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Wyoming News Briefs

Sublette County Health’s hospital a reality

PINEDALE (WNE) — The century-long quest for a hospital in Sublette County is finally a reality. 

On June 28, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved a $32-million loan application submitted by the Sublette County Hospital District to construct a new critical access hospital. 

The USDA’s historic decision gives the SCHD the green light to break ground on its proposed 70,000-square-foot hospital facility in Pinedale. 

In addition to inpatient and emergency room care, the critical access hospital will provide services not previously available in Sublette County, including blood transfusions, chemotherapy, CT scans and mammograms, said Kari DeWitt, SCHD public relations director, in a press release. 

“In the past, we have lacked basic services in Sublette County,” said Dave Doorn, SCHD administrator, in the release. “Having a critical access hospital will greatly increase care and will be a game changer for our community.”

The USDA’s validation of the loan request is the result of years of hard work by the SCHD board, employees and administration along with cooperation by local entities across the county. 

These efforts culminated in voter approval of a November 2020 ballot initiative to levy an additional 1 mill to establish a special hospital district. Sixty percent of votes cast favored the initiative. 

The USDA’s approval comes just in time, allowing the SCHD to lock in favorable interest rates. Ninety percent of the loan, roughly $29 million, is funded directly through the USDA at a 2.5-percent interest rate, Doorn confirmed at a special meeting on June 27. The remaining 10 percent, financed by Stroudwater, comes with a 3.25-percent interest rate. 

The SCHD will host a pre-bid conference in the next several weeks “to get bidding information into the hands of potential subcontractors,” said SCHD board chairwoman Tonia Hoffman.

Man accused of child sex abuse pleads not guilty

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A local man charged with multiple child sex offenses pleaded not guilty Thursday morning in Laramie County District Court. The county’s district attorney has been accused of improperly declining to prosecute the case. 

Peter Summerhawk, born in 1974, is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a young teenage girl for several months. He is also accused of repeatedly showing the girl pornography. 

Summerhawk entered a not-guilty plea to all charges against him: six counts of first-degree child sex abuse, one count of second degree child sex abuse and one count of third-degree child sex abuse. 

Laramie County District Judge Peter Froelicher set a trial date of Oct. 24. 

Froelicher also reduced Summerhawk’s bond to $100,000. He is not allowed to leave the county, nor have any contact with victims in the case or any minors, per bond conditions set by the judge. 

Declining to charge court documents filed in early June, along with information shared with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle by a family member of the victim, indicate that Summerhawk is the same defendant the city of Cheyenne has said Laramie County District Attorney Leigh Anne Manlove declined to prosecute. 

In a letter obtained by the WTE then-Cheyenne Police Department Detective Lt. Rob Dafoe wrote to DA Manlove that he was frustrated her office had so far failed to charge a child sex abuse case he claimed had overwhelming evidence supporting prosecution. 

A judge last November granted the city’s request to have the AG’s office review and potentially prosecute the case. 

Manlove has denied the city’s claim that her office declined or failed to prosecute the case.

3-year-old expected to recover after accidentally shooting himself in stomach

GILLETTE (WNE) — A 3-year-old Campbell County boy is expected to recover after accidentally shooting himself in the abdomen Wednesday morning.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Martin Spencer said that at 9:35 a.m., the Converse County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a 32-year-old woman who lived on Mackey Road, saying her son had been shot in the stomach.

The boy went into a bedroom by himself and grabbed a pistol that was lying there. The gun went off, and the boy was hit in the abdomen, Spencer said.

The call was transferred to the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office. The woman drove her son to the intersection of Highway 450 and School Creek Road, where they were intercepted by an ambulance and taken to the fire station in Wright.

An air ambulance took the boy to Casper, and he was later transferred to Denver.

The boy’s injuries are not life-threatening, Spencer said, and the child is expected to be released soon.

California man arrested on suspicion of murder

LARAMIE (WNE) — A California man has been arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder and mutilation of dead bodies.

The Laramie Police Department announced Thursday afternoon that Hunter S. Fulton, 29, was arrested after an investigation that began Monday into the report of a missing person. 

Because of the active nature of the investigation, the LPD declined to release the identity of the victim or other details of the alleged crime. 

The announcement of the arrest came two days after the LPD issued a missing person bulletin for a man missing since Saturday, but Thursday’s press release about Fulton’s arrest did not indicate if it was in relation to that missing person report. 

If convicted of second-degree murder — defined as purposely and maliciously, but without premeditation, killing another human being — Fulton could face a minimum of 20 years in prison to life. 

Mutilation of dead human bodies is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000 or both.

Flooding causes evacuations, highway closures near Lingle

CASPER (WNE) —Residents of Lingle were told to evacuate to higher ground on Friday morning, as water from a canal breach west of town reached into town. 

Anyone in town south of the railroad tracks and Lucerne Ditch were at risk from the levee failure, according to a post from the Torrington Police Department.

The National Weather Service Cheyenne office issued the flash flood warning for the Single area Friday morning, expecting it to last until 4 p.m. A Whalen Dam operator told the office that “flow through the breach would begin to recede” after 2 p.m.

