also should expect water restrictions, and the current water restriction ordinance is being reviewed and will likely be updated.
“If we don’t follow these restrictions while repairs are being made, we will not be able to meet water demand,” the report says. “In that case, the EPA will likely require that we build a $10-plus million chemical-heavy water treatment plant, which would be prohibitively costly.”
According to the report, residents have since December been restricted to well and reservoir water during the time repairs are made to the 32-mile transmission line.
“The city’s water treatment plant was barely making enough water to meet the city of Rawlins and town of Sinclair’s daily water supply needs,” the report cites as one factor that contributed to the failure. “As a result, storage was depleted in the tanks.”
Since last summer, Rawlins has been “discovering and sharing information on the fragile state of our infrastructure which brings water from our springs and wells into our water treatment plant. The resulting reduction in water supply caused both the March boil water advisory and the summer 2021 water restrictions.”
Rawlins began and funded the recent emergency repairs and applied for $11 million in grants, along with revamping its maintenance and operating plans.
Water and Utilities Superintendent Bud Dimick said getting through five days of the boil order was a community effort. That’s needed going forward as well.
“We really appreciate anything and everything our community can do to help conserve water,” he said. “Although we are filling our reservoirs, at this point we are not close to supporting reduced watering without having turbidity notices or boil-water advisories. Please take water conservation extra seriously through June.”
Concerning the repairs that will be done to the water infrastructure, the city has begun the phased process that includes emergency repairs.
Other items of focus included in the report:
- Repairs to the city’s 32-mile pipeline to the water treatment plant, including key repairs to blow-offs, air release valves and cathodic protection. This could include the replacement of large sections of pipe.
- Replacement of the springs collection infrastructure in the Sage Creek Basin, including wood-stave pipelines throughout the basin, spring boxes and other upgrades.
- Create a comprehensive and understandable operations and maintenance manual for the water system, then perform and track the necessary processes.
- Develop better protocols for handling water breaks and other complications when tank levels are low.
- Bring the pre-treatment plant online, which includes operations and maintenance planning, training and buying necessary supplies and equipment.
- Design and build a new raw river water line to the cemetery with capacity for possible future expansion.
- Update the water treatment SCADA system, which gathers and analyzes data to ensure processes are working correctly and issues are resolved.
- Replace the ductile iron water main that runs from the water treatment plant to Rawlins.
- Evaluate and repair/replace tanks in the city’s tank farm.
- Review and amend applicable city ordinances pertaining to water use and restrictions.
- Assess and prioritize any in-town infrastructure repairs.
- Research potential funding and incentive programs for reduced water use by homes and businesses.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/local/water-emergency-past-but-still-far-from-resolved/article_cf79a1b9-8d34-5ef5-9d80-824c907e5235.html
| 2022-04-23T13:33:33Z
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CHEYENNE — Janelle Jones’ face lights up when she talks about her son.
On Nov. 4, Jones and her son, Makaili James Evans, called Mak, went out to dinner at Rib & Chop House in Cheyenne.
“(Mak) ordered this massive meal. They had this gentleman going around, and he was doing magic tricks, and he stopped at our table. He did a magic trick for both of us. And I just remember the look on (Mak’s) face, like, how did he do that?” Jones said. “And we both just started laughing, and I can still just vividly see that smile.
“He and I had so many memories like that,” Jones continued. “And I’m just so glad that we had some special times together – so many, too many to count.”
The next morning, 13-year-old Mak was struck and killed on his way to school while walking in a crosswalk near McCormick Junior High.
A 39-year-old woman named Kelly Lynn Gaskins was later charged with one count of vehicular homicide, a misdemeanor. She pleaded not guilty to the charge in Laramie County Circuit Court in late March.
A scheduling conference in the case is set for June 6. While she entered her plea of not guilty, Gaskins’ attorney told the court he did not expect the case to go to trial, meaning Gaskins may decide to change her plea.
Jones relishes scrolling through the endless photos and videos of her son stored on her phone – the selfies, the photos of them together, the ones that show him being the energetic, goofy kid she remembers.
Mak was a prankster, but never in a cruel way – he was kind and thoughtful.
He was the type of kid who would ask his teachers what they ordered at Starbucks and bring them drinks in the morning. Once, he approached a girl who was crying, and even though he didn’t know her well, he put his arm around her and offered to walk her to class.
“They’re wonderful,” Jones said of the photos and videos of her son. “All I have left.”
But Jones has something else, too: the organization she started earlier this year in her son’s honor, ForMak, which aims to improve crosswalk safety in Cheyenne and raise awareness of distracted driving.
The idea that became ForMak came to her during one of many sleepless nights, she said. She would repeat that day over and over again in her head, wondering if she, as Mak’s mother, could have done something differently – something that would have prevented the tragedy.
Eventually, she realized she couldn’t have done anything differently. But she still needed to take action.
“I needed to find some purpose, something to make it (so) that his death would not be for nothing,” Jones said in an interview with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. “He was such an inspiring human anyway – I mean, I’m not saying that just because he was my son. He was just an inspiration and such a friend and a loving human.”
Jones, alongside the other ForMak board members, are planning a 5K fun run/walk for Saturday, June 4, beginning at Lions Park. They want to make it an annual event, in conjunction with other fundraisers they plan to put on throughout the year.
The nine-member volunteer board is entirely women, all with experience Jones said has been vital to creating and running ForMak.
Among them is Vice President Lisa Radcliffe, Jones’ best friend. Jones said she, Mak and Radcliffe did everything together, and that Mak would only ditch them if his beloved older brother, Kaiser Cunningham, asked to hang out.
The response from the community to ForMak has been “overwhelming,” Jones said.
The organization, in the process of applying for 501©3 status, garnered an extensive list of sponsors, from local credit unions to auto body shops to individual residents and families.
Local food truck Yerbellies BBQ, for example, created “Loaded Mak and Cheeze” – a play on one of Mak’s many nicknames, his mom said.
Yerbellies said it was donating a portion of profits from the menu item’s sale to ForMak.
As of mid-April, the organization has raised about $55,000, Jones said – a combination of donations and small fundraisers.
The money the nonprofit raises will go toward helping the city of Cheyenne and Laramie County School District 1 fund citywide audits of school routes for pedestrians, conduct needed safety upgrades for crossings, and improve safety education in schools and for the public, Jones said.
Just three days after Mak was hit and killed in the crosswalk near McCormick, two juvenile pedestrians were struck by a vehicle at an intersection near East High School.
They suffered minor injuries, according to the Cheyenne Police Department.
The driver in that case remained on the scene and was cited for failure to yield, CPD spokesperson Alex Farkas said in February.
Last year, seven pedestrians, including Mak, were killed after being struck by vehicles in Cheyenne, according to CPD data. This was an increase from two fatalities each year in 2020, 2019 and 2018. In 2017, four pedestrians were killed.
While there was an increase in fatal incidents in 2021, they were “not isolated to one area, and the circumstances greatly vary,” Farkas wrote in an email Friday.
There haven’t been any pedestrian fatalities in Cheyenne so far this year.
Crosswalk improvements are expensive. Things like pedestrian-activated rapid flashers can cost about $30,000 per crosswalk, and overhead HAWK (high intensity activated crosswalk) signals may total up to $150,000, City Engineer Tom Cobb said.
And these prices don’t include long-term maintenance costs necessary for upkeep.
ForMak, the city and LCSD1 are currently working together to fund an audit, the purpose of which is to find out what areas of the city are most in need of crosswalk upgrades.
