A 22-year-old Wyomingite is dead following a head-on collision on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

The crash happened around 3:17 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8 at milepost 5.9 on Wyoming 132 (Blue Sky Highway), about a mile south of Ethete or about 15 miles north of Lander.

According to a fatality crash summary from the Wyoming Highway Patrol, a Pontiac was headed southbound when the driver attempted to pass another southbound vehicle and collided head-on with an oncoming Dodge.

“The Dodge attempted to steer towards the southbound lane to avoid a collision,” the summary reads. “The Pontiac steered back toward the southbound lane and impacted the Dodge head-on in the southbound lane.”

1 Killed, 3 Injured

The collision left unbuckled passenger Precious Gould dead and both drivers and another passenger injured.

Driver Inattention

The summary lists driver inattention as a possible contributing factor.

Gould is the 97th reported person to die on Wyoming’s highways this year.

It may soon be easier for Wyoming property owners to obtain local law enforcement’s help removing squatters. 

The Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee voted 10-4 on Thursday to sponsor a bill creating a process for property owners to request law-enforcement assistance in removing unauthorized occupants from a residential property. The bill also creates additional criminal trespassing offenses. 

The committee worked the bill throughout the Legislature’s off-season, also known as the interim, after hearing concerns from property owners, including one Casper woman who described hitting a dead-end with police after finding six squatters on one of her properties. 

The squatters eventually left, but Sen. Jim Anderson (R-Casper) told the committee the incident highlighted a gap in the law and that legislation was needed. Lawmakers obliged, formed a working group and drafted legislation largely resembling a Florida law enacted this summer. 

The final legislation sponsored by the committee would make squatting that involves property destruction a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. 

Most of the lawmakers’ discussion on the bill Thursday involved amendments, but the committee’s two Democrats voiced concerns that the bill needed more work and could cause more harm than good. 

“I like limiting this bill to squatters. That’s perfect. That’s a good thing. That’s one of the big improvements we made to this bill,” Rep. Ken Chestek (D-Laramie) said. 

Trespass and eviction statutes already on the books are sufficient, Chestek said, “and those remedies incorporate due process and have real judges deciding who has rights and who doesn’t have rights.”

Chestek and Rep. Karlee Provenza (D-Laramie) voted against the bill alongside Freedom Caucus members Reps. Jeremy Haroldson (R-Wheatland) and Mark Jennings (R-Sheridan). 

Discussion 

While working the bill throughout the interim, the committee heard conflicting testimony from law enforcement on its necessity. 

“We hear from some who say the existing trespass statute works most of the time for most of the circumstances,” Rep. Art Washut (R-Casper) said at Thursday’s meeting. “And we hear others who say, ‘No, we need some changes.’ And so it’s interesting as we hear these different opinions about what the law needs to be in order to achieve the goal that we’re looking for here.”

Converse County Sheriff Clint Becker told the committee trespassing laws already on the books have been sufficient in Douglas for dealing with squatters, but that might not hold true elsewhere. 

“I can’t talk for the larger cities,” Becker said. 

Evansville Police Chief Mike Thompson, on the other hand, said he had concerns about the bill being limited to residential properties. 

“Squatting isn’t, it isn’t just to residential dwellings. It can be any particular property. And so that’s part of the mud of this,” Thompson said. “You take like a camp or a tent or like an RV bus. Those can be considered, you know, residential dwellings, in a sense, by law.”

Rep. Ember Oakley (R-Riverton) discouraged the committee from widening the legislation’s scope. 

“My thought on this bill is we’re trying to keep this specific and narrow,” Oakley said. “[It’s] not about renters, not about tenants, not about eviction. This is a specific, narrow [bill] about people squatting in a house.”

As the bill proposes, a property owner can ask local law enforcement for “the immediate removal of any person unlawfully occupying or possessing the owner’s residential dwelling” if two conditions are met. 

For one, the person requesting the removal must be the property owner or “the owner’s authorized agent,” the bill states. Secondly, the “‘unauthorized person’ means a person who is not authorized or is no longer authorized to maintain presence or residency in a residential dwelling.”

An earlier draft of the bill included a third requirement that the property owner first ask the squatter in person or in writing to vacate, but the committee agreed with Rep. Barry Crago’s (R-Buffalo) suggestion to strike it. 

