Wyoming News Briefs

Attorneys ask for juvenile court for boy’s attempted murder trial

GILLETTE (WNE) — Attorneys for the boy accused of nine counts of attempted first-degree murder after he took guns into Sage Valley Junior High School have asked a judge to transfer the case to juvenile court.

Local public defender Jefferson Coombs and Wyoming State Public Defender Diane M. Lozano asked for a two-day hearing to present all the relevant evidence and testimony in support of moving the case to juvenile court. The motion itself and arguments are listed as confidential.

They also asked for a different judge for the hearing than District Judge Michael N. “Nick” Deegan of Gillette, who has been assigned the case. District Judge John G. Fenn of Sheridan has been assigned the case for the hearing, which has been set for Oct. 28-29.

Dale Warner, now 15, has been in Campbell County jail since Nov. 13, 2018, when he allegedly took two guns and 36 bullets into Sage Valley Junior High with the intent of shooting nine teachers or students. They were identified as people he wanted to target or who were in the classroom where he intended to open fire.

Warner has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Campbell County Attorney Ronald E. Wirthwein decided to charge the then 14-year-old as an adult, meaning, among other things, that his court proceedings are public rather than confidential as they would be in juvenile court.

Threat reporting service records Wyoming increase

JACKSON (WNE) — A program that gives students, parents and teachers a safe place to report threats in schools saw growth in the 2018-19 school year.

Safe2Tell offers an anonymous way to report a range of threatening behaviors and situations. The 24-hour confidential service has a toll-free number (800-996-7233), an app downloadable from the Apple Store or Google Play, and a web portal through which reports can be made.

Since Safe2Tell started in October 2016 it has received nearly 2,900 tips from across Wyoming, according to its website. The 1,448 tips reported during the 2018-19 school year reflects the steady growth it has seen since opening.

“The increase each year in the number of tips submitted by students shows the level of comfort and trust they have in the Safe2Tell Wyoming program,” Program Manager Bill Morse said in the press release.

Safe2Tell acts as an intermediary between the reporting party and whatever agency — law enforcement or school district — will take action in a situation. An investigation determines whether a threat is credible and what action should be taken.

The organization did not provide county-specific data for Wyoming.

The top five types of tips reported in Wyoming last school year were suicide threats, drugs, bullying, self-harm and vaping. Safe2Tell said vaping, which was not one of the original tip categories, has quickly become one of the most reported tips.

Sex offender moved to Wyoming to ‘fly under radar’

GILLETTE (WNE) — Prosecutors are recommending prison time for an Oregon sex offender who moved to Gillette more than a year ago to “fly under the radar” and take some college classes.

George Cook IV never registered as a sex offender — a fact law enforcement learned after he was arrested in domestic violence cases in February. The cases were considered felonies because he had two previous convictions for domestic violence in 2016 in Washington and 2017 in Oregon.

The second incident also involved strangulation of a household member and aggravated assault and battery.

Cook, 42, pleaded guilty to domestic battery, strangulation, aggravated assault and battery and failure to register as a sex offender, all felonies. Another felony count of domestic battery was dismissed, as well as misdemeanor counts of interfering with an emergency call and destruction of property.

As part of the agreement, prosecutors will recommend a two- to four-year prison sentence for the domestic battery and failure to register charges and three- to five-year sentences for strangulation and aggravated assault. Most of those will be consecutive. He can argue for less. He also must pay restitution of $13,305 to Medicaid.

Sheriff’s investigators learned Cook was a sex offender and had not registered as one when he moved to Wyoming in April 2018, according to court documents.

He told investigators that he was “just trying to fly under the radar” when he moved to Wyoming to go to college to get a degree in diesel mechanics. He then intended to move back to Oregon.

Wyoming schools ranked sixth best in nation

JACKSON (WNE) — Wyoming may be small, but its schools pack a punch.

That’s according to Education Week, a publication that reports on schools across the country. The final part of its 2019 Quality Counts report pitted the states’ educational systems against each other in a number of categories, and Wyoming ranked near the top in some. 

For school finance, a measure of how much the state spends on education, Wyoming ranked first, with high levels of spending per student and equity in spending across school districts. Wyoming’s school foundation program guarantees each district a certain amount of money based on some complicated formulas, essentially sending money from more affluent districts to poorer ones.

Wyoming was given a score of 92.8 out of 100 for school finance — an A — while the national average was a C.

The scores were a bit more mixed in the other categories. Wyoming outpaced the nation, just barely, in K-12 student performance. The state scored about average in terms of students’ actual performance in school, but its marks in educational equity regarding socioeconomic gaps boosted its overall score.

It ranked ninth in the gap between affluent students and low-income ones, meaning that the gap was smaller than in most states. The state’s scores in the final major category, chance for success, were similarly mixed, with Wyoming doing better than the nation in setting children up for success when they enter school.