In addition to the crossings, the audit would take a “holistic view” of the area, Cobb said – how a pedestrian would navigate from a neighborhood to a school. The audit will also provide information for much-needed updates to Cheyenne’s Safe Routes to School Plan. The plan was last updated in 2010.
The city engineer estimated the audit would cost somewhere between $75,000 and $100,000.
And while the city is applying for grants, Cobb said it and ForMak, with help from the school district, may be able to fund the audit without grant money.
“I had gone to (Cobb), just initially thinking about getting a light for that one crosswalk, but then to learn that there are so many other areas in our community that need that – it became a broader picture for me, because it’s not just my kid that this had happened to, and I’m not just trying to keep those kids at McCormick safe, but I want those necessary changes made throughout our community so that nobody has to experience this,” Jones said.
ForMak doesn’t have a monetary goal, Jones said, because upgrading the city’s crosswalks is such a big, expensive project – one that could cost millions of dollars over the course of many years.
The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Interim Committee also has made crosswalk safety a priority for its discussions over the interim, which begins this summer and concludes at the beginning of next year’s legislative session.
“This topic is in response to an accident involving a student within a crosswalk,” a Wyoming Legislative Service Office memorandum said. “The committee will explore current prohibitions and penalties related to crosswalks (particularly those within or adjacent to school zones) and evaluate solutions to help prevent future accidents and tragedies.”
“We’re seeing an increase of that type of activity across the state, and so there’s also a request from our constituents to review that particular topic,” committee co-chair Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, said at a recent meeting of the Legislature’s Management Council.
Nethercott also said that “enhancing the need for perhaps criminal sanctions associated with hitting a pedestrian in a crosswalk or pedestrians, in general” would be discussed by the committee, according to previous reporting.
Jones told the WTE she hoped to make vehicular homicide a felony, and that she was working with members of the Legislature to try to make that happen.
“I’m advocating for pedestrians and bicyclists, that if you hit somebody and you are distracted driving (and) they are on a crosswalk or (in) a place of safety, that it is going to come with more serious consequences,” she said.
Gaskins, the driver who allegedly killed Mak, told law enforcement she had not seen the teenager as he was crossing the street, as it was dark, and she was looking at and talking to her passenger at the time of the collision, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case.
The affidavit said Mak was legally crossing Western Hills Boulevard. The crosswalk was marked, coated in white reflective paint and lit by nearby streetlights. Three vehicles driving westbound on the street were stopped for the teen and waiting for him to cross.
Jones declined to talk about the criminal case resulting from her son’s death.
Even so, she extended grace to the woman accused of hitting and killing her son.
“All the way around, it was a tragedy,” she said. “Good people make mistakes, too, and I wouldn’t wish anybody to go through either side of this. ... I think that if any of us could go back to that morning, we would have done a lot of things differently.”
About four months after the incident, Jones said she’s learned that grief is “kind of a lonely path.”
But she said she’s found “a lot of solace and comfort” in creating and running the ForMak nonprofit.
“I never thought I would find myself on the path of being an advocate for something,” she said. “But now, I am more passionate about it than ever.”
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/mother-of-boy-killed-crossing-road-pleas-for-safety/article_83801482-055c-579c-8da5-b5951c1bdad7.html
| 2022-04-23T13:33:34Z
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GILLETTE — The officers involved in the shooting that killed a Gillette man this January have been named and cleared of criminal charges.
Park County Attorney Bryan A. Skoric found Gillette Police Department officer Patrick Totzke and Lt. Jason Marcus’ use of force justified in the death of 22-year-old Ismael Trinidad Montes earlier this year.
The incident began when Totzke and Marcus responded to the 500 block of Church Avenue around 7 a.m. Jan. 16 when homeowners reported a man was in their home who had made violent threats and refused to leave.
The police department released an edited 5-minute body camera video from the incident showing officers entering the home and finding Montes inside of the trailer with a machete.
“Ismael, put that down,” one of the officers is heard saying in the video when they first make contact. “Put that down right now, Ismael.”
After drawing a hand gun, the officer whose body camera footage was used in the video swapped it for a pepper ball gun while the other held a Taser and repeatedly asked Montes to drop the weapon.
According to the Park County Attorney’s Office review, Totzke entered the home first and held the pepper ball gun.
In that initial encounter, officers shot pepper balls and deployed the Taser, at which point Montes walked further into the trailer.
Officers followed him inside and down a hallway, where Montes tried opening what appeared to be a locked door before entering and closing himself in a bathroom. Montes opened the door and popped out of the doorway with the machete for a moment, at which point officers fired more pepper balls. He went back into the bathroom.
Eventually, Montes ran out of the bathroom and charged toward officers.
The body camera footage showed Montes absorb pepper balls and push through a Taser probe while moving toward officers with the machete raised. Montes swung the machete twice, appearing to make contact with Marcus while Totzke pulled out his gun and fired two shots, hitting Montes.
Montes dropped the machete, went to retrieve it and advanced toward officers again, at which point both officers shot at him.
Officers performed life-saving measure and EMS was called. He was pronounced dead at the scene. One of the officers was treated for minor injuries, according to the statement.
Marcus was hit at least twice by Montes, including one strike to the head that caused bleeding and another to the groin, which only left a mark on his uniform, according to the attorney’s review.
The Park County District Attorney’s Office received the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigations report on the incident on Feb. 9 and after its review, deemed the shooting justified and that no criminal charges were warranted against the officers.
“Any sudden loss of life is a tragedy for our community. Sadly, this is a tragic example of the very serious dangers of illegal drug use,” said Police Chief Chuck Deaton in a press release. “We are grateful that our officers were not seriously injured. We are thankful for the dedicated men and women who choose to put their lives on the line every day for the safety of our community.”
A toxicology report on Montes found “methamphetamine, amphetamine, THC and metabolites of cocaine,” according to the review.
The video edits and redactions were made to “protect the identities of those involved and, to the extent possible, compassionately consider the loved ones of the deceased,” according to text from the video.
“The officers reasonably believed they were in immediate danger and were thereby justified in using deadly force,” the review read. “The body camera footage tells the story.”
The death of Montes was the first of two officer-involved shootings in Gillette this year. The second occurred on March 21, when Daren Lee Henle, 57, died from multiple gunshot wounds to the torso after officers responded to the report of shots fired in the 500 block of East Lincoln Street.
Wyoming DCI is still investigating the incident.
At the time of the second Gillette shooting, there had been four officer-involved shootings in Wyoming this year, according to numbers provided by DCI.
Since then, in early April, a Laramie County Sheriff’s deputy was hospitalized but OK after he shot and killed a man while responding to the report of a Laramie County Community College student who was robbed.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/officers-cleared-in-fatal-shooting/article_5b35ed0c-4b8d-5280-98b8-01aaf58a410c.html
| 2022-04-23T13:33:40Z
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Adding carbon-capture systems to existing coal-fired power plants in Wyoming could cost the average residential ratepayer an additional $100 a month, according to Black Hills Corp’s initial filings to the Wyoming Public Service Commission.
The retrofit costs alone could range from $400 million to $1 billion for each coal unit, according to PacifiCorp, which operates as Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming. Adding carbon capture utilization and storage technologies would also significantly reduce electrical generation efficiency at the coal plants, further ramping up the expense for ratepayers. Generation efficiency could be reduced 14%-35% at Wygen II and Neil Simpson II near Gillette, according to Black Hills Corp.
