Cowboy State Daily Video News: Wednesday, April 10, 2024

The 14 year old boy who was stabbed to death at Casper’s Eastridge Mall on Sunday was reportedly there to protect his girlfriend; it’s possible that the Sublette County man accused of abusing a wolf could get his hunting privileges taken away; and there’s a $30 million project underway to move 3 miles of U.S. Highway 30 near Kemmerer.Show more

We’ll take a look at these stories and more today from Wyoming’s largest news organization. I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.

A 14-year-old boy who was stabbed and killed at the Eastridge Mall in Casper on Sunday was reportedly protecting his girlfriend. 
Bobby Maher was allegedly killed by two underage suspects, who have been charged as adults, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck.
“Court records show that the young man, 14 years old, went to the mall because his girlfriend called him, and some boys were following her around the mall. And so he went there to protect her. And there at the mall, he was trying to tell them to leave. And then they go outside, and then there was a confrontation. And that's when the stabbing occurred. And apparently, these young men were wearing masks and had stolen knives from a Target store.”
Jarreth Plunkett of Evansville faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault and battery, and theft. His alleged accomplice, Dominique Harris of Casper, faces conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, aggravated assault and battery, and a misdemeanor theft charge.

Amid a growing outcry for stiffer penalties in the case of a Sublette County man who allegedly tortured a wolf, a retired federal game warden said there might be further legal action that could be taken.
Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz spoke to Tim Eicher of Cody, who said a revocation of hunting privileges could apply.
“looking at his understanding of the law and looking into Wyoming statutes, he said in this particular case, a potential penalty could be a revocation of hunting privileges. It's kind of one of those things that have to take place after the fact he said once, once a fine has been forfeited, which reportedly it has been in this case.” 
Any such revocation would likely be temporary, perhaps three to five years, according to Wyoming statutes. But it would still be more than the $250 fine issued for alleged illegal possession of a live wolf, so far the only recorded legal action taken in the case.

The landscape west of Kemmerer’s port of entry is about to get bulldozed up.
The $30 million makeover isn’t to hunt for fossils. It’s to make it easier to get coal for power plants, according to energy reporter Pat Maio.
“the reason they want to move the road north from where it is currently is because, you know, they want to tap something like 9 million tons of coal reserves. And the project would begin presumably sometime early next year, wouldn't take that long, maybe a year, year and a half to complete.”
An estimated 1.2 million cubic yards of dirt will be moved from the rolling hillsides located just west of the port of entry. 

A Uinta County judge Monday dismissed the felony case against an Evanston man who was accused of using yard signs on his own property to intimidate his neighbor. 
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the charges against 44-year-old Quinn Groneman were dismissed at the request of the neighbor, who was also a witness against him in a town nuisance case.
“The judge presiding over Groneman's intimidation case, dismissed the case on Monday. Now that's without prejudice, meaning that the prosecutor could bring the case again if circumstances change, but according to the prosecutor's filing, asking for the dismissal, it was at the neighbor's request.”
Had he been convicted, Groneman could have faced up to 10 years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines.

And to get ahead of likely continued efforts to repeal Wyoming gun-free zones, the Campbell County Health board of trustees is considering lifting some firearms restrictions at the Gillette hospital.
Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz spoke to the chairman of the Campbell County Health Trustees, who said allowing firearms in Campbell County Memorial Hospital, or at least parts of it, could help the facility stay ahead of a cantankerous debate over Wyoming’s gun-free zones, which is sure to come up again in the Wyoming legislature.
“what they're hoping to do is fashion a policy where perhaps they can have either some authorized hospital personnel who've been properly trained to be armed maybe to cover some of the entrances or maybe have security staff or just something there that that kind of the way he puts it kind of meets everybody's wants and needs.” 
The chairman pointed out that there are some places in CCH where it would be best to still ban guns, such as the mental health treatment wing, and around strongly magnetic medical imaging equipment.

And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming’s only statewide newspaper by hitting the subscribe button on CowboyStateDaily.com
I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.