News briefs from around the state

From Wyoming News Exchange newspapers

Grizzly attack in Grand Teton was ‘surprise encounter’

JACKSON (WNE) — A grizzly bear attacked and injured a man visiting Grand Teton National Park on Sunday.

The 35-year-old Massachusetts man is in stable condition and expected to fully recover. Park officials have not released the victim’s name. The Jackson Hole Daily’s attempts to contact him were unsuccessful by press time Monday.

Meanwhile, Grand Teton biologists and law enforcement rangers are investigating the incident, which occurred near Signal Mountain Lodge.

While few details are available, park officials believe it involved the visitor, two bears and a “surprise encounter.” After being startled, one of the bears apparently attacked the man, Grand Teton Chief of Staff Jeremy Barnum told the Daily.

The park is basing that assessment on initial discussions with the injured visitor and preliminary information from the ongoing investigation, Barnum said.

Grizzly bears are typically territorial and solitary animals. It’s not yet clear why the two bears were together, Barnum said. Among other things, that leaves open the possibility of the two bruins involved in the incident being a sow grizzly with a cub, a male-female mating pair, or siblings.

Asked whether the park is planning to relocate or kill the bear believed to be responsible for the attack, Barnum said, “Not at this time.”

The incident is the first reported grizzly bear attack in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem this year. It follows a slew of high-profile incidents in 2023, including a grizzly attack that left a woman dead in West Yellowstone and a separate attack near Dubois where the victim survived.

Despite the headline-making incidents, bear biologists say attacks remain rare.

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Fake Tribune website attempts to scam pet owners

POWELL (WNE) — Following reports from readers Friday morning, the Tribune discovered that a website imitating the newspaper was naming winners for the annual pet contest and requesting credit card information.

The site is a sub-domain of myfreesites. net, its registrar was first created in 2015. The domain does not currently have a website according to whois.domaintools.com. WHOIS is used to search for information including domain names and information regarding to whom the domain may belong.

The fact that the phony site is a subdomain does not mean that myfreesites.net has been involved in any wrongdoing and a report has been filed with its registrar notifying them of the misuse.

Those who may have interacted with the site have been advised to contact their credit card companies.

The winners of the pet contest will not be announced until June in the Powell Tribune’s Tribune Tails special section. No billing information is needed to participate in the contest, and the Tribune will never contact people for billing information via social media.

The Tribune’s website is powelltribune. com.

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Man with broken leg rescued from power plant air duct at Wyodak

GILLETTE (WNE) — Several local agencies worked together Friday morning to rescue a 37-year-old man who fell and broke his leg in an air duct at the Neil Simpson Power Plant.

Deputies went to the power plant at the Wyodak complex east of Gillette at about 8 a.m. for the report of the man stuck in the air duct, and were joined by Emergency Medical Services, Campbell County Fire Department and Black Hills Energy personnel.

The man was not trapped but couldn’t move because his leg was broken, Sheriff Scott Matheny said.

A fire department news release said that firefighters used technical rescue equipment to remove the man from a “confined and elevated location.” EMS then took the man to Campbell County Memorial Hospital for treatment.

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Beware of Medicaid scams

RIVERTON (WNE) — With new reports of callers wrongly seeking money, Wyoming Medicaid is alerting clients and their family members to be cautious of potential Medicaid coverage scams.

Wyoming Medicaid is part of the Wyoming Department of Health.

A handful of clients recently received calls asking for their credit card information to process payments to renew Medicaid coverage. The calls may have come from numbers that appeared to be used by previous contractors for the Wyoming Medicaid program.

Wyoming Medicaid and the related Kid Care CHIP program never charge clients directly or ask for money from individuals for enrollment purposes.

The department does use contractors to help with its Medicaid operations.

Current legitimate numbers for Wyoming Medicaid applications and renewal are as follows:

• Wyoming Department of Health Customer Service Center 1-855-294-2127

• Wyoming Department of Health Long Term Care Unit 1-855- 203-2936

“We never ask for banking, debit card or credit card information, and our clients should never share that kind of detail with anyone who calls claiming to be representing Wyoming Medicaid or the Wyoming Department of Health,” said Lee Grossman, state Medicaid agent and division of health and financing senior administrator with WDH.

“If someone tries to convince you they need financial information to renew Wyoming Medicaid coverage, including for various waiver programs for our disabled and older clients, they are not a true representative of our department,” Grossman said. “Rather, they are trying to scam you for their personal benefit.”

Wyoming Medicaid is a joint federal-state insurance program that pays for the medical and long-term care of low-income and medically needy individuals and families.

More information about Wyoming Medicaid may be found online at https://health. wyo.gov/healthcarefin/ medicaid/.

This story was published on May 18, 2024.

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WYDOT repopens US 14A

SHERIDAN (WNE) — The Wyoming Department of Transportation has opened US 14A.

This year’s early opening is due to the unseasonably low snowfall this past winter. Accumulated snow depths and drifting on US 14A were significantly lower than previous years, which allowed maintenance crews from Burgess Junction to begin work on snow removal earlier than normal.

WYDOT typically opens US 14A the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.

US 14A is one of four mountain passes that are affected by seasonal winter closures. This 22-mile stretch of scenic mountain road is located in the Bighorn Mountains of north central Wyoming. WYDOT closes these routes in the late fall once maintaining the roads due to heavy, drifting snow makes it difficult and impractical.

Access to many forest service roads is not available and motorists are asked to stay on US 14A and not attempt to access any other roads at this time.

WYDOT reminds motorists to obey all speed limits, wear their seatbelts at all times and watch for wildlife.

This story was published on May 18, 2024.