Both PacifiCorp and Black Hills Corp are moving forward with feasibility studies to further analyze whether it is viable to apply CCUS at five coal-fired power units in Wyoming.
The studies stem from a 2020 legislative mandate written into House Bill 200 – Reliable and dispatchable low-carbon energy standards. Now law, the Wyoming PSC is wrestling with how to administer what some refer to as a coal-CCUS portfolio standard — the only such portfolio standard in the nation. It requires regulated utilities to determine how much CO2 capture can be applied to existing coal plants and still justify the costs to ratepayers. One preliminary conclusion by PacifiCorp and its consultant Kiewit Engineering Group, Inc. suggests that capturing 40% or more CO2 emissions would not prove economic for coal units included in its analysis.
Lawmakers who supported HB 200 hoped a large price tag for adding CCUS might be justified when also factoring new jobs and revenue from selling the CO2 that’s captured from coal plants. The sold product could be utilized to produce untapped oil reserves and potentially create new CO2 byproducts. However, regulated utilities typically cannot include factors outside their scope of services in a request for ratepayer increases, such as tertiary oil production or the value of potential CO2 byproducts.
House Bill 200 proponents also sought to minimize the ratepayer burden by allowing the PSC to establish a cap for incremental rate increases. The commission in November set a 2% cap, potentially preventing something on the order of a $100-per-month increase. But regulated utilities must be allowed to charge ratepayers for full capital and implementation costs, which could result in extending the period that a utility charges ratepayers for a CCUS investment — potentially by decades.
PacifiCorp estimates the 2% cap could generate a maximum $13.1 million annually for a CCUS project that costs between $400 million and $1 billion.
“That means, presumably, you’d have to run [some coal units] for another 50 years,” Powder River Basin Resource Council attorney Shannon Anderson said. “If that doesn’t happen, then at some point ratepayers are going to be paying for systems that we are no longer using.”
State regulators are still wrestling with many questions and assumptions regarding the coal-CCUS feasibility mandate, PSC Chief Counsel John Burbridge said.
“There certainly is a lot of discussion about the cost of installing CCUS on currently operating coal units,” Burbridge said, adding that the new statutes stemming from HB 200 allow a utility to forego installing CCUS on a coal plant if it can prove to the commission it is not viable for ratepayers. “If they can show that, and convince the commissioners that this just isn’t economic for the customers, then I think it just kind of dies a slow death.”
Another result is that Wyoming ratepayers alone would likely shoulder the cost, Anderson said.
PacifiCorp serves customers in six western states, including Wyoming. Typically, all six states negotiate to divide the cost of PacifiCorp’s capital investments based on each state’s reliance on a particular facility. However, states like Oregon and Washington may decline to take on power from a Wyoming-mandated coal-CCUS investment.
That could change if there were a federal carbon capture standard, but observers don’t anticipate that happening anytime soon.
“It just doesn’t make sense unless there’s some environmental mandate from [the Environmental Protection Agency] or Congress or somebody,” Anderson said. “It just doesn’t make sense when wind and solar are right there and so much cheaper.
“These filings are the first real numbers we’ve seen on what carbon capture means to the average consumer in Wyoming,” Anderson continued. “These are incredible penalties, really.”
Although it’s made no final determination and is still collecting third-party analysis for a complete CCUS feasibility study, PacifiCorp is asking the Wyoming PSC to approve a 0.5% surcharge to all its Wyoming customers to help pay for the mandated studies — which are already in motion — as well as implementation costs if the utility moves forward with a CCUS retrofit.
If approved, the new surcharge would generate $3.1 million in revenue from PacifiCorp’s Wyoming customers annually. The same surcharge — if extended to the 2% cap — could generate up to $13.1 million annually if it and the PSC eventually greenlight a CCUS retrofit, according to PacifiCorp filings.
A public comment period regarding PacifiCorp’s request [Docket No. 20000-616-EA-22] for the 0.5% surcharge ends on April 22. Public comments can be sent to wpsc_comments@wyo.gov.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/utilities-mandate-could-spike-monthly-bills-by-100/article_18106a1c-ec27-52f0-9696-1f38496b4cf8.html
| 2022-04-23T13:33:46Z
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Volunteers make big impact for kidsIn recognition of April as Volunteer Appreciation Month, Big Brothers Big Sisters is thanking its community partners.
According to the organization, volunteer “Bigs” spending time with kids “are making a huge impact in the lives of young people simply by being a friend.”
To learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters and how you can volunteer in the Carbon County community, call Marlana at 307-460-7082 or visit BBBSWYO.org.
Face masks no longer required on UW busesIn response to a federal judge’s ruling, masks are no longer required for people riding University of Wyoming Transit Service buses.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the Middle District of Florida struck down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s mask mandate on airlines and other forms of public transportation. As a result, the White House says the mask order is no longer in effect.
In a statement announcing the change in policy, UW says it continues to support people who choose to wear masks, and the only places they are now required — through May 13 — are UW offices where occupants request them and in health care settings.
BLM issues notice for oil, gas lease saleFollowing an injunction from the Western District of Louisiana, the Bureau of Land Management Wyoming State Office on Monday issued a final environmental assessment and sale notice for a June 21-22 lease sale.
Monday’s notice incorporates recommendations from the Department of the Interior’s Report on the Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Program, as well as other reports issued by the Governmental Accountability Office and Congressional Budget Office, according to a news release.
The BLM is applying a first-ever increased royalty rate of 18.75% for the leases sold in the current competitive lease sales, in keeping with rates charged by states and private landowners.
The BLM Wyoming State Office will move forward with its modified proposed action, Alternative 3, as analyzed in DOI-BLM-WY-0000-2021-0003-EA, by offering 129 parcels containing about 131,771 acres of public minerals. The parcels will be offered at the online oil and gas lease sale, which can be accessed at www.energynet.com.
Top baby names: Olivia and OliverWhile Olivia remained as Wyoming’s most common name for newborn girls in 2021, the very similar name of Oliver was the top choice for boys, according to Vital Statistics Services, part of the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH).
For girls, Olivia was followed by Charlotte and Amelia. Emma, Evelyn and Harper tied as the fourth most popular names with Sophia, Elizabeth, Ava and Lucy rounding out the top ten.
For boys, Oliver was followed by Liam, Henry and Lincoln. Owen, Noah, William and Wyatt tied as the fifth most popular.
There were 6,232 births to Wyoming mothers last year compared with 6,132 in 2020. The high over the past decade was 2015 with 7,678 resident births.
Twine program to ID weed-free hayA new color twine has been approved to be used on weed-free hay certified by the North American Invasive Species Management Association, in partnership with Wyoming Weed and Pest Control.
Hay bound with bright blue and orange twine will be marked as weed free. Previously, weed-free hay was identified with purple and yellow twine. It may still be common to see the old twine color as it is phased out. The new orange and blue twine can only be purchased by the WWPC to provide to certified hay producers.
The weed-free twine program is expected to help limit the spread of noxious weeds through the movement of forage or hay. Many federal and state lands require certified weed-free forage.
“It’s important to use weed-free forage whenever possible,” said Larry Smith, WWPC president. “It ensures that it’s free of invasive weeds and helps offset the billions of dollars that it takes to control those weeds. It helps us keep Wyoming’s natural beauty alive.”
