It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, February 27th. I’m Mac Watson.
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CHECK GATE - CLAIR
Read the full story HERE.
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The now-17-year-old who held 14-year-old Bobby Maher down while a friend stabbed him was sentenced Thursday to 30-75 years in prison. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that Bobby Maher’s father told Cowboy State Daily that justice has been served.
“He was charged with conspiracy to commit second degree murder, and what came out in the police affidavit, and today, again in the sentencing hearing was that he was the one that grabbed the 14 year old at the mall in Casper and threw him down on the ground and held him down while his accomplice, Jarreth Plunkett stuck a knife into Bobby Maher two times. And in court today, he apologized to both the Mahar family and to the court.”
Emotions exploded Thursday into tears and a cry to allow a hug from the supporters of the 17-year-old after being sentenced for his role in the April 7, 2024, stabbing death of a 14-year-old at a local mall.
Read the full story HERE.
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Under a cloud of public questioning, Gillette Police Chief Chuck Deaton abruptly retired from the department on Thursday. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that Deaton said in a statement that it was time to move on.
“I had left a message for the mayor. I called all the city council people, talked to the city administrator, and basically got the same, got the same response for the ones who got back to me or answered phones, and it was personnel matter. Two hours later, the announcement from the city comes out that he is, that he is retired. Apparently, there's a personnel matter involved
that we don't know about.”
Cowboy State Daily reached out to Gillette Mayor Shay Lundvall, all seven City Council members and City Administrator Mike Cole earlier Thursday morning — and prior to the retirement announcement — after being contacted by local residents inquiring about rumors regarding Deaton’s status as chief.
Read the full story HERE.
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In speaking against an election audit reform bill Thursday, Sen. Tara Nethercott said the state's county clerks don't support the measure. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that the senator also stated that lawmakers should stop “pandering” to fears manufactured by national rhetoric.
“Senator Tara Nethercott really came at this bill and called it out as basically inflammatory rhetoric. You know, in legislative form, that it was pandering to this phony concern about election fraud. It was onerous, and that it would open up the election process to perhaps an intimidating crowd that it had in hand. It had enhanced record keeping requirements that I think the opponents found were unnecessary, and down that bill went.”
The legislation ultimately failed 21-9.
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.
Cowboy State Daily news continues now…
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A corner-crossing bill received pushback from both hunters and ranchers Thursday but the committee still forwarded it to the Senate. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that one hunter said, “let’s just go out and corner-cross,” then write a new bill to address any problems that come up.
“They tried to put it in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case, which many people took to mean that, at least in a de facto sense, corner crossing was legal, so all this bill is attempting to do is clarify it, codify it in Wyoming statute, just to make it crystal clear, black and white…There were actually people from both sides that kind of had misgivings about it. And again, it wasn't that, oh, this idea just stinks. We don't want this. But it's not about the concept, it's about the details of how to apply the concept in real life.”
House Bill 19 aims to codify into Wyoming Statute what was essentially decided by a federal court decision, that corner crossing is legal. Corner crossing is stepping from one parcel of public land to another at a shared corner without touching the private land that also meets at that point.
Read the full story HERE.
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A former U.S. Army Ranger on Thursday formally entered Wyoming’s U.S. House race for the seat U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman is vacating to run for Senate. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that David Giralt says he will run a “grassroots and bootstraps” campaign.
“He means by grassroots and bootstrap that he does not have a ton of money. He doesn't have the money like some of the other candidates have in this race, so he plans to go door-to-door, and he says that's the way he would do it anyway. So he's just going to put his next foot forward and keep marching.”
David Giralt of Casper, who among other roles has served as a policy advisor for U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, is a first-generation American who has enjoyed opportunities growing up in Casper that never would have been possible for his parents in their native lands. His father was born in Costa Rica and mother, in Cuba.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Kentucky mother is suing Bandit Industries, claiming a Bandit Intimidator woodchipper without key safety features caused her son’s fatal 2024 workplace accident near Alpine, Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s CLair McFarland reports that the complaint said her son “frantically” tried to stop the machine but couldn’t.
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Brenda Crnkovich filed her wrongful death suit in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming against Michigan-based Bandit Industries, Inc.
Her son William Crnkovich died June 18, 2024, at the age of 43. He was born in Montpelier, Idaho, graduated from Wyoming’s Star Valley High School in 1998, and deployed in Iraq as part of his decade of service in the Army National Guard, his obituary says.
Read the full story HERE.
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Powell resident Allen Hatch was banned from McDonald's earlier this week for driving his draft horses and wagon through the drive-thru. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that although employees were excited to see them, the manager reportedly was not.
“The Powell manager brought up, I think, it's a fairly legitimate point, that if the horses left some horse apples in the drive through, they don't have anybody to clean that up. And that's fair. I would say that's beyond the purview of a typical McDonald's employee. But fortunately, the horses didn't leave any road apples, and they had a particularly eventful time going through the drive thru, and that was actually important training for them, because they're being slowly conditioned to life in Powell and moving along the streets.”
Hatch tells Cowboy State Daily that even though McDonalds “86’ed” him, he still got his order and went on his way.
Read the full story HERE.
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And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.