“I know based on previous testimony we heard at our prior meeting that that particular person was brave enough to go ask [squatters] to leave, but some people shouldn’t be brave enough to go ask them to leave,” he said. “I think there could be some situations where that ends poorly.”

Additionally, the bill requires law enforcement to “verify that the person who submitted the complaint is the record owner of the residential dwelling or the authorized agent of the owner.”

The committee also amended the bill’s definition of an “unauthorized person” and specified that the definition does not include a current or former tenant. 

That was a much-needed adjustment, according to Allen Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. 

“I would say that our membership … would be very appreciative of this tenancy issue being put in here, because that was our concern from a liability standpoint,” Thompson said. “If someone had been a tenant and were afforded rights as a tenant, and we got in the middle of that process, regardless of if the law allows it, I think it would bring liability on the law enforcement.” 

In Wyoming, sheriff’s offices usually deal with evictions, and less so municipal officers. The bill would authorize both kinds of law enforcement to remove squatters. That was a concern for Rep. Provenza, who insisted the bill still needed more work. 

“We’ve done good work today, committee, on cleaning up this bill, but golly gee, it used to mean something that a bill wasn’t ready for prime time,” Provenza said. 

Ultimately, the committee voted 10-4 to sponsor the bill. 

“Thank you for your efforts on that bill, committee,” Sen. Bill Landen (R-Casper) said following the vote. “Still some work to do, perhaps, but glad we’re able to continue on.”

The general session begins Jan. 14. 

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LARAMIE — Wyoming basketball had contrasting results over the weekend, as the Cowboys grinded out a hard-fought 81-66 victory over Tennessee State, while the Cowgirls were unable to maintain their strong start, falling to BYU 76-63 after a challenging second half.

Cowboys Secure 81-66 Win Over Tennessee State

The Wyoming Cowboys displayed defensive resilience in their 81-66 win over Tennessee State on Sunday afternoon at the Arena-Auditorium. The win marked head coach Sundance Wicks’ 50th career victory, led by guard Obi Agbim’s impressive 24-point performance.

“Facing a tough team like Tennessee State was a great test,” said Wicks. “While our tempo was good early on, unnecessary fouls slowed the game down. We defended the three-point line well and stayed solid on ball screen defense.”

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Agbim was highly efficient, hitting 10-of-13 from the field, including a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. Jordan Nesbitt added 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Kobe Newton contributed 11 points off the bench along with a career-high five assists. Overall, the Cowboys shot 53% from the field, going 9-of-18 from three-point range, and held Tennessee State to just 37% shooting, marking their second consecutive game holding opponents under 40% from the field.

The Cowboys established an early lead, as Agbim’s three-pointer opened scoring and a dunk from Nesbitt extended the lead to 8-4. Wyoming maintained its advantage through the first half, eventually entering halftime up 43-28, thanks to contributions from Newton and an 8-0 run late in the half.

In the second half, Agbim and the Cowboy defense kept Tennessee State at bay, despite a late surge that cut Wyoming’s lead to six. The Cowboys responded with a 10-0 run, securing the win. Tennessee State was led by Brandon Weston with 18 points, while Amir Langlais contributed a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Wyoming now looks to keep the momentum as they face Texas Tech on Wednesday in a 6 p.m. matchup broadcasted on ESPN+.

Cowgirls Fall to BYU After Strong Start

In Provo, Utah, the Wyoming Cowgirls started strong against BYU on Saturday but ultimately fell 76-63 after a dominant second half by the Cougars. Wyoming led 40-27 at halftime after a stellar first-half performance, shooting 47% from the field and forcing 11 turnovers.

Tess Barnes and Malene Pedersen led the early effort, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Allyson Fertig nearly secured a double-double by halftime with nine points and 10 rebounds. BYU struggled in the first half but surged in the third quarter, opening with an 11-1 run that cut the Cowgirls’ lead and left Wyoming struggling to respond.

BYU outshot Wyoming significantly in the second half, hitting 60.7% from the field and 9-of-11 from deep. Fertig led the Cowgirls with 22 points and 18 rebounds, marking her 15th career 20-point game, while Pedersen and Barnes added 15 and 11 points, respectively. Wyoming finished shooting 39% overall and 9-of-28 from three, compared to BYU’s 51% shooting and 11-of-17 from three.

The Cowgirls return home to face Regis on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., looking to rebound and secure their first win of the season.