Noxious weeds are increasingly damaging to the landscape and livestock in Wyoming. Invasive weeds are usually unpalatable and sometimes poisonous to livestock. Additionally, the management of invasive weeds in the United States costs upwards of $130 billion each year. Certifying hay or buying certified weed-free hay prevents the spread and can lower the cost of prevention.
Visit wyoweed.org to find certified weed-free hay or how to get your products weed-free certified.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/worth-noting/article_18f03411-8a03-5e06-96f3-bb78ec9c4f44.html
| 2022-04-23T13:33:53Z
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Let’s talk about something other than war and politics this week because, like, everyone needs a ding-dong break now and then.
Know what I mean, Vern (obscure reference to wacky 1980s television ads featuring Jim Varney)?
I got a haircut at Walmart last week, and they gave me the “wisdom discount” on my $18 basic, no-frills haircut.
I didn’t think I’d ever be going to Sam Walton for a haircut, but my COVID-era haircuts at home were painful (my wife’s clippers pull out as much hair as it cuts), I get hair down my back and she expects a tip. (A friend of hers cuts her husband’s hair topless, but no such luck at my house.)
I got a pretty good haircut at Walmart, but it didn’t include eyebrows, mustache or an Elvis Presley sideburn trim. That all costs extra and can run your bill up to, gosh, as much as $30.
I got the “wisdom discount” because I’m old. And society has gotten so darned sensitive that oldsters like myself might be offended by a “senior discount.” So they give us a “wisdom discount.”
They can call their discount whatever they want, as long as I don’t have to wait in line or get hair down my collar.
A couple weeks ago I wrote about the important things grandfathers teach their granddaughters, like burned toast makes hair grow on your chest. And I boasted that my 3½-year-old granddaughter is the only kid in preschool who knows the answer to the song, “What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor?”
Obviously, you “put him in a longboat ‘til he’s sober.”
Duh.
Two readers, however, told me I was wrong. One said you “tie him to the mast until he’s sober,” and another that you “put him in the bunk with the captain’s daughter.”
Further research was clearly required, and I discovered that you can also “make him kiss the gunner’s daughter,” “soak him in oil ‘til he sprouts flippers” or “throw him in the bilge and make him drink it.”
But my favorite was this: “Shave his belly with a rusty razor.”
Not sure I’m going to teach my granddaughter these other versions.
If you know Cheyenne, you know Pershing Boulevard runs all the way from Warren Air Force Base on the west to a narrow, old bridge over the railroad way out at the east end.
I live at the base of that narrow bridge, which was summarily closed to traffic last fall when it was deemed unsafe. Barricades, detours, “Road Work Ahead,” “Road Closed,” “Dead End” and “Local Traffic Only” signs sprouted up.
People went around the temporary barricade so many times the county piled up dirt at the foot of the bridge and drove stakes into the pavement topped with fluorescent warning signs. Then a permanent barricade was erected with sturdy posts and a turnaround was fashioned.
And still six months later, just about every day we see people drive right up to the barricade after blithely driving past “Dead End,” “Road Closed” and “Local Traffic Only” signs.
Will Rogers had something to say about drivers like this.
“There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence to find out for themselves.”
I enjoyed Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” show on the Food Network last week that featured the Alibi in Laramie, which now serves awesome pizzas, a killer Reuben sandwich and other dishes.
When I worked at the Laramie Boomerang across the street from the Alibi, it was my job last thing on Monday nights to go over to the Alibi and buy two rather large bottles of beer to enjoy with the Monday night editor (a law school student at the time whose name you would recognize) as he waited to OK the front page.
To quote Mary Hopkin, “Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end.”
Great to see Laramie — one of my favorite towns — getting nation-wide acclaim.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/opinion/guest_column/always-ask-for-the-wisdom-discount/article_32fd1c56-4b8d-5bdd-b908-8f9aac049a8e.html
| 2022-04-23T13:34:14Z
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...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM MDT THIS
EVENING...
* WHAT...Snow. Additional snow accumulations of 3 to 10 inches.
Winds gusting as high as 55 mph.
* WHERE..Central Carbon County and the North Snowy Range Foothills.
* WHEN...Until 9 PM MDT this evening.
* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. Widespread blowing
snow could significantly reduce visibility. Strong winds could
cause tree damage.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Slow down and use caution while traveling.
The latest road conditions for the state you are calling from can
be obtained by calling 5 1 1.
&&
We frankly don’t understand the reasoning behind the push for hand counting the August primary election in Park County.
What exactly are those pushing the idea expecting to prove?
Is the outcome expected to be that hand counting is more accurate than machine counting?
If the result shows the same totals, will the concerned parties then believe that the 2020 presidential election was legitimate?
If the vote counting machines in Park County are not hacked in the next election is that evidence that no machines anywhere have ever been hacked?
If the results show counting by machine is as accurate or more accurate than hand counting, what does that portend? Will the hand counting then face a recount?
Will the results of the hand count prove there was ballot harvesting or other voter fraud in other parts of the country in the last election?
Of course not.
There is no question there has been voter fraud for hundreds of years.
In the 2020 congressional election in New York’s 22nd congressional district, three ballots cast by dead people were discovered and that was just the people that got caught.
But how will hand counting ballots prevent that kind of election fraud?
Park County already has in place one of the most secure systems to keep people from voting twice or dead people from voting or voting computers getting hacked.
That is not to say voting fraud can’t happen, but the odds of it happening here with those protections in place are slim.
And we can’t comprehend how hand counting ballots is superior.
Whether the Park County Commissioners decide to allow hand counting of ballots doesn’t really make much difference.
We don’t necessarily oppose the experiment even if it is costly in terms of volunteer hours and probably a waste of time.
We just don’t believe the group pushing for hand counting is going to get the results they hope to show or be satisfied with the outcome.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/opinion/guest_column/counting-ballots-by-hand-likely-a-waste-of-time/article_ba16e613-7142-5bb5-813f-343f74b866ff.html
| 2022-04-23T13:34:20Z
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The recent policy update by Teton County administration to limit telework options to a maximum of one day per week for all employees is shortsighted. During a time of major labor shortages, this kind of binary thinking is outdated. If there were ever a time to create more flexibility across government employees, it’s now and into the future.
Throughout the pandemic, employers and employees had to get creative in finding ways to adapt from traditional in-person office settings. There will always be jobs that must be done in person, while others can be done effectively from an entirely remote workplace (often the home office). Then there are hybrid roles, which can include some collaborative work in the office and some remote work.
Jackson Hole has a large number of retail and service industry jobs. Many important tasks require an employee to appear in person. Most community needs are served by in-person workers who provide law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services. Streets and highways are plowed, store shelves are stocked, and all those boxes that land on your front step or at the post office are delivered by hand, by hard-working humans. We are grateful for the dedicated people who make our valley tick, in person.
But there are plenty of roles that indeed can be done in a remote or hybrid workplace. Technology and expansion of high-speed internet service have unlocked a rapid progression of possibilities throughout the area. Collaboration is almost always best done in person, but the next best thing is via video or phone call.
Residents bemoan the “Zoom town” trend where local housing is increasingly occupied by people who work outside the valley. We have to be flexible enough to flip the script by allowing remote work in Jackson businesses and government roles.
Demanding employees work from offices — when tasks can be done remotely — can compound our housing crisis and add commuter traffic to local highways. A new county funded study shows employees pay $6,300 and $10,260 a year to commute from Teton County, Idaho, and northern Lincoln County, respectively. Another new study, the Housing Nexus Study, shows that newly built office space adds the highest density of new households needing somewhere to live among five commercial land uses studied.
