National Sponsors
October 20, 2016 News Letter Journal | ![]() |
©
News Letter Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 1 (1 of 20 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
October 20, 2016 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
.... i • . .............. 54 02 06 17 46P 6T
;: ...... SMALL TOWN PAPERS, INC
217 W COTA ST
~iiii ..... ~Ve S~(')]] ~':OUIlty SHELTON wa_ 9.8 .'58.4 .226),,,ll,],,,lll]l,,,,llll,,,,[,l,[,i-,[,.l,hll,ll[llll,lllhlll,'"
October 20, 2016
Newcastle, Wyoming
Year 130
Week 42
¸¸ i ?::: iiii i-!iiiiiiiL
The Weston Manor was host to plenty of attendees during the Four
Seasons Festival last Saturday. Guests enjoyed a raffle, door prizes
and hand-crafted goodies, and all proceeds benefit the Residents
Activity Fund. (Pam Penfield/NLJ)
Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
Weston County Sheriff's
Sergeant Pat Watsabaugh
had already finished his
shift when he overheard
dispatch sending two other
deputies to a property south
of Newcastle in response
to a report of a male who
had suffered an apparent
gunshot wound to the head
on June 24, 2015-- the
day 60-year old Richard
Campbell died.
At a Coroner's Inquest
held last month to deter-
mine the cause and manner
of Campbell's death,
Watsabaugh testified that,
although he was off work,
he responded to the scene, a
property with multiple resi-
dences that share a common
entrance and an overgrown
driveway 11 miles south
of town on Old Highway
85. The property, which
included both a circular
structure and a single-wide
trailer, is owned by Caroline
ScouR. Campbell lived in
the trailer, and the circular
building is Scoutt's home.
As he drove down the
driveway, Watsabaugh came
upon the circular structure
that Scoutt lives in, and
observed fellow Deputy
Dan Fields leaving the resi-
dence. Fields informed the
other officers at the scene
that the call had been made
in reference to the other
home on the property, and
the officers made their way
to the single wide trailer
occupied by Campbell.
Watsabaugh had also
observed Scoutt leaving the
scene in a blue four-door
pickup, and he instructed
one of the other deputies
to hold that vehicle at the
entrance to the driveway
while the scene was inves-
tigated. Shortly after, he
and Fields arrived at the
trailer in which Campbell
lived, and Watsabaugh was
the first to enter Campbell's
home.
He told the three individ-
uals who made up the coro-
ner's jury that he walked up
a short series of stairs, and
found an unlocked door that
took no force to open. At
that point, officers entered
the residence and as a safety
measure "cleared" the struc-
ture to make sure there was
no existing threat or other
-- See Campbell, Page lO
Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
"This vote affects everyone
in Weston County. It hits all of us.
This is the most important vote in
Weston County next to the hospital
tax. They both affect everyone," City
measure ;hat will result in a three mil
property tax levy to fund a landfill in
Weston County if voters approve it.
The Weston County Solid Waste
District board was created just over
a year ago by the Weston County
Commissioners with the task of
finding a solution to the growing cost
of solid waste disposal across the
state. Their purpose was to research
various options and determine the
course that will best serve residents
within Weston County.
According to Hartley, voters in
Weston County are faced with the
choice of paying an additional $30 a
month for solid waste disposal in the
future, or approving the tax measure,
which will Cost property owners only
simple choice. If the levy passes,
it will provide the funds for WCSWD
to operate a local landfill, and if it
doesn't pass, residents will have to
pay more to have their solid waste
transported to facilities outside the
county.
"The City of Newcastle is not
closing our landfill by choice. We
have no choice. The Department of
Environmental Quality has us in this
position. We have to do it, and the
city has no means to generate enough
money to build a state of the art
landfill, declared Hartley, noting that
a "state of the art landfill" will cost
upwards of $3.5 million.
"The only way to come up with
that money is a mil levy, and the city
can not do that. If this mil levy passes,
that will allow the district (WCSWD)
to generate enough money to pay off
debt to build the landfill and to build it
state of the art, so it will run for a long
-- See Trash, Page 9
Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
On September 20, represen-
tatives of the Weston County
Predator Board approached the
Weston County Commissioners
to discuss the removal of one
of the board's members, Nicky
Groenwold, due to her not
meeting the appropriate quali-
fications for the position, but
the discussion came to a head
on October 10 at the Predator
Board meeting in Upton when
Terry Groenwold-- himself a
former member of the board--
confronted the members present
and voiced a number of issues
he has with the board and the
manner in which they operate.
Groenwold indicated that
he believed his wife had been
"attacked" by other members
of the board, and called it a
cowardly act. He also asserted
that crimes had been committed
by the board and called for
action to be taken. He indi-
cated that the Weston County
Commissioners, County
Attorney William Curley, the
State Auditor, and the State
Attorney General's Office
should all be informed of the
actions of the board.
