NEWS BRIEFS for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

From Wyoming News Exchange newspapers
Posted 4/8/20

News in Brief from across the Cowboy State

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NEWS BRIEFS for Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Posted

Albany County Courthouse renovations to cease during pandemic

LARAMIE (WNE) - Renovation of the Albany County Courthouse is set to cease until the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.

Contractor Arcon Inc. began work on creating a new north entrance for the courthouse last summer.

“I can certainly understand and appreciate Arcon’s concern for all those involved,” County Commissioner Terri Jones said during the Tuesday meeting of the county board.

During the meeting, county engineer Bill Gorman said that the contractor will likely stop construction for 30-60 days.

“They’ve been plugging along up until now trying to get as much done as they can, but now it’s becoming a little bit more dangerous for the employees to be working in close proximity,” Gorman said.

When finished, the renovation will change how the public enters the building.

After construction is complete, all other doors will be locked to the public. People entering the building will need to come through the north entrance and pass through a security check.

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Sheridan doctor deployed to New York for coronavirus crisis aid

SHERIDAN  (WNE) — A Sheridan doctor in the U.S. Navy Reserve is being deployed to New York City to assist with the government’s COVID-19 crisis response amid an influx of cases and fatalities.

Dr. Cheryl Varner, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Sheridan Memorial Hospital, received her orders Saturday and left Monday for a two-week training in an undisclosed location, after which she will go directly to New York.

“I don’t know much about what I’m walking into, but I am taking care of COVID patients,” she said Saturday evening.

Varner has been in the U.S. Navy her “entire adult life,” she told The Press. When she was younger, she worked as a hospital corpsman, then as a medical officer with a Marine unit as a battalion surgeon. The doctor joined the Navy Reserve in 2001 and has worked at SMH for the last nine years.

However, for the last several weeks, Varner has drawn on her military experience by working with Sheridan County’s Incident Command, serving as a back-up for both Sheridan County Health Officer Dr. Ian Hunter and SMH Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Addlesperger. The team’s regimented structure, with a clear chain of command, was a good fit for Varner.

“She is well-versed in this kind of crisis management, emergency management activity,” SMH CEO Mike McCafferty said. “To lose her is a blow for the hospital, but the skills she has are really well-suited for what she’s going to be doing in New York. They’ve got a huge need. They need people like her to be able to do the things they need to get done.”

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Driver killed, GR man injured in crash near Mountain View

ROCK SPRINGS  (WNE) - A single-vehicle rollover near Mountain View has claimed the life of a Colorado resident and injured a man from Green River.

The accident happened on Wyoming Highway 414 near Mountain View around milepost 113 on Friday, April 3. At 6:50 p.m., Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched to the area for a one-vehicle rollover.

A 2015 Toyota RAV 4 was headed south on Wyoming 414 when the vehicle drifted off the right side of the roadway, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. The driver corrected back to the left before driving off the left side of the road and overturning.

The driver of the Toyota has been identified as Kelsey L. Peters, 24, of Oak Creek, Colorado. Peters was not wearing a seat belt and died while being transported to a medical facility. The passenger in the Toyota has been identified as 30-year-old Green River resident Xavier M. Funk. He was not wearing a seat belt and was flown by helicopter to the University of Utah for injuries he sustained in the crash.

Speed and driver inattention is being investigated as possible contributing factors to the crash, according to a press release.

This is the 14th fatality on Wyoming’s roadways in 2020 compared to 37 in 2019, 22 in 2018, and 23 in 2017 to date.

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Fatal crash takes life of Glendo man

DOUGLAS (WNE) - Tucker D. Greenough, 38, of Glendo died in a fatal car accident the night of April 4 during a single-vehicle rollover. The accident took place near milepost 221 on WYO319 north of Glendo. Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched at 11 p.m. to the area. According to WHP Sergeant Jeremy Beck, a 2004 Dodge Ram was headed east on WYO-319 when the vehicle drifted off the right side of the roadway. Greenough corrected back to the left before driving off the left side of the road and overturning. Greenough was not wearing a seatbelt and succumbed to his injuries at the scene of the crash. Driver fatigue is being investigated as a possible contributing factor, Beck reported. This is the fifteenth fatality on Wyoming’s roadways in 2020.

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