2020 Top Stories, Sept. – Dec.

September was a month of smog-like conditions as wildfires burning in Montana filled Sheridans air with smoke. Multiple wildfires burned in the Western States during the summer of 2020.

A grand opening that included tours, lunch and a ribbon cutting was held Sept. 3, for the Sheridan Hillslide Stabilization project that is adjacent to Sheridan Junior High School and Kendrick Park. Dubbed the “Great Wall of Sheridan” by Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter, the $8.2 million project took a lot of coordination and teamwork to accomplish it on time, according to Sheridan City Engineer Hanns Mercer. 

On Sept. 8, Sheridan Media ran a news release from Dish Network informing customers of a scam involving the use of their company name to mislead customers into paying for dish upgrades. The scammers would call a random customer of Dish Network and inform them of an upgrade to their dish that needed to take place but the customer was instructed to pay a one time fee of $199. If the customer refused to pay the fee, the scammer would tell the customer that their service would be disconnected. 

Author Craig Johnson’s new Longmire Book, “Next to Last Stand” was released Tuesday, Sept. 22, with a handful of virtual events as well as one in-person event scheduled to help kickoff the release. Virtual events were scheduled in different cities every day of the opening week, with actors from the TV series joining Johnson virtually at the events to read excerpts from the book.

In October, Sheridan Media ran a story from Cowboy State Daily stating that residents from Wyoming, along with many other states were “high-risk” for spreading the coronavirus while traveling across state lines. Many states requested that residents from those high-risk states remain quarantined for 14 days after their arrival.  

Sheridan Media ran a story in October explaining if House Bill 44 had become law, Wyoming would no longer be turning clocks back an hour. House Bill 44 would have put Wyoming on year-round mountain daylight time. Sponsored by Rep. Dan Laursen of Park County, the bill passed in both House and Senate in the 2020 legislative session and was signed into law by Governor Mark Gordon in March. At least four western states, including Wyoming would have to pass legislation placing all, or a portion, of those states on year-round daylight time, regardless of that state’s time zone. The bill listed, in addition to Wyoming, six other “western” states: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Utah.

In early November, Sheridan Media ran a story from Cowboy State Daily summerizing a Zoom meeting between Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon and Wyoming business owners. Entrepreneurs and Chamber of Commerce officers from across the Cowboy State informed Gordon that they were losing the battle with COVID-19 and many endorsed a state-wide mask mandate, which went into effect Dec. 9 and expires Jan. 8, 2021.

On Nov. 16, Sheridan Media ran a story from Cowboy State Daily regarding an article published in Forbes magazine ranking Wyoming as one of the riskiest states to travel to due to the high number of coronavirus cases. Wyoming was ranked fourth in the list of 10 riskiest states, behind South and North Dakota and Iowa, respectively. 

On Nov. 21, a sentencing hearing was held recently in Fourth Judicial District Court in Sheridan for a Sheridan woman charged with burglary and meth distribution. District Court Judge John Fenn accepted the terms of the plea agreement reached with the State and sentenced 29-year-old Rachael Rodriguez to 2 ½ to 4 years in prison for the charges of Burglary, Conspiracy to Commit Burglary and Attempted Burglary. The sentences will run concurrent to one another and are suspended in lieu of a split sentence of 7 months in jail and three years of supervised probation. 

For the charge of Delivery of a Controlled Substance- Methamphetamine, Judge Fenn sentenced Rodriguez to 2 ½ to 5 years in prison, suspended in lieu of a split sentence of 7 months in jail and three years of supervised probation. The sentence will run concurrent to the sentences for the burglary charges. Rodriguez was also ordered to pay nearly $2,000 in various court and attorney fees and $40,940 in restitution.

In early December, with hospitals in Wyoming seeing record numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and rising deaths, Governor Mark Gordon announced a new approach to protect the public and keep schools and businesses open. The state-wide mandate included requiring face-coverings in certain indoor public settings in all Wyoming counties, reducing group sizes, and reducing hours of businesses where COVID-19 transmission is more likely to occur. 

The statewide mask mandate and new health orders were signed by State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist and took effect Wednesday, Dec. 9, and extended through Jan. 8 of 2021. Sixteen Wyoming counties already had county-level orders requiring face-coverings. Under the new orders, bars and restaurants were mandated to close their doors from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for onsite consumption. Groups of patrons seated together at bars, restaurants, theaters, concert halls, and large events were limited to six. Group workout classes at gyms were limited to 10 individuals, and gatherings without required distancing were limited to 10 individuals.