When employers empathize with their staff’s desire or need to work remotely, a higher level of trust and accountability is required. With clear and consistent communication between coworkers and managers, much can be accomplished without sharing air in the workplace. If you’re an employer, ask what your employees need to be successful at work, whether it’s in person or completing tasks that can be done at different locations and times. If you’re an employee, collaborate with a manager to find better ways to be efficient and productive, whether in the office or remote. The future of work may require more flexibility than anyone previously imagined.
The Teton County policy begs an important question of culture and accountability that may be lacking, and our community simply can’t afford to suffer because of poor leadership and lack of innovation. If you too are concerned, reach out to your County Commissioners. They set the policy, and are accountable to the voters and residents of Teton County.
Jackson Hole News & Guide
April 13
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/opinion/guest_column/flexible-workplace-is-the-new-normal/article_b6151fc7-1ee2-53dc-8a18-a9bc741b3839.html
| 2022-04-23T13:34:27Z
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University of Wyoming coach Craig Bohl was pleased with what he saw last Saturday in the Cowboys’ first scrimmage of the spring, with a pair of younger players turning in noteworthy performances.
Defensive end has been a source of positivity over the past few weeks, and it continued to be during Tuesday’s post-practice news conference. Bohl pointed to redshirt freshman Oluwaseyi Omotosho as one of the top standouts from Saturday’s 77-play scrimmage.
“I’m really pleased, once again, with our pass rush,” Bohl said. “Olu, when we recruited him, we saw him run a 4.5 (40-yard dash). You knew it was there, but it hadn’t transitioned into football speed. The next step was to become more of an effective defensive end, where he could play run and pass.
“He’s still not where we want him on run, but I thought he did some great things with his speed. There would’ve been a couple sacks there.”
As for the offensive side of the ball, redshirt freshman running back D.Q. James stood out in both Saturday’s scrimmage and Tuesday’s practice, which featured full-contact situational work.
“D.Q. did some great things on Saturday, and also (Tuesday),” Bohl said. “He is an added running back that gives us a different pace. He has good speed, but he has excellent change in direction. He did some super jobs there.”
Starting running back Titus Swen — who says James is “the fastest back we have” — is happy with the progress he’s seen, as well.
“I’m seeing a lot of growth,” Swen said. “From freshman year to last year to this year, there has been tremendous growth. He’s been following his keys and slowing down the whole process in order to speed it up. Most young guys want to keep speeding it up to get people to notice them, but he’s growing at slowing things down and being coachable.”
The offense had a fairly clean performance on Saturday, with a fumble off a hard hit by the defense resulting in the only turnover of the day. Bohl said there were no illegal procedure or “foolish” penalties during the scrimmage, with the defense showing promise with its speed and pass coverage.
UW followed this up by working through third-and-long situations on Thursday. Bohl acknowledged junior quarterback Andrew Peasley and sophomore safety Wyett Ekeler as two players that performed well in these scenarios.
The Cowboys got through the start of full-contact work mostly unscathed, but they have suffered a few injuries since Saturday.
Senior offensive lineman Eric Abojei is dealing with what is believed to be a minor knee issue, while sophomore linebacker Shae Suiaunoa tweaked his knee Saturday and was unable to finish Tuesday’s practice. Senior cornerback Deron Harrell is being evaluated for a concussion, with sophomore defensive tackle Gavin Meyer also out with an unspecified injury.
“It was a physical day,” Bohl said. “This spring, we’ve probably been more physical and more full-contact than I can remember. We’ll do the full allotment the NCAA allows. It doesn’t mean that schools have to, but I feel like we have a lot of unproven players, and we need to expose them to full-contact.
“Anytime you do that, you get concerned about exposing your team to injury. But that’s the line we need to walk.”
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/townnews/american_football/james-omotosho-impress-in-first-scrimmage-of-spring/article_727ba2ef-3e0b-5d63-b60f-1df0caec9202.html
| 2022-04-23T13:34:33Z
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CHEYENNE – Former Wyoming National Guard Adjutant General Ed Wright plans to try again to represent House District 42 in the state Legislature.
He previously challenged incumbent state Rep. Jim Blackburn, R-Cheyenne, in the 2020 Republican primary election. Wright lost after getting 46.6% of the vote. Blackburn has not confirmed whether he will run for re-election this year.
“I think I can do an extremely good job of representing the constituents in my district,” Wright told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
He cited his 35 years of military background and his educational experience. Before he moved to Cheyenne to become the commanding general of the Army and Air Guard for Wyoming, he was a teacher, principal and associate superintendent in the Campbell County School District.
Wright said the wide range of responsibilities he has handled have prepared him for the legislative and other processes. This background influenced the priorities he said he would try to address as a member of the 67th Wyoming Legislature.
He would seek to develop a reliable funding structure for state education, which has been a topic of discussion for years between lawmakers. His knowledge lies beyond just kindergarten to 12th-grade education. He said after retirement he taught at Eastern Wyoming Community College, giving him an understanding of the needs and operations of higher education.
“We’ve got to continue providing sustainable and long-term revenue sources for Wyoming students, kindergarten through university,” he said.
Among financial priorities, Wright wants to maintain a balanced state budget. One of the first steps is by spending American Rescue Plan dollars responsibly. While legislators divided a portion of the funds during the 2022 budget session, there are still discussions to be had on future projects and proposals.
“That’s an awful lot of money, and it only comes around once in a lifetime,” the candidate said. “We have to be very conscientious about how we use those funds.”
Wright said he was pleased to see the Legislature approve raises for state employees during the last session.
Lawmakers should continue to see how they can support the workforce, he said. Wright said this will also help recruit and retain employees, which is critical to being able to provide essential services to citizens.
In reflecting on the work done by lawmakers this spring, he said they made a valiant effort to address as many issues across the state as possible. He considers it a thankless job, and knows there aren’t many who will step up to receive criticism and handle the responsibilities.
He said he has the required determination.
“I have an awful lot to offer,” he said. “And I have the time to devote to read the research and review the issues.”
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/townnews/politics/former-wyoming-guard-general-set-to-run-for-cheyenne-lawmaker-s-seat/article_024b0947-e90f-55f4-aa3c-b4e2406da2b7.html
| 2022-04-23T13:34:39Z
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...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM MDT THIS
EVENING...
* WHAT...Northwest winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts above 65 mph.
* WHERE...South Laramie Range, South Laramie Range Foothills and
Central Laramie County.
* WHEN...Until 6 PM MDT this evening.
* IMPACTS...Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines.
Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be
difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
People should avoid being outside in forested areas and around
trees and branches. If possible, remain in the lower levels of
your home during the windstorm, and avoid windows. Use caution if
you must drive.
&&
LARAMIE — University of Wyoming athletics director Tom Burman announced Monday the finalization of new head women’s basketball coach Heather Ezell’s contract, running through April of 2026.
Terms of the five-year deal include annual guaranteed compensation (base salary, additional compensation, etc.) of up to over $260,000. Additional compensation is highly likely to be earned annual via incentives for academic and athletic performance goals.
Ezell was named head coach of Cowgirls basketball March 25 after spending the previous seven seasons on the UW bench as an assistant, including the last three as associate head coach. In those seven seasons with the program, the Cowgirls made five postseason tournament (one NCAA, four WNIT) appearances. With Ezell on staff, the Cowgirls have had 18 All-Mountain West performers and 48 MW Scholar-Athletes.
