News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
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Former Goshen County clerk strikes plea deal in embezzlement case
TORRINGTON (WNE) – Former Goshen County District Court Clerk Kathi Rickard is likely heading to prison, but probably not close to the 60-year maximum penalty she could have received if she were found guilty of six counts of felony theft.
As part of a plea agreement proposed by special prosecutor Spencer Allred, Rickard pleaded guilty to two counts of felony theft last month, and the state agreed to dismiss the other four.
She is accused of stealing $209,228.86 from county coffers during her years as the court clerk but will only be responsible for paying back $125,400.15 in restitution.
If she’s able to pay the restitution in full by the time of her sentencing hearing – which has yet to be scheduled – the state wouldn’t argue for any more than two years in prison.
If she doesn’t, prosecutors would argue for no more than five.
“Sentencing shall be open for both sides to argue, however, the state would agree to cap its argument at no more than two years of incarceration if restitution is paid in full at the time of sentencing,” Allred wrote. “If the full amount of restitution is not paid at the time of sentencing, then the state will agree to cap its argument at five years. The defense will have the ability to argue for whatever sentence it feels is appropriate.”
Each of the six original counts Rickard was charged with carried a maximum penalty of 10 years, had she been found guilty.
Court documents filed in the Eighth Judicial District showed there were discrepancies in the office’s books from the time Rickard took office.
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Sublette County Deputy fined for antler violation
PINEDALE (WNE) – A Wyoming Game and Fish warden charged off-duty Sublette County Deputy Justin C. Hays, of Big Piney, with violating a horn-hunting regulation on public land on April 28.
Sublette County Undersheriff Lance Gehlhausen confirmed the deputy was cited for illegally taking an antler off Bureau of Land Management property.
Hays paid his $435 fine on May 1.
Gathering shed antlers, or horn hunting, on public lands is closely regulated west of the Continental Divide with the season officially opening Friday, May 1, at noon.
“It’s not going to be taken lightly,” said Gehlhausen of the deputy’s illegal action. “It’s not something we are going to talk about much. We will be dealing with this internally with a disciplinary action.”
Gehlhausen pointed out Hays was not on duty and after being cited, “came and told us … and paid his fine.”
Pinedale Regional Supervisor John Lund said Warden Adam Hymas was notified around 5 p.m. and responded to find Hays with the antler he picked up near a BLM road.
“It was not flagrant but we still enforce it,” Lund said. “We treat everybody the same.”
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County, governor weigh in on opening parks this month
JACKSON (WNE) – Pressure is building for Northwest Wyoming’s national parks to open their gates after six totally closed weeks, with local elected officials formally requesting the public gain access as early as next week and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon saying it will happen soon.
Gordon, in a media briefing Thursday afternoon, said he’s “looking forward to being able, with the federal government, to open the national parks before Memorial Day,” which falls on May 25.
“My biggest concern is our counties — Park and Teton and Fremont — making sure that everyone is comfortable with this,” Gordon said. “We’ve looked at ways the parks can open sequentially so that we get people here and enjoying what Wyoming has to offer.”
The Teton County Board of Commissioners on Thursday signed off on a letter to Gordon, who requested the input, asking for a “safe, structured, phased reopening” of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks starting as early as May 15 — next Friday.
“We will continue to encourage visitors and residents to recreate responsibly: Stay close to home, practice safe physical distancing, and give others at least 6 feet of separation on trails, docks, overlooks and other areas,” commissioners wrote in the letter.
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Rubber company to open Evanston plant
EVANSTON (WNE) — The major business during the Tuesday, May 5, meeting of the Evanston City Council centered on the sale of five acres of city-owned property on Union Center Rd. to ISA Partners, LLC.
John Feusner, Jr., owner and president of ISA, joined the council via Zoom video conferencing. ISA is a multi-national company with over 80,000 square feet of manufacturing, engineering, research and development (R&D), and customer service space in Oregon and Mexico.
Their specific product categories include protective shoe covers, industrial gloves, nuclear spec gloves, and now lineman electrical spec gloves. The company has built 14 rubber dipping factories across the globe and is currently the only rubber dipping manufacturer producing these products in the U.S. and North America. Feusner said,
O’Neill explained that the planned development will be a campus style layout constructed in three phases. Phase 1 will include manufacturing and customer service totaling over 20,000 sq. ft. Upon completion of Phase 1, ISA will employ 25-50 individuals, including salaried and hourly positions.
Phase 2 includes an additional 6,000 sq. ft. of research and development.
Phase 3 will add the final 16,000 sq. ft. of distribution warehousing. When Phase 3 is completed ISA estimates hiring over 100 employees in Uinta County.
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Jackson Hole High School ranked No.1 in the state
JACKSON (WNE) — Jackson Hole High School is No. 1.
U.S. News and World Report has ranked the high school the best in Wyoming in its annual rankings. This is the sixth year in the past eight that JHHS has taken the top spot.
The publication uses a variety of metrics to rank the schools, with a heavy focus on college readiness and advanced classes. Jackson Hole High School was first in the state in both the college readiness rank, which tracks how many students pass at least one advanced placement or international baccalaureate class, and the college curriculum breadth index, which tracks how many pass more than one.
Essentially, the school's focus on advanced placement classes (73% of JHHS students took at least one) helped earn it the top spot. The 14:1 student-teacher ratio probably didn't hurt either.
The rest of the top 10, in order, are:
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Second-degree murder attempt charged after Friday shooting in Lander
RIVERTON (WNE) — A Lander man is charged with second-degree murder after a shooting on Friday. A neighbor’s home surveillance system captured video of the incident that landed one man in the hospital and another in jail.
In custody, Michael Lawrence Truax, born 1984, has been charged with attempted second-degree murder.
Truax and Patrick Lookingbill had a fierce argument and a violent encounter earlier Friday. The video from the incident and various interviews recount Truax driving down the 300 block of Washington Street in Lander, and seeing Lookingbill walking there.
Truax told law enforcement that Lookingbill owed him $1,000.
The video showed Truax’s silver Dodge Durango charging Lookingbill.
Truax and another man, 46- year-old Trampes Rivers, got out of the vehicle.
Truax and Lookingbill argued, occasionally with 22-year-old Katlyn Higinbotham trying to intervene by “getting in between them,” Fremont County Sheriff’s Office detective Sgt. Randy Lutterman wrote.
The argument became more heated and animated, until Truax retreated to the vehicle and grabbed a handgun, according to the footage. Rivers was between the gun and Lookingbill. Truax was seen smacking Rivers with the pistol – a footage element later corroborated by a cut above Rivers’ eye.
“(Expletive) do it then,” was what Higinbotham remembered Lookingbill saying when Truax trained the handgun on him.
“Right after Lookingbill shouted this, Truax fired the handgun,” Lutterman wrote. Lookingbill was taken to the hospital and is in a stable condition.
Attempted second degree murder is punishable by a minimum of 20 years, a maximum of life in prison. For the state to convict Truax of that crime, he must be proved to have taken a “substantial step” toward killing Lookingbill.
