Wyoming News Briefs

State’s first solar power trade group forms

GILLETTE (WNE) — The cost of installing solar power has dropped 70 percent in the last ten years and Wyoming solar installs have increased accordingly. In response to this growth, installers around the state recognized a need for a coherent voice for the state’s growing solar energy industry.

Last month in Casper, the Wyoming Solar Energy Association (WYSE) celebrated the industry’s growth at its kickoff event, the Powder River Basin Resource Council’s annual Spring Solar Celebration.

“As solar energy continues to grow, it is important for the solar industry to be unified,” said Stacey Schmid, a solar installer and president of WYSE, in a press release. “We need to make sure solar energy in our state stays locally based and helps our local economy. A trade organization created by and for Wyoming solar professionals will help to ensure that the state benefits from the continued growth of solar energy.”

To be a voting member of WYSE, solar companies must maintain an office in Wyoming. This provision helps ensure that revenue invested in solar energy remains in the state. If out-of-state companies want to be part of the organization, they can do so as long as they are willing to open an office here, provide local jobs and invest in Wyoming’s economy.

WYSE will host educational events, provide information on solar energy, and be a part of the conversation around Wyoming’s changing solar landscape. Anyone working professionally in solar energy is eligible for membership.

Campbell County school officials to question staff about concealed carry

GILLETTE (WNE) — Campbell County School District officials will poll teachers and staff as they tackle the issue of whether to pick employees to conceal carry guns in schools for safety reasons.

It is allowed under a Wyoming law approved by the state Legislature in 2017. The law sets minimum levels of training and that the guns be carried throughout the day or placed in secure biometric containers.

In March and April, the school district hosted three public comment sessions to gauge local reaction to the idea. The idea of a poll of staff is the next step in the process.

Deputy Superintendent Kirby Eisenhauer said he’d like to send two questions to district teachers and staff to measure their reactions to the idea. He hopes to send out the questions by email and receive responses before the end of the school year May 24.

He told school trustees he wanted to ask teachers and staff what building they work in and about whether they favor, are against or if they need more information about concealed carry in the district.

Eisenhauer also plans to add a dialogue box so those who respond can comment. He hopes to compile results soon after the school year ends.

Board Chairwoman Anne Ochs said she believes there is a public misconception that if the district approves going forward with concealed carry, that every teacher in every school who wants to carry guns will be able to do so.

Jackson voyeur back on probation

JACKSON (WNE) — The man who was arrested for recording his tenants in their bathroom was sentenced Tuesday to probation.

Riley Sills, 38, said his motives were not sexual, and the court believed him.

“The tenants agreed to his terms to not use alcohol or drugs and he suspected they were,” said Sills’ attorney, Dick Mulligan. “He put video equipment in his bathroom, and it did capture them putting something up their noses. He confronted them instead of just throwing them out. It was stupid, and he admits that.”

Sills, an admitted drug user, who said he has been sober for four years, said he didn’t know placing hidden cameras in his tenant’s bathroom and bedroom was illegal.

“I see that this was illegal now, but at the time I thought I was protecting myself,” Sills told Judge Timothy Day. “I didn’t want to be throwing someone out because I’m paranoid. I did it more, like, for proof.”

Sills has an extensive criminal history, which his attorney said stems from his drug addiction, and the felony voyeurism charge violated his probation.

The court has revoked and reinstated Sills’ probation three times, Day said. One of those violations resulted in him spending a year in prison.

“I could reimpose those sentences,” Day said. “That would overlook the fact that, while this offense is not excusable, there are mitigating factors.”

Day said he had to take into account that it wasn’t a violent offense and the fact that Sills has maintained sobriety and stable employment.

“I’m going to give you another chance here,” Day said.

G&F: Elk in Bighorn Forest clear of brucellosis

SHERIDAN (WNE) — Elk from the Bighorn National Forest have clean bills of health from the brucellosis presence a few years ago, according to Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Tim Thomas.

Each year, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department monitors the distribution and prevalence of brucellosis within the state’s elk population, according to a handout presented by Thomas. Approximately 10,000 blood collection kits are assembled and mailed to elk hunters successful in acquiring limited quota licenses within target surveillance areas.

The program began in 1991 and throughout the program, more than 17,000 blood samples have been analyzed. A total of 1559 elk blood samples were tested in the 2018 surveillance of the Bighorn Mountains area with 1529 of them being suitable for testing. There were no positive tests for brucellosis in the 2018 sampling.

Brucellosis is a bacterial infection that spreads from animals to people, according to the Mayo Clinic. The local Game and Fish started testing for the infection in 2011. The first time brucellosis was present in the Bighorn Mountains was in 2012, thought to be carried over through elk herds from the Big Horn Basin and greater Yellowstone area.

Thomas said everyone has calmed down about the potential of the infection spreading, as it has not been detected in the last two years in the area.

Bear spray burst clears out Pinedale Food Basket

PINEDALE (WNE) – On Monday, Pinedale Community Food Basket Thrift Shop employees and shoppers found out firsthand how effective bear spray can be at repelling invaders.

With garage doors raised to welcome springtime warmth and sunshine, an accidental burst of the oily pepper spray outside immediately blew in through the stacks and shelves of donated items. 

Even after airing out, the lingering and unpleasant aroma was enough to call for drastic action, according to thrift store manager Sandy Hinderliter. 

Tuesday, employees loaded every book, upholstered furniture, kids’ toys, baskets – and the store’s entire stock of clothing – to be hauled to the dump. “Hard” items that could be wiped down were brought outside Tuesday as employees worked to clean the entire emptied store. 

Newly donated items dropped off in the shop’s Quonset hut are considered “safe” and would serve to restock the shop, according to Hinderliter. 

“We felt that it would be too costly to take all of clothes to wash and dry them and we decided to throw them out,” she said. 

Stacks of books also went to the dump, due to fears that some might hold enough bear-spray residue to affect browsers at the recycling center next door. 

“They have offered for us to look through those books and take anything we might want,” she added. 

Wednesday morning, employees again cleaned inside the store with the plan to begin restocking shelves and filling hangers later that day.