Available for new season ticket holders (existing season ticket holders do not need to do a deposit) is a $50 deposit for 2022-23 season tickets. New season ticket holders can make a deposit to pick from the best available seats prior to going on sale to the general public.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/townnews/sport/uw-ezell-agree-to-contract-through-2026/article_9f0c3b73-ca1c-50dc-82b4-404504d4f771.html
| 2022-04-23T13:34:45Z
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Much is yet to be determined for the University of Wyoming as the football program closes in on its annual Brown and Gold game, but some areas have started to come into focus.
Here’s a look at what we know and what we don’t heading into the home stretch of spring practice.
QB quandary
While it’s unlikely a starting quarterback will be named anytime before the fall, and possibly not until the first week of the season, it’s worth noting UW coach Craig Bohl has expressed on multiple occasions he is impressed with how quickly Utah State transfer Andrew Peasley has picked up the offense.
Peasley seems like a natural fit in UW’s system, which is heavily predicated on establishing the run. He has the most speed of any quarterback on the roster, as well as four years of experience at the Division I level.
Bohl has also mentioned the development of redshirt freshman Hank Gibbs several times this spring, while indicating Snow College transfer Evan Svoboda is currently more of a project, but has immense potential with his physical tools. Perhaps there will be more clarity at the position following Saturday’s scrimmage, which Bohl will discuss Tuesday evening.
Ready to take the torch
The play of Titus Swen — who ranked second in the Mountain West last season with 5.9 yards per carry, while rushing for 785 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns — alleviated concerns following the departure of three-time All-MW honoree Xazavian Valladay. His growth throughout the off-season and spring has further done so.
Swen says he’s placed an emphasis on trusting his blocks better in preparation of taking over a starting role, while coaches have expressed excitement with his effort in practice and development in the mental aspect of the game.
It’s still uncertain who the next man up behind Swen will be. Dawaiian McNeely is the most experienced of Wyoming’s remaining backs, and is highly thought of by the coaching staff, but he’s been sidelined this spring while dealing with a hip issue.
Optimism in the trenches
Despite four contributors on the defensive line leaving the program this offseason, the position group has provided positivity just past the midway point of spring practice.
Cole Godbout is poised to be the anchor up front, as the junior defensive tackle looks to build off last year’s All-MW honorable mention. Godbout and fellow returning veteran Jordan Bertagnole have both impressed new defensive tackles coach Oscar Giles with their work ethic and leadership abilities, with each working to improve their technique this off-season.
Sophomore Caleb Robinson, who had 17 tackles in seven games last fall, is currently the top backup on the interior defensive line.
DeVonne Harris is the only defensive end that has played significant defensive snaps outside of special teams, but the position has been a source of consistent praise from players and coaches this spring. Harris and Sabastian Harsh are the top two on the edge at the moment, but Oluwaseyi Omotosho and Braden Siders have also shown positive developments.
Defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel acknowledges size may be an issue at defensive end at times, but doesn’t foresee it being a deciding factor in games. He says the Cowboys have made adjustments defensively to take advantage of the size and quickness of the group.
Secondary spots up for grabs
With four players that started last year and one backup in the secondary entering the transfer portal, the Pokes’ defensive backfield will have a brand-new look in 2022.
That could be a good thing.
Despite boasting the top passing defense in the conference last season, the coaching staff viewed safety as one of the weaker aspects of the defense. Isaac White was arguably the top performer at the position when he played, recording 33 tackles, 26 solo stops, two tackles for loss, one sack, one fumble recovery and one interception in the final six games. He’s currently out with a hamstring injury, but multiple coaches have spoken about his growth this offseason, along with senior Miles Williams and sophomore Wyett Ekeler.
At cornerback, sophomore Cameron Stone has evolved into a defensive leader, while Ole Miss transfer Jakorey Hawkins has been praised by Bohl as much as any player on the team over the past few weeks. Deron Harrell, a transfer who missed his final season at Wisconsin with a left leg injury, has also made progress.
Unlike last season, when Azizi Hearn and C.J. Coldon received almost the entirety of the reps, the Cowboys plan to use at least three cornerbacks on a regular basis next season.
Return specialists to be determined
While Bohl has spoken openly about the bulk of the position battles on the roster, he’s kept his cards close to the vest when it comes to the return game.
Swen was UW’s top kick returner last year, totaling 231 yards on 12 returns. Given his prominent role in the offense, though, it’s unlikely he’ll resume these duties. Stone — who had a 99-yard kick return for a touchdown against Utah State and 101 total yards on his other four returns — seems like the most viable returning candidate. Redshirt freshman running back D.Q. James is another intriguing option, given his explosive athleticism.
Caleb Cooley, who took over at punt returner following a season-ending injury to Ayden Eberhardt, is also back for the Cowboys.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/townnews/sport/uw-standouts-and-questions-as-spring-ball-hits-home-stretch/article_f618e293-c789-5dcf-abc0-09b74da9e283.html
| 2022-04-23T13:34:51Z
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CHEYENNE – For the third time in four days, Cheyenne Central found itself playing in an overtime match.
And for the second time in as many days, the Indians played to a 1-1 draw – Thursday against Cheyenne East and Friday against Thunder Basin at Riske Field. After the Indians and Bolts traded first-half scores less than three minutes apart, neither team could break the tie.
Central had a few point-blank looks during the extra time, but both shots missed.
“It’s just so unfortunate that great opportunities, replicated again and again and again, don’t find the back of the net,” Central coach Tim Dennison said. “It’s a great credit that we’re able to go forward … it’s hard to watch these guys work so hard and not get that last touch.”
Thunder Basin’s first quality look came in the 11th minute with a Caleb Howell strike from the left side of the penalty area was saved by Central goalie Jackson Cook. It was the first of three shots on goal from the Bolts in the first half.
The Indians (5-3-2 overall, 4-2-2 Class 4A East Conference) countered with three shots in a five-minute span, including a Caden Smith shot that rang off the top crossbar in the 22nd before Edwin Soriano gave the Bolts a 1-0 lead in the 29th. Soriano cleaned up a loose ball in front of the net and buried the easy opportunity.
It didn’t take long for Central to answer, however. Just over two minutes later, Logan Custis ran onto a long pass from Brock Pederson, and, in one motion, netted the equalizer.
“I knew the goalie wasn’t going to be able get to it, so I just ran through it,” Custis said. “The defender missed it, and the ball went right in.”
Although the teams went into the half tied, Central controlled the first half possession and outshot the Bolts 8-3.
“We were all over them in the first half. We were staying connected and believing in everybody on the pitch,” Dennison said. “We weren’t being selfish and not losing balls to the finishing players because of the wind. We had one ball only that ran over the end-line for a goal kick that didn’t connect with an opportunity to manifest itself.”
Thunder Basin (3-4-1, 3-3-1) flipped things around in the second half, using the wind to its advantage, and tallied four shots in the first six minutes of the half. Jorge Suarez had a one-on-one opportunity with Cook in the 47th, but Cook deflected the potential goal with his foot.
Sam Smith looked to have given the Indians the go-ahead goal in the 59th, but the score was negated because of obstruction with the goalie from a Central player.
As the wind seemed to pick up in the second half, the shots died down, and neither team could find much of an attack for the remainder of regulation.
“They had to face the same thing, and they did a good job possessing the ball forward as we did. That was the only trick,” Dennison said. “The only defense to that wind, if you want to attack, is to go short.”
