Casper Star-Tribune Saturday, June 8, 2024 A5 00 1 to take action on the agenda item, Bramlet urged them to take action on the leases that Prism Logistics has on state school lands off of Coates Road: is of the she said. Bramlet, along with her col- league John Robinson, represent the group. Throughout her presentation, Bramlet argued that the residents of Coates Road, some of whom would live right next to the pro- posed gravel mine, did not receive the due process that they are en- titled to by the Wyoming State Constitution. According to what the courts have defined as she said, residents had no notice given to them and had no chance to be heard before the board approved Prism Logistics for leases on those state lands. NEVER RECEIVED NOTICE OF ANY KIND that their neighboring land was about to become a gravel mining opera- a bullet point on one of the slides in the presentation read.
CONCERNING, a gravel mining operation authorized and condoned by the State without ever giving any of these home- owners a meaningful opportunity to be the one below it said. A correct due process, she maintains, would have let res- idents know online, in a local newspaper and through the mail, and alliance members did not see any of those notices occur before the leases were approved Following that logic, she added, because those proce- dures done, the leases were given unconstitutionally, thus creating further issues for the board. rules should be clear, Commissioners, then the Casper limited mining operation permit the process should be fair, to all Mountain Preservation Alliance that would stay in one place, he she said in con- would quickly pursue legal action said. While that is active, Prism cluding remarks. beat against Prism.
this drum one more time: What due process looks like here no- the board said he believes the larger than 30 acres at a tice and a meaningful opportu- board can rescind the lease. nity to be heard. The (Wyoming State) Constitution truly requires to presentation and Gray made a move to continue the nothing Bramlet also alleged that the resident Jason Knopp with res- meeting and invite the DEQ to Casper Mountain Preservation ervations, saying that he thinks join. He also moved that the Alliance requested a meeting with that the precedent the board sets board should amend the lease so Prism Logistics but Prism Lo- in other words, its next move that any conditional use permit gistics Manager Kyle True would is very important. Bessemer from the county would be com- give no information that Bend was up for a gravel pit at plied to by the lessee.
already available on web- one point, he noted, but site, YouTube or Facebook. Bramlet later clarified in re- argued that it is too valuable to sponse to a question about a be changed in that way. conditional use permit from Secretary of State Chuck Gray top of that, that says, okay, this is Casper Star-Tribune and can be that if Prism Logistics does not more than just he said. reached at 307-266-0513, Jordan. seek that permit from the Na- is a serious concern.
And if or on trona County Board of County those are identified, then when Gray was the only member of permit that never be Gov. Mark Gordon responded comments from Coates Road discussion at the Aug. 1 turned into one because people a second. adds another layer on County beat reporter for the somebody comes in and leases a property, it can be leased with the knowledge that that lease can be rescinded, or it can be True was listening in online. After Bramlet and Knopp were done with their comments and responses, he spoke briefly.
speak about Mrs. unique constitutional interpretations of all state law, but I will say that I think we have a significant misunderstanding of our industry, and there are peo- ple who sincerely believe that if a mine is put in in an area, that reclamation will be inadequate, when all around this state, I be- ANDREW TOWNE, lieve that the mining industry Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, left, listens to Michael Fernald speak about in total has demonstrated its the impacts a gravel mine would have on area residents on Coates Road competence under DEQ oversight for leaving the land better than it found he said. just want to say to the board asking the board to rescind the lease that gave Prism Logistics the state that we are engaging as Prism with the he added. Prism currently has a 15-acre hopes to apply for a large mine he added.
At the end of the conversation, Both motions failed for lack of Smith is the Casper and Natrona FROM PAGE ONE in April. Also pictured is Gregg Werger at a location of a sample dig sight. An attorney for the Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance told the State Lands and Investment Board on Thursday that the alliance is school lands off of Coates Road. Alliance From A1 Ronald Reagan for the White House. He knew John Wayne.
