LADD CASE

Commissioners approve special prosecutor on Ladd case

By KVOW/KTAK News Director Leslie Stratmoen

RIVERTON, Wyo. – Fremont County commissioners have approved using a special prosecutor to handle a case against a Riverton police officer’s wife who’s accused of using a stun gun during a bar fight.

According to The Associated Press, Fremont County Attorney Brian Varn requested a special prosecutor because of a conflict of interest in the case.

Angela K. Ladd of Riverton faces a single charge of misdemeanor battery. The 32-year-old is accused of using her personal TASER on Clay Johnson of Hudson during the confrontation last October.

Court documents say the 27-year-old Johnson faces his own separate charges, which include punching off-duty officer Dan Ladd in the face during the incident.

Both Ladd and Johnson have pleaded not guilty and have jury trials set for March.

RESERVATION SCHOLARSHIPS

Chief Washakie scholarship applications available

By KVOW/KTAK News Director Leslie Stratmoen

LARAMIE, Wyo. – Officials at the University of Wyoming in Laramie say scholarship applications are now available from the Chief Washakie Memorial awards committee for the 2012-13 academic year. The deadline is March 1.

Awards will be for varying amounts dependent upon available funds and applicant qualifications. Applicants should have strong ties to the Wind River Indian Reservation community in Fremont County and be seeking a bachelor’s or graduate degree or certification to retain a current position.

Criteria also can include scholastic ability, potential and achievement, involvement in school, community and tribal activities, contribution to the reservation community and financial circumstances.

Applications are available at all high schools in Fremont County or online at uwyo.edu.

ON THIN ICE

Experts: ice could be more hazardous this year

By KVOW/KTAK News Director Leslie Stratmoen

CASPER, Wyo. – An emergency management expert says people venturing out onto the ice should be wearing a life jacket, carry an ice pick and check the ice every 150 yards.

Management coordinator David Johnson of Sweetwater County also warns – don’t go fishing alone and don’t drive on the ice. Last month, a 50-year-old Green River man died when he fell through on Flaming Gorge while ice-fishing near the edge of open water.

The emergency coordinator said about a dozen motor vehicles fall through the ice each year in Wyoming and this year could be worse than usual.

Ice can be fragile in early winter, he said, and conditions can change quickly. This winter has seen fluctuating temperatures, so far, and high winds in many areas that could make traversing on ice more dangerous.

From information provided by The Associated Press

FISHING REGULATIONS

New Wyo. fishing rules in effect this year

By The Associated Press

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Anglers might want to make sure they are aware of changes to Wyoming fishing limits this year. The long-time restriction of only keeping one trout over 20 inches on lakes and reservoirs has been dropped. Anglers can now keep six fish over 20 inches.

cutthroat trout

Anglers on streams and rivers now have the limit of three fish per day and only one can exceed 16 inches. A few drainages in western Wyoming also have the stipulation that no more than one of those fish can be a cutthroat over 12 inches.

Brook trout now have a simple 16 fish daily limit with no size restrictions although there are some exceptions. And whitefish limits will be reduced to six per day. There are also changes involving live baitfish or minnows.

VERIZON WIRELESS-OUTAGE

Verizon Wireless network back up in Mont., N. Wyo.

By The Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. — A spokesman for Verizon Wireless says service has been restored after a Sunday morning outage of more than seven hours in northern Wyoming and Montana.

Bob Kelley says a switch failed at about 1 Sunday morning during scheduled maintenance on the network, but engineers had it fixed by later in the morning – by 8:30.

Customers reported cell phone calls could not be completed after 1 a.m. and text messaging had problems.

The Verizon spokesman said the company’s network team typically does maintenance and software updates early in the morning when traffic is light.

He says the routine maintenance normally doesn’t cause problems in the network.