Central saw two opportunities to pull ahead in overtime – both being open looks within 10 yards of the frame – but neither shot found the back of the net.
“We had a lot of opportunities, some missed, and a lot of good ones that we should have capitalized on,” Custis said. “We played great, but sometimes it just doesn’t go the way you want it to.”
THUNDER BASIN 1, CENTRAL 1, OT
Halftime: 1-1.
Goals: Thunder Basin, Soriano, 29 (unassisted). Central, Custis (Pederson), 31.
Shots: TB 12, CC 8. Shots on goal: TB 7, CC 7. Saves: TB 6 (Gray); CC 6 (Cook).
Corner kicks: 3, CC 3. Offsides: TB 2, CC 2. Fouls: TB 6, CC 6. Yellow cards: Central 2 (John, 35; Lewis 88).
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/cheyenne_central/central-thunder-basin-play-to-a-draw/article_86cedc2b-81c7-5ab3-bf51-d44537ecdd88.html
| 2022-04-23T13:34:58Z
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GIRLS SOCCER: Central falls at Thunder Basin Apr 23, 2022 2 hrs ago Comments Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save CHEYENNE — First-half scoring helped Thunder Basin pick up a 3-0 win over Cheyenne Central on Friday in Gillette.Cena Carlson netted two goals – one in the ninth and one in the 21st and Brooke Dunham scored in 12 minute for the Bolts.Thunder Basin outshot Central 14-2 and 7-2 on goal.THUNDER BASIN 3, CENTRAL 0Goals: Thunder Basin, Carlson, 9. Thunder Basin, Dunham (Michael), 12. Thunder Basin, Carlson, 21.Shots: TB 14, CC 2; Shots on goal: TB 7, CC 2. Saves: TB 2; CC 4 (Osterland).Corner kicks: TB 7, CC 0. Offsides: TB 1, CC 0. Fouls: TB 2, CC 0. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save Recommended for you Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. comments powered by Disqus Latest Special Section 2021 Wyoming Football Preview To view our latest e-Edition click the image on the left. Trending Now UW standouts and questions as spring ball hits home stretch College rodeo’s top-ranked Cowboys host final event LCSD1 unveils new Cheyenne East pool Lucas has found hitting stroke, rekindled passion for softball PREP SOFTBALL: Central sweeps twinbill over Laramie Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. 2022 Wyoming Legislature Updates Sign up to receive daily headlines on the 2022 Wyoming Legislature session. News Updates Would you like to receive our daily news? Sign up today! News Updates - Laramie Boomerang Want to keep updated on news headlines? Sign up today! News Updates - Rawlins Times Would you like to receive our daily news? Sign up today! News Updates - Wyoming Business Report Would you like to receive our daily news? Sign up today! You must select at least one email list. Please enter a valid email address. Sign up Manage your lists
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/cheyenne_central/girls-soccer-central-falls-at-thunder-basin/article_e99427b3-fa3c-5a0a-b483-588517d112b2.html
| 2022-04-23T13:35:04Z
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CHEYENNE — In its second contest of the day, Taryn Potts went the distance in the circle, allowing one earned run on five hits to guide Cheyenne Central to a 3-1 win over Thunder Basin.
Drue Mirich plated Cameron Moyte for the go-ahead run in the top of the fourth with an RBI double. Mirich was 2 for 3 at the plate. Kaitlyn Ackerman was 3 for 4 with two RBI, and Izzy Kelly was 2 for 4 with two runs.
Campbell County ace Avery Gray kept Central’s bats honest during the Indians' first game of the day. Central lost 9-2.
Gray held the Lady Indians hitless until a Brogan Allen solo home run in the bottom of the sixth gave Central its first run of the game. Izzy Thomas scored Central’s other run in the top of the seventh on a wild pitch, but Gray struck out the side to finish the game, which ended with the bases loaded for Central.
The Camels took a 5-0 lead after the first inning behind a three-run home run from Addy Rambo.
Taylor Gebhart and Izzy Thomas picked up Central’s other two hits.
East goes 0-2 in Gillette
Cheyenne East couldn’t push any runs across home plate until the sixth inning in a 9-3 loss to Thunder Basin on Friday in Gillette.
Trailing 7-0, a two-run double from Gracie Oswald got the Lady Thunderbirds on the board, but Thunder Basin responded with two runs of its own. East got one more run on an RBI from Ella Neider in the top of the seventh. The Bolts scored in every frame except for the second.
Neider was 4 for 4 with a run, and Jaylyn Christensen and Aleah Brooks both tallied one hit and one run.
East also fell to Thunder Basin 8-2 on Friday. The T-Birds held a 2-0 advantage after the first inning courtesy of RBI singles from Oswald and Brooks, but the Camels had nine hits, including four doubles over the next two frames to plate seven runs.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/cheyenne_central/prep-softball-central-splits-games-in-gillette/article_46dc694d-eafc-592a-9862-f4f61fa74bfd.html
| 2022-04-23T13:35:10Z
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CHEYENNE — Richard Prescott finished first in the 110-meter hurdles at 15.30 seconds, was first in the 300 hurdles (41.15) and first in long jump (20-10) to help the Cheyenne Central boys take the team title at the Twilight Invite on Friday in Scottsbluff. Central finished with a score of 130.5.
Jason Frentheway was first in the 800 (2:03.46) while Toren Rohde finshed second (2:04.34). Tristan Knueppel (4:30.12), Jacob Frentheway (4:30.20) and Zane Reed (4:50.26) placed first, second and third in the 1600. Will Barrington was first in the 3200 (10:28.82) and Dylan Teasley was second in the 400 (51.64). TaVion Taylor-Byrd placed first in triple jump (42-9) and tied for first in high jump (6-0) while Nicholas Lews was third in pole vault (12-03) for the Indians.
The quartet of Jacob Frentheway, Zane Reed, Knueppel and Tucker Martino clocked in first in the 4x800 (8:37.64).
Central junior Madisyn Baillie also set a school record, notching 5-5½ feet to break her own girls record of 5-5. Baillie was also second in the 100 hurdles (15.18) and second in the 300 hurdles (48.22). Katie Thomson finished third in the 100 hurdles (16.38) and third in triple jump (33-11.5) and Averie Perriton was second in high jump (5-2).
Kaya Pillivant was first in the 800 (2:26.80) and Sydney Morrell finished first in the 3200 (11:44.40). Brinkley Lewis placed first in pole vault (10-9) and Emma Hofmestier finished third in the 3200 (12:23.81).
The Central girls also finished first with 165 points.
Cheyenne East junior Marik Cummings broke a school record and placed first in the 100 after timing in at 10.62 seconds, breaking the previous record of 10.75 seconds, which was set by Lee Vaughn in 1993.
Garet Schlabs was first in the 400 (51.56) and Connor Parks was third in the 3200 (10:43.48). The relay team of Cummings, Schlabs, Ian Garcia and Jude Guevara were first in the 4x100 relay (42.81).
Taliah Morris was first in the 100 (12.16) and first in long jump (18-4.5) for the East girls.
Emma Smith was first in the 1600 (5:47.50) while Ynes Ronnau finished second (5:49.50). Ronnau was also third in the 800 (2:31.77).
The team of Molly Madsen, Sydney Sawyer, Smith and Ronnau were first in the 4x800 (10:31.64).
The East boys were third with 77.5 points and the East girls are fourth with 95.
South has four top-5s in Douglas
CHEYENNE – Senior Jakub Randles placed third in the 400-meter dash (52.70 seconds) and fourth in the 200 (23.45) at Friday’s Douglas Invitational.
