Welcome to the Laramie Reporter’s “In Other News” segment, a biweekly rundown of the top news stories from Laramie and Albany County as reported by local, state and national media. Subscribe to our newsletter to get this rundown in your inbox every other week.
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Albany County voted to keep much of its current leadership in the 2022 general election. Voters rejected a right-wing “slate” hoping to take over the school board, and mostly voted in favor of city council candidates supportive of housing reform. In legislative races, Democrats kept their one senate and four house seats, while Republicans kept deep-red House District 46. At the county-level, voters picked incumbents or the candidates endorsed by current officeholders. This included the sheriff’s race, in which Sheriff Aaron Appelhans was elected to keep his appointed seat, becoming the first Black man ever elected sheriff in the state of Wyoming. (It was an expensive race.) The Albany County Commission will remain in Democratic hands and retain its 2-1 partisan split. Albany County also voted to keep its 5th penny sale tax while rejecting the opportunity to make the tax permanent.
Reading status: Open access
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Laramie City Manager Janine Jordan hired Brian Browne to serve as the Laramie Police Department’s next chief. The Laramie Boomerang reports Browne is a former Anaheim Police Department captain. He has advocated for the use of grappling martial arts in law enforcement as a way of reducing the use of guns and tasers. The city will pay Browne $120,000 plus benefits.
Reading status: Laramie Boomerang paywall
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The Albany County Detention Center saw three deaths in a seven-month span from Sept. 2021 to April 2022 and the public was not made aware of these deaths when they occurred. WyoFile reports the deaths included two suicides and one fatal overdose. DCI was invited to investigate all three jail deaths; the overdose is still under active investigation. The Albany County Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the jail, issued no press releases about the deaths when they occurred, and many in the community only learned about the deaths when they became a debate topic during the race for the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Aaron Appelhans said he did not issue press releases out of respect for the families’ wishes, but at least one family said they were never contacted in the wake of their son’s death. Despite a slow response time on the part of deputies and missed warning signs for suicide — as detailed by a DCI investigation report — the Albany County Attorney, Kurt Britzius, declined to prosecute.
Reading status: Open access
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The Laramie City Council and The Albany County Commission have released a draft for a revamped Casper Aquifer Protection Plan. The Laramie Boomerang reports both city and county have their own aquifer protection plans, but the new plan would bring them together and provide a coherent set of regulations. The new plan modifies site investigation guidelines, septic requirements and the border of the area known as the Aquifer Protection Overlay Zone, which determines where the plan is in effect. A joint meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 29.
Reading status: Laramie Boomerang paywall
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Enrollment is up at Laramie County Community College’s satellite campus in Albany County following several years of decline. The Laramie Boomerang reports enrollment rose more than 16% this year, possibly driven by the college’s renewed focus on offering only courses the student body is highly interested in. The campus was on the chopping block last year as LCCC leadership considered what to do with the costly extension campus.
Reading status: Laramie Boomerang paywall
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The Laramie City Council is turning its eye toward parking — specifically parking issues created by ongoing University of Wyoming construction and an expanding student body. The Laramie Boomerang reports councilors discussed potential solutions during a meeting this month, but took no action.
Reading status: Laramie Boomerang paywall
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The motto “Prepare for complete living” looks innocent enough at first glance. But as the Branding Iron explores, the quote is connected to the beliefs of the eugenicist who uttered those words. That’s unfortunate because the words are chiseled into the sandstone of the University of Wyoming’s Art and Sciences Building. While suggestions for the quote’s replacement range from sentences out of Shakespeare to lyrics by Lil Wayne, most students polled said they would like to see a quote from Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, or anti-Nazi activist Sophie Scholl, who nonviolently resisted the Third Reich and was executed at the age of 21.
Reading status: Open access