Groenwold told the group
that he felt it was inappropriate
for board member Mike Davis
and former board member Alan
Todd-- who is also a former
county commissioner-- to
appear at the county commis-
sion meeting in September and
state that they had evidence that
Nicky Groenwold owned and
sold cattle. ("Predator Board,"
News Letter Journal, October 6,
2016, page one)
The duo asserted that
the proof disqualified her
from being able to sit on the
Predator Board as a "sports-
men's representative," but
Groenwold argued that his wife
had informed county commis-
sioners that she owned cattle
when she offered to fill a vacant
position on the Predator Board
earlier this year.
'q do not need Sherlock
Holmes to tell me I own cattle.
She stated in her letter to the
commissioners that she did"
declared Groenwold.
Nicky Groenwold emailed
a copy of the letter sent to the
county commissioners seeking
the appointment on January
26, 2016 to the News Letter
Journal, and she did, in fact,
disclose that she was a livestock
producer. At the time, she also
suggested that state law allows
a waiver from the prohibition
against producers sitting on the
Predator Board as sportsmen's
representatives.
"I am engaged in the busi-
ness of raising cattle but won-
dered if that proscription might
be set aside as, with reference to
the board members themselves,
W.S. 11-6-202 (iii) states that
'if no qualified applicant seeks
election to the board of direc-
tors, then the director position
may be filled by an otherwise
qualified elector, provided no
more than four directors may
represent any one species of
livestock.' I am aware that
this subsection of the statutes
applies to the elected board
members, but I have not
located, within the statutes, any
similar waiver of the qualifica-
tions for the sportsmen appoin-
tees. Since the positions have
not been filled, I assume that
perhaps such a waiver could be
considered. At any rate, I am
a sportsperson and a business
person and feel fully qualified
in either of those roles to serve
on the board. I would appreciate
-- See Board, Page 3
Supporters
tout benefits of
lodging tax
Andrew McKay
NLJ Reporter
Despite what online ads
and spam claim, the mantra
'nothing is ever flee' remains
the rule rather than the excep-
tion, but this is essentially
how the lodging tax works for
Weston County businesses and
community according to sup-
porters who say, unlike other
taxes, the lodging tax is paid
for by the county's visitors
rather than its citizens.
"This is not a tax that
Weston County residents are
paying. It is money meant
to bring tourists in, and the
beautiful thing is, they're the
ones who pay for it," said
Norma Shelton, who has been
on the Weston County Travel
Commission since 2003.
"Visitors to our hotels pay
a tax for their room, what it
amounts to is a little less than
four dollars a night here in
Weston County. It's a great
deal. We receive the benefits,
but don't have to pay the
expenses. I think this works
for everyone," explained
Upton Chamber of Commerce
President Debbie Douglas.
The two are persistently
vocal of these advantages for
good reason-- the lodging tax
is not decided on by county
officials, but the voters them-
selves. While tapping into the
wealth of money traveling
through the county may seem
a no2brainer, however, many
voters are instinctively cau-
tious of the word 'tax.'
-- See Lodging, Page 3
Bob Bonnar
NLJ Associate Publisher
In an email sent to city officials on October
4, Newcastle Mayor Greg James announced that
he was resigning his position as mayor to accept
the position of City Clerk/Treasurer vacated late
in the summer by Charita Brunner. He began
work in his new position on Monday.
"Thank you for your offer of position as
Clerk/Treasurer for the City of Newcastle. I
gratefully accept the position, effective start
date Monday, October 17, 2016," he wrote to the
members of the Newcastle City Council.
In the email, James also resigned immedi-
ately from the mayor's position, and withdrew
his name as a candidate for the Newcastle City
Council. James had already decided to step
down as the city's mayor at the end of the term
that would have concluded at the end of this
year, but had filed for election to a city council
position and appeared on the primary election
ballot.
He told city officials he would be contacting
County Clerk Jill Sellers to inform her that he
was withdrawing from the city council race, but
she indicated to the News Letter Journal that his
name would still be appearing on the general
election ballot.
Sellers told the News Letter Journal that
the city's personnel changes occurred after the
ballots for the general election had already been
printed, and that James' decision to withdraw
from the race came too late.
She said, however, that it has been posted at
the courthouse and on the polling booths that
votes for James in the city council election will
not be counted, and that such notices will be
posted at the polls on election day as well.
This will be the second time James has
served as City Clerk/Treasurer. He resigned
from the mayor's seat to take the position in
1998 as well, and served in that capacity through
2004.
Thursday
Sunny
Hi 57, Lo37
luul
Friday
Sunny
Hi 63, Lo 40
Saturday
Sunny
Hi 65, Lo 40
Sunday
Sunny
Hi 64, Lo 42
Hi 67, Lo 45
Hi 63, Lo 40
Wednesday
Sunny
Hi 57, ko 38
INSIDE
• Falling for the Ranch, Page 8
• Reading Counts, Page 10
• County Payroll, Page 11
• Dogies Roll, Page 13
"="=='~ ,o
,,,=,,,,,== ,,,
~u~lR*t