PAGE A4 FRIDAY, AUG. 1, 2014 S GILLETTE NEWS RECORD S GILLETTE, WYOMING

WYOMING / RECORDS

Man shot in standoff gets probation

GERING, Neb. — A Wyoming man who was shot by a Nebraska police officer during a standoff has been given three years of probation.

Matthew Schwab, 29, was sentenced on Thursday in Scotts Bluff County District Court in Gering. He’d entered a no con-test plea to terroristic threats as part of deal with prosecutors, who dropped two other counts.

Officers say Schwab failed to drop a handgun Jan. 21 during a standoff in Scottsbluff. A police officer eventually shot Schwab, hitting him in the upper body.

Court records say Schwab has since moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Man gets prison time for robbing pharmacy

CASPER — A Sheridan man who robbed a Casper pharmacy has been sentenced to 2½ to

five years in prison.Derek Wood was sentenced

Thursday for robbing the phar-macy at an Albertson’s grocery store Nov. 18. He was initially charged with aggravated rob-bery, but prosecutors reduced that charge to robbery as part of a plea deal.

Authorities say that during the robbery Wood pulled back his jacket and showed the clerk the handle of a gun. The employee filled a prescription and called police when the man left. Police say the robbery was carried out with a toy gun.

Nugent: It’s a culture ‘war,’ not ‘discussion’

CODY — Rock musician Ted Nugent is speaking at a Big Horn Basin Tea Party rally on Saturday in Emblem following a concert in Sheridan on Friday night.

The Second Amendment activist plans to rally tea party supporters in what he calls a culture war — not discussion —

over the direction of the country.Nugent told the Cody

Enterprise by email that the tea party’s strength lies in its demands for accountability from elected officials.

Nugent will speak alongside Fox News analyst Paul Vallely, a retired Army major general.

Grill suspected in fire that damaged home

RIVERTON — A propane grill may be to blame for a fire that damaged a Riverton home last weekend. No one was hurt.

Officials believe the fire began near a propane grill on the back deck of the split-level home. The fire spread inside, cov-ered the rear of the house and reached the garage and attic.

A resident who was home at the time of the fire escaped unharmed.

Resolution near in Cody nose assault

CODY — A lawsuit stem-ming from an assault that cost a Cody man part of his nose is close to being resolved.

A trial date has been vacated for Brent Coffin, accused of aggravated assault and battery. Coffin’s attorney, Nicholas Carter, said in court papers that he believes a resolution to the lawsuit has been reached.

Coffin was arrested after he allegedly bit off part of David Hodson-Eckert’s nose during a fight at the Silver Dollar Bar in July 2013.

Court papers say Hodson-Eckert and others were trying to calm Coffin after he became angry that the men’s room at the bar had run out of paper towels.

— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Around Wyoming

Courts

RECORDSQUESTIONS OR TIPS? Call 682-9306, ext. 203 or email aturner@gillettenewsrecord.net

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For rules and information call 686-1171

Advance Discount Tickets Available at CAM-PLEX Ticket Ofice • 682-8802

Sunday • August 3 • 2 p.m.CAM-PLEX, Gillette, WY

Adults &Children

Over 12 - $12Ages 6-12 - $6Under 6- Free

CALVARYCOMMUNITY CHURCH

Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Youth Group • Kids Activities

Adult Bible Study

Home of KLWD 91.9 FM

Pastor Don Wight631 N. Commercial Dr., Gillette, WY

P.O. Box 1492 • www.calvarygillette.comCall for information: 307-682-9553

Saturday at 6 p.m.

Wild Fire Prayer Meeting

hursday at 7 p.m.GriefShare

Sunday9:15 a.m. Sunday School

10:30 a.m. Worship6 p.m. Bible Study

STOLEN PROPERTY

MORGHAN A. SCHMIDT, 22, pleaded guilty at a pre-trial con-ference to concealing stolen prop-erty. In a plea agreement, a count of shoplifting was dismissed, but he will pay restitution to Wal-Mart for $1,090, according to court documents.

THEFT

MELODY MAE GREEN, 44, was given a suspended three- to five-year sentence June 26 for con-spiracy to commit theft. District Judge Thomas W. Rumpke placed her on five years of unsupervised probation and fined her $485. She was in an SUV that was stopped for speeding on Hannum Road on Sept. 13 and the deputy noticed wire in the back and the occu-pants admitted it wasn’t theirs. The two spools of copper wire were valued at $693 and $1,983, and were taken from the city of Gillette’s warehouse yard. A few days later, deputies were notified that two large spools of copper wire were found in a pasture, where they had been rolled from the city of Gillette’s warehouse yard, and then abandoned. Those two spools were valued at $2,716 and $5,432. Green told investiga-tors that she had found the wire in the city’s yard and enlisted the help of two others to get it. They planned to take the spools to a salvage yard and split the profits, according to court documents.