Jackson Pollock was one of his closest friends for a time. man was deeply in- volved in the 20th The show was curated and organized by Will Davis, who is the collections and registration technician for the museum. Jackson wrote a book on the lost wax method of sculpting, which, at the time, had almost died out The method revolves around a wax mold, into which molten metal is poured, and is an ancient way of creating sculptures. was getting very frus- trated that he find how to do the lost wax method of Davis said. like, know what, just gonna write a and he The Nic will have a copy of the book that Jackson wrote on display.
Other immersive details include a recording of the album Jackson made (Davis said that he had doubts, but not half- bad) and quotes from Jackson next to his works. just so many fun lit- tle details throughout his life that just show him as a per- Davis said. I think that very often, a lot of artists are this figure without having a personality behind them. being able to show peo- ple that this man had struggles, he had moments of triumph, and he lived life. I think really what I wanted to present with this Smith is the Casper and Natrona County beat reporter for the Casper Star-Tribune and can be reached at 307-266-0513, Jordan.Smith@trib.
com or on Jackson From A1 two charging ports after deter- mining costs of administering lower-wattage ports would ex- ceed receipts. The legislation is part of a wider effort to bolster road revenue at a time when tour- ism and economic development have increased the need for transportation infrastructure in key regions of the state, and its winning support from ex- perts who say the state needs to be more proactive about preparing for growth around the bend. are preserving and maintaining our roadways now, but in the big picture at some point got to get out of preservation mode and start Darin Westby, di- rector of the Wyoming Depart- ment of Transportation, told the Star-Tribune, explaining that current revenue is not keeping pace with the needs of the transportation growth. are things we could do to improve the quality of trav- eling, and safety improvements that people would like to have such as passing lanes, wider shoulders, but holding back intentionally because of a lack of said Westby, who added the electric vehicle charging tax is a move to equitably shore up funding. The bill would require pub- lic utilities to meter level 3 fast charging ports and collect lev- ies.
Whereas state regulators would need to audit stations to verify electric flow rate accu- racy as a consumer safeguard, a practice already implemented in states like California. What about The biggest speed bump is the question of how to treat plug-in hybrids, which rely on electric batteries as well as gasoline; though hybrids use fuel, and therefore pay gaso- line taxes, some models can drive hundreds of more miles on a single tank, creating a dis- crepancy in tax burden between drivers of all-gas-powered ve- hicles. There are currently 49 plug- in-hybrid vehicles available in the American auto market with many more in production. Plug-in hybrids are expected to become more prevalent than conventional EVs in Wyoming because of the limited charging infrastructure and distant cities. the number of those hy- brid vehicles goes up and up, the tax dollars that are com- ing back to the state to pay for roads and highway patrol are Emily Paravi- cini, president of the Wyoming County Treasures Association, testified to the committee.
Paravicini says hybrids are likely to use more gas in Wyo- ming than other states because of charging infrastructure and travel dynamics. She proposes putting a baseline registration fee of $100 on hybrids, which mirrors fees in other states. Paravicini also believes the tax is justified because and hybrids are 50 pounds heavier on average than comparable internal combustion cars; pro- pulsion batteries alone weigh between one and two thousand pounds. Experts say the weight differential does not result in disproportionate strain on infrastructure, but it may re- sult in higher collision-related costs. other heavier vehicles, they can create more danger when collisions, which then costs more for highway Paravicini said.
The effort comes at a time when in Wyoming are in the political crossfire. Wyo- ming Republican senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis earlier this year sponsored a bills that would end the federal tax credit for new electric vehi- cles and abolish the investment tax credit for electric vehicle charging stations. They also endorsed efforts to block the Biden administra- electric vehicle mandates by stripping the Environmen- tal Protection of its authority to regulate tailpipe emissions under Title II of the Clean Air Act. HB07 has mostly steered clear of the divisive politics as EV supporters and detrac- tors alike agree it is a common sense tax. me this is a slam dunk.
Its a no brainer way for us to ensure that we can capture the revenue we should be capturing to help us maintain our Director Westby said. Zakary Sonntag is an Energy Environment reporter for the Star-Tribune. He can be reached at zakary.sonntag@trib.com Tax From A1 DYLAN FARRELL Casper A Powell man was arrested on May 25 at a Casper business for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender. Casper Police Department of- ficers identified Kenneth Craw- ford based on a Park County warrant, according to a police affidavit. The warrant was issued on Feb.
