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Early Monday night, residents in the vicinity of Kelly and Willow heard a crash. One woman said it sounded like a truck had run into the side of her house.

A driver had smashed a parked car on Kelly and flipped his Subaru. The man and his dog were unhurt, according to witnesses who came outside to investigate. The man told them he didn’t know what happened because he had been texting.

Authorities arrived, and the man appeared to fail field sobriety tests. He likely ran the stop sign at Willow to be driving fast enough to flip his car. A tow truck had to turn the car back over to remove it, which was quite a production.

This looks like the second bizarre incident of driving while intoxicated on this block of Kelly Avenue this year. Back in April, a woman zonked on prescription medication went on a crazy rampage, sideswiping cars, taking out a stop sign and driving on lawns before finally coming to rest in May Park.

Thanks to the newshounds at the Triple Deuce for being on the scene.

The old adage seems to apply here: Never break more than one law at a time.

Posted under Crime

Tags: cops, skids

In a move that will warm the hearts of Capt. Bob Morris and backcountry skiers, a state legislator from Teton County is working on a bill to legalize hitchhiking in Wyoming.

Sen. Leland Christensen, R-Alta, will seek to remove from the law a prohibition on soliciting rides, according to the News&Guide. The paper reported:

” ‘It’s a law on the books that doesn’t make sense, especially in these economic times,’ said Christensen, who remembers when his father used to hitch rides home when the family would visit his grandparents.”

Christensen’s view is reinforced by a recent New York Times op-ed, titled “Hitchhiking’s Time Has Come Again,” which argues that the dangers of soliciting rides have been overblown and even fabricated to dissuade people from the once-widespread practice.

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Posted under Crime, Environment, Politics, Republican Party, Wyoming Legislature

Tags: capt. bob, leland christensen, skids, teton pass

Update 5:30 p.m.: “Unless conditions deteriorate significantly, there will not be an evacuation tonight.” Hurray! Every flare-up on the ridge quenched quickly.

Update 4:30 p.m.: Crews appear to have the upper hand. No flames on ridge, smoke diminishing.

Update 3:10 p.m.: Flames have begun to crest Snow King again up Cache Creek, closer to town than last night, but a slurry bomber just doused the ridge with retardant. The battle rages over east Jackson.

Authorities have confirmed that the Little Horsethief Fire, which ignited Saturday and has burned more than 2,000 acres around Jackson, was started by an illegal burn at a residence south of town.

The charring emanates from a property at the mouth of Wilson Canyon, adjacent to Bridger-Teton National Forest. County records show it belongs to James Anderson III of Jackson. Anderson has not responded to a phone message left this morning.

Police Chief Todd Smith said the fire started near a residence and was “intended to be a controlled burn.” A fire ban was in effect at the time.

Violating the fire ban is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $750 and six months in jail. The Teton County fire marshal is heading the investigation and likely will submit a report to the county attorney.

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Posted under Crime, Environment, Weather

Tags: cache creek, horsethief fire, national forest

Jackson police are investigating the death of a sheriff’s deputy, Edwin R. Fourre, whose body was found today at a home in Hoback Junction.

Authorities found Fourre dead from a single gunshot wound, according to a press release. He worked in the court services division of the sheriff’s office.

Jackson Police Lt. Bob Gilliam issued the following release:

At 10:04 AM today, Teton County deputies responded to a residence on S. Palmer Creek Drive in Hoback Junction to check the welfare of one of their deputies. The deputy, Edwin R. Fourre, age 49, had failed to report for his assigned shift this morning in the Court Services division of the sheriff’s office. Upon arrival, deputies found Fourre, deceased from a single gunshot wound.

Sheriff Jim Whalen requested the Jackson Police Department conduct the investigation. Detectives from the Jackson Police Department and Teton County Coroner Kiley Campbell responded to the scene and are conducting an investigation. An autopsy is pending as well as an evaluation of evidence collected at the scene.

There is no further information at this time and the investigation is continuing.

Update 12/7: Police suspect the gunshot wound was self-inflicted but can’t say for certain. They have sent evidence to the state crime lab for analysis, but don’t expect a response for at least two weeks. No foul play is suspected.

Posted under Crime, Deaths

Tags: cops

Grand Teton National Park rangers may or may not have set a record for the number of major rescue operations this year, depending on how the tally is kept.

With the rescue Sept. 30 of Mark Wilcox, a former News&Guide excursion columnist, in Open Canyon, the park performed 30 major operations (plus three assists of other agencies) in the fiscal year, said spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles. The fiscal year ended Sept. 30. Comparisons with past years are tricky, depending on whether fiscal or calendar year is used for the tally, she said. Suffice to say this was one of the busiest years for rangers in the park’s history.

Of more note was the citation for disorderly conduct the park issued to one of two climbers involved in an Aug. 19 rescue. The incident was the first time climbers triggered a SPOT emergency locator beacon inside the park.

At the time, commenters howled that the climbers, neither of whom were injured, should be held accountable. Well, one of them was — just not the one most people expected. Jenny Lake Subdistrict Ranger Scott Guenther took time to explain his decision, which serves as a lesson for backcountry responsibility.

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Posted under Crime, Environment, Sports

Tags: backcountry, climbing, grand teton national park, tourists