BURGLARY

RYAN D. SLACK, 37, Riverton, was sentenced July 9 to 54 to 90 months in prison (credit for 309 days served) for burglary. District Judge John R. Perry also fined him $645. He is accused of claiming that a man he used to live with had child pornography on his comput-er. Police later seized items from Slack’s home, including thumb drives. Investigators found the same images on a thumb drive

that were on the man’s computer. A computer specialist was able to tell that the images were placed on the man’s computer with a thumb drive and had not been viewed since they were put on, according to court documents.

DRUGS

KEVIN R. JOHNSON, 39, was sentenced June 18 to two to four years in prison (credit for 528 days served) for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, which is to be served concurrently to a federal sentence. Perry also ordered him to pay $170 in court fees. The local office of the Division of Criminal Investigation was contacted by a U.S. probation officer to check on Johnson in January 2013, who was on federal probation for a convic-tion in 2009 for being a felon in pos-session of a gun. They found about 2 pounds of pot in his house, which he told officers he had bought the day before for $6,800 and planned to sell for $350 an ounce, according to court documents. He told them he had sold 10 to 30 pounds in the last couple of months.

DRUNKEN DRIVING

CHRISTOPHER W. EDELMAN, 39, changed his plea July 3 to guilty of driving while under the influence of alcohol, his fourth offense within 10 years, making it a felony. He was pulled over at about 2:15 a.m. Dec. 15 for driving 75 mph in a 55 mph zone and also ticketed for driving with a suspended license and with-out an interlock device. His blood alcohol content was 0.142 at jail, according to court documents. It was his fourth DUI since 2006.

Fines include any order to pay court costs, a contribution to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund and attorney fees.

District court items are taken from court documents filed in the Clerk of District Court Office. Their avail-ability may have been delayed while judges signed the court orders.

*All Fair events are at Cam-plex

FRIDAY

CAMPBELL COUNTY FAIR: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., trade show, Wyoming Center.

CAMPBELL COUNTY FAIR: 2 p.m., pocket pet show, Energy Hall.

CAMPBELL COUNTY FAIR: 5 p.m., pig wrestling Calcutta, Morningside Park.

CAMPBELL COUNTY FAIR: 6 p.m., pig wrestling, Morningside Park.

PARTNER UNCORKED: 7-9 p.m., $35 must be 21, AVA Community Art Center.

SATURDAY

CAMPBELL COUNTY FAIR: 8 a.m., Campbell County mudder, Morningside Park.

VAN GOH KIDDOS: 10-11:30 a.m., $25, AVA Community Art Center

CAMPBELL COUNTY FAIR: 10 a.m., fiddle contest, Heritage Center.

TEEN DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: 10-11 a.m., Campbell County Public Library.

CAMPBELL COUNTY FAIR: 10 a.m., junior beef show, East Pavilion.

CAMPBELL COUNTY FAIR: 11 a.m., pioneer dinner, Energy Hall.

Wii SATURDAY: 1-4 p.m., Campbell County Public Library.

OPEN PLAY GAMING: 1-4 p.m., Campbell County Public Library.

CAMPBELL COUNTY FAIR: 1 p.m., dachshund races, Plaza.

CAMPBELL COUNTY FAIR: 2 p.m., Knights of Valour jousting tournament, Wrangler arena.

IAN MCFERON BAND LIVE: 7-10 p.m., Gillette Brewery

CAMPBELL COUNTY FAIR: 7 p.m., RMPA tractor pull, Morningside Park.

Police: Casper bomb threats part of larger scam

CASPER — Authorities believe bomb threats against three local businesses are related to other threats in Wyoming, Montana and Utah.

Three Casper businesses received telephone bomb threats between Saturday and Monday. A Thursday News Record article detailed threats against local businesses, and simi-lar threats have been made to businesses in Riverton and Douglas, as well as in Bozeman, Montana, and Kaysville, Utah.

A police affidavit says the threatening calls demanding money from the businesses date back to January. In each instance, authorities have determined there was no threat, and there have been no arrests.

By NEWS RECORD STAFF

A man out on bond for six felony counts involving burglaries in Campbell County allegedly sold meth-amphetamine to con-fidential informants on two occasions in January.

Andrew D. McNeil, 28, has been charged with two counts of delivery of metham-phetamine for selling a gram of meth and then a quarter-gram of meth to infor-mants in January, according to court documents.

McNe i l was a r re s t ed Saturday on the charges and waived his preliminary hear-ing Wednesday in Circuit Court. The delay in the arrest was to protect the infor-mants’ identities, according

to the Division of Criminal Investigation, whose offi-

cers investigated the alleged drug deals.