22. Following arrest, the investiga- tion found that he had a total of five warrants out for his ar- rest, including three for failing to pay fines, a probation revo- cation warrant and the warrant for failing to register, according to the affidavit. In interviews, Crawford told officers he fled Park County be- cause he was unable to pay fines and knew warrants would be is- sued for his arrest regardless, the affidavit said. The arresting officers saw Crawford sitting in the seat of a vehicle in the parking lot the East 2nd Street business, the affidavit said. When officers made contact with him, he was holding an open beer, the docu- ment added.
Despite the five warrants, the affidavit said Crawford only cur- rently faces one charge for failing to register as a sex offender. Dylan Farrell can be reached at 307-266-0592, dylan.farrell@trib. com or on Powell sex Casper man pulls knife, flees offender arrested police and gets in accident in Casper DAVID VELAZQUEZ Casper A Casper man is facing jail time after allegedly getting into an altercation while drunk at an apartment complex escaping po- lice and later causing an accident. Two separate affidavits were filed one from the collision and one from an altercation at Gail Gardens Apartments. In the altercation, Austin An- thony Laughman is charged with aggravated assault, fleeing or at- tempting to elude police officers and breach of the peace, accord- ing to court documents.
The af- fidavit filed due to the accident accuses him of driving while under the influence, having no insurance and reckless driving. At 8 p.m., May 27, Casper po- lice responded to a call at Gail Gardens Apartments involving a man and woman yelling outside the apartment complex. Police saw a dark-colored Dodge Avenger, later identified as the car Laughman was driv- ing, fleeing the scene. Police at- tempted to catch up to the vehicle but were unsuccessful as the car was going at a high rate of speed. Laughman, when questioned by police, said he left the apart- ment complex intoxicated and was driving at more than 100 miles per hour through town to get home.
Laughman additionally told police he not stop his vehi- cle because he did not want to be contacted by law A police affidavit revealed a woman that Laughman had been talking to on Facebook since De- cember and who he occasion- ally sent money to help with her finances lived at the complex. Police interviewed the woman who told them Laughman was demanding she return $75 he gave her two weeks ago as they were having relationship issues. Laughman, an hour before the incident, messaged one of her friends and told them he was go- ing to smash the windows of her vehicle, the affidavit states. She told police there was a strong odor of alcohol on Laugh- man when he arrived at the apart- ment complex. According to police, other peo- ple at the scene said they told Laughman to leave and shoving ensued as Laughman attempt to get closer to the woman.
He then went back to his car and pulled out a hunting-style knife with a fixed silver blade and a bone style handle, according to an affidavit. Laughman told police that sev- eral people shoved him and pulled his hair at the complex. Laughman, according to the court documents, pointed the knife at a man at the scene and threatened him times saying going to stab going to put holes in and going to kill as he approached the the affida- vit states. The man Laughman threatened pulled out a pocket knife and another man at the scene pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the ground, according to an affidavit. Laughman left the scene just as police arrived, according to the affidavit.
Under an hour later, police responded to an accident at the intersection of Casper Mountain Road and Wyoming Boulevard. vehicle was found in a ditch near the intersection. Laughman told police he thought he could pass a vehicle at a high rate of speed but instead slammed into the rear of the vehi- cle with three young children and their mother. While speaking to the para- medics he shouted, not gonna lie, the affi- davit states. Laughman told police at the scene of the accident that be- tween 3 and 8 p.m.
he consumed seven Coors Lights and six shots of Fireball, records state. Laughman failed multiple field sobriety tests and a breath test at the Natrona County Detention Center showed a blood alcohol content of according to police. Laughman was arrested at the scene of the accident for DUI, reckless driving and having no insurance, court records show. David Velazquez is a reporter at the Casper Star-Tribune and can be reached at 307-301-0506, or at david.velazquez@trib.com news source Visit the Star-Tribune on any device any where.