The Bison also got a fourth-place effort from senior Paxton Piasecki in pole vault (11 feet).
Senior Sarah Furia heaved the shot put 32-9 to place second.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/cheyenne_central/prep-track-central-sweeps-team-titles-in-scottsbluff/article_f36398c5-e408-552b-ae84-057b54e8f24f.html
| 2022-04-23T13:35:16Z
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/cheyenne_east/prep-golf-east-s-coleman-wins-in-torrington/article_c1e2e61e-c4ba-5b56-a502-cb69f0ab2f52.html
| 2022-04-23T13:35:22Z
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CHEYENNE – The final 42 minutes just didn’t go the Cheyenne South boys’ way Friday night.
The Bison had a quality shot go just wide of the frame in the waning minutes of the first half. Then they had to attack directly into a nasty wind that kicked up after halftime. Campbell County capitalized on the wind, and notched a pair of second-half goals for a 3-1 win at Bison Stadium.
“I was up top, just waiting for the ball, and I had to run toward them because the wind was killing them,” South junior forward Jorge Guerrero said. “We just couldn’t get any passes through because of the wind. It was really difficult to transition from there.
“We have really good midfielders, but they couldn’t really do anything because of the wind.”
The Camels struck first when Santiago Becerra’s shot in the 18th minute hit off South goalkeeper Keegan Potter and ricocheted to the left. Joey Von Aschwege ran onto the rebound and stuffed it into the net before Potter could recover for a 1-0 lead.
South leveled the score 1-1 in the 27th minute. Campbell County’s Carson McArtor fouled junior Will Bechtel near midfield, giving South a direct kick. Bison sophomore DeMarcus Contreras sent the set piece into the penalty area, where Guerrero headed it toward the goal. The ball bounced off the crossbar and spun into the goal to forge the tie.
“I knew (Contreras’ kick) was going to go behind all the players on the line, so I decided to step back and give myself some space,” Guerrero said. “It bounced up, and I headed it as hard as I could. I had no idea it hit the crossbar before it went in.”
First-year South coach Joshua Eastman found more to like about Guerrero’s goal than just knotting the score.
“Caden Hart was right there to follow up the shot if it didn’t go in,” Eastman said. “That’s what I’m looking for. He was really crashing the goal.”
Guerrero sent a shot wide late in the half while he was one-on-one with Camels goalkeeper Brady Tompkins.
“I thought there was someone right behind me, and I didn’t have enough time to slow down and shoot,” Guerrero said. “There ended up being nobody there, and I rushed the shot when I didn’t have to.”
The wind was virtually nonexistent during the opening half, but blew steadily into South’s faces during the second. The wind often stopped through-balls and clearances dead in their tracks.
Campbell County pull ahead 2-1 in the 48th minute when Jose Aguayo lasered a direct kick between the crossbar and Potter’s outstretched hands from 45 yards out in the 48th minute.
Von Aschwege netted his second goal of the night when he ran onto a through-ball behind the left side South’s defense and struck a right-footed shot off the far post and into the net in the 69th to make the score 3-1.
“(Von Aschwege) is a very dynamic player, who seems very smart,” Eastman said. “He gets in space before people figure it out. He’s deadly and really shows up to play.”
Potter finished with seven saves for the Bison.
South hosts Sheridan at noon today.
CAMPBELL CO. 3, SOUTH 1
Halftime: 1-1.
Goals: CC, Von Ashwege (Becerra), 18. CS, Guerrero (Contreras), 27. CC, Aguayo (direct kick), 48. CC, Von Aschwege (unavailable), 69.
Shots: CC 15, CS 5. Shots on goal: CC 10, CS 2. Saves: CC 1 (Tompkins); CS 7 (Potter).
Corner kicks: CC 2, CS 0. Offsides: CC 2, CS 0. Fouls: CC 14, CS 9. Yellow cards: CC 2 (McArtor, 77. Becerra, 80); CS 2 (W. Bechtel, 52. J. Bechtel, 79).
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/cheyenne_south/camels-pull-away-from-south/article_2ff10686-2af6-5a46-83ef-f808d827e8f9.html
| 2022-04-23T13:35:29Z
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LARAMIE — Two of the top high school boys soccer teams in the East Conference put on quite a show Friday night at Deti Stadium.
Although the scoreboard didn’t exactly light up with goals, just about all other aspects of the game was filled with action from end line to end line as third-ranked Laramie beat fifth-ranked Sheridan 2-0 to complete the sweep against Sheridan.
The Plainsmen (9-1 overall, 7-0 East) remained undefeated in league play with their seventh straight victory, the Broncs (7-2, 5-2) snapped a four-game winning streak. Laramie also won 2-1 on March 26 in Sheridan by virtue of a late penalty kick.
“I think it’s been a while since we’ve swept Sheridan away and home,” LHS coach Anne Moore said. “Usually the Gillette-Sheridan trip is a tough swing and a long trip.
“We didn’t have a great game (Tuesday) against Central. We were a bit slow and our pace wasn’t what it has been in the past. So we really stepped up in practice to move the ball quicker and create opportunities by finishing the crossing passes and we were pleased to score off those crosses.”
The Broncs had an early scoring opportunity in the battle for first place in the conference when senior Kaden Bateson fired in a long free kick that was punched away by Plainsman senior goalkeeper Talon Luckie. But the ball was re-directed off the high hands of a Laramie defender for a penalty kick in the eighth minute. Sheridan sophomore Dane Steel’s penalty kick was low and outside of the right post, giving Laramie a lift by keeping the game scoreless.
The momentum carried over to the 14th minute for LHS when senior Christian Smith buried an unassisted goal from about 30 yards out with a shot that was mid-high and into the left portion of the netting.
“That was huge,” Smith said. “In the last meeting, we only won because of a PK (penalty kick). So to score that early was a good success to build on the game going forward. It put everyone in a good mood to keep battling.”
Sheridan countered with five shots, four of those on goal for the rest of the first half but was still down 1-0 at the halftime break because of a swarming Plainsmen defense.
“They really stepped up,” said Luckie, who had six saves on shots on frame for the shutout. “This game (against Sheridan) is always a really great battle, so when the defense steps up it’s impossible to get back there. I loved it, and they worked their tails off to keep it secure back there.”
LHS senior Jackson Sweckard and sophomore Karson Busch hooked up for a late insurance score when Sweckard assisted Busch for a goal in the 63rd minute.
“He just crossed it from the corner, and I trapped it and brought it down to hit it in the corner of the goal,” Busch said. “It was a huge goal to pick up the energy and seal the game.”
Outside of the goal differential, the offensive stats were rather even with 11 shots (six on goal) for Sheridan compared to 12 shots (six on goal) for Laramie; two corner kicks for Sheridan; and five set plays from the corner for Laramie.
Mother Nature also flexed her muscles with a dramatic change during the contest.
At kickoff, it was 57 degrees with a 19 mph wind out of the northwest and rain showers dancing around the area. By the final whistle, the temperature dropped to 44 degrees, and the wind picked up to 28 mph to lower the chill to 33 degrees.
The Plainsmen are next scheduled to host Campbell County at noon today, weather permitting.
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https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/laramie_high/laramie-beats-sheridan-in-meeting-of-east-conference-best/article_6dfb0b9c-6569-5d57-900f-f3214137330c.html
| 2022-04-23T13:35:35Z
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