McNeil is being held in Campbell C o u n t y j a i l o n $10,000 bond pend-ing those charges, and pending sentenc-ing on other felony charges.

He changed his plea June 30 to guilty of three counts of conspiracy to commit

burglary. In a plea agreement, two counts of burglary and a count of attempted burglary were dismissed.

McNeil was accused of working with three other men — Jonathan Queen, Jeremiah Wise and Cody Ellenson — from May 15, 2012, to July 1, 2012, to steal or attempt to steal from SKV in Wright,

Black Hawk Crane, Winland Car Wash and Border States Electric.

The equipment taken from SKV in Wright was valued at more than $100,000, accord-ing to court documents.

The four had been inmates together at the Volunteers of America community correc-tions facility. An informant told sheriff’s investigators that the men attempted the car wash burglary to steal money to help McNeil.

He reportedly was “behind in his rent to the VOA,” according to court docu-ments.

“The other three were steal-ing things to help McNeil out so he would not be sent back to prison,” the documents read. McNeil earlier had been convicted of felony possession of marijuana, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Burglary suspect faces new charges of drug sales

ANDREW MCNEIL

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHEYENNE — The number of Wyoming students taking vaccinations needed for pub-lic schools went up last school year — and the number who declining vaccinations dropped — according to new state health department data.

Health officials note that the numbers of those not getting vaccinations for medical or religious reasons fluctuates from year to year.

In 2013, only 366 students in public and some private schools didn’t get vaccinated, down from 458 the year before. Of those who weren’t vaccinated in 2013, 19 were for medical reasons and 347 were for religious ones.

By comparison, religious exemptions totaled 294 in 2009. That figure rose dramatically to 708 in 2010, shortly after chickenpox was added to the required list.

Home-schooled students aren’t included in the state health department figures.

The agency’s Kim Deti said 97 percent of kin-dergarten students and up to 98.5 percent of sev-enth-graders had recommended vaccinations. “The vast majority of our children are getting their vaccinations before they start school,” Deti said.

The health department specifically looks at vaccination rates for students in kindergarten and seventh grade.

Mandatory school vaccines cover diseases like measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, Hepatitis B, polio, tetanus and diphtheria, according to local school districts. Students with immune systems that cannot handle the shots are exempted, as well as those whose parents cite religious reasons.

Both groups had the lowest percentages of students taking the varicella, or chickenpox, vaccine.

Students who don’t get vaccinations are tracked in case a school has an outbreak of a disease like pertussis, or whooping cough, Deti said.

Required shots are paid for by the state, Deti said, though doctors may charge to administer them. To get the religious exemption, parents or guardians must sign a notarized statement that requests a student be excused from taking the vaccines.

In Laramie County School District 1, students have 30 days from the start of school to provide proof of vaccinations or an exemption. After that, they are excluded from school, according to school policy, though there is flexibility for longer vaccination courses.

Student vaccine exemptions down in 2013

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHEYENNE — A Cheyenne data center has completed a $35 million expansion, and the state of Wyoming is the center’s first customer.

The 35,000-square-foot Green House Data expansion is four times larger than the company’s original center next door.

Green House Marketing director Wendy Fox said the center employs 41 people, most of them from Wyoming — a figure that can grow with more custom-ers.

Gov. Matt Mead announced at Wednesday’s opening that the state is the data center’s first customer and has acquired 56 racks for computing equip-ment and servers.

Wyoming has vigorously promoted a data and technology industry. In addition to Green House, other projects include a two-phase Microsoft data center and a supercomputing center for the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

“As much as we’ve seen in four years, where we’ve gone from ‘what’s a peta-flop?’ to this grand opening today, we’ve just touched the tip of the iceberg. We can do so much more,” Mead said.

A petaflop is the equivalent of a thou-sand trillion computer operations a sec-ond.

Green House CEO Shawn Mills cred-ited state support for his company’s growth.

“It was just seven years ago that Green House Data was a glimmer in its found-ers’ eyes,” Mills said. “Today, we’re very excited to say we count over 350 custom-ers from around the world, including five countries and 26 states.”

Said Fox: “There’s no corporate income tax, you can get these discounts, and you can tell they want us here.”

The Green House center features top security and redundancy systems, said Art Salazar, Green House’s director for data center facilities and compliance.

“Some companies are literally making tons of money per minute, and if they’re down for just an hour, that’s very costly to these companies doing Internet business and things of that nature,” Salazar said.

“That’s what data centers are all about, that 100 percent uptime. You can lose part of your heating, part of your cool-ing, part of your air conditioning, part of your carriers, your circuits, and you still remain up and running.”

Cheyenne welcomes new data center

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