About six miles of U.S. Highway 26 between Lingle and Ft. Laramie was also closed Friday, as crews reported about half a mile of highway completely covered by water. Traffic was been diverted to Wyoming Highway 157. 

Campbell County fair to hold American Ninja Warrior-style competition in place of pig wrestling

GILLETTE (WNE) — In place of pig wrestling, which was canceled this year, the Campbell County Fair will hold a Ninja Nation competition on Aug. 5.

“Our goal is to bring the excitement of the ninja competitions you see on TV to our local people and give them an opportunity to compete against their fellow citizens,” said fair coordinator Liz Edwards.

Standing 15 feet tall and running a total length of 150 feet, the Ninja Nation competition course has dual race lanes for competitors to race side by side through mirrored obstacles. All obstacles are elevated off the ground to make the event more engaging to spectators in the Morningside Park grandstands.

A dual lane timer system is included at the start and end of the course to accurately keep track of competitors’ times. Athletes will race to the finish and hit the buzzer at the top of the warped wall.

Races will be judged by Ninja Nation staff and scores are made up of completion times and number of falls.

Ninja Nation specializes in mobile ninja competitions and will fill the gap left in this year’s schedule by the cancellation of the highly popular annual pig wrestling competition, due to a shortage of pigs.

“We were crushed when pig wrestling had to be cancelled this year,” said Fair Board Chairman Trena Bauder in a press release. “Ninja Nation will be something new for our community and still provide the excitement and humor our pig wrestling participants have always enjoyed – both as competitors and spectators.”

Those interested in forming a team for the Ninja Nation competition should visit the fair’s website at campbellcountywy.gov/fair for more information and entry forms. For more information, call the fair office at 687-0200.

Sandy Fire 70% contained, response downsizing

JACKSON (WNE) — The Sandy Fire burning near Bondurant is roughly 70% contained, fire officials said Monday.

The roughly 150-person team responding to the fire also is beginning to downsize, according to Kim Hemenway, public information officer for the Type 3 team coordinating the response to the 105-acre fire.

The outlook for containing the blaze was “very positive,” she told the Jackson Hole Daily on Monday.

The Sandy Fire hadn’t grown since Saturday while firefighters had built a fire line — a break in fuel intended to stop or slow a spreading blaze — around the fire. In addition, some rain had helped “cool things down,” she said. Closures of six trails in the area and one Forest Service road, however, remain in place.

Though fire is a natural part of the landscape in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Hemenway said fire officials decided to pursue a strategy of “full suppression” in part because of the recent history of fires in the area. Hemenway said suppression of the Sandy Fire was intended to “protect the surrounding communities” like Bondurant, Pinedale and Jackson farther to the north.

“It was, ‘Let’s get on it and get it out so it’s not jumping over the ridge and getting into town,’ ” Hemenway said.

Devils Towers visitors spend $40M

GILLETTE (WNE) — Devils Tower National Monument had a record-breaking year in terms of visitors in 2021, and that translated into an increase in local revenue.

Visitors to Devils Tower spent nearly $40 million in the region in 2021.

According to a study done by the National Parks Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, 550,712 park visitors spent an estimated $39.4 million in local gateway economies while visiting Devils Tower National Monument.

Those dollars supported 522 jobs and a payroll of $15.7 million, and it led to $51.3 million in economic output.

The spending and output for Devils Tower in 2021 far outpaced any year in the last decade, which peaked in 2016 with $31.6 million spent and $39.6 million in economic output.

The same analysis found that national parks in Wyoming last year attracted 8.59 million visitors who spent $1.14 billion in the state.

Before 2021, Devils Tower had never seen more than half a million visitors in one year, although it came close in 2017, with 499,031.

So far this year, the pace is a bit behind last year’s. Through May, nearly 69,000 visitors have come to the park, which is 10,000 fewer people than in 2021. In May, 41,847 visitors were reported in May, about 7% fewer than May 2021, which had 44,850 visitors.

Cowboy announcer Walsh steps down

CHEYENNE (WNE) — For the first time in nearly four decades, the University of Wyoming will have a new play-by-play voice on the call for football radio broadcasts this fall. 

UW announced Friday that Dave Walsh, who was hired in 1984 and had fulfilled play-by-play duties since 1985, was retiring. Cowboys basketball radio voice and former football sideline reporter Reece Monaco will take Walsh’s spot alongside Kevin McKinney in the broadcast booth. 

“Seeing Dave step away completely is difficult for someone like me who grew up listening to Dave tell the great stories of Wyoming football and basketball,” UW Athletics Director Tom Burman said in a news release. “On behalf of our athletics department, and as a fan myself, I want to thank Dave for his outstanding work for the past 38 years. He has been a great ambassador of UW Athletics, and we will be forever grateful. 

“With that said, we look forward to seeing Reece develop as the new voice of Wyoming Cowboy football and basketball. I believe he has a very, very bright future.” 

Walsh, who was voted Wyoming Sportscaster of the Year nine times by his peers in the National Association of Sportswriters and Sportscasters, was inducted into the